Happy 60th Birthday to John Warden!
Career: 1971 – 1973
Debut: Round 8, 1971 vs Richmond
Carlton Player No. 826
Games: 11
Goals: 0
Guernsey No. 9 (1972), and No. 46 (1971)
Last Game: Round 15, 1972 vs South Melbourne
Height: 185cm
Weight: 74kg
DOB: 25 August, 1951
Warden played 11 games in 2 separate guernseys for Carlton after debuting in 1971. He would wear Guernsey No. 46 in 9 games in 1971 before moving to Guernsey No. 9 for 2 games in 1972. He was recruited from St Mark’s, after previously playing for Fawkner and Fawkner High School.
Warden was cleared early in the 1974 season to Cooee in Tasmania with fellow Blue Peter Fyffe for Greg Towns. Both of these players flew over to Cooee in the morning of the matches during 1974.
Happy 79th Birthday to John Chick!
Career: 1952 – 60
Debut: Round 1, 1952 vs North Melbourne
Carlton Player No. 655
Games: 119
Goals: 29
Last Game: Round 18, 1960 vs South Melbourne
Guernsey No. 23
Height: 175cm
Weight: 72kg
DOB: 25 August, 1932
Perhaps one of the most under-rated Carlton players of the 1950’s, Johnny Chick was a pacey, talented wingman who forged a fine playing career at Princes Park in a bleak decade for the Navy Blues.
Chick was recruited from Tasmanian club New Town, after starring in their 1951 TANFL Grand Final demolition of North Hobart. At the beginning of the following VFL season, Johnny was at Princes Park, impressing everyone with his ability. He went on to play nine seasons with the Blues and became a crowd favourite. Determined and durable, he was a remarkably consistent performer week in and week out, in a time when wins were few.
In his 119 game career, Chick played just four finals matches for Carlton; in 1952, ’57, and ’59. Unfortunately, all were losses. He was a fine Vice-captain of the Blues in his final two seasons, before returning to Tasmania to Captain-coach New Town – by then renamed Glenorchy.
Garry Crane
Career : 1964 – 1976
Debut : Round 17, 1964 vs St Kilda, aged 19 years, 355 days
Carlton Player No. 767
Games : 148
Goals : 16
Last Game : Round 1, 1976 vs Collingwood, aged 31 years, 221 days
Guernsey Nos. 31 (1964) & 6 (1965 – 76)
Height : 178 cm (5 ft. 10 in.)
Weight : 72.5 kg (11 stone, 6 lbs.)
DOB : 25 August, 1944
Premiership Player : 1968, 1970, 1972
Best and Fairest: 1969
Carlton Team of the Century (2000)
Carlton Hall of Fame (2000)
Renowned for his boundless courage, perseverance and sheer ball-getting ability, Garry Crane was an outstanding big-occasion player for the Navy Blues in a celebrated 13-year career between 1964 and 1976. Regarded by his coach Ron Barassi as “the most courageous player in the game,” he was a lightly-framed wingman who bored in hard for the ball with scant regard for the consequences – and therefore, paid a hefty price with injuries. Even so, he won three Premierships with Carlton – the last after he was coaxed out of a premature retirement.
Crane was recruited from Yallourn North in Victoria’s Gippsland region. He was brought to Carlton’s attention by our former captain Graham Donaldson, who was coaching Morwell at the time. Throughout his years in the Latrobe Valley League, Donaldson was responsible for getting a number of excellent players to Princes Park – including Crane, Bill Bennett, Ted Hopkins, Vin Waite, Bryan Quirk and Bob Edmond.
By the time Carlton approached him, Crane was a rising star in the Mid Gippsland League. Still a teenager, he had twice won his club’s Best and Fairest trophy, and had finished runner-up for the League’s award. The Blues knew that Crane was a ready-made VFL player, so by early 1964 Garry was at Princes Park. After only a handful of Reserves games, he was selected in the Carlton line-up for his first senior match against St Kilda at Princes Park in round 17, 1964.
Wearing guernsey number 31, Crane lined up alongside Ian Collins in the centre, with Cliff Stewart on the opposite wing. Although the Blues suffered a 16-point defeat, Garry’s tenacity impressed, and he retained his place in the side for the last game of the season – which resulted in a crushing 80-point win over Fitzroy. That was a good win and an encouraging way to finish off a season, but the Blues were still left languishing in tenth ladder position – and after years of mediocrity, the winds of change were about to blow through Princes Park.
In 1967, Crane had his first real encounter with injury when he was heavily concussed in a pre-season trial game, and he didn’t play at senior level until round five. A fortnight after that, he was hit heavily again – and this time, suffered a broken jaw. That blow put Garry out of action for ten weeks, and he finished up registering only four senior matches for the year. Fortunately, he was back to full fitness for round 1, 1968, when the celebrated centre-line combination of Garry Crane, Brent Crosswell and Bryan Quirk was unveiled for the very first time, and the Blues thrashed Geelong by 46 points at Princes Park.
When Essendon and Carlton met again in the 1968 Grand Final, a strong cross-breeze made scoring difficult from the opening bounce at the MCG. Crane got the scoreboard working for the Blues midway through the first term when he snatched the ball out of a contest in the right forward pocket, and kicked a quick mongrel punt to the goal-square. The ball cleared the pack, bounced through for full points, and Carlton was away. Thereafter, Garry was tireless in the clinches, constantly sending the ball into attack for his team. Carlton held on to beat the fast-finishing Bombers by three points, and Crane was a near-unanimous choice as Best on Ground. After only three seasons, the controversial gamble on Barassi’s appointment had been justified by the Navy Blues’ ninth flag, after 21 long years of sweat and tears at Princes Park.
Mark Buckley
Career : 1982 – 1985
Debut : Round 18, 1982 vs Footscray, aged 19 years, 340 days
Carlton Player No. 905
Games : 27
Goals : 35
Last Game : Round 8, 1985 vs Richmond, aged 22 years, 266 days
Guernsey Nos. 55 (1982), 10 (1983-84), 4 (1985)
Height : 190 cm (6 ft. 2 in.)
Weight : 79 kg (12 stone, 6 lbs.)
DOB : 25 August, 1962
Fair-haired, tall and slimly-built, Mark Buckley had a short yet notable senior career with the Blues between 1982 and 1985, during which he completed a family connection. Mark’s father was 116-game Carlton defender Brian Buckley, while his brother Stephen played six matches at Princes Park in 1980 after a long apprenticeship in the lower grades.
Buckley is still a favourite of football trivia buffs to this day; in particular because he wore three different guernsey numbers in his career, and was the first Blue to wear number 55 in a senior match. He also wore number 10, and had the honour of briefly carrying the sacred number 4 for one game between the departure of Peter Bosustow, and the arrival of Stephen Kernahan.
Like his father and brother, Mark began at Carlton with the Under 19 team. A natural left-footer, he grew into a dangerous forward who took often-spectacular marks and was a reliable kick for goal. At thirds level his thin build didn’t matter, but as he worked his way through to the seniors he was to find his lack of bulk something of a handicap. Before worrying about that, though, he celebrated a Premiership with the Under 19s in 1979, in a team managed by his father Brian, and coached by Carlton Premiership star Bryan Quirk. He was recruited from St Mark’s, he had also played for Fawkner.
Adrian Whitehead
Career: 1994-1999
Debut: Round 3, 1994 vs Geelong
996th Carlton Player
Games: 63
Goals: 22
Last Game: Round 13, 1999 vs North Melbourne
Guernsey No. 32
Height: 178cm
Weight: 81kg
DOB: 25 August, 1975
AFL Rising Star Nominee: Round 15, 1995
Premiership Player: 1995
Adrian Whitehead was the youngest member of Carlton’s all-conquering 1995 Premiership team. He was an exciting, talented player who was bound for stardom, before his career was cut short by a serious foot injury only two years later.
After Carlton was soundly beaten by Essendon in the ‘93 Grand Final, many commentators predicted that the Blues’ ageing player list was past its best. Lean times lay ahead for the Blues, they said; but thankfully, no-one at Princes Park was listening – even when Carlton lost the first two matches of 1994. For the vital round three clash against Geelong at Princes Park, the match committee called up 19 year-old Adrian Whitehead from Wodonga to make his senior debut on a wing – alongside Greg Williams in the centre, and Mil Hanna on the other wing.
To the joy of the Carlton fans, Whitehead could hardly have been more impressive. Displaying pace, sure hands and kicking skills with both feet, he racked up 26 possessions to control his side of the ground all match. ‘Diesel’ Williams (33 touches) dominated the centre, and Carlton beat the Cats by five goals. Whitehead went on to play eight matches in his first year. He was overlooked at finals time, but had done enough to show that his place at Carlton was secure.