A tribute to former Carlton defender Barry Schmidt.
By Tony De Bolfo
FORMER Carlton back pocket Barry Schmidt has passed away at the age of 81 – some 60 years after he took to the field for the first of just four senior matches under the watch of the newly-appointed Captain-Coach the late Ron Barassi.
Recruited to the club from Collingwood Technical School following an initial on-field stint with the north suburban outfit Carlton Youth Foundation, Schmidt first turned out for the Carlton Under 19 team in 1962 under Coach Tom Brooker and was duly adjudged Best Clubman. The following year, Schmidt was promoted to the reserves under Jack Carney’s watch, earning a Best and Fairest award for his sterling performances out of a back pocket.
In the wake of another full season with the seconds, Schmidt was called upon for his first senior match, against Geelong in Round 13, 1965. It happened on Saturday, July 24, the day after Norm Smith was sensationally sacked as Melbourne Coach. Named 19th man and sharing the pine with Terry Board, Schmidt, then 21, entered the fray late in the contest, won by the home team. Wearing the No.34 immediately prior to the three-time Premiership player Ian Robertson, Schmidt got to sing the song afterwards, but never again, as this would be the only team victory savoured in his four-game Carlton senior career.
Schmidt was named on the bench twice more in losing contests with South Melbourne and Collingwood, before eventually starting on the ground when the Blues met Richmond on the MCG in Round 17 – Saturday, August 21, 1965. Named on the last line alongside Wes Lofts and Brian Buckley, Schmidt managed 11 possessions and a couple of marks under a fair degree of pressure, as the Blues fell 23 points adrift.
This would be Schmidt’s final senior appearance for Carlton, as it would also be for the ruckman Maurie Sankey in game number 100. Tragically, the 25 year-old Sankey would be killed in a car accident north of Wangaratta just three months later to the day.
Former Carlton rover Adrian Gallagher, a feted member of the 1968, ’70 and ’72 Premiership teams and a Best & Fairest winner in ’70, remembered Schmidt from as far back as the junior years. Of Schmidt, Gallagher recalled: “He was a left footer, played back pocket in the seniors and off a back flank in the lower grades”.
“Barry was pretty tough in his own right,” Gallagher said. “He wasn’t fiery, but he played it hard.”
Barry Schmidt was the 776th player to represent the Carlton Football Club at senior VFL/AFL level since 1897. He died after a long illness on September 30, his wife Maureen and son Craig having predeceased him.