Original sentence: The last time the Blues had been premiers was when it won the 1972 VFL Grand Final against Richmond
Edited sentence: At the conclusion of the home and away season, Carlton had finished first on the VFL ladder with 19 wins and 3 losses.Carlton had a much easier finals run, defeating North Melbourne by 38 points in the Second Semi-Final to advance straight through to the Grand Final.Collingwood had finished third (behind North Melbourne) with 15 wins and 7 losses.In the finals series leading up to the Grand Final, Collingwood comfortably defeated North Melbourne  in the Qualifying Final by 39 points before beating Fitzroy in the First Semi-Final by 22 points to progress to the Preliminary Final.The last time the Blues had been premiers was when they won the 1972 VFL Grand Final against Richmond.There they defeated North Melbourne once again, this time by 27 points, to advance to the Grand Final