Background
Richmond, the reigning premiers, were making their third consecutive appearance in a Grand Final. Conversely, this was only North Melbourne's second appearance in a Grand Final in their long history, their sole previous appearance having been in the 1950 VFL Grand Final. They were yet to win a flag.
The Kangaroos were coached by three-time Premiership coach Ron Barassi, who in his second year as coach of the Kangaroos had managed to reverse the club's fortunes after it had finished as the bottom side in the 1972 season. The addition through the 10-year rule of experienced players from other clubs such as Doug Wade (Geelong), Barry Davis (Essendon) and John Rantall (South Melbourne) added great strength to the North Melbourne side.
At the conclusion of the regular home-and-away season, Richmond had finished first on the ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses. North Melbourne had finished second with 16 wins and 6 losses.
In the finals series leading up to the Grand Final, North Melbourne defeated Hawthorn by 38 points in the Qualifying Final before losing to Richmond by 21 points in the Second Semi-Final. They then met Hawthorn again in the Preliminary Final, which they won by just four points to advance to the Grand Final. Richmond advanced straight to the Grand Final on the back of their win in the Second Semi-Final.
In the week leading up to the Grand Final, North Melbourne wingman Keith Greig won his second consecutive Brownlow Medal.
Read more about this topic: 1974 VFL Grand Final
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