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“Bloodbath” Blue dies… and then there was one

By Tony De Bolfo

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Former Carlton half-forward Alex Way has passed away at the age of 89. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

Former Carlton half-forward Alex Way, a participant in the infamous “Bloodbath” Grand Final of 1945, has died after a short illness.

Way’s sudden passing yesterday at the age of 89 means that Ken Hands is the sole surviving member of the Blues’ ’45 Premiership team, almost 70 years after football’s most fearsome contest.

Informed of the news last night, Hands replied: “Isn’t that so very strange? Someone asked me only the other day who was left from ’45 and I said ‘Well I’m still here, but there’s another I haven’t seen or heard from for ages, and that’s Alex Way’”.

“I know that Alex played in ’45 and he was there in the Premiership year of ’47, but he followed Ron Savage to Tasmania and was there for a long time,” Hands said.

“One thing that sticks in my mind with Alex was that he was a beautiful kick. I can remember him one day at the Richmond ground marking a kick-in from full-back then drilling it through the goals with a drop. He really was a wonderful kick.”

Way’s death follows the passing of fellow ’45 combatant Doug Williams at the age of 91 in August.

And while Hands alone lives to tell the tale, his memory of “The Bloodbath” is somewhat clouded, courtesy a “Basher” Williams forearm delivered with stunning ferocity in the second quarter.

Way, the nephew of former Carlton footballer of the 1920s Jack Way, joined the club from neighbouring Coburg Rangers towards the end of the Second World War. He was just 18 when he took to the field for the first of 32 senior matches in dark Navy – in the second round of 1944 against Hawthorn – thus becoming the club’s 590th senior player.

Sporting the No.4 later made famous by Stephen Kernahan and (now) Bryce Gibbs, Way found his niche on a flank through 16 matches of the following season, but was still considered a surprise call-up (at the expense of the suspended Fred Fitzgibbon) for the Grand Final against South Melbourne, having not turned out for the seniors for a month.

With the MCG unavailable due to its use as a transit centre for American troops, Princes Park played host to the ’45 Grand Final before an incredible turnout of almost 63,000 people, many of them returned servicemen in slouch hats.

More sympathetically dubbed the “Peace and Victory” Premiership, “The Bloodbath” degenerated into a rolling brawl after quarter time, as members of both outfits went at eachother with fists, elbows, knees, boots and whatever else.


The 1945 Premiership Team. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

Carlton’s maniacal captain Bob Chitty, together with resident ruckman Ron Savage (who paradoxically took out the Blues’ Best and Fairest award that year), copped eight match suspensions for various charges, as did South’s aptly-named Don Grossman.

“Basher” Williams, meanwhile, was rubbed out for a lazy 12 matches for a host of on-field misdemeanors, including “adopting a fighting attitude”.

But Way made his mark in a pivotal play moments before half-time in “The Bloodbath”. Intercepting a clearing pass from South full-back “Gentleman Jim” Cleary, he completed a juggling mark, played on and speared a crisp footpass to Ron Savage, who promptly handballed to Albert “Mick” Price for a telling goal.

The 1945 Grand Final would serve as the pinnacle of Way’s playing career. He’d manage a dozen senior appearances in ’46, but thereafter mostly represented the Blues’ reserve grade XVIII.

His last hurrah for Carlton at senior level came in the 10th Round of ’48 – appropriately enough against “The Bloods”, only this time at the Lakeside Oval where the visitors got up by 41 points with Fred Davies and Ray Garby booting five goals apiece.

Way’s subsequent foray into the Apple Isle saw him chase the leather for the City and Longford clubs in the original Northern Tasmanian Football Association, and he also found work for the railways as a fitter and turner.

He returned to the mainland in 1963 to help his older sister Val tend to their ailing mother at her home in Melbourne’s south-east – and there the siblings remained for the rest of their adult lives.

Way was admitted to Malvern’s Cabrini Hospital on Monday after developing pneumonia.

Though he never married, he is survived by Val and members of extended family all of whom he loved dearly. His younger brother Tom died a little more than a month ago.

Way’s nephew John Way talked of a soft-spoken, private character who always maintained a keen interest in those close to him and his beloved Blues.

“Uncle Alex remained loyal to Carlton despite leaving the place pretty early in the piece to follow Ron Savage to Tasmania,” John said.

“He was a lovely bloke, a man of integrity who followed his heart and did whatever he did to the nth degree. He was a perfectionist.”

The funeral service for Alex Way is to be held at St Paul’s Catholic Church, 122 Jasper Road, Bentleigh this Thursday, November 13, commencing at 10am, with the burial to take place at Fawkner Cemetery at 1.30pm.

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Footballer, cricketer and wartime ace Dowsley dies

By Tony De Bolfo
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Former Carlton footballer Harcourt Dowsley. (Photo: Supplied)

Harcourt Dowsley, the Carlton footballer and Victorian cricketer who piloted Catalinas through the dark days of the Second World War, has died at the age of 95.

Considered an outstanding schoolboy sportsman in his formative years at Melbourne Grammar, and a member of Old Melburnians’ B-Section Premiership team of 1938, Dowsley ventured into Princes Park on the invitation of the then Carlton Captain Jim Francis, just a few weeks before the former was called up for active service with the RAAF.

It was 1941, and Dowsley’s senior appearances with the team would be confined to just three. Sporting the No.20 later made famous by Wes Lofts, Geoff Southby and Fraser Brown (and now Nick Holman), he would line up at full-forward for Carlton’s 5th, 6th and 7th rounds of ’41 – having previously turned out at full-back in a succession of matches for Melbourne’s reserves.

Dowsley made an immediate impression, booting four goals on debut for the Bentley-coached Blues which met St Kilda at the Junction Oval. He followed up with another two against Collingwood at Princes Park, but at one point lost consciousness after being rammed head-first into the boundary fence.

The arrival of his call-up notice on the Monday after the Collingwood game meant that Harcourt’s seventh round appearance against Melbourne would be his last. He booted a solitary goal against the Redlegs, bid farewell to teammates Chitty, Crisp and McLean, and then went off to war.


Dowsley flies for a mark whilst playing schoolboy football for Melbourne Grammar. (Photo: Supplied)

Dowsley completed months of training as a pilot officer before being assigned to Catalina flying-boats. For the next four years, he and his seven-man crew braved heavily-armed Japanese fighters, anti-aircraft fire, tropical storms and fatigue as they flew daytime and night-time missions against the Japanese in the south-west Pacific.

Though the Japanese surrendered to the Allied forces in August 1945, Dowsley wasn’t discharged from wartime service until April of the following year. By then he was still a comparatively young man of 26, but he didn’t return to the football field. Instead, he turned to his other great sporting love of cricket, and played with distinction for both the Melbourne Cricket Club and Victoria.

On his first-class debut, against Tasmania at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1937/38, Dowsley opened the batting and compiled scores of 46 and 72 not out as a hard-hitting right hander. Tasmania would be Dowsley’s opponent in all of his five first-class matches, the first three coming before his VFL stint and the other two after.

Dowsley completed his first-class career having accumulated 336 runs at the healthy average of 56.00 including three half centuries, and he also took two wickets at 37.00 with his right-arm fast-medium bowling.


Dowsley during his RAAF days. (Photo: Supplied)

Later, in season 1948/49, Dowsley captained the MCC to the VCA Premiership.

Dowsley, who sits third on the list of Carlton players known to have goaled with their first kick in League football, after Creswell ‘Mickey’ Crisp in 1931 and Clen Denning in ’35, was, according to his grandson David Packman, an ardent Blues supporter to the end.

“In terms of his club allegiance, Harcourt’s passion for Carlton was there until he died, and whenever possible he would watch the team play on television,” Packman said.

“He followed the fortunes of his team closely.”

Packman added that in terms of the character, Dowsley was determined and never lacking in self-confidence . . . “a man who lived and breathed sport”.

“As well as football and cricket, his exploits on the golf course were equally well-known. He was an incredible golfer,” Packman said.

“He was still playing well into his eighties.”

Dowsley, whose recent years were spent in a Brighton nursing home, died in the Alfred hospital this morning. His wife of 68 years Peggy pre-deceased him in 2010.

He is survived by daughter Sue, twin son and daughter Peter and Prue, and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.

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“Big Nick” commits collection to Carlton archive

By Tony De Bolfo
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Carlton Legend John Nicholls with one of his early press photograph. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

For years it was safely tucked away in storage – an old suitcase crammed with faded clippings, black and white press photographs and sundry items of another time.

These were the very personal football keepsakes of the great John Nicholls, from as far back as the mid-1950s when he first chased the leather for Maryborough, and through the 18 seasons of greatness with both Carlton and Victoria.

Now “Big Nick” has flicked open the suitcase’s latches – and in so doing availed his treasure trove of on-field memories to anyone with an empathy for his incredible football journey.

Nicholls very graciously loaned his unique assortment of material to Carlton for inclusion in its digital archive, in a folder marked the John Nicholls Collection. The collection includes Victorian team photographs from 1959 through to ’72 (remembering Nicholls’ is “The Big V’s” most capped player); ditto the Blues from 1957 to ’74.


John Nicholls breaks through for the Big V. (Photo: John Nicholls Collection)

Hundreds of items in part tell the whole that is the John Nicholls story – the 328 games, the three Premierships, the five Club Best and Fairests and the legendary accolades with both the Carlton and Australian Football Halls of Fame.

“I’ve got a lot of history in my mind, a lot of memory. I love the club and I know that there are a lot of items there that the club may not have – and I’m only too happy for the club to have them,” Nicholls said.

“I appreciate that the club wishes to compile a record, and that sometimes it may be without a photograph or a press clipping to build on that record. So I’m hoping I can help a little in this regard.”

It is hoped that items from the John Nicholls Collection will feature in powerpoint display in future exhibitions earmarked for the foyer area of Visy Park.

Former Carlton players and/or staff members prepared to follow “Big Nick’s” lead are encouraged to loan their precious photographs or documents to the club for inclusion in the digital archive by contacting Tony De Bolfo on 9389 6241.

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Support the AFLPA and Movember

The AFLPA are supporting Movember this year which raises money for men’s health.

We need you all (past players and friends) to help get behind us and support this initiative by joining our AFL PLAYERS MO LEGENDS team and growing ‘MO’. Do this at:

http://au.movember.com/mospace/network/aflplayers

Follow these instructions.

  1. Click on the link above
  2. Click on “Sign Up” green tab at the top of the page
  3. Complete the “sign up for 2014”
  4. Join AFL Players Mo Legends
  5. Complete profile including photo etc.

You can also help out by clicking the following link, http://www.aflplayers.com.au/article/movember-all-stars-selected/

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Mark Arceri’s 50th

Happy 50th to Mark Arceri.

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From the Blueseum


Career : 1991 – 1992
Carlton Debut : Round 5, 1991 vs Geelong, aged 26 years, 177 days
Carlton Player No. 971
Games : 17
Goals : 26
Last Game : Round 6, 1992 vs St Kilda, aged 27 years, 182 days
Guernsey No. 17
Height : 170 cm (5 ft. 7 in.)
Weight : 70 kg (11 stone, 0 lbs.)
DOB : 27 October, 1964

Mark Arceri played the early part of his senior football at VFA club Williamstown, before being picked up by North Melbourne in 1984. At 170 cms and 70 kgs, he was an archetypal rover who was deadly around the goals.

Despite suffering some bad luck with injury, he played 70 games and booted 102 goals for the Roos in seven seasons, then was cleared to Carlton in 1991. Wearing guernsey number 17, Arceri played 17 games for the Blues in 1991-’92, and booted 26 majors. Two of those games are worthy of note.

The first, in round 8 of 1991, saw Carlton play Hawthorn at Waverley. The Blues were beaten by 44 points, but Arceri gathered 19 kicks – 10 of which were frees!

Two weeks later, at the Western Oval, Carlton lost to Footscray by 41 points on a dreadful day when the visitors could manage only 1 goal, 10 behinds – our lowest score ever against the Bulldogs. Mark kicked our solitary goal from a free kick in the last quarter, with only minutes remaining on the clock.

In 1993, Arceri saddled up for his third club when Carlton cleared him to St Kilda. In his final VFL season with the Saints, he managed five more games and five more goals, before returning to Williamstown for one last year at the club where he his father Tony had served as President in 1975.

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John’s romantic return carries even greater poignancy

By Tony De Bolfo

On the morning of June 12 this year, on the eve of the team’s 13th round match with Hawthorn at the MCG, John Stephenson returned to the place he remembered as Princes Park some 56 years after first running out for Carlton.

John had answered the call to join fellow past players in a convivial cup of soup with today’s footballers following a training session at Visy Park, in what was also the lead-up to Carlton’s 150th celebrations that Saturday evening.

John introduced himself as a one-game senior player originally recruited from the central Victorian goldfields town of Maryborough, the place from which this club’s greatest player of all time, John Nicholls, originally hailed.

John also talked quite proudly of a Carlton connection spanning almost 100 years, as his father Jack Stephenson represented the Blues at senior level in 22 games (amongst them the 1921 Grand Final) through 1920, ’21 and ’22.

Like most former players, John knew that representing this club wasn’t a right, but a privilege.

Recruited to the club at 19 after a three-year stint with Benalla, John’s only senior appearance came against South in the final home and away round of 1958, when he followed Captain Bruce Comben down the race and onto the hallowed Carlton turf. Wearing the No.9 on his back, John made his senior debut with Chelsea’s Bill Armstrong – a two-game player later awarded an Order of Australia for service to the international community through Australian Volunteers International.

Warming the pine as 19th man alongside 20th man the late Chris Pavlou, John, together with the Nicholls brothers John and Don, John James and Sergio Silvagni contributed to Carlton’s narrow two-point victory over a spectacularly wayward South Melbourne, 12.11 (83) to 10.21 (81).

A gentler soul you’d never find, John truly savoured his visit to the Visy Park redevelopment. He cast a judicious eye over today’s players from his vantage point on the landing, then shared a cup of soup with the likes of Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Chris Judd afterwards.

John was part of a core of former players including the then Carlton President Stephen Kernahan, fellow Director Adrian Gleeson, Ken Hunter, Ken Sheldon, Peter Bosustow, Mark Maclure and Greg Williams who gathered that morning.

Who was to know that this sentimental homecoming would be John’s last?

John Stephenson was the pilot who died when his kit plane lost control and struck a house and cars in Chelsea a week ago. In the days since, the 77 year-old has been lauded as a hero for somehow managing to steer his plummeting aircraft clear of people frequenting a nearby shopping centre.

John’s son Peter said yesterday that his father, the 723rd man to represent the club at senior League level, wore his commemorative Carlton badge (No.723) with pride to what was billed as the Blues’ “biggest celebration in 150 years” at The Plenary.

“Dad’s father represented Carlton in a Grand Final so he obviously followed the club and he really enjoyed the 150th experience. He renewed acquaintance with a lot of old players and he got to meet ‘Juddy’ (Chris Judd),” Peter said.

“He sat at a table with a group of former players that night, amongst them Barry Bryant, ‘Turkey’ Tom Carroll and Vasil Varlamos. At one point Dad got a mention by the MC, and he got a ribbing from all the others because he’d played only the one game and they’d played more.”

Bryant, who sat alongside John that evening, remembered how upbeat John was to be in the room.

“I remember playing a few games with John in the seconds. He was a half-back flanker as I recall,” said Barry, a 14-game Carlton senior player through 1960 and ‘61.

“I liked him a lot back then and just as much all these years later. I sat with him all night at that function and it’s quite unbelievable now that he’s gone.”


John Stephenson at Visy Park earlier this year. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

Bill Armstrong AO was also at The Plenary that night, but regrettably did not cross paths with his former teammate.

Speaking this week, Bill could not recall John’s presence in that match with South all those years ago “perhaps because I was overawed by the fact that I was playing my first game and I wasn’t terribly aware of others”.

“But I do remember John around the club. He was a year or two younger than me I think, one of the young lads at the place,” said Bill, Carlton’s reserve grade Best and Fairest in ’58 (with John its Most Consistent).

“He was a fairly boisterous character for memory, a very likeable guy – that’s how I remember him – and in reading what’s been written in the press he was a great family man who also did well in business.”

When news of John’s passing came through, this reporter’s thoughts turned to that lovely one-off  meeting in June during which time John also agreed to be interviewed to camera.

That interview, which was not screened at the time, can now be shown with the permission of the Stephenson family.

John Stephenson is survived by his devoted wife of 51 years Val, children Sue, Greg, Janine and Peter, their respective spouses and nine grandchildren.

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Peter Sartori’s 50th

Happy 50th to Peter Sartori.

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From the Blueseum


Career : 1987 – 1991
Debut : Round 1, 1987 vs Hawthorn, aged 22 years, 154 days
Carlton Player No. 941
Games : 54
Goals : 119
Last Game : Round 24, 1991 vs Richmond, aged 26 years, 310 days
Guernsey No. 18
Height : 195 cm (6 ft. 4 in.)
Weight : 92 kg ( 14 stone, 7 lbs.)
DOB : 24 October, 1964

Another in a long list of VFL/AFL footballers in the category of “could have been anything, but for injury,” West Australian Peter Sartori spent eight seasons with Carlton and Fitzroy between 1987 and 1994, yet managed only 77 games all up. A tall ruckman-forward, he had rare ability and all the physical attributes needed, but sadly, his body let him down with monotonous regularity.

Sartori was just 17 when he played his first senior match for Swan Districts, and 18 when he suffered his first major injury – a ruptured kidney – which kept him out of the Swans’ 1982 Premiership side. When he did eventually return to the field however, he clicked into rare form. His marking skill, versatility and intuitive reading of the play made him a driving force in both of the Swans’ follow-up flag victories in 1983 and ’84. By 1986 he had represented WA twice, won his club’s Best and Fairest award, and well and truly caught the eye of just about every AFL club.

Carlton won the contest for his signature, and Sartori came to Princes Park to augment a growing contingent of star forwards with WA origins – a group that would eventually include Peter Bosustow, Ross Ditchburn, Warren Ralph, Jon Dorotich, Richard Dennis and Earl Spalding. Yet competition for places was fierce, as the club also had Stephen Kernahan, Simon Minton-Connell and Warren McKenzie on its books at the time.

Sartori was assigned guernsey number 18, and made his debut for the Blues in round 1, 1987, against Hawthorn at Princes Park. His first half-dozen games were rather unremarkable, before he strained a hamstring to cut short his progress, and didn’t return to the seniors until late in the season. Then, in only his eighth game, the big Sandgroper showed what he was capable of when he and his captain, Stephen Kernahan went on a rampage against Geelong at Kardinia Park, and kicked a massive 15 goals between them. ‘Sticks’ booted eight, and Sartori contributed seven in a display of forward power that had Carlton supporters in rapture.

That joy lasted for only a fortnight – until the first week of the finals. After a torrid year, the Blues had claimed the minor premiership, and met Hawthorn in what proved to be the defining match of the season in the second Semi Final. Trailing by 15 points at the main break, Carlton stormed home to win by that same margin – but at a cost. Sartori’s hamstring tore again, and his year was prematurely ended. He had kicked one goal on the day, and set up two others with skilful palming of the ball to Johnston and Naley. The Johnston goal came from a clever flip over the back of the pack to the Dominator, who goaled with a right foot snap. In the following quarter at the main scoreboard end, Sartori deftly palmed the ball to Naley in heavy traffic, and his clever snap brought up another telling goal. Both of those scores were the direct result of clever ruckwork by the big West Australian, and showed that it was a much-underrated facet of his game. However, that was all academic in the end, because he could only watch on in frustration two weeks later, when his team decisively beat the Hawks yet again in the Grand Final.

Sartori’s rehabilitation took longer than expected, and he didn’t make another senior appearance until round 14, 1988 against Collingwood at the MCG. Playing at full-forward, he kicked three goals in a match better remembered for Stephen Silvagni’s soaring Mark of the Year over Magpie Craig Starcevich. After that, Sartori stayed match-fit for the rest of the year and kicked an impressive 29 goals in only 12 matches, although the season ended on a sour note for everyone at Carlton when Melbourne upset the Blues by 22 points in the Preliminary Final.

In 1989 another early-season injury wrecked Sartori’s prospects completely. He managed only five games and four goals after making it back for the late-season rounds, while his team slumped to eighth place on the ladder after a decade of dominance.

Carlton stayed among the also-rans in 1990, although Sartori at last managed to string together a consistent series of matches, highlighted by a six-goal haul at full-forward in a big victory over Fitzroy in round 9. He didn’t know it at the time, but that game was to have a big influence on his career in the not too distant future.

In 1991 Sartori continued to be an almost automatic inclusion in Carlton’s senior side whenever he was fully fit. He steered through another 29 goals in ten games, but when the Blues tumbled down the list to eleventh, the club decided enough was enough. Carlton embarked on a determined mission to get champion Sydney centreman Greg Williams to Princes Park, and eventually succeeded in negotiating a complex deal that saw Sartori and Ashley Matthews packed off to Fitzroy (along with a number of draft picks), while Simon Minton-Connell went to Sydney to be joined by Fitzroy’s Darren Kappler.

It proved to be an advantageous deal for almost all concerned, apart from Sartori. Still frustrated by his fragile body, he spent another three seasons with the Lions, adding only a further 23 games and 19 goals to a record that deserved to be a whole lot better.

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Good luck and best wishes

Good luck and best wishes for the future to the following men who now join the ranks of Carlton past players.

Josh Bootsma, Nick Duigan, Heath Scotland, Andrew McInnes, Tom Temay, Jaryd Cachia, Luke Reynolds, Jarrad Waite, Jeff Garlett, Mitch Robinson, Brock McLean and Kane Lucas.

We hope in the not too distant future to see you all again at the club and as members of the Spirit of Carlton Past and Present.

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Craig Davis’ 60th

Happy 60th to Craig Davis

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From the Blueseum

Career : 1973 – 1975
Debut : Round 14, 1973 vs Hawthorn, aged 18 years, 278 days
Carlton Player No. 840
Games : 42
Goals : 72
Last game : Semi Final, 1975 vs Richmond, aged 20 years, 346 days
Guernsey No. 23
Height : 183 cm
Weight : 76 kg
DOB : October 2, 1954
Leading Goalkicker: 1974

Beginning his fine VFL career at Carlton, Craig Davis (a cousin of Carlton legend Brent Crosswell) went on to play at three other clubs. A slightly built, yet skilful and strong-marking full-forward, he was on the losing side in finals with Carlton, North Melbourne and Collingwood before making a return to senior football with Sydney at the ripe old age of 33.

Davis grew up in Ross, Tasmania and came to Princes Park from the Launceston club in 1972 as a promising 18 year-old wingman or half-forward, scaling 183 cm and 76 kg. Wearing guernsey number 23, he impressed with the Reserves team the following year, and made his senior debut late in the season. His third senior game was the 1973 Qualifying Final against Richmond, and his opponent in Carlton’s forward pocket that day was the Tigers’ hard man (and future Essendon coaching legend) Kevin Sheedy.

By his own admission, Davis hardly touched the ball in the first half of that match, before some direct words from Carlton captain John Nicholls turned things around. “Nick told me to use my pace,” said Davis; “to get out on the lead and just keep running.” It was good advice. Davis kicked three telling goals in the second half and the Blues won by 20 points. We then went on to beat Collingwood in the preliminary final, setting up a rematch with Richmond on Grand Final day.

Playing just his sixth senior game in that ’73 decider, and named at full-forward, Davis ran out onto the MCG in front almost 117,000 fans – only to be bitterly disappointed. Richmond had been comprehensively beaten by Carlton in both their previous finals’ matches, but this time were primed for revenge. Their fanatical attack on the ball and the man proved too much for Carlton, and the Blues went down by five goals.

Two years later, Davis suffered a horrendous head injury in a pre-season practice match, when an opponents knee collected him in a marking contest. Fearing further complications, Carlton’s doctors insisted that his career was over, and the club delisted him after the 1976 season. He had played 42 games in Navy Blue, and kicked 75 goals.

Believing that the medicos were wrong, and that he still had plenty to offer, Davis joined North Melbourne in 1977 and played 10 games for 20 goals in two seasons. Then in 1979 he crossed to Collingwood, where his career was re-ignited. He went on to play a further 102 games for the Magpies (including the 1979 Grand Final loss to Carlton) in five years. During that ’79 final series, Davis had one particularly off day in a Qualifying Final against North Melbourne.

“My kicking that day was atrocious,” he said later. “I kicked seven behinds straight. If I had kicked straight, I might have won that year’s VFL Goalkicking award, because Footscray’s Kelvin Templeton finished the season with 91, and I kicked 87.” In all, Davis booted 251 goals for Collingwood between 1979 and 1983.

Five years after his last game at Victoria Park, Davis caused a minor sensation when he agreed to pull the boots on one more time, in the red and white of the Sydney Swans. At that time the Swans’ young list badly needed experience and direction. Davis provided both in his nine games in 1988, when his 17 goals were a valuable contribution. His final overall career tally was 163 games and 363 goals.

After finally calling it a day as a player, Davis became heavily involved with the administration and promotion of Australian Football in NSW. His son Nick Davis began his fine career at Collingwood, then was a key member of Sydney’s 2005 AFL Premiership team.

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Congratulations to Past Player Premiers

Many Carlton past players are kicking the dew off the grass all around Australia in state, suburban and country leagues. We would like to congratulate those who won premierships in their competition in 2014.

Luke Livingston who returned to play in his home town of Kerang and has enjoyed back to back premierships in 2013-14 in the Central Murray football league. To make it even sweeter the Kerang side is known as the Blues.

Ryan Houlihan and Bret Thornton who contributed to the 2014 premiership of a very strong Deer Park outfit in the Western Region football league.

Aisake and Setanta O’hAilpin, who enjoyed playing in a premiership for the Albury Tigers in the Ovens and Murray league. Setanta kicked over 100 goals for the season and kicked 4 important goals in the grand final. In the process of winning this game the boys denied a third straight premiership to Brendan Fevola who was playing for the Yarrawonga Pigeons. The last quarter of the game can be watched here: http://vimeo.com/106771125

Wayde Twomey for playing in the Subiaco Lions 2014 premiership in the WAFL.

Jordan Russell and Mark Austin for playing in the Western Bulldogs VFL premiership.

Congratulations to one and all and if we have missed anyone please let us know via admin@spiritofcarlton.com.au

 

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Peter Motley’s 50th

Happy 50th to Peter Motley.

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From the Blueseum


Career : 1986 – 1987
Debut : Round 2, 1986 vs Richmond, aged 21 years, 192 days
Carlton Player No. 937
Games : 19
Goals : 4
Last Game : Round 6, 1987 vs Sydney, aged 22 years, 218 days
Guernsey No. 2
Height : 185 cm (6 ft. 1 in.)
Weight : 82 kg (12 stone, 13 lbs.)
DOB : 24 September, 1964

On Friday, May 1, 1987, Carlton (second on the ladder) met Sydney (third) at the SCG. It was a fierce, physical contest. Despite five goals to Carlton captain Stephen Kernahan, the Swans were a shade too good and won by seven points. Among the Blues’ best that sunny afternoon was Peter Motley; a rangy, blonde-haired 22 year-old budding champion, playing just his nineteenth game of AFL football in navy blue number 2.

Within a few short days after the game, Motley’s career was tragically ended in an horrific head-on car accident. Although he survived the crash, Peter’s injuries were so severe that he could not play again. The Blues – and more so football in general, was stunned by the loss of one of its fastest-rising stars.

Peter was the son of SANFL legend Geof Motley, one of his State’s greatest players. Geof (his name was spelt this way on his birth certificate) pulled on the boots in 250 games for Port Adelaide in an amazing era in which they won nine SANFL flags between 1954 and ’65. Geof was a significant part of every one of them, either as a player, captain or captain-coach, and he represented SA on 28 occasions.

Peter began his football at Sturt, where he quickly showed that he had inherited all of his father’s football ability, and more. By the age of nineteen he was a 185 cm, 82 kg free-running half back with superb foot skills, pace and balance. He won Sturt’s Best & Fairest award in 1984, and again in 1985 when he was named All Australian. By then the AFL heavyweights were beating a path to the Motley’s front door. Sydney were the front-runners for his signature at first, before the chance to experience the football culture at its epicentre brought him to Carlton in the summer of 1985.

A series of minor muscle strains hampered Peter’s first year with the Blues, but by late in the ‘86 season he had made one half-back flank his own, in a strong Carlton team that finished third after the home and away rounds. Victory over Sydney, then a shock demolition of hot favourites Hawthorn put the Blues straight into that year’s Grand Final, but they were no match for a rampaging Hawks team who ran out winners by 42 points. The half-back flankers named for Carlton in that match were Peter Motley and Des English. English actually played in the back pocket, while Motley controlled his flank to be one of the Blues’ few clear winners.

That defeat, plus the shock of “Motts” accident early in ‘87, was compounded by further bad news when it was revealed that Carlton’s tough and popular defender Des English had been diagnosed with cancer. These twin tragedies galvanised the Blues, who dedicated their year, and their finals campaign, to their stricken team-mates. Carlton beat Hawthorn by 15 points in the second semi-final, then demolished the Hawks by 33 points to gain sweet revenge when they met again in the Grand Final.

As the victorious Blues ran a joyous, emotional lap of honour before more than 92,000 fans on that great day, their first stop was the players race. There, they shared the triumph of Carlton’s 15th Premiership first with Dezzy and Motts – the two special mates who would have, and should have, but couldn’t be out there with them.

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Bruce Bentley’s 70th

Happy 70th birthday to Bruce Bentley

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From the Blueseum


Career: 1964
First and only Game: Round 9, 1964 vs Richmond, aged 19 years, 278 days
Carlton Player No. 765
Goals: 0
Guernsey No. 13 (1963 – 1965).
Height: 183cm
Weight: 80kg
DOB: 9 September, 1944

Wearing jumper #13, Bentley played a single game for Carlton in Season 1964, he was on the Carlton list for 3 seasons (1963 – 1965).

Bruce is the son of Percy Bentley and came from East Brighton.

Bentley also wore guernsey No. 42 whilst playing with Carlton reserves team in 1963.

Ten years before his debut for Carlton, a young Bruce appeared as a team mascot in a photo from the Argus on August 13 1954.

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Thank you Mandy Hunter

Mandy Hunter has resigned from her job at the Carlton Football Club and the Spirit of Carlton Past and Present and will finish up this week.

Mandy has played a great part in the success of the Spirit of Carlton Past and Present. We will miss her energy and her honesty.

We wish Mandy all the best on the next stage of her journey as a globetrotting, professional nonna. Thank you Mandy.

Ciao bella.

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Six Kicks of Separation

You could forgive one of the young player’s on Carlton’s list for not giving much thought to Bob Chitty while running around on the training track or playing in front of thousands of supporters at a game. After all, Chitty’s exploits for the Blues were in the distant past in the 1930s and 1940s  with little connection to the players of today.

The current day playing list may be surprised to know there are as little as six kicks of separation from them to the era of Bob Chitty. Carlton players past and present are much more connected than we may think. To illustrate this example for each ‘kick’ to occur each player must have played in the same senior Carlton team.

Here is the timeline.

1. Andrew Carrazzo, team-mate with Anthony Koutoufides in the round 21 match of 2004.

2. Anthony Koutoufides, team-mate with Stephen Kernahan in the round 13 match of 1992.

3. Stephen Kernahan, team-mate with Bruce Doull in the round 1 match of 1986.

4. Bruce Doull, team-mate with John Nicholls in the round 5 game of 1969.

5. John Nicholls, team-mate with Ken Hands in the round 1 game of 1957.

6. Ken Hands, team-mate with Bob Chitty in the round 5 game of 1945.

Bob Chitty debuted for Carlton in Round 7 of 1937.

Here is an artist’s impression of what this may have looked like.

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Clarke’s farewell revealed in precious memories shared

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“Ansell” Clarke’s handwritten notes. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

An 1897 club membership card, an ’87 Grand Final admission ticket, and a lifesize color poster of “Big Nick” – these were just some of the treasured items of memorabilia on show at the recent Carlton Collectibles Day at Visy Park.

An audience of committed Carlton people, including the descendants of players of yesteryear like Charlie Fisher and Edward Augustus “Ansell” Clarke, came back to Carlton armed with their precious keepsakes.

Clarke, the 145-game player from 1929-’37 and captain in his final year, was represented in the room by his octogenarian son Allan and teenage great grandson Ben Tebbutt. Together they came with a treasured memento, the annual report of 1936, which carries an image of Clarke as the 1936 Robert Reynolds Memorial Trophy winner for Carlton Best and Fairest.


Allan Clarke with his grandson Ben at the Carlton Collectibles Day. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

Sadly, the family has no knowledge of any trophy or medallion that may have been handed to Clarke, who earned the nickname of the Panamanian-born American featherweight boxer of the 1920s, Ansell Bell. All they have is the report, which carries a very special message penned by Clarke to Allan’s daughter (and Ben’s mother) not long before he died at the age of 95 in 2002.

The inscription reads as follows:

“To my favourite Grand Daughter Jacqueline,

I thought you would like this photo of myself, just in case I may not see you again. I can’t last forever you know, but I sincerely hope that I do see you and your husband sometime in the near future.

Till then I wish you long life and happiness, good health and lots of love from your grandfather Ansell xxxx”

“I remember Dad mainly as a person who worked for Carlton,” Allan, now 83, recalled. “He did a lot of recruiting for Carlton after he retired and he recruited a lot of good players – players like Geoff Southby, Trevor Keogh, Jimmy Buckley and (Peter) McConville,” Clarke said.

“The funny thing is that he was a Fitzroy supporter, but he lived on the Carlton side of Nicholson Street where his father ran a bootmaker’s shop and that’s why he couldn’t play for Fitzroy.

“I’ve been a Carlton supporter since the day I was born. I’ve got a Carlton membership ticket of 1940 which Dad must have bought for me and only cost about ten bob, and I saw the 1945 ‘Bloodbath’.”

Ben too is a regular at most Carlton games.

“I’ve stuck with them all these years because my grandfather brought me up here from the time I was eight. I was there when the club was at its lowest ebb and I was there when they shut Princes Park down.”

The Carlton Collectibles Day also doubled as a rare “meet and greet” with John Nicholls – the legendary five-time Carlton Best and Fairest and three-time Premiership player recently voted this club’s greatest footballer in 150 years – who made a guest appearance.

“Big Nick” graciously agreed to grace the place with his substantial presence, address the gathering, pose for photographs and sign autographs.

Jamie Sanderson, who developed the renowned club website The Blueseum, was also in attendance, as was Australian football card researcher and Carlton devotee Damien Green.

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Garry Crane’s 70th

Happy 70th to Garry Crane.

 

——————-

From the Blueseum:


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) and 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)

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Football and film brings White back home

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Adam White interviews Andrew Carrazzo during the filming of Carlton’s Virgin Australia Film Festival entry. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

It’s 20 years now since Adam White’s association with Carlton began; the boy from East Burwood having been cherry-picked with selection No.41 of the 1994 National draft.

For White, 44 senior games in the dark Navy Blue followed – amongst them the famous 1999 Preliminary Final where the good guys nutted Essendon at the MCG on the same day Bracks ousted Kennett at the ballot box.

Rather unfairly, he’s remembered as the player ko’ed by a field umpire at Football Park in ’97. But  that was then, this is now and the bloke who wore Jarrad Waite’s No.30 thesedays dedicates his professional life to filmmaking.

“Filmmaking is the path I’ve taken, but it was the case even when I was playing . . . back then I was studying video production, photography and filmmaking at university,” White said.


Adam White during his playing days with the Blues. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

“At Uni I learned how to shoot on film and edit on film, but we were all on the cusp of the digital age and you continue to adapt to the changing landscape.”

Over the past ten years, White has eked out a serious career from behind the camera, in listing amongst his directorial credits the short films A Black and White World, Toucan and Attack, along with the 10-episode TV series Kane & Disabled.

Recently, film and football club drew White back to Carlton, as director of a three-minute short commissioned by the club for the 2014 Virgin Australian Film Festival. The feature revolves around the story of Carlton’s Andrew Carrazzo and his deeply personal connections with his Italian lineage and the Carlton community.

Though White and Carrazzo had never before met (even given that the East Burwood and Carlton Football Clubs were common to both), the former found the latter and inspiration in what was a three-day shoot at Visy Park, the MCG and the Carrazzo family home.

“To put this in perspective, I wrote a script based on discussions I had with the team at Carlton and Andrew, but Andrew was able to put his passion into the story and I think the story came across more truthfully,” White said.

“You can write all the hyperbole you want, but when a person tells you his own story it sounds more real and you can see the truth . . . and this was a story Andrew was passionate about.”

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Then there were two

Tony De Bolfo

Bob Chitty’s “Bloodbath” team of 1945 carries the sort of air one might associate with Don Bradman’s “Invincibles” of ’48.

And with Doug Williams’ passing, yet another combatant in Carlton’s most infamous Grand Final is gone . . .

. . . and then there were two.

Williams, who died in Inverloch on Monday at the age of 91, turned out on a wing on Grand Final day 1945, winning and wearing them against South Melbourne at Princes Park.

Today, only Alex Way and Ken Hands live to tell the tale – and even then, Hands’ memory is somewhat clouded, courtesy a “Basher” Williams forearm delivered with stunning ferocity in the second quarter.

Williams (Doug that is) again found himself on a wing just two years later, when Fred Stafford’s trusty left boot sunk Essendon in the dying seconds of the ’47 Grand Final on the MCG – and only Hands and Allan Greenshields survive that one.

Greenshields said today that with Williams’ passing “it’s a shame that the ranks are dwindling . . . but I’m happy to say I’m still here. I’ve passed 88 and I’m okay”.

“It’s a long time ago, but Doug was a very honest player,” Greenshields said.

“He gave you 100 per cent worth each time and he had a beautiful style about him. He was a stylist.

“Doug was a very reliable player. He played on the centre wing and he always played a good solid game. He was a lovely man.”

Though he would be part of Carlton’s losing Grand Final outfit of 1949, the ’45 and ’47 Premierships truly crowned Williams’ 120-game career.

Recruited to Carlton from Yallourn, Williams was blessed with pace and agility, and was strong overhead.

He got his first senior call-up for the away match against Footscray – Round 11, 1944 – on a day in which Chitty was reported for assault (shock horror) but later acquitted.

The following season, a dream season in which the team scrimped and scraped its way into the finals series, Williams weathered the physicality of finals contests against both North and Collingwood, and earned South’s Billy King as his opponent on Grand Final day.

King later acknowledged his opponent for steering him clear of the rough stuff, on an afternoon in which no fewer than nine players were reported on a total of 15 charges.

Williams’ performance graph hit an upward curve with Ern Henfry’s investiture  as Carlton captain, and the team successes of ’47 soon followed.

Beyond the ’49 Grand Final loss, Carlton’s performances plateaued, and in July 1951, after the 12th round match against Hawthorn at Glenferrie, Williams bid senior League football a Blue adieu.

Appointed Captain-Coach of Tasmanian club North Launceston in ’52, Williams commandeered the Robins to the NTFA finals at his first attempt.

But home is where the heart is, and in the following year he and his wife Margaret returned to the Latrobe Valley. There, Doug rounded out a long and memorable career with one last season for Morwell, which took in a Premiership and club Best and Fairest.

Doug is survived by his wife Margaret, children Greg, Sue and Lisa, sons-in-law Ben and Mark, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild.

The Carlton footballers will wear black armbands as a mark of respect to the late Doug Williams in Friday night’s match with Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

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Carlton recruiter Keith Mills dies

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Keith Mills with Ken Sheldon, Jim Canfield and Jim Buckley. (Photo: Supplied)

Keith Mills, a former Assistant Secretary of the Carlton Football Club and an identifier of football talent of the calibre of Jim Buckley and Ken Sheldon, has died after a short illness. He was 77.

Mills was appointed to the position of Assistant Secretary just over 40 years ago, in April 1974, on the resignation of Greg Matthews. At the time, Allen Cowie had just replaced Bert Deacon as Secretary (CEO), Deacon having suddenly died at the age of 51.

At the time of his appointment, Mills had previously served as Honorary Secretary of the Northern District Football League and, as was recorded in Carlton’s annual report of that year, “his (Mills’) experience has proved most beneficial to the club”.

Mills served as Secretary on the club’s Recruiting Sub-Committee, which was chaired by Wally Taylor and included the dual Carlton Premiership Coach Perc Bentley, together with former players Newton Chandler and “Ansell” Clarke as field officers.

Under their watch, the likes of Buckley and Sheldon (each destined to represent Carlton in three Grand Final victories) were amongst those recruited from the fertile Bendigo League in 1975, with Des English and Peter McConville (dual and triple Premiership players respectively) later joining the club on their recommendations.

Buckley recalled briefly staying at Mills’ house in Rosanna after making the move to the big smoke from Kyneton almost 40 years ago.

“Keith was like a father to me,” Buckley said. “He was one of the great recruiters of Carlton and a real gentleman. He was a superstar bloke and a true Blue, and my deepest sympathies go out to his family.”

This photograph, kindly supplied by Heath Mills, features his father to the right of Sheldon, Jim Canfield and Buckley not long after the players’ recruitment to the club. The photo carries Buckley’s signature and the accompanying message “Bulldog, thanks for everything”.

Mills also sourced talent closer to home – and there’s a famous (or rather infamous) account of him and fellow Carlton talentspotter Arthur Moxon heading 17 kilometres north to Thomastown in search of a likely kid called Alex Marcou.

The story goes that Alex’ late father Arthur, then working in a local fish and chip shop, became rather annoyed with the recruiters’ persistence – so much so that he pointed a fileting knife at the pair with the none-too-subtle suggestion that they both back off his boy.

Marcou himself couldn’t verify that part of the story, but said of his father “I wouldn’t have put it past him”.

“I know that Newton Chandler had been out to have a look at me, then Arthur Moxon and Keith Mills, and that Dad was pissing off Arthur and Keith” Marcou said.

“In the end, Chris Pavlou came to the door, started talking to Dad in Greek, and the old man said ‘Come in’.”

Marcou would later represent Carlton in three Premierships – the first of them in ’79 – and it was in the MCG winner’s circle after that one that all was forgiven and Mills found himself on the end of a hearty Arthur Marcou hug.

Mills’ role at Carlton changed in April 1976 when Cowie suddenly died in office. On Cowie’s passing, Keith McKenzie was duly appointed Carlton Secretary, with David Allen named Assistant and Mills Promotions Officer (a position later filled by Shane O’Sullivan). Mills’ brief was to arrange for senior players and officials to conduct football clinics – from Panton Hill to Heathcote and everywhere in between – with more than 250 clinics held on an annual basis through the 1970s.

An amusing tale told by Heath relates to a road trip to a clinic in Wycheproof, where the Mills family vehicle led a five-car convoy of Carlton players.

“We were on the way to the clinic with the players following and my Mum told Dad to stop the car because she’d just spotted a white kangaroo,” Mills said.

“We all laughed, but Mum was certain it was a white roo, so Dad completed a U-turn and so did the five other cars . . . and when we got to the spot we saw a sheep standing there looking at us.

“The players couldn’t believe what had happened and Mum never lived it down.”

The long-serving former Carlton Property Steward and Transport Officer Ken Kleiman remembered Mills (whose nickname was later inherited by the property steward Wayne “Bulldog” Gilbert) as a well-liked club person.

“Keith was a good Carlton supporter, he used to help other people out. I had no worries with him,” Kleiman said.

“He had a big hand in all those blokes out of Bendigo. He got a lot of good players for Carlton, he did a good job in that respect.”

In the years after completing official duties for Carlton, Mills committed to the cause of Amateur football outfit Banyule, which last year rewarded him with Life Membership.

In a recent final gesture, Mills returned to Visy Park to hand over a gavel last wielded by the then Carlton President Lew Holmes to call committeemen to order back in ’64.

Mills, whose wife Lorraine pre-deceased him, is survived by his children Tharren, Peta and Heath, their respective spouses and six grandchildren.

A service to celebrate the life of Keith Mills will be held in the Diamond Valley Baptist Church, 309 Diamond Creek Road, Plenty on Friday, commencing 11.00am.

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Maurie Fowler’s 70th

Happy 70th to Maurie Fowler

 

————-

From the Blueseum:

Career : 1966
Debut : Round 1, 1966 vs Richmond, aged 21 years, 257 days
Carlton Player No. 778
Games : 8
Goals : 4
Last game : Round 9, 1966 vs Hawthorn, aged 21, years, 311 days
Guernsey No. 29
Height : 175 cm (5 ft. 9 in.)
Weight : 70 kg (11 stone, 0 lbs.)
DOB : August 10, 1944

Maurie Fowler was one of four members of Kyabram’s 1965 GVFL Grand Final team who were recruited by VFL clubs for the following year. A durable, hard-working rover, he played eight matches and kicked four goals in his only season for the Blues in 1966, before moving on to a wide-ranging and successful coaching career.

Fowler was allocated guernsey number 29 when he made Carlton’s list, and his good pre-season and practice match form justified his selection as 20th man for his debut in round 1 against Richmond on Anzac Day. After Carlton lost that sensational game by 6 points, Fowler sat on the pine for four of the next five matches. He kicked his first career goal when he was called into the fray against Footscray in round 6, and eventually started a game on the ground the following week, when he shared the roving duties with Adrian Gallagher against Geelong at Kardinia Park.

But after Carlton went down narrowly to Hawthorn in round 9 at Glenferrie Oval, Fowler was one of the casualties at the selection table, and he wasn’t able to reclaim a senior spot before round 18 concluded. Shortly afterwards, in the inevitable end of year cull, Maurie was told that his services were no longer required.

After leaving Princes Park, Fowler spent a season with Williamstown in the VFA. In 1968 he returned to the GVFL with Mooroopna, and the following year he was back at his original club Kyabram. In 1970 he was appointed captain-coach of Palm Beach-Currumbin on Queensland’s Gold Coast, and took the Lions to two flags in a four-year stay.

In 1975 he returned to Victoria as captain-coach of Robinvale in the Sunraysia Football League. The Eagles finished third in Fowler’s only season at the helm, then he was on the move again to Hay, NSW – where, in addition to captain-coaching the town’s football team, he was appointed General Manager of the Hay Services Club.

Maurie retired as a player in 1977, but continued to coach the Sunraysia League Lions until he won the position of General Manager of the Cobram-Barooga Golf Club on the NSW – Victorian border. While there, he coached Cobram in 1982 and ’83, taking them to their first Murray League Grand Final in nine years.

A decade later, Fowler returned to Melbourne to take up the role of Gaming Manager at the Flemington Racecourse. In 1996 he purchased the Globe Hotel in Mount Gambier, SA and converted it into Flanagan’s Irish Pub. By 2007 he was busy developing an over 50’s residential village in Tasmania, and providing business information and support for Australian Business Visa Applicants.