It was the 79th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1976 VFL season.

The match, attended by 110,143 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 30 points, marking that club's third premiership victory.

At the conclusion of the regular home-and-away season, Hawthorn had finished second (behind Carlton) on the ladder with 16 wins and 6 losses.

[3] After 10 minutes in the third quarter Kangaroos coach Ron Barassi made the move of putting Brent Crosswell on for Peter Keenan, which immediately provided North Melbourne with a target.

Hawthorn continued to have problems up forward, kicking one goal and six behinds for the quarter, and by three-quarter time the Kangaroos and managed to close the margin to just ten points.

Greig suffered another heavy blow from Matthews, while Peter Knights and David O'Halloran each took big marks for Hawthorn.

[5] A press photographer accompanied them, and a famous photo was published in the newspapers showing a wasted, reclining, yet beaming Crimmins holding the premiership cup surrounded by his jubilant teammates.