Edited sentence: At the conclusion of the home and away season, North Melbourne had finished first on the VFL ladder with 16 wins and 6 losses.Hawthorn had finished second, also with 16 wins but with an inferior percentage.In the finals series leading up to the Grand Final, Hawthorn comfortably defeated Collingwood in the Qualifying Final by 56 points before beating North Melbourne by 10 points in the Second Semi-Final to progress to the Grand Final.North Melbourne, after their Second Semi-Final loss, defeated Collingwood by 12 points in the Preliminary Final to progress to the Grand Final