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By Tony De Bolfo

Precious film footage of the final quarter of the 1969 round two match between Carlton and Hawthorn – when the Blues banged on 12.6 to record the historic scoreline of 30.30 (210) – has been delivered from oblivion and conveyed to the football club’s archive.

The matchday film, thought lost, was shot by the cameramen of HSV7 and featuring the commentary of Frank Adams and the late Jack Edwards. The film was discovered on one of two 16mm reels retrieved from a dumpmaster years ago after the network apparently saw fit to discard much of its home and away matchday footage.

This week, the reels were generously handed over by Carlton enthusiast John Dickens, who had kept them in his possession since 2004.

“I know this seems hard to believe, but it’s the truth. About eight years ago I was given the reels by a friend who told me he found them in a skip. He knew I had access to 16mm projectors and was a Carlton fan,” said Dickens.

“I was amazed when I saw the footage and arranged through a friend, who had contacts at a post-production house, to have them converted to video and then to disk. During the conversion I realized they were probably archival footage of old videotapes and I’ve had them kicking around for a long time.”

When asked why he had come forward with the film now, Dickens replied with a question of his own. “Who owns the footage?”.

“I think the people own it – the clubs, the players, the fans and no one individual – and any way that other people can get to see it has got to be a good thing,” he said.

The extraordinary film, in which the since-demolished Garton Street scoreboard and Robert Heatley Stand can be seen, features moments of sheer brilliance from the likes of Brent Crosswell, Adrian Gallagher, Alex Jesaulenko and John Nicholls.

Carlton’s three-time premiership coach David Parkin, at that time Hawthorn ’s besieged back pocket, also features in the film – as does full-forward Peter Hudson and the late Peter Crimmins.

The film ends with Ian Robertson’s towering mark over “Parko” and dramatic post-siren conversion – Carlton’s 12th goal for the quarter and 30th for the match – on an afternoon in which his team registered a 128-point win and became the first in League history to post a 200-point score.

Little wonder Jack Edwards is heard to say “I’ve never seen a side treat another side with such contempt”.

Robertson, whose 125-game career at Carlton encompassed three premierships, was delighted to learn that film footage of this momentous occasion in Carlton history had surfaced after all these years – not that time had dimmed his memory.

“I can remember that early on ‘Barass’ (Ron Barassi) told Brent Crosswell to man up on Des Meagher, because he was quickly booting the ball forward to (Peter) Hudson,” said Robertson, who himself called matches for the Seven Network.

“Brent did a great job and by three-quarter time we were a mile in front, so Barass gave Crosswell his head . . . and if you check the replay I reckon Brent’s kicked four goals in the last quarter.

“I do remember kicking goal number 30. I didn’t play on it, but I used to tell people ‘We kicked a record score and I kicked the 30th’.”

Carlton’s 30.30 (210) – a League record which stood for 20 years – bettered its previous highest score of 28.10 (178) amassed against Collingwood at Victoria Park in Round 12, 1943.

Today, almost 43 years after the event, it remains the highest score accumulated by a Carlton team.

The other reel generously donated to the club by Dickens is no less interesting. It contains footage of the first quarter of the Round 4 fixture between Carlton and Melbourne at the MCG, when the then captain-coach Ron Barassi, up against his former club, boots the first goal after just 90 seconds and John Nicholls poleaxes the Redlegs half-back Tony Anderson.

Bairnsdale’s Bob Edmond and the St Kevin’s schoolboy Peter Kerr, both on debut, can be seen on the bench in their dressing gowns waiting for Barassi’s nod, while Maffra’s John Leatham turns out for what would be his second and final appearance in a dark Navy Blue guernsey.

The Carlton team versus Hawthorn, Round 2, Saturday, April 12, 1969, Princes Park:

Backs: Ian Collins, Wes Lofts, Kevin Hall
Half-Backs: John Goold, Robert Walls, Barry Gill
Centres: Garry Crane, Syd Jackson, Ian Robertson
Half-forwards: Alex Jesaulenko, Brent Crosswell, Bryan Quirk
Forwards: Peter Jones, Ron Stone, Ian Nicoll
Rucks: John Nicholls, Sergio Silvagni, Adrian Gallagher
Reserves: Vin Waite, Peter Kerr
Coach: Ron Barassi

Carlton 6.6 13.17 18.24 30.30 (210)
Hawthorn 3.2 6.4 10.10 12.10 (82)

Goalkickers: Jones (7.3), Jesaulenko (6.12), Crosswell (4.2), Quirk (3.4), Robertson (3.0), Gallagher (2.3), Nicholls (2.1), Nicoll (2.1), Stone (1.1), Hall (0.1), Jackson (0.1), rushed (0.1)
Best: Jesaulenko, Jones, Gallagher, Robertson, Nicholls, Collins, Lofts
Reports: Lofts (striking), suspended four matches
Injuries: Goold (bruised hip), Stone (slight concussion)
Field umpire: Jeff Crouch
Attendance: 25,894 at Princes Park

Happy 97th Birthday to Don McIntyre today.

Don is the 3rd oldest past senior player for the Blues. Don played 100 games from 1935-42 and is a 1938 premiership player. 

Don McIntyre

Career : 1935 – 1942
Debut : Round 7, 1935 vs Footscray, aged 20 years, 95 days
Carlton Player No. 521
Games : 100
Goals : 2
Last Game : Round 15, 1942 vs Fitzroy, aged 27 years, 163 days
Guernsey No. 2
Height : 179 cm (5 ft. 10 in.)
Weight : 77 kg (12 stone, 2 lbs.)
DOB : 5 March, 1915
Premiership Player: 1938
Club Best & Fairest: 1937

He played exactly 100 games for the Navy Blues, and kicked all his career goals in one match. His first senior game ended in a draw, and he waited almost a year to play his second. He won his club’s Best and Fairest award before he had completed thirty matches, and he was an integral member of a Carlton team that waited 23 years for a Premiership. He is Daniel Gordon ‘Don’ McIntyre – the Blues’ back pocket dynamo for eight seasons in the era of World War II.

Born in Geelong, and a star full-back for the Pakenham Football Club by his late teens, McIntyre was not only residentially tied to Geelong under the VFL rules of the day, he was also a staunch Cats’ supporter. That was until Carlton slipped under Geelong’s guard, and convinced him that his opportunities were greater at Princes Park. Don began his senior career in round 7 of 1935 against Footscray at the Western Oval, when he lined up in a back pocket alongside Carlton’s resolute full-back Frank Gill. The Blues played all over the Doggies that afternoon, but wayward kicking for goal proved costly, and Footscray escaped with a draw.

McIntyre’s game on that windy afternoon showcased his potential, so Carlton approached Geelong seeking a clearance for him. By the time an agreement was reached however, a new season was well underway. Eventually, Don was named as 19th man against Collingwood in round 6 of 1936, at Princes Park, and marked his return by pushing forward and kicking his only two career goals, as the Blues lost a typically torrid encounter by one straight kick.

From then on, McIntyre made the back pocket in Carlton’s senior team his domain. A natural defender with good pace and superb judgement, he was courageous, and rarely lost his man. All of those qualities were on display when he appeared in his first VFL final in September, and Carlton lost a tight Semi Final to Melbourne by 9 points.

In 1937, one of the great last defensive lines of any era in Carlton’s history was formed when Don McIntyre, Frank Gill and Jim Park combined in the teeth of Carlton’s goal. Although the Blues missed out on the finals by two points, McIntyre’s consistent good form – boosted by his confidence in Park and Gill – won him Carlton’s Best and Fairest award and placed him among the elite players in the game.

By 1938, Carlton had endured a Premiership drought of 23 years, and it took the vision of a great administrator; Sir Kenneth Luke, to finally break it by convincing the club to appoint former South Melbourne champion Brighton Diggins as captain-coach. Diggins promptly galvanised a talented, but previously uninspired team, and when the Blues accounted for Collingwood in a classic Grand Final, Don McIntyre celebrated his 50th match in the best possible way. A massive, record crowd of more than 98,000 spilled onto the playing field that day, when a jubilant Carlton claimed VFL flag number six.

By Tony De Bolfo

Danny Halloran, who through his brief playing career at Princes Park took great pride in wearing the No.31 guernsey made famous by Ron Barassi, has died suddenly at the age of 57.

Danny joined Carlton from Kyneton where in 1938 his father, the former Melbourne and Footscray footballer Frank Halloran, was adjudged the Bendigo Football League’s best and fairest player. In those days he was a zoned player who made a go of it with the likes of Dunolly’s Wayne Deledio and Maryborough’s Russell Ohlsen.

It was 1975 and when Jim Buckley was recruited from Kyneton the following year, Danny acted as his chauffeur.

“Danny picked me up a few times and took me down to Melbourne. He was a real gentleman, well-respected – a good bloke from a lovely family,” Buckley said.

“He did his best for the football club too. He had legs on him like a grand piano. Massive they were. He was very solid.”

Danny was handed the No.31 guernsey for good reason according to his younger sister Louise. “He was a similar size and shape to ‘Barass’ and that was the thinking with the jumper,” Louise said.

“In those days they used to give us the Carlton jumpers to wash and you’d have to watch the No.31 when you hung it out on the line, otherwise it’d be pinched.”
Six days shy of his 21st birthday, Halloran completed the first of just 15 senior appearances for Carlton, in the 13th round of 1975. Named 20th man, his was a baptism of fire – Collingwood at Victoria Park – but he helped get the visitors home by 16 points.

Though his senior appearances were restricted to just four in that maiden season, Danny turned out for ten in 1976. He was adjudged Carlton’s best player afield against Footscray in the 11th round of 1976 on the day his travelling companion Jim Buckley completed his senior debut.

The four-time Carlton premiership player David McKay, remembered that Danny inherited the No.31 Carlton guernsey from Peter Hall (now the Nationals’ leader in the Victorian Legislative Council), who donned the jumper after Barassi’s retirement.

“Danny was a bull of a player,” McKay recalled. “He was a really strong, tough-at-the-ball type. He wasn’t the greatest mark or, obviously, the greatest kick, but he had good height and weight. His strength was his asset and he used it well.

“He’ll probably be remembered for the game where he missed a goal from about two metres out. He slammed the footy onto his boot, overcooked the kick and the ball hit the goalpost. As far as I know he’s the only Carlton player to have done that other than ‘Percy’ Jones who actually kicked the post.”

Members of Danny’s family fondly remember his days at Princes Park. Younger sister Louise recalled that she and her mother Carmel would make the trek from Kyneton to Carlton in the wee hours of Saturday morning to watch him play.

“We’d pack the thermos, queue up at the gate at the Royal Parade end and walk straight in . . . we’d sit on the wing on the city side, in front of the shed before it was all revamped,” Louise said.

“These were very exciting times. We’d watch the reserves and the seniors and be rapt if Dan played in the seniors. He had some great games and got votes in the Brownlow, so he did some good things even if they weren’t often enough.”

Ultimately, the opening round of 1977 – involving Geelong at Kardinia Park on a day in which Kennington’s John Tresize and Golden Square’s bespectacled Tony Southcombe first played – would regrettably prove to be Danny’s last. Circumstances of Danny’s departure are somewhat clouded, but Louise remembered that her brother suffered a broken ankle in an ice skating mishap from which he never fully recovered.

“It was an injury that never really healed and to the end he walked with a limp,” Louise said.

Danny kept an involvement with the game, chasing the leather in the Goulburn Valley League and assisting the former Fitzroy footballer Chris Smith with coaching duties at Mooroopna. He maintained a friendship with the former Carlton midfielder Ray Byrne and, according to his sister, got on well with Bruce Doull “and the more introspective characters”.

A physical education teacher by profession and a keen cycling enthusiast, Danny, whose father died of an aneurism at the age of 54, passed away last Friday – not far from the flat in Abbotsford Street North Melbourne where he first roomed in his Carlton days.

Danny’s cause of death remains unknown, but as Louise said: “Dan just went to sleep and never woke up”.

“It was all very peaceful. He was at his home, in an apartment in Plane Tree Way, just a drop kick from the North footy ground”.

Danny is survived by his former wife of 30 years Di, daughters Jess (a sports journalist for Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph), Lizzie and Fiona, and son Tom.

He is also survived by his mother Carmel, sisters Annemaree and Louise and brother Tom.

To the end, Danny kept a place in his heart for Carlton and of course, the No.31 now worn by Marcus Davies.

As his daughter Jess said: “He loved the fact that he wore the No. 31 . . . he was really proud of that”.

Danny’s funeral is expected to be held in Kyneton next week.

This year marks the anniversary of two tremendous Carlton premierships, 1972 and 1982 when the Blues tamed the tigers. We will be having the biggest Spirit of Carlton Luncheon ever to celebrate in August and throughout the year we will be highlighting snippets from each year to whet the appetite. Today, some highlights from each game.

 1972

1982

 

Please click this link to download the flyer for the upcoming AFL Combined Past Players bowls day.

 

 

By Tony De Bolfo

For every 100-game Carlton player there’s probably a hundred more who disappear into the ether just as quickly as they appear.

William Harry, a one-game back pocket who donned the boots for the Blues almost 106 years ago, could be considered amongst the club’s great forgotten.

Until now.

That Harry’s tale can finally be told is due to the dedication of his grandson Lynn Harry. A long-time member and supporter, Lynn was inspired by a recent article featuring another Carlton one-gamer, Bill Carmody, who later laid his life on the line at Pozieres during The Great War.

“I read that story and realized that the club was still interested in documenting the lives of those players who managed only one game,” Lynn said, “and with my father being the last living link with our one-game player I thought it important to pursue William’s story.”

Turn back the hands to July 21, 1906, to the day Harry turned out for his team in what would prove a landmark season for the Carlton Football Club.

This was the season in which the legendary coach Jack Worrall led his players to Grand Final glory for the first of three premierships in succession and the first since Carlton’s admission to the Victorian football League some nine years previous.

Harry’s maiden appearance came in the 11th round, against Collingwood at Princes Park no less. Named in a back pocket, he worked in tandem with Norman “Hackenschmidt” Clark and Doug Gillespie to safeguard the goals on the last line.

Though the home team comfortably accounted for its much-despised inner-city neighbor to the tune of 37 points, Harry never took to the paddock in a Carlton lace-up again.

But who was he? And what became of him?

William Richard Harry was born in the old gold mining town of Eldorado, 254 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, in 1878 – the first of 12 children reared by Elizabeth Ann (nee Wellington) and John Hammer Harry – a Cornish tin miner named who’d set sail from his native St Austell in search of gold in the mid-1860s.

When gold and tin mining operations ceased in Eldorado around the turn of last century, the Harry family relocated to Chiltern-Rutherglen, to where mines had been active since the 1890s. There, young Harry toiled for Great Southern Mines, during which time (1903) he also married a 23 year-old local Chiltern girl named Margaret Henderson.

By then, Harry had chased the leather for the local Great Southern, Miners and Rutherglen teams. An early Rutherglen team photo depicts William standing with his arms by his side in a sleeveless guernsey and cap and sporting a dark moustache. A younger brother George can also be seen lying on his side in the bottom left hand corner of the image.

The circumstances which led to Harry’s recruitment to Carlton may never be known, although his grandson, Lynn Harry can appreciate the trepidation his forefather surely experienced.

As he said: “I can now understand how he felt about coming down to Carlton at the age of 27 to play footy, with a wife and two young children under three years-old living back home in Rutherglen”.

“But Jack Worrall must have seen something in my grandfather,” Lynn said. “I’ve only read in the history books these past couple of days that Jack had a real eye for talent, so much so that he could spot it on the other side of the spectators’ fence . . . it would have been really nice to know what he actually thought about William.”

Following his all-too-brief Carlton foray, Harry returned to Rutherglen and kept playing. On hanging up the boots, Harry armed himself with a whistle and umpired for a number of seasons, earning the curious nickname “Tidylum” from the locals. Origins of the nickname are sketchy, but Tidylum is thought to be Cornish.

Harry continued to work the Rutherglen mines until the gold ran out in about 1920. Three years later he relocated with his family to Footscray in search of labor.

He ultimately found work with Port Melbourne Woollen Mills and carried through his duties with the company for a number of years until his untimely passing in 1943.

Though he lived in Melbourne’s western suburbs, Harry regularly returned to his beloved Rutherglen to indulge his favourite pastimes of fishing and duck shooting.

As Lynn said, “Harry really had this like for the bush and to be out on the river and Dad told me he was crack shot.”

Tragically, those very indulgences contributed to Harry’s untimely demise.

Harry was a man of 64 years when he drowned in the Murray River, apparently as he attempted to retrieve a duck he had just shot down.

The following obituary appeared in the local Rutherglen newspaper.

On Sunday afternoon, February 21, 1943, a drowning fatality occurred in a lagoon of the Murray River opposite Gooramadda.
The victim was Mr. William Harry of Footscray.
Deceased was well-known throughout the district, having lived at Great southern for many years prior to coming to Rutherglen to live. He went to reside in Melbourne about 20 years ago, paying many visits to Rutherglen in the meantime.
In his young days he was a prominent footballer for the district, playing with Great Southern, Miners and Rutherglen. Known familiarly as “Tidylum”, Harry played many sterling games for the above team. When he completed his football career he took up umpiring.
The late Mr Harry came to Rutherglen for a holiday on Monday of last week and, desiring to spend some time on the river, went out to board with Mr and Mrs H. Connell on Tuesday.
He was in good health on Sunday and after lunch said he was going for a shot, taking a gun and cartridges with him. Mr McConnell rowed him across the river and waited for him on the river bank while deceased searched for game.
Mr McConnell heard a shot and when Mr Harry did not return in reasonable time he got anxious and went looking for him.
On the bank of the lagoon Mr McConnell found his cloths and looking into the lagoon saw Mr Harry’s head under the water about five feet in from the edge.
He immediately went into the water but it was too deep; Mr McConnell then got a long stick and drew the body to the bank.
Efforts to revive him failed and Mr McConnell motored into town and notified the police.
It is thought that he went into the lagoon after the game he had shot and became entangled in the weeds.
The body was brought to the river bank where it was examined by Doctor Davis, and evidence of identification taken, after which an order for burial was granted.
Deceased was a native of Eldorado, and was 64 years of age. The remains were taken to Melbourne for interment.

William Harry and his wife raised nine children during their lifetimes, the first eight of them born in Rutherglen. Of the nine, only the youngest child – Lynn’s father Keith – is still living.

A grandson, Ian Harry, was later recruited to Carlton on the sayso of Ron Barassi and whilst not managing to break through with the Blues did complete a long and successful tenure as captain of VFA outfit Mordialloc.

Another grandson through marriage, Golden Square’s Ross Ousley, also represented Carlton in 23 senior matches from 1956-58.

As for Lynn, two cherished Carlton sites serve to perpetuate the memory of his grandfather . . . the very ground upon which William Harry once played and the trophy cabinet flanking the reception area at Visy Park.

“I never knew until now that my grandfather’s one and only game came in a premiership year,” Lynn said, “so I can now view the 1906 cup with a real interest and passion and can feel, in the slightest, tiniest way, that Harry has helped contribute to that Grand Final victory.”

Sit back, relax and enjoy the latest Spirit of Carlton video from our Youtube channel. Watch as David ‘Swan’ McKay remembers the old times with the boys from the Fox Footy show, Grumpy Old Men. This particular episode aired in 2003.

 

 

Dear Spirit of Carlton Member,

The executive wishes to place on record its sincere thanks to you, as a valued participant in the Spirit of Carlton Past & Present  (SoC) for supporting the cause over these past five years, as together we’ve contributed to the resurgence and reinvigoration of the Carlton Football Club (CFC).

As you may be aware, the SoC has undergone significant structural changes in the lead-up to the 2012 season – primarily to ensure that the SoC works more closely with the CFC to utilise the Club’s substantial resources as it strives for its 17^th premiership and nears the 150^th anniversary of its existence.

Accordingly, the SOC will now conduct its activities more along the lines of a past players’ association to help realise its and the CFC’s short and long-term objectives.

The 2012 Executive Team is as follows;

David Rhys-Jones (President); Geoff Southby (Secretary); Jason Reddick (Treasurer/Public Officer (CFC)); Matthew Hogg, Alex Marcou, David McKay and Dennis Munari (Exec Members/General Committee); Mandy Hunter (Marketing Support (CFC)); and Jamie Sanderson (Website Manager).

2012 Membership is available at a reduced annual cost of $50 ($30 for pensioner members), with a subscription form attached for your convenience.

As the SoC is reverting back to a past & present players and officials group, membership will no longer be available to supporters.  As such, the SoC encourages you, as a passionate supporter, to acquire a CFC membership package.

However, please note the SoC has set aside the match day event on May 6 for you to join past players and officials in a special SoC tribute to CFC supporters for contributing to the cause over the past five years. Ticketing and seating will be available to you at a cost on the day, with more details to follow.

Key events for 2012 are a Theme Lunch celebrating the 40^th & 30^th Anniversaries of the 1972 & 1982 premierships scheduled for Friday, August 3 at Etihad Stadium; and a Past Players’ Annual dinner scheduled for Wednesday, September 12 at Visy Park.

Two matchday events have also been confirmed for Etihad Stadium – a Past Player Father/Son & Daughter Day (Round 6, Sunday, May 6); and 1987 Premiership 25^th Anniversary Day (Round 8, Sunday, May 20).

The Golf Day and Dinner will not be staged in 2012.

The SoC can also confirm the distribution of funds to the following key categories in 2012 – CFC Players (new tech equipment and facilities for team and individual performance improvement); needy past player welfare & support; SoC/CFC history management; and administration & running costs

In closing, all at the SoC look forward to your on-going valued support in 2012 in what will unquestionably be an exciting season for the Mighty Blues.

Yours sincerely,

The Executive, SoC

Clear your calandars because we now have a date for the big Spirit of Carlton annual luncheon.

This year the function will be held on Friday the 3rd of August.

Join the 1972 and 1982 premiership teams as well as the entire current playing group to celebrate the 30th and 40th anniversaries of these momentous occassions when the Blues “Tamed the Tigers”.

Plannning is now underway for this event and we will keep you updated with information as it comes to hand.

So go to your calendar now and put a big circle around the 3rd of August  and we will see you there!

 

Kevan Hamilton

Career : 1956
Debut : Round 3, 1956 vs St Kilda, aged 22 years, 86 days
Carlton Player No. 703
Games : 11
Goals : 22
Last Game : Round 17, 1956 vs Richmond, aged 22 years, 191 days
Guernsey No. 5
Height : 180 cm (5 ft. 11 in.)
Weight : 81 kg (12 stone, 10 lbs.)
DOB : February 1, 1934
Club Leading Goalkicker 1956

Nicknamed ‘Icy’, Kevan Hamilton found his way to Princes Park in 1956 from McKinnon via Melbourne seconds. A tall rover-forward, he started his career impressively with eight goals in his first two matches, and by midway through the year was regularly selected as first rover.

But thereafter his form tailed off, and his goal-scoring opportunities dried up as opposition teams starved him of opportunity. While Carlton wound up fifth on the ladder and missed out on a finals berth by just two points, the lack of a consistently reliable goal-scorer proved the team’s main drawback – as shown by Hamilton’s total of 22 goals from only 11 matches. That was good enough to win him our club goal-kicking award, but it was one of the lowest tallies for the Blues in 50 years.

‘Icy’ finished up at Carlton after just that one season, and returned to McKinnon as captain-coach in the Federal League.

Stephen Edgar

Career : 1990 – 1991
Debut : Round 1, 1990 vs Sydney, aged 23 years, 58 days
Carlton Player No. 965
Games : 14
Goals : 1
Last Game : Round 9, 1991 vs Richmond, aged 24 years, 106 days
Guernsey No. 9
Height : 175 cm (5 ft. 9 in.)
Weight : 76 kg (12 stone, 0 lbs.)
DOB : 1 February, 1967

Edgar was drafted from East Fremantle, WA with Carlton’s selection 7 in the 1989 National Draft. A lightly-framed defender with good all-round skills, he had represented his home state against a VFA representative team in 1988, and impressed enough at WAFL level with the Sharks to convince Carlton to pick him up.

Edgar played his debut game for the Blues against Sydney at Princes Park in round 1, 1990. Stationed in a back pocket alongside Adrian Bassett and David Kernahan, he was travelling alright at half-time, when his team led by 45 points – but after that, Sydney came roaring back to squeeze out the Blues by 5 points in a tight finish.

Edgar was one of those to lose his place after that debacle. He wasn’t able to force his way back into the seniors until round 18, but then played out the season on the last line of defence as Carlton wound up an inconsistent year ranked eighth on the ladder. When the finals got underway, the Blues’ seconds – with Edgar solid in a back pocket – brought some optimism back with a good win over Melbourne in the Reserves Grand Final.