Back to Carlton Part 2
The simple truth was that, by the mid 1960s, Carlton were being left behind. Elsewhere there was a revolution taking place in the way football was thought about and played, but the Blues "were old-fashioned; the football revolution theorised by Len Smith and brilliantly executed by his brother Norm, who (in 1964) took Melbourne to his 6th coaching premiership, had not penetrated either their beliefs or their teachings". [see footnote 9]
All this was shortly to change, however. On 7 December 1964 a new club committee, headed by former dentist George Harris, was elected, and immediately began an Australia wide search for a new coach capable of resurrecting the side's on field fortunes. The appointment, when it came, sent shock waves reverberating through the entire world of Australian football; to some it seemed as if the very foundations on which the game itself was built had been torn asunder - indeed, some maintain that the game has never been the same since. Because the coach chosen by Harris to mastermind the Blues' long-awaited revival was none other than one Ronald Dale Barassi, a man who "was to Melbourne what the orb and sceptre are to the queen, what soda is to whisky". [see footnote 10]
However, the twenty-eight year old Barassi had a burning ambition to test his mettle as a coach, something which it was difficult to imagine him being able to do at Melbourne in the foreseeable future, where Norm Smith's position seemed as secure as that of the members' grandstand. His decision to move to Princes Park in order to pursue his ambition was therefore, in hindsight, perfectly understandable. At the time, however, it caused a quite unprecedented furore. [see footnote 11] As Keith Dunstan succinctly put it, "How can I sustain a worthy loathing for the opposition if my idols start romping around from team to team?" [see footnote 12]
After all the hype and high expectation, however, Carlton's improvement under Barassi was only very gradual. In both 1965 and 1966 the side won 10 matches and lost 8, finishing 6th on each occasion, with champion ruckman John Nicholls later reflecting that "he (Barassi) was still serving his coaching apprenticeship. He was very volatile, fiery and impatient and did not know how to handle men. But it all started to click in 1967." [see footnote 13]
Carlton qualified for the finals in 2nd place that year but lacked the big match know-how needed to capitalise. Richmond in the 2nd semi final (by 40 points) and preliminary final opponents Geelong (by 29 points) gave Ron Barassi plenty to think about during the summer months but, as the 1968 season was to show, he was nothing if not a quick learner.
The longer the 1968 season wore on the clearer it became that the main obstacle in the way of Barassi's achieving his aim was Essendon. During the minor round the Bombers defeated Carlton in both meetings and went on to top the ladder a game and a half clear of the Blues, and firm favourites to take out their third flag of the decade.
Throughout his coaching career Barassi loved occupying the role of underdog and in the 1968 2nd semi final he and his players did so to perfection to overwhelm the favourites by 6 goals. For the re-match a fortnight later, played in a tricky cross wind in front of a grand final record attendance of 116,828, the Blues expected Essendon to provide a much tougher challenge, and so it proved. With both sides fumbling badly and kicking haphazardly in the difficult conditions goals were at a premium and the difference in scores seldom extended beyond a couple of kicks. Overall, however, Carlton always seemed to be in control, as a total of 21 scoring shots to 13 confirms. The Blues got considerable drive all day from wingmen Gary Crane and Ian Robertson, won the ruck contests through John Nicholls, and received positive contributions from half forward flanker Alex Jesaulenko, rover Adrian Gallagher, and 4 goal full forward Brian Kekovich, at only twenty-two playing what was to prove the last of just 34 VFL games before a serious back injury forced his retirement. Carlton eventually won the match by just 3 points, 7.14 (56) to 8.5 (53), in what remains the only occasion to date of a V/AFL grand final being won by a side scoring fewer goals than the runners up.
A week later Carlton scored an easy 13.15 (93) to 6.20 (56) win over Sturt in Adelaide in a match confusingly billed as being for the 'Unofficial Championship of Australia'.
The old Richmond bogey re-surfaced in 1969 as Carlton, as favourites, lost the grand final to the Tigers by 25 points after leading by 4 points at the last change. [see footnote 14] The Blues were arguably the most consistent side in the VFL in 1969 but succumbed to a Richmond combination which peaked at just the right time.
One of the ACT's finest ever footballers, Alex Jesaulenko, handballs clear despite pressure from Collingwood full back Alex Clifton. Action from a 1970 home and away clash at VFL Park, won by the Magpies; four months later, however, it was a different story.
If 1969 ended with a disappointing fade out, the following year was just the reverse as the Blues recovered from a 44 point half time deficit in the grand final against Collingwood to win one of the most dramatic and famous matches of all time by 11 points. Watched by what remains (and is likely to remain) an Australian record crowd for any football match of 121,696 Carlton looked dead and buried at the long break inducing Barassi to unleash his now famous instruction to his players to "handball, handball, handball". The players' compliance with this command, coupled with the inspirational impact of 19th man Ted Hopkins, saw the pattern of the game alter completely. Some have gone so far as to suggest that the half time interval of the 1970 VFL grand final was when the 'prop and kick' style of football finally died and was replaced by the modern, run on game. From a strictly historical standpoint this is clearly as nonsensical as maintaining, as many persist in doing, that the sport of Australian football was 'born' in 1858 when Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar engaged in their famous match on the future site of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The claim is also hard to endorse on purely statistical grounds, as I have explained elsewhere. However, what the claim lacks in historical or statistical veracity it makes up for in poetic, indeed almost mythic, potency. Moreover, it is undeniably the case that in the 2nd half of the 1970 VFL grand final Carlton, by judicious and inventive use of handball and short passing, coupled with enhanced aggressiveness and desperation, made Collingwood appear both unimaginative and uncoordinated and as such provided a basic template for almost every V/AFL premier since.
Carlton's best players included half forward flankers Brent Crosswell and Syd Jackson, centre half back David McKay, ruck rover Sergio Silvagni, centreman Ian Robertson, and ruckman John Nicholls. (A more detailed, goal by goal account of the 1970 VFL grand final can be found here.)
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Carlton player coach John Nicholls takes a typically strong mark against Essendon. |
A comfortable win over Sturt in the so called 'Champions of Australia' clash rounded off a season which for excitement, drama and quality of achievement would be hard to improve on. Under the surface, however, dissent was brewing. Notwithstanding the ingenuity of his coaching in the 1970 grand final Barassi's impact was on the wane. When Ian Collins, who had missed the entire 1970 season through injury, returned to the Carlton fold the following year he observed "In 1969, when he barked everyone jumped; in 1971, no one took too much notice". [see footnote 15] Carlton's on field displays in 1971 reflected this undercurrent of unease as the side dropped to 5th place, missing the finals for the first time since 1966. At the end of the season, Barassi left.Under Barassi's replacement as coach, John Nicholls, Carlton enjoyed a much more relaxed regime in 1972, and the players responded positively to clinch the minor premiership with 18 wins, 3 losses and a draw. However, the old nemesis Richmond were waiting in the wings, and although the Blues managed a draw in the team's first encounter in the 2nd semi final, the following week the Tigers were much too strong and swept straight through to the grand final on the back of a 41 point win. Carlton survived a tenacious challenge from St Kilda in the preliminary final to win by 16 points, 16.13 (109) to 13.15 (93), but entered the grand final as distinct underdogs. Something of Barassi's legacy must still have remained at Princes Park, however, for much to most people's surprise the Blues, adopting what Nicholls later described as a "long kicking attack at all costs style", [see footnote 16] overran the Tigers to win a high scoring spectacular by 27 points. Carlton's final tally of 28.9 (177) remains a record for a VFL grand final, while Richmond's total of 22.18 (150) itself equalled the previous record. [see footnote 17] |
In the Championship of Australia series, which was expanded in 1972 to include the premier teams of Western Australia and Tasmania, Carlton won a fiery semi final against East Perth with relative ease but then lost a thrilling final to a Barrie Robran-inspired North Adelaide by a solitary point.
The 1972 season was still not quite finished, however, as Carlton, accompanied by an 'Australian All Stars' side comprised of top players from throughout Australia, embarked on a 'world' tour aimed at raising the international profile of Australian Rules football. Unfortunately, however, the tour was extremely poorly publicised, and roused little interest.
Carlton's 1973 side was rated by John Nicholls among others as superior to the premiership winning combination of the previous year, but it faltered when it counted on grand final day, going down to Richmond by 30 points, 12.14 (86) to 16.20 (116).
Playing coach Nicholls made the last of his then club record 331 VFL appearances in 1974 as Carlton plummeted to 7th. Improvement was shown the following year as the Blues won 16 of 22 home and away games to qualify for the finals with ease in 2nd place, but there then followed demoralising capitulations to North Melbourne in the qualifying final and Richmond in the 1st semi which meant that in the final wash up the Blues finished 4th. 'Big Nick's' impact as coach was diminishing, as Perce Jones recalls:
He was very quiet. He would take the players aside and talk to them rather than confront them. We all admired him tremendously as a player and he was a magnificent on field example. That sort of leadership works for a while, but then the players start to get slack. [see footnote 18]
When the 1976 season got underway Carlton had a new coach in the shape of former Melbourne player Ian Thorogood who had held the assistant coaching position under Nicholls. The team remained capable of defeating any other, and indeed went on to capture the minor premiership, but finals brittleness again showed and it lost in successive weeks to Hawthorn and North Melbourne.
The 1976 season had brought a further faltering step toward the game's 'nationalisation' as leading clubs from Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia contested the NFL Championships. Most matches were played mid-week under floodlights at Norwood Oval where Carlton scored an effortless 22.16 (148) to 3.5 (23) win over South Fremantle only to suffer the heaviest senior defeat in its history up to that point against Norwood a few weeks later. The Redlegs' 22.14 (146) to 5.10 (40) triumph was arrogantly dismissed as a fluke in the Melbourne media, but ought perhaps to have raised alarm bells at Princes Park as the Blues prepared to contest the VFL finals.
Thorogood, who "did his best but did not have the respect of the players" [see footnote 19] departed after a 1977 campaign which saw the Blues miss the finals by half a game. His replacement was triple Brownlow Medallist Ian Stewart who had just steered South Melbourne to the finals for only the second time since World War Two. Just 3 games into the 1978 season, however, Stewart stood down in mysterious circumstances, having allegedly suffered a minor heart attack. By the time a permanent replacement had been found in the shape of skipper Alex Jesaulenko the Blues were dead set last with only 1 win from the opening 6 rounds. Miraculously, Jezza managed to get his charges into the finals where they convincingly defeated Geelong but then bowed out after a hard fought loss to Collingwood.
Jesaulenko remained at the helm in 1979 and the Blues enjoyed an outstanding year, losing only 3 times during the home and away rounds before jumping straight into the grand final with a 15.21 (111) to 11.7 (73) demolition of North Melbourne. To everyone at Princes Park's delight, Carlton's grand final opponents proved to be arch rivals Collingwood, still without a premiership since 1958. Despite a strong last quarter from the Magpies which saw them add 4 goals to Carlton's 1 the Blues held firm to win a thriller (something which was to become all too rare in VFL grand finals over the next couple of decades) by 5 points, 11.16 (82) to 11.11 (77). Half forward flanker Wayne Johnston and back pocket Wayne Harmes vied for best afield but it was Harmes who was the recipient of the newly instituted award bestowed on the best player in a VFL grand final, the Norm Smith Medal. (Incredibly, in one of those unfathomable quirks which enliven football from time to time, Norm Smith happened to be Wayne Harmes' grandfather.) Other prominent performers for the Blues included centre half back Bruce Doull, wingman Peter Francis, ruckman Mike Fitzpatrick and rover Jim Buckley. The 113,545 crowd paid record receipts of $849,316.
Alex Jesaulenko had no opportunity to build on his achievement as before the start of the 1980 season he had departed the club in dramatic fashion, a victim of the political in-fighting which has blighted Carlton intermittently throughout its history.
Jesaulenko's replacement as coach, Perce Jones, lasted only a single season as the Blues reverted to their mid-1970s finals brittleness, losing heavily to both Richmond and Collingwood to finish 4th.
The Carlton committee decided that they needed a coach of proven pedigree to bring out the best in what was undoubtedly a highly talented squad. The man chosen was David Parkin who had piloted Hawthorn to a flag in 1978 after representing the club with distinction 211 senior games. Parkin was viewed as a "cerebral coach" with strong motivational qualities and his impact on the Blues was immediate and pronounced. In the opening round of the 1981 season Carlton thrashed reigning premiers Richmond by 10 goals at VFL Park and thereafter never looked back. After securing the minor premiership Carlton comfortably accounted for Geelong in the 2nd semi final to the tune of 40 points and then scored an exhilarating come from behind victory over Collingwood in the 'big one'. With almost half an hour of the 3rd quarter having elapsed Collingwood led by 21 points but then the renowned 'Collywobbles' struck with full force: the Blues kicked 6.7 to 0.2 over the remainder of the match to win with comparative comfort by 20 points. Ever reliable defender Bruce Doull was a popular winner of the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground, with fellow backmen Ken Hunter and Des English, wingman Phil Maylin, and ruckman and skipper Mike Fitzpatrick also prominent.
| Parkin immediately turned his thoughts to
the problem which had beset Carlton sides for three quarters of a century: how
to remain on top after getting there. "We can win another flag in
1982," he insisted, "but the application of everyone in Carlton, on
and off the field, must surpass that of yesterday because the challenge of
tomorrow will demand it". [see
footnote 20]
The coach's words proved prophetic. In an evenly contested season the Blues finished the home and away rounds in 3rd place before negotiating a tortuous route to the grand final which included a worryingly mediocre performance against Richmond in the 2nd semi final. (Richmond won by 23 points.) A comfortable 13.16 (94) to 8.15 (63) preliminary final defeat of Hawthorn went some way toward restoring the players' confidence but Carlton still went into the grand final re-match with the Tigers as underdogs. Clearly thriving on the challenge, however, the Blues played inspirational football, and despite trailing briefly in both the 2nd and 3rd quarters managed to establish a 17 point break by the last change. Richmond then rallied to get within 5 points early in the final stanza and Carlton were forced to defend desperately for a period before Bosustow goaled to provide a bit of breathing space. Still Richmond would not give in, but the Blues' defence somehow managed to withstand everything that was hurled at it. When Alex Marcou kicked truly just before time on the game was effectively won, while a further goal to McConville shortly afterwards made final the margin a trifle flattering. Norm Smith Medallist Maurice Rioli's last minute goal did nothing to alter the result but did at least make the final scoreline a truer reflection of the closeness of the game. Carlton won 14.19 (103) to 12.13 (85) with 107,537 people in attendance. Back pocket Val Perovic, half forward flanker Wayne Johnston - a perennially outstanding finals performer - ruckman Mike Fitzpatrick, rover Alex Marcou, wingman Wayne Harmes, and half back flanker Ken Hunter were among the Blues' best in an even team performance. The next three seasons were extremely frustrating for Carlton supporters as the team proved capable of overturning any opposition on its day but consistently failed to perform in the finals. After seeing his charges uncharacteristically squander a winning position against North Melbourne in the 1985 elimination final Parkin made way as coach for Robert Walls who had played with the Blues with distinction from 1967-78 and had more recently achieved a measure of success as coach of unfashionable Fitzroy. |
Wayne Johnston, "a perennially outstanding finals performer", flies for a mark against Hawthorn. |
Prior to the start of the 1986 season Carlton spread the recruiting net far and wide bringing in players of the calibre of Stephen Kernahan from Glenelg, Jon Dorotich from South Fremantle, Port Adelaide's Craig Bradley and Sturt's Peter Motley. This injection of fresh blood seemed to be just what the Blues needed and, after finishing the minor round in 3rd position, the team careered into the grand final in straight sets with convincing wins over the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn. The scenario leading up to grand final day was thus the opposite of four years earlier, with the Blues this time entering the game heavily favoured to win. Disastrously, however, they were given a lesson in controlled aggression by the Hawks and, as a contest, the match was a travesty, with Hawthorn winning comfortably by 7 goals. Only Motley of the four big name recruits did himself any justice, but tragically this was to be his last ever game in a Carlton jumper as his career was prematurely brought to an end the following year after a serious road accident. Veteran Blues defender Bruce Doull retired after the 1986 grand final having played a club record 359 senior games. [see footnote 21]
In 1987 the VFL continued the expansionist developments commenced back in 1982 when South Melbourne had re-located to Sydney; it welcomed Brisbane (who Carlton thrashed by 103 points at Princes Park in the sides' only meeting in round 10) and the Perth-based club West Coast (similarly trounced by 87 points in round 4 before turning the tables in a 3 point thriller at the WACA in round 17). The West Coast loss was 1 of only 4 sustained by Carlton in the 22 match home and away season but, disturbingly, 2 of the others were inflicted by Hawthorn. However, in the 2nd semi final a crowd of 64,333 at VFL Park saw the Blues conclusively remove the Hawk bogey from their back with an 11.14 (80) to 10.5 (65) win after Hawthorn had led at every change by 12, 15 and 9 point margins.
Two weeks later in the grand final Carlton again met Hawthorn , but this time they were in no mood to be intimidated. With Norm Smith Medallist David Rhys-Jones in irrepressible form at centre half back, and on ballers Mark Naley and Wayne Johnston repeatedly cutting loose out of the centre square, the only question being asked after half time was how much the Blues would end up winning by. The answer, academic though it was, proved to be 33 points, while a much more significant statistic was that this was Carlton's 15th VFL flag - a new record.
For the second year in succession Carlton travelled to London after the grand final where they played an exhibition match against North Melbourne at the Oval. Norm Smith Medallist David Rhys-Jones was at the centre of the controversy which erupted there in a match, later dubbed 'the Battle of Britain', where fisticuffs proved more prevalent than football.
The Blues remained a prominent force in 1988, finishing 3rd, but between 1989 and 1992 they were in the doldrums, missing the finals each year, albeit only on percentage in 1992. Premiership coach Robert Walls departed in controversial circumstances in 1989 to be replaced by former favourite Alex Jesaulenko. However, unlike a decade earlier Jesaulenko failed to wave a magic wand over the Blues and his tenure lasted less than two full seasons. The 1991 season saw David Parkin back at the helm and an apparently more tolerant club hierarchy seemed to be prepared to give him a reasonable amount of time to turn things 'round.
In 1993 Carlton scored a 1 point win over Sydney in the final home and away match of the season to secure the double chance in the finals. The qualifying final against Essendon was the first ever AFL/VFL finals match to be played at night and saw the Blues establish themselves as favourites for the flag with a hard fought 2 point win. This favouritism was reinforced with a 13.8 (86) to 8.20 (68) 2nd semi final defeat of first time finalists Adelaide.
The 1993 grand final against Essendon was a major disappointment, however, as Carlton were comprehensively outplayed. The Bombers won 20.13 (133) to 13.11 (89) in front of 96,862 fans, and only skipper Steve Kernahan's 7 goals accorded some respectability to the scoreline.
For much of the 1994 season Carlton appeared on course for a repeat grand final appearance at the very least. However, after finishing 2nd on the ladder following the home and away matches the Blues suffered an embarrassing fade out in the finals, going out in straight sets to Melbourne (by 27 points) and Geelong (by 33 points). Coach Parkin, speaking in the wake of the Geelong defeat, felt constrained to question his own abilities:
"The hardest thing to know is whether you're still coaching well or have the players on tap........... The way we played today, with the lack of discipline in our play, you'd have to question yourself in that regard." [see footnote 22]
|
Stephen Kernahan |
Despite these misgivings Parkin was back
at the helm in 1995 as the Blues swept all before them, winning 20 out of 22
home and away matches in arguably the greatest single season performance in
League history. Wins over Brisbane
and North
Melbourne in the finals followed,
setting Carlton up for a revenge tilt at their 1994 conquerors, Geelong, in the
'big one'.
Most observers expected the Cats to throw out a strong challenge but the Blues were in irrepressible form winning by 61 points, 21.15 (141) to 11.14 (80). Greg Williams (5 goals) won the Norm Smith Medal to add to his two Brownlows, while other notable contributors to an effervescent team performance included full back Steve Silvagni, who kept his renowned opponent Gary Ablett goalless, defenders Ang Christou, Andrew McKay, Peter Dean and Michael Sexton, and full forward and skipper Stephen Kernahan, who like Williams booted 5 goals. Success in any sphere of life is ephemeral, however, as Carlton swiftly discovered in 1996. Although the Blues were always going to make the finals there was something vital missing from their make up which suggested that back to back flags was not a realistic proposition. And so it proved, West Coast (by 55 points) and Brisbane (by an acutely embarrassing 97 points) ending Carlton's season in emphatic fashion. A year later the Blues fared even worse, failing to make the finals at all, [see footnote 23] while in the early months of the 1998 season there appeared to be a genuine prospect of the unthinkable happening, as the Blues mounted a legitimate and quite concerted challenge for the wooden spoon. Thus, less than four years after arguably the club's finest hour, the knives were suddenly out, sharpened and poised. 'Too old and too slow' was the all too familiar, if in truth somewhat hackneyed, accusation being levelled by the media; significantly, it was also levelled at the club after both its 1993 grand final loss to Essendon and its humiliating 'straight sets' departure from the '94 finals, but few could argue that the recovery - if such it was - on that occasion was spectacular. |
Carlton's recovery in 1998 was less spectacular, but it was at least sufficient to enable them to avoid the ultimate ignominy. Indeed, in round 17 they were good enough to amass the season's highest AFL score of 29.11 (185) against strong flag contender the Western Bulldogs. An ultimate position of 11th on the ladder may have been little to get excited about in itself, but overall there were enough positive signs to have Blues' fans quietly confident, if not quite drooling at the mouth, at the prospect of season 1999.
Sure enough, Carlton enjoyed its best season since its flag year of '95, reaching the grand final after a heart-stopping, arguably somewhat fortunate single point victory over premiership favourites Essendon in the preliminary final. The Blues' good fortune came to an end against the Kangaroos the following Saturday, but overall the consensus was that Carlton was a club very much on the upward trail. On the whole the side's performances during the 2000 season re-affirmed this view but an ultimate premiership position of 3rd will not have satisfied most Blues fans who are only ever truly content with premierships. A drop to 6th place in 2001 constituted a "wasted season" according to Carlton coach Wayne Blackwell but to the objective observer it merely emphasised how difficult it is to remain consistently at the top in the cut-throat climate of today's AFL.
As if to reinforce this point the Blues endured their worst ever league season in 2002, plummeting to last place on the list for the first ever time. Moreover, internal difficulties at the club suggested that, in the short term at least, things might well get worse - or at least remain pretty dire - before they ultimately - and, given the club's almost uniquely illustrious pedigree, one dare venture to suggest inevitably - got better, an intimation which the team's record since has only served to endorse (see footnote 24). In this context, the Blues' success in the 2005 Wizard Cup competition was both inexplicable and gratifying, as was Brendon Fevola's amazing achievement in tallying 84 goals in 2006 to top the AFL's goal kicking charts. Since then Carlton has shown fleeting suggestions that a return to the pre-eminence of yesteryear is imminent, but overall the team's performances have disappointed.
Where now?
or
9. Hewat, op cit., page 65.Return to Main Text
10. Ibid., page 69. Return to Main Text
11. Ron Barassi was by no means the first VFL captain to switch clubs. In 1919 former Collingwood skipper Dan Minogue returned from the war and took up a position as captain coach of Richmond. One year later Minogue steered the gold and blacks to their first ever VFL grand final win - against Collingwood, of all clubs. The Magpie hierarchy reacted bitterly to their ex hero's defection, turning his portrait in the Victoria Park clubrooms to the wall. Return to Main Text
12. From 'The Perfidy of Ron Barassi' in Hutchinson, op cit., page 127. Return to Main Text
13. Big Nick by John Nicholls (with Ian Macdonald), page 34. Return to Main Text
14. This brought the Blues' losing run in finals against Richmond to 10 games, stretching back to 1921. Return to Main Text
15. Hewat, op cit., page 88. Return to Main Text
16. Nicholls, op cit., page 132. Return to Main Text
17. This was Carlton's first defeat of Richmond in a major round game for 51 years. Return to Main Text
18. Hewat, op cit., page 93. Return to Main Text
19. Perce Jones, quoted in Hewat, op cit., page 96. Return to Main Text
20. Ibid., page 119. Return to Main Text
21. Doull actually appeared for Carlton on one further occasion - in an end of season exhibition match against North Melbourne at the Oval in London. Return to Main Text
22. Football Year '94, page 22. Return to Main Text
23. Early in 1997 the Blues flattered to deceive when they won the Ansett-Australia Cup, but once the home and away season started their form swiftly plummeted. Return to Main Text
24. In the five seasons since 2002 the Blues have finished 15th, 10th, 16th, 16th and 15th. Return to Main Text
