ROUND 10
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The rich tapestry of Carlton Football Club’s history in round 10 is embroidered with many great victories, plenty of goals, problems with umpires, and the sacking of a Premiership coach. Perhaps the most famous incident to occur at this point in the season however, came at Princes Park in 1976, when North Melbourne star Malcolm Blight launched a monster torpedo punt after the siren to sink the Blues by five points. So before we delve into all the other good stuff, let’s get that admirable, but somewhat painful episode out of the way first.
BLIGHT’S BOMB
Only seconds before the final siren in our home game against the Roos on Saturday June 5, 1976, Carlton was in front by one point when Blight was paid a mark, just forward of the wing on the city side of Princes Park. But before he could move the ball on, the siren sounded, and he was left with no option but attempt the near-impossible. “He’ll have to kick it 75 metres,” said commentator Lou Richards, and that’s exactly what Blight did. Purely as fans of the game, we had to admire his smooth, balanced run-up, and the sweet contact with his right boot that sent the ball barrelling high, and impossibly long - straight between the posts in front of the Heatley stand.
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BILLY BLOWS IT
William ‘Billy’ Dick was literally a one-eyed Blue. Although blind in one eye, he rose to the captaincy of Carlton in 1914, and was widely regarded as our best player in that year’s great Grand Final victory over South Melbourne. Then in 1915, Dick was reported for striking Fitzroy’s Jack Cooper, and for using insulting language to the field umpire, during Carlton’s round 10 clash with the Maroons at Brunswick Street oval.
At the subsequent VFL hearing, the second count brought a reprimand, while the first charge resulted in a 10-week suspension that ruled Dick out of the 1915 finals. Carlton was incensed by the penalty, and vigorously appealed it - all to no avail. The League stood its ground, leaving Billy to watch from the stands on Grand Final day, when his Blueboys made it two flags in a row with an emphatic win over arch-rivals Collingwood.
GOALS GALORE
By 1942, three champion Carlton forwards; Horrie Clover, ‘Soapy’ Vallence, and Paul Schmidt, had all equalled our club’s round 10 goal-kicking record of 8 goals during home games at Princes Park. Clover did it first, collecting his haul against Collingwood in 1930, although it was Vallence who won that particular match when he steered through a pressure kick right on the final bell, to clinch victory by 4 points.
Two years later, Soapy joined Horrie on top of the round 10 honour board when he booted eight in Carlton’s 11-goal demolition of Essendon. Paul Schmidt then climbed onto the same pedestal in 1942, sending through another eight big ones in the Blues’ 28-point victory over Melbourne.
At the peak of his form, Carlton’s Captain of the Century; Stephen Kernahan, posted seven goals three times in this round - in 1990 against Richmond at the MCG, in 1992 against Essendon at Princes Park, and in 1994 at home again against Footscray. Three seasons prior to that, in 1987, Mark Majerczak joined one of football’s most exclusive cliques when he goaled with his first kick, while Carlton destroyed the Brisbane Bears by 103 points at Princes Park.
FIVE BY THREE - TWICE
And just to add a little more garnish to that imposing record, two particular Carlton victories in round 10 have been made even sweeter by triple 5-goal hauls. The first time was in June 1948, when the Blues thrashed South Melbourne by 62 points at the Lake Oval. ‘Mulga’ Davies, Ken Baxter and Ray Garby reaped five majors each that afternoon, setting up a much-needed win that revived Carlton’s hopes of defending the 1947 flag.
We then fast-forward to 1995, when ‘Sticks’ Kernahan (who was returning from injury), Brad Pearce, and Mil Hanna all booted five when the Blues shattered Hawthorn by 102 points at Princes Park. That too, was a landmark victory that launched a club-record sequence of 18 consecutive wins for Carlton, including our magnificent 1995 Premiership.
BIG WINS
With all those goals being scored, Blues’ supporters have always had plenty of big victories to celebrate. Our most comprehensive win ever in round 10 came comparatively recently – in 2001, when Carlton held West Coast to only three goals and destroyed them by 119 points at Princes Park. Prior to that, we shattered Sydney by 116 points at the MCG in 1986, and a year later, thumped the Brisbane Bears by 103 when they ventured to Princes Park. All up, the Carlton Football Club has beaten opposition teams by ten goals (or more) seven times in this round.
UMPIRE KAIN COPS IT
During the 1920’s, field umpire John Kain apparently lasted just one season in the VFL, and if the ruckus surrounding two of the games he controlled are any guide, it’s easy to see why. Some weeks before he was appointed to take charge of the Carlton-Melbourne match at Princes Park in round 10, 1927, newspapers had reported that umpire Kain had had a bucket of water tipped over his head by an irate spectator. But after the game at Princes Park finished in a 15-point win to the Redlegs, much worse was in store.
As the Blues mounted a spirited bid for victory from 21 points behind at three-quarter time, the home crowd was infuriated when umpire Kain didn’t see, or refused to pay, a blatant free kick near goal to Carlton winger Joe Kelly. Carlton fell short of victory, and a howling mob confronted the man in white. While police struggled to protect him, Kain was abused, threatened and pelted with stones and fruit. It took three attempts before he reached the safety of the change room, and observers were surprised that only one man was arrested during the melee.
ARE YOU BLIND, UMPIRE?
Umpires were in the firing line again in round 10, 1934, after another wild and willing clash between Carlton and Collingwood at Victoria Park. Intermittent rain and a strong breeze made skilful play difficult, and in the third quarter, a huge brawl involving at least 20 players erupted. Police and officials from both clubs were required to break up the fight, and while numerous bookings resulted, both boundary umpires and one goal umpire were later suspended by the VFL for “dereliction of duty” because they did not report obvious offences by Collingwood players during the game. And in a foot-note to that match, future Carlton captain and Premiership player Jim Francis celebrated his first career goal that afternoon – then played 100 more times before kicking his second!
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INS AND OUTS
The early VFL seasons saw a big turnover of players throughout each year, although there were, and continues to be, relatively few debuts and departures at Carlton at this time of year. The first prominent Blue to start his career in round 10 was George Topping; our elusive goal-sneak full-forward in Carlton’s 1906-07-08 Premiership teams. Norman Clark, one of the true giants of the club, arrived from South Australia in 1905, then we waited until 1962 to welcome popular clubman Cliff Stewart.
Remarkably, round 10 didn’t see the departure or retirement of a senior Carlton player of note until 1937, when Clen Denning took his considerable ability to the other side of Nicholson St and joined Fitzroy. Carlton’s reliable full-back in the 1938 Premiership team, Frank Gill, retired after this round in 1942, while the determined Andy Lukas (who changed his name from Lukimitis to further his career) also headed to Fitzroy in 1973. Former West Coast Eagle Matt Clape - who was such an offensive weapon for Carlton throughout our 1995 Premiership campaign – retired in 1998, followed five seasons later by three-time Best and Fairest winner, Premiership star and future senior coach, Brett Ratten.
THE DEMISE OF ROBERT WALLS
By September, 1987, three-time Premiership player and former club captain Robert Walls was once again a hero at Princes Park, after coaching the Blues to that year’s flag. But sadly, the afterglow of that 15th flag win lasted less than a season. While the Blues ended 1988 third on the ladder, and crushed Collingwood in the Qualifying Final, we then lost to Hawthorn and Melbourne in successive weeks and crashed out of contention. Walls was disgusted by those two defeats, and let every member of the senior squad at Carlton know about it.
But rather than rallying the team, such criticism was deeply resented by a number of key players, and they simply switched off. Therefore, by half-way through 1989, Carlton had won only two games – and when the struggling Brisbane Bears kicked a last-minute goal at Princes Park in round 10 – courtesy of controversial forward Warwick Capper - and beat the Blues by 3 points, breaking point was reached. Walls was abruptly sacked, and replaced by another Carlton legend in Alex Jesaulenko.
DISHING IT UP TO THE DOGS
Finally, surely few of Carlton’s many wins in round 10 have been more inspirational than our ten-point triumph over the Western Bulldogs at the MCG on Sunday, June 3, 2007. Coming as it did on the heels of the bleakest five years in our history, it was a rallying point for the club, and one of our first steps towards a return to finals football in 2009.
What made that win so gratifying for so many Bluebaggers was that this time, coach Denis Pagan opted to take the Bulldogs on at their own style of game, banking on the class of Carlton’s young brigade to seize their chance. The glimpse of the future provided by the likes of Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy, Jarrad Waite, Andrew Carrazzo and Kade Simpson lifted every True-Blue’s spirits that Sunday afternoon at the MCG, as we downed one of the League’s front-running teams by ten points in a quality contest. Adding to joy and satisfaction of a memorable day, hard-running defender Bret Thornton celebrated his 100th senior game, while Bryce Gibbs was rightfully nominated for the NAB Rising Star award.
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