THE dark Navy Blue guernsey worn by the late Carlton ruckman Graham McColl through his one and only senior League season of 1958 has found a new home back at the old ground.

The No.36 long sleeve woollen garment, lovingly maintained by Graham’s wife of 65 years Dorothy, was generously handed over for inclusion in the football club archive, along with various football records of the day, by their son Glenn.

“I think this is the right place for Dad’s guernsey to go. I’d hate to see the old jumper just rot away,” Glenn said.

“I haven’t got any kids to pass the guernsey on to, and with the new Blues museum I think it’s fitting. I know Dad would be chuffed as Carlton meant so much to him.

“The same with the records. They have nowhere to go and I’d rather they go to the club than wind up on eBay.”

Glenn, a Parks Auditor with the City of Melbourne, is, as with his sister Meryl, a lifelong Carlton supporter.

“I was brainwashed from a very early age,” Glenn conceded of his true Blue ties. “When I was about four or five, my grandfather took me to the Carlton ground to watch my Dad out on the field. After the game, my grandfather would take me into the room to see Dad, and I’d go into the inner sanctum with my autograph book.

“Sometimes I’d follow Dad into the rooms at half-time. A memory I have of these experiences is seeing the bootstudders quickly working their craft. The players were so very good to me too and if you ask me to nominate a favourite I have a soft spot for Bruce Doull for the way he went about his football and because he was such a nice man. I also had a great relationship with Rod Ashman.”

Graham McColl, whose association with the Club would endure for more than a quarter of a century – but not as he anticipated – passed away back in March after a short illness in Geelong Hospital.

Recruited to the Club from neighbouring VFA outfit Coburg, McColl – a Life Member of Carlton – completed his debut with Bill Arch and Chris Pavlou in the Round 2 match of 1958 against North Melbourne at Princes Park – but he was just 10 games into his maiden season when he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

McColl suffered the injury in the night Grand Final against St Kilda at the Lakeside Oval that September. He resumed training the following March, only to break down with the same injury, and at 24, his League career was over before it had begun.

Princes Park, March 1959. Graham McColl, wearing his No.36 long sleeve guernsey, breaks down with a recurrence of the ruptured ACL incurred the previous September. An anxious Carlton Senior Coach Ken Hands watches on as McColl is assisted from the ground by trainers, and at 24 the budding ruckman’s career is over.

The proverbial silver lining came with McColl’s subsequent pursuit of recovery techniques – which in turn piqued his interest in becoming a club trainer – and so it was that McColl embarked on his new career at Carlton, rising through the ranks of the support staff from thirds, to reserves and ultimately seniors.

In the premiership season of 1981, McColl’s contributions to Carlton as trainer were rewarded with Life Membership – the same year in which three-time premiership player Mark Maclure (who wore McColl’s No.36) and the late Graeme Whitnall were similarly honoured.

By then, McColl’s son had been on hand for each of the five Carlton premierships including the ’68 droughtbreaker, with more to follow. To quote Glenn: “It was a fantastic era for Carlton and I was truly blessed”.

“It’s been a long time between drinks since 1995, with an entire generation of Carlton supporters who haven’t experienced success, so it’s fantastic to see the progress today’s players are making,” he said.

“And the next Carlton premiership will be the greatest of them all because it would have been the hardest earnt.”

In a lovely postscript to this story, members of the McColl family were out in force at Marvel Stadium on Sunday to savour the Carlton team’s 36-point win over the visiting Greater Western Sydney . . . and maybe Graham was looking down.

“I know Mum was especially chuffed to have attended having not been to a live match in about 40 years since Dad last worked at the Club,” Glenn said.

“It was terrific for her and for all of us to be there for the win – a great result for the club – and to see Josh Honey running around in Dad’s old number and kick a goal was a genuine highlight.”

The McColl family and members of extended family at Marvel Stadium on Sunday. Pictured from left to right are Liam Whiteside, Bill Whiteside, Dorothy McColl, Glenn McColl and his partner Jacqui Kinder, Meryl Whiteside (née McColl) and Max Kinder. This photograph was posted at the main change by Meryl Whiteside (née McColl) on Facebook with the caption: “For Dad. Go Carlton, half time”.

FORMER Carlton rover Bruce Williams, a member of the Blues’ 1962 Grand Final 20, has passed away on the Gold Coast after a long illness. He was 83.

Williams, who was receiving palliative care, passed away in the lounge room of his home in Burleigh Waters on Monday, his wife of 61 years Lesley and daughter Krista by his side.

It was on the cusp of the 1959 season that Lesley – Williams’ then girlfriend whom he’d met a local dance – accompanied the Carlton hopeful on the move from Morwell. On arrival, they were billeted out to a home in Linda Street in nearby Coburg, and as Lesley recalled: “We stayed with a lady named Mrs Smith, her husband and their little girl because Mrs Smith took in borders”.

Williams was eight days shy of his 20th birthday when he followed the captain Bruce Comben down the race and onto Princes Park for his first Carlton game – the opening round match of the ’59 season.

Named on a half-forward flank for that match with Essendon, Williams took his place alongside another debutant John Williams (no relation) – whose son Mark also represented the club at senior level – in what was Ken Hands’ first match as Senior Coach. Harry Beitzel umpired that contest, and the home team – with the late Sergio Silvagni at full-forward, booting four of his five match-day goals in the opening term – got up by 14 points.

The left-footed Williams – sporting the No.7 later worn by Wayne Johnston, Brett Ratten and now Matthew Kennedy – made an immediate impression, earning his club’s Best First Year Player Award in season ’59. His 62 senior career games would take in another five seasons as the recognised No.1 rover to Graham Donaldson (and later John Nicholls), all of them under Hands’ watch.

Williams was there in ’62 when the Carlton players, by virtue of a drawn preliminary final with Geelong and victory in the replay, were effectively spent by Grand Final day. But he was amongst the better performers on that last Saturday in September, booting three of the Blues’ eight goals, after accruing six in the three lead-up finals combined.

Ian Collins, Carlton’s 1968 premiership player and later its Chief Executive and President, was a member of that ’62 Grand Final team. Of Williams, Collins remembered a genuine ball winner and a personable teammate.

“Bruce was one of our three on-ballers with ‘Stringy’ (Leo) Brereton and Peter Falconer,” Collins recalled.

“He used to find the ball all right. He wasn’t overly quick, he didn’t have an abundance of pace, but he was a nice kick, he kicked about as many goals as he played games (56) and was a handy player.

“On top of that, he was a real good bloke.”

On completing his time at Carlton, Williams wasn’t lost to the game. After a protracted struggle to obtain a clearance, he was lured back to Morwell as assistant coach by his old Carlton teammate Donaldson, but took the helm with the seniors when Donaldson was hospitalised. He was appointed Morwell’s permanent Senior Coach in 1966 and he later relocated to the Riverina, firstly to Berrigan as its resident coach, and later Ganmain.

“Bruce and I lived in Wagga for some time, and he worked as a bookmaker there,” Lesley said. “But he got itchy feet and found another coaching job in Queensland with Palm Beach. He took Palm Beach to a premiership and we lived in the area ever since.”

Williams was the 724th player to represent the Carlton Football Club at senior level since the formation of the VFL in 1897, and as Lesley explained he supported the old dark Navy Blues to the end.

“He loved Carlton, heart and soul. He watched every match his old team played and he was so encouraged to see the change in the team’s fortunes,” Lesley said.

“Carlton meant so much to him. The Club gave him his start in football.”

Bruce Williams is survived by his beloved wife Lesley, eldest son Craig, daughter Krista Arnold, seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

His youngest son Paul passed away of motor neurone disease 12 years ago.

The Carlton players will wear black armbands as a mark of respect to Williams, in Saturday night’s match with Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

The Carlton team, which included first-gamer Bruce Williams, for the season opener v Essendon – Saturday 18 April 1959 at Princes Park

B:           Bruce Comben (c)                  George Ferry                     John Nicholls
HB:         Denis Zeunert                        Bob Crowe                        John James
C:           Graham Gilchrist                     Laurie Kerr                       John Chick (vc)
HF:         Bruce Williams                        John Williams                   Don Nicholls
F:           Gerald Burke                          Sergio Silvagni                   Leo Brereton
R:          Graham Donaldson (dvc)          Kevin Clarke                      John Heathcote
Res:       Doug Beasy                            Brian Buckley

Coach:  Ken Hands

NEIL Chandler – whose 76 senior appearances for Carlton included the famous Grand Final victories of 1968, ’70 and ’72 – has passed away suddenly at the age of 73.

On the recommendation and the former Carlton ruckman and then Morwell coach Graham Donaldson, Chandler was recruited to the Club from the South Gippsland regional town of Welshpool. It was the summer of 1967 and Chandler suddenly found himself sharing locker space with the likes of Alex Jesaulenko and Brian Kekovich, all budding recruits under Ron Barassi’s watch.

In the presence of champions through a golden epoch in Carlton history, the understated ruck-rover who first wore the No.47 and later the No.22 contributed significantly to the Club’s on-field cause.

In the Round 14 of 1968, at just 19 years and 75 days, Chandler completed his senior debut against Essendon at that most inhospitable of venues, Windy Hill. The visitors went down by a goal in that one, but Chandler was a dozen games from Grand Final greatness and revenge was swift.

In the low-scoring Grand Final of ’68 against Essendon, having shared bench space with the late Peter McLean, Chandler held up his end with a number of crucially contested marks in midfield; in the unforgettable Grand Final of ’70 against Collingwood he again played his part in what was perhaps the game’s greatest come-from-behind victory; and in the ’72 Grand Final against Richmond – in what was his 50th senior appearance – he contributed one of his team’s record-breaking 28 goals off a wing.

Adrian Gallagher, the 165-game Carlton rover who hailed from the South Gippsland township of Yarram, turned out at Windy Hill when Chandler completed his senior debut — and like Chandler savoured the sugarsweet Grand Final successes of 1968, ’70 and ’72.

“Neil was in the right place at the right time, three premierships in 50 games, and he was an important player in each of them,” Gallagher said.

“He took those important marks late in the ’68 Grand Final and was an important replacement for ‘Gooldy’ (John Goold) in the Grand Final two years later.

“He was a ruck-rover-type and ‘Barass’ loved him. He played the game in the right manner and he was an excellent bloke. He was a great country boy, straight off the farm, and he and I always liked to talk about the local footy back home. He was always measured and he was very laidback.”

Chandler’s on-field career ended in 1974 with six senior appearances for St Kilda – Carlton’s opponent at Marvel Stadium next Friday night – but in the ensuing years he always partook in the various premiership reunions and club functions.

He was on hand at Carlton’s Life Members Luncheon at Kew Golf Club back in March and more recently at a gathering of 13 of the surviving 18 of the ’72 Grand Finial when the Blues and Richmond met at the MCG in the opening round.

He would have been a welcome presence at the upcoming 1972 premiership reunion at Marvel Stadium. Sadly, that is not to be.

Chandler was the 806th player to represent the Carlton Football Club at senior level since the formation of the Victorian Football League.

The Carlton senior players will wear black armbands as a mark of respect for the late Chandler in Saturday afternoon’s match with Fremantle at Marvel Stadium.

JOHN Lloyd, the Carlton half-back in the early years under Ron Barassi’s watch, and patriarch of the Lloyd football family, has passed away after a long illness at the age of 77.

Recruited to the club from Yarrawonga in what was Barassi’s maiden season as Carlton captain-coach, Lloyd was handed the No.18 guernsey now worn by Sam Walsh – and locker space between the 1964 Brownlow Medallist Gordon Collis at No.17 and the ’68 premiership back pocket Ian Collins at 19.

“They were terrific days,” Lloyd recalled in an interview with this reporter eight years ago. “Barassi recruited me to Carlton in ’65 and it was a really good time. There was so much change with him coming to the Club as playing coach, and it was really exciting.”

It was in Round 4 of 1965, against North Melbourne at Princes Park, that Lloyd emerged from the dugout and took his place on the field for the first time. The home team thumped North by 63 points in that one, with Jim ‘Frosty’ Miller booting five goals and the late Terry Board adjudged best afield.

Lloyd’s senior career at Carlton would span three seasons and 29 matches – the last of them the 1967 second semi final against Richmond, when opposition ruckman Neville Crowe was found guilty of striking John Nicholls and duly suspended, thereby depriving him of his place in the Tigers victorious ’67 Grand Final team.

At the time, Lloyd’s 29 outings for Carlton would have been more than enough to ensure son Matthew also donned the dark Navy Blue guernsey.

“Earlier in the piece, 20 games was the number required, and I had 29 to my name,” Lloyd said.

“Carlton had talked about drafting Matt under the father-son rule, but he was only 13 or 14 at that stage and by the time he was due to be drafted the rule was changed from 20 to 50 games – and that was it.”

Regrettably the club fell foul of the red tape, and whereas John never once put the football over the goal umpire’s hat, Matthew would boot 926 career goals for Essendon.

Lloyd was a welcome guest at The Plenary for Carlton’s 150th anniversary celebrations in June 2014.

That night, he talked of the sheer privilege of renewing acquaintances with old Princes Park contemporaries, ‘Barass’ included.

“I’ve seen Adrian Gallagher, Barry Gill, John Gill and Jimmy Pleydell, and I’ve been doing the rounds trying to get to a few more,” Lloyd said towards the end of proceedings.

“But there’s so many in the house that I can’t get to them all unfortunately.”

To the end, John maintained an interest in the on-field fortunes of his former club – particularly so with son Brad’s involvement as Carlton’s Head of Football but he was equally invested in Matthew’s post-football media career and Simon’s progression as Geelong’s General Manager – Football.

Carlton CEO Brian Cook paid tribute to Lloyd’s legacy to the game.

“On behalf of the Carlton Football Club, we send our deepest condolences to the Lloyd family, following the passing of John,” Cook said.

“John paved the way for his family, who have given such outstanding service to football across such a long period of time, a lasting legacy that would no doubt make his family incredibly proud.”

John Lloyd was the 773rd player to represent Carlton at senior League level. The Carlton Football Club mourns John’s passing and extends its deepest sympathies to all members of the Lloyd family.

PICTURED here for posterity are Carlton’s inaugural and reigning John Coleman Medallists – Tom Carroll (to the right of the photograph) and Harry McKay – after meeting for the first time at IKON Park in the lead-up to the team’s Round 10 match with Sydney.

Sixty years separates their achievements – Carroll having earned the medal retrospectively for his 54-goal return from 18 home-and-away matches from full-forward in his inaugural season of 1961, and Harry having won the medal for the competition’s leading goalkicker with 58 from 19 last year – both at the healthy average of three goals a game.

“Harry made me look like a rover,” Carroll dryly suggested afterwards. “It was lovely to meet him at the Club, and I also got to talk to ‘Diesel’ (Greg Williams) and Sam Walsh.

“I also got to say g’day to ‘Vossy’ (Michael Voss) and Matthew Kennedy, who came from Collingullie, not far from Ganmain.”

Recruited to Carlton from Ganmain in the Riverina and now living quietly in Albury, the 82 year-old Carroll, a guest of the Carlton President for the Swans match, is like most former players buoyed by the current group’s recent performances – “and having used 36 players the depth is obviously good”.

At Carlton, Carroll opted for the flat punt throughout his 55 senior matches over three seasons, during which time he took the Club’s goalkicking honours with the Coleman Medal-winning 54 in 1961, 62 in 1962 and 27 in 1963.

So named after John Coleman, the Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend who booted 537 goals in 98 senior appearances for Essendon, the Coleman Medal was first presented to former Richmond full-forward Michael Roach in 1981.

In September 2001, the League recognised all leading goalkickers prior to Roach’s victory – from 1955 (the year after Coleman’s last match) to 1980 – and all including Carroll were named retrospective Coleman Medallists.

Winners prior to 1955 – at Carlton Mick Grace (45 goals, 1906), Ern Cowley (35 goals, 1918), ‘Horrie’ Clover (54 goals, 1922) and Harry Vallence (72 goals, 1931) – were also named Leading Goalkicker Medallists, and in July 2004 medals were presented to their surviving families in a ceremony at the Melbourne Town Hall.

Aside from Carroll and McKay, former Carlton full-forward Brendan Fevola is a two-time winner with 84 goals in 2006 and 86 in 2009.

Ten years ago, Carroll and Fevola were photographed together at Lavington.

In the aftermath of the stirring Carlton-Sydney contest, Tom’s son Dean Carroll said the following:

“Thanks to Shane O’Sullivan and the club, Mum and Dad have had a special couple of days at Carlton and at last night’s President’s Dinner.

“Dad hadn’t been back inside the club for a lot of years – the ‘70s was the last time he reckons! It was pretty surreal for Dad to walk in the door last night and meet ‘Big Nick’ and Syd Jackson straight up! They had a great 15-20mins or so together.

“The dinner was great, Dad was able to mingle pre-game and he loved the Blues’ win!”

CARLTON’S four-time Premiership player and club Best and Fairest Bruce Doull – one of the few universally admired footballers in League history and without question its most shy – has generously agreed to break his silence in support of an important cause led by fellow Norm Smith Medallist David Rhys-Jones.

Doull, a member of Carlton’s and the AFL’s Teams of the Century, is one of 15 former sportsmen who have agreed to be interviewed by the 182-game former South Melbourne/Sydney and Carlton footballer, as part of an annual fundraiser for the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Victoria of which Rhys-Jones is an Ambassador.

Joining Doull in fielding Rhys-Jones’ questions as part of the #15for15 Challenge are fellow former Carlton players Matthew Allan, Jim Buckley, Milham Hanna and Matthew Kreuzer; on-field adversaries Peter Daicos, Mick McGuane, Tony Shaw and Dane Swan (Collingwood), Terry Daniher (Essendon) and Scott West (Footscray/Western Bulldogs); and the one-time Australian Super Featherweight boxing champion Barry Michael.

The two-minute video-taped Doull interview has been availed to the Club exclusively. In it, the 356-game great reflects on his great rivalry with Richmond’s Royce Hart (“I didn’t sleep well the night before I played on Royce”) and he offers his thoughts of today’s Carlton and where it is heading under Michael Voss’ watch.

For Rhys-Jones, the coup of securing an interview with Doull was part of a bigger picture.

“This is about getting more people on board and creating an awareness for PWS,” Rhys-Jones said of his commitment to the challenge.

“I’m hoping to raise a few bob for the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Victoria because there’s a bit of research happening.”

The #15for15 Challenge takes its name from the actual Prader-Willi Syndrome condition in which several genes on the 15th chromosome are deleted or unexpressed – leading to individuals developing insatiable appetites, difficult behaviour traits and developmental problems.

This rare and complex non-inherited genetic spectrum disorder reduces the average life expectancy for someone with the condition to just 37 years.

Rhys-Jones’ interest in promoting awareness of PWS and raising funds for the cause is deeply personal, as his son Cooper, now 18, lives with the condition. Not surprisingly, much of David and his wife Cheri’s days are taken as Cooper’s carers.

“Cooper was given growth hormone because he wasn’t able to produce it himself. He’s on medication for anxiety, and he’s ticking along.

“He basically needs 24-hour supervision and there are carers to assist. He experiences a lot of anxiety and as a result Cheri and I probably don’t go out as much as you don’t know when or where Cooper could have a melt-down.”

According to Rhys-Jones, around one in 15,000 individuals live with PWS – amongst them the daughter of the dual North Premiership defender Frank Gumbleton, who according to Rhys-Jones “is around 40 years old now and doing quite well”.

Though treatment for PWS has become more accessible and less expensive there is still much to be done, according to Rhys-Jones.

“It would be terrific if anyone was able to throw a few shekels into help,” he said. “The PWA of Victoria does a great job to support the families dealing with this. It’s a real little community and I’m part of it.”

David Rhys-Jones launches his 15-day challenge on his Facebook page today (17 May). Carlton members and supporters who might like to support Rhys-Jones’s cause by way of donation are encouraged to access this link.