Happy 70th birthday to Jim ‘Frosty’ Miller.

 

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From the Blueseum:

 

Career : 1964 – 1965
Debut : Round 1, 1964 vs North Melbourne, aged 19 years, 350 days
Carlton Player No. 758
Games : 11
Goals : 29
Last Game : Round 8, 1965 vs Melbourne, aged 21 years, 32 days
Guernsey No. 22
Height : 183 cm (6 ft. 0 in.)
Weight : 84.5 kg (13 stone, 4 lbs.)
DOB : May 3, 1944

When Jim ‘Frosty’ Miller arrived at Carlton in 1964, The Navy Blues were hopeful that a ready-made replacement for retired star full-forward Tom Carroll had been found. Like ‘Turkey Tom’, Jim was a country boy – from Garfield in West Gippsland. As far as key forwards of that time were concerned, he wasn’t particularly big at 183 cm and 84 kg, but his list of achievements was.

‘Frosty’ had kicked 121 goals to spearhead Garfield’s drive to the West Gippsland Football League Premiership in 1963, and won the Clancy Medal as Best and Fairest in the competition. A born forward, he read the play superbly, accelerated hard on the lead, and had strong, safe hands. Best of all, he was a deadly accurate set shot on goal. At least two other VFL clubs had also approached him, so Carton’s match committee was chuffed when he agreed to play for the Blues.

Carlton acknowledged Miller’s potential by presenting him with the number 22 guernsey made famous by our greatest full-forward – Harry “Soapy’ Vallence – and unveiled him to the football public in the Blues’ first match of the 1964 season, against North Melbourne at Princes Park. Jim kicked two majors in a modest debut, while Carlton won a scrambly affair by eight points.

A week later, in his second game, Carlton supporters glimpsed Miller’s potential for the first time when he kicked five majors in a hard-fought win over Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval. He steered through another four against Footscray in round four, and after his first six matches had notched up a creditable total of 13 goals. In their wisdom, the match committee then decided to ease the pressure on the youngster and he played out the remainder of the season in the Reserves.

In 1965, the most sensational football story in decades was played out at Princes Park when Melbourne champion Ron Barassi was appointed captain-coach of the Blues, and immediately set about putting his methods in place. Under Barassi, Miller began his second season impressively, and by round 8 had kicked 16.9 in his first five games – including a big haul of six against Collingwood at Victoria Park.

Soon after that however, and to the chagrin of Carlton’s coaching staff and supporters, Jim told Barassi that he had never felt settled at Princes Park, and that he wanted to return home. Despite his tally of 29 goals in just 11 games, League football wasn’t for him. Perhaps it was the hard, regimented training, or the sacrifice of individualism to team rules. Whatever the reason, Jim wasn’t enjoying his football. So the club bowed to the inevitable, and let him go.

Back at Garfield, Jim took up where he left off, and booted a mammoth 148 goals to lead the Stars to yet another WGFL flag in 1966. Two years later, he created another surprise when he joined VFA club Dandenong at the age of 27. Over the next seven seasons, Frosty became a VFA legend in 183 games for the Redlegs, by kicking 883 goals at the spectacular average of 4.8 per game.

Six times in those seven seasons, he headed the VFA goal-kicking list, and twice notched the ‘ton’; 106 goals in 1969, and 108 in ‘73. He starred in Dandenong’s 1971 VFA Premiership, before eventually retiring in 1974, at the age of 34.

In 1996, the VFA became the VFL, in a move designed to attract the grass-roots supporter back to local football. Now, each year, the ‘Frosty’ Miller Medal is presented in his honour to the top goal-kicker in the competition. Meanwhile, those Carlton supporters who saw him play at both League and Association level can’t help but wonder just what greater deeds he might have achieved, had he stayed on at Princes Park for a little longer.

Picture courtesy of FullPointsFooty.

Miller also wore Guernsey No. 15 during thew 1962 season whilst playing with Carlton’s reserves team.

George Bailey

Jim Baird

Frank Bateman

Jim Mooring

Vin Arthur

Frank Anderson

Dear Past Player,

Please find attached an Invitation to participate in the AFL Combined Past Player Golf Day at Kingston Links Golf Day on Friday 2ndMay 2013.

We are hoping to field two teams and at the moment we have confirmed players –  Ian Collins and Dennis Munari

Please note that the SOC will pay for the day and there are 6 spots still available.

If you would like to play please contact Dennis Munari on -0419 388 222 or confirm via email dennis@hbmadvisers.com.au before Friday 25th April 2013.

If you like your Golf please come and join us.

Regards,

Dennis Munari – SOC Golf Co-coordinator.

Happy 80th birthday to former blueboy, Colin Holt.

 

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From the Blueseum:

 

 

Playing Career : 1955 – 1957
Debut : Round 10, 1955 Aged 21 years 58 days
693rd Carlton Player
Games : 20
Goals : 0
Last Game : Round 10, 1957 Aged 23 years 56 days
Guernsey Nos. 38 (1955) and 27 (1956 – 1957).
Height : 175 cm (5’9″)
Weight : 79.5 kgs (12.7)
DOB : April 27, 1934

Wearing guernsey #27 and #38, Holt who was a centreman played 20 games in Navy Blue commencing in Season 1955. Holt’s debut was dramatic, being suspended for 8 weeks as a result of kicking Charlie Sutton.

The Age May 16 1958, reported that Holt had been cleared to Richmond.

He finished his career at Richmond in 1959 after playing 21 games and scoring 2 goals for the Tigers.

Holt was a member of the under 19’s 1948 and 1951 premiership teams.

He was recruited from Brunswick and later played with the Blues U19s, before graduating to the senior team.

Mark Maclure

Ken Hands

Ron Savage

Peter McConville

Ken Sheldon

Greg Sharp

By Loretta Smith

Carlton versus Collingwood: is there any greater rivalry in Australian sport than that shared by football’s most famous inner city clubs?

It’s a hatred that can be sourced as far back as 1910 – to the days of “Jock” McHale and “Pompey” Elliott, when the old dark Navy Blues lowered their colours but once to the men from the Carringbush in a Grand Final.

But as any self-respecting Carltonian will remind you, that happened on the first Saturday in October – not the last Saturday in September – and Carlton’s Grand Final triumphs over Collingwood in the Septembers of 1915, 1938, 1970, 1979 and 1981 have more than made up for that early blemish.

Nevertheless, expect old wounds to be reopened once more when former greats of both teams again run out, in a Carlton-Collingwood charity match for cancer research and awareness at Visy Park on Sunday 4 May.

The match will be in aid of Peter McCallum Cancer Foundation, a key charity of both clubs, and the Ted EJ Whitten Foundation for Prostate Cancer Awareness for Men’s Health.

Don’t miss the famous 1995 CFC Premiership duo Anthony Kouotofides and Ange Christou, and their team of top-line CFC players, take on Peter Daicos, Leigh Brown, Damien Monkhurst, Gavin Crosisca, Phil Carmen and many other Pies stars of the 1990’s and 2000’s

The organising committee members from the Spirit of Carlton including Col Kinnear, Dennis Munari, Ian Collins, John Warden, Geoff Southby, and David Rhys Jones, together with Collingwood Past Players Keith Burns, Murray Browne, Ronnie McKeown and Mark Orval, have joined forces to reunite in combat “old timers” of the 1980s, ’90s and ’00s.

In addition to Kouta & Ange, others from Carlton expecting to run out include: Alex Marcou, Setanta O’Hailpin, Glenn Manton, Brad Fisher and Ian Aitken. The Pies will also produce many of their other stars from the same era. Legendary coach David Parkin will head up the Navy Blues, while Mick Erwin will return to coach the Pies outfit.

Bookending the game are pre-match and post-match functions in the Carlton Cafe and surrounds, with AusKick Under 12 matches to be staged at halftime, along with other special halftime activities.

The pre-match function will be a special lunch at the Carlton Café, which holds about 150 people.  It will feature interviews and footage of many past greats from both clubs, and an auction of the match players’ jumpers.

The contest, which organisers anticipate will draw as many as 15,000 people, is sure to fuel that passionate and intense rivalry which exists between Carlton and Collingwood supporters like no other.

What: Navy Blues v Pies legends games
Where: Visy Park
When: Sunday 4 May, 2.00pm
Cost: Entry to the match is $10 adults, kids under 15 free.

Ticket price for the lunch is $120.00 per person, or $1,200 per table of 10. Book your ticket by contacting Mandy Hunter at the Carlton Football Club on 03 9389 625603 9389 6256.

For Carlton past players and Auskick participation, contact Col Kinnear on 0412 315 1780412 315 178.

For lunch sponsorship and other information, contact Geoff Southby on 0411 440 5430411 440 543.

Geoff Southby

Des English

Robbert Klomp

A very happy 80th birthday to Graham Kerr today.

 

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From the Blueseum:

Graham Kerr

Playing Career: 1954 – 1955
Debut: Round 1, 1954 v South Melbourne, aged 20 years, 11 days
Carlton Player No.: 675
Games: 13
Goals: 4
Last game: Round 14, 1955 v Fitzroy, aged 21 years, 108 days
Guernsey No.: 35
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 73 kgs
DOB: April 6, 1934

Kerr wore guernsey #35 in 13 games for Carlton commencing in 1954. He snagged 4 goals. He was recruited from University Blues.

Kerr headed to Melbourne for the 1956 season, in 1957, Kerr played three games with Melbourne.

Jack Wrout

Harry Vallence

Bruce Doull

Happy 70th birthday today to Jim Pleydell.

 

———————

From the Blueseum:

Jim Pleydell

Career : 1964 – 1967
Carlton Player No. 763
Debut : Round 6, 1964 vs St Kilda, aged 20 years, 52 days
Games : 37
Goals : 6
Last Game : Round 16, 1967 vs St Kilda, aged 23 years, 132 days
Guernsey No. 33
Height : 179 cm (5 ft. 10 in.)
Weight : 74.5 kg (11 stone, 10 lbs.)
DOB : 1 April, 1944
Best First Year Player 1964

In 1964, an agile, left-footed wingman from Maffra named Jim Pleydell made a strong impression in his first year of VFL football with the Navy Blues. Given the nickname “Sam” by his team-mates, and wearing guernsey number 33, Jim played his first senior match against St Kilda at the Junction Oval in round 6 of that season. He showed glimpses of real talent in a disastrous 48-point loss to the Saints, and thereafter, held his place in the team throughout the remainder of the year. At season’s end he won Carlton’s Best First Year Player Award, and his future looked assured.

However, just two games into his second season, Pleydell copped an errant forearm to the face from a Geelong opponent; a blow that broke his jaw and shook his confidence for months. Although he eventually returned to senior football late in the year to play another five games, by 1966 his position in the team had been largely usurped by the likes of Garry Crane, Bryan Quirk, and Cliff Stewart. The Blues’ match committee gave Jim other opportunities at half forward in 1966-67, but it was soon obvious that he was first and foremost a winger, and therefore surplus to requirements.

So it was that after 37 matches over four seasons, Pleydell departed Princes Park and joined Essendon. He spent all of 1968 at Windy Hill without breaking into the Bombers’ senior side, and retired from VFL football at the end of that year.

By 1970, Jim was in Tasmania, where he won consecutive Best and Fairests for Cooee in the North Western Football Union in 1971-72.

Rod Austin

Clinton Wines

Jim Buckley

Happy 70th birthday to former blueboy, Stan Harrison.

—————

From the Blueseum:

Stan Harrison

Career : 1964 – 1965
Debut and Only Game : Round 14, 1965 vs South Melbourne, aged 21 years, 124 days
Carlton Player No. 777
Games : 1
Goals : 0
Guernsey No. 42 (1965).
Height : 184 cm (6 ft. 0½ in.)
Weight : 77 kgs (12 stone, 2 lbs.)
DOB : March 28, 1944

Stan Harrison wore guernsey number 42 in his one and only senior game for Carlton in round 14, 1965, when the Blues hosted South Melbourne at Princes Park. Sitting fourth on the ladder, Carlton was expected to win easily that afternoon. However, the eighth-placed Swans were inspired by their champion captain Bob Skilton – who kicked four goals and was clearly best on ground – to upset the home team, and put Carlton’s finals hopes in real jeopardy.

Harrison sat on the bench as 19th man for the majority of the match, and it is unclear whether he actually did make it out on to the field.* Still, he is credited with that one appearance, which came after he had produced a series of good games on the wing for the Reserves.

Unfortunately for Stan, he was omitted from the team selected to play North Melbourne the following week, and didn’t get another chance before he was delisted at season’s end.

Incidently, two other Harrisons have played for Carlton – Arthur Harrison, who managed a single game in 1914, and Ben Harrison, who played 2 games in 1995 before going on to have a long career with Richmond and the Western Bulldogs.

The 777th VFL player for Carlton, Stan Harrison was recruited from West Preston YCW.

.*Stan did make it onto the field during the third quarter when he replaced Brian Buckley who was suffering from a badly bruised jaw.

Ritchie Green

Peter Bosustow

Rod Ashman

Happy half century to Steve Da Rui.

 

—–

From the Blueseum:

Steve Da Rui

Career : 1988 – 1991
Debut : Round 1, 1988 vs Hawthorn, aged 24 years, 12 days
Carlton Player No. 948
Games : 55
Goals : 5
Last Game : Round 21, 1991 vs St Kilda, aged 27 years, 141 days
Guernsey No. 5
Height : 183 cm (6 ft. 0 in.)
Weight : 85 kg (13 stone, 5 lbs.)
DOB : 21 March, 1964

Remembered as a hard-hitting, determined customer who took no prisoners on the football field, Steven Da Rui was recruited by Carlton from East Perth prior to the 1987 season, along with his good mate Richard Dennis. A solid unit at 183 cm and 85 kg, Da Rui was no racehorse, but he was a strong mark, a great exponent of the legal ‘hip and shoulder’ bump, and a fierce tackler who revelled in the physical challenges.

Beginning his career at Perth’s St Mark’s College, Da Rui had played the first of his 87 matches for East Perth in 1981. His first few years were hampered by injury, so his potential wasn’t really apparent until 1986, when he was switched from defence into a ruck-roving role and became one of the Royals’ stars. At the end of that year, he and Dennis signed with Carlton, and the pair were soon at Princes Park for the start of pre-season training. Confident in the ability of both recruits, the club assigned them guernsey numbers 3 and 5 respectively.

But while ‘Rocky’ Dennis went on to play in the Blues’ 1987 Premiership team, Da Rui spent all of his first season with Carlton Reserves. The Blues’ list was abundant with midfielders at the time, and Steve soon realised that if he was going to play senior football at Carlton, then it had to be in defence. Still, he helped make ’87 a year of double celebration, when he was among his team’s better contributors as they comfortably beat St Kilda for the Reserves flag.

Eventually, Da Rui’s opportunity at senior level arrived the following year, when he was selected for Carlton’s round one match against Hawthorn at Princes Park. Stationed alongside Ian Aitken and Peter Dean at half-back, he made it a doubly-special occasion by kicking his first career goal in a hard-earned 15-point win.

From then on, he missed only a handful of games for the year, and was used as a shock trooper off the bench in all three of the Blues’ finals matches. When Carlton’s Premiership defence ended in the Preliminary Final with a 22-point defeat by Melbourne, Demon ruckman Steve O’Dwyer was reported for striking Da Rui, and his subsequent 3-week suspension cost him a place in the Grand Final.

Over the next three seasons, Carlton went through a period of instability at the top as three coaches; Robert Walls, Alex Jesaulenko and David Parkin arrived or departed. The team drifted into a period of mediocrity, but Da Rui could always be relied on to light up the crowd. Some of his more memorable moments were the games where he ironed out opposing captains Michael Tuck of Hawthorn and Terry Daniher of Essendon, and the perfectly-delivered shirtfront that sent Melbourne’s Greg Healy to Disneyland at Princes Park.

In 1990, Da Rui represented Western Australia in that year’s State of Origin match against Victoria in Perth. Then, just over a year later, both he and Richard Dennis ended their careers at Carlton in the same match – round 21, 1991; when St Kilda’s champion full-forward Tony Lockett kicked 13 goals in a 54-point demolition of the hapless Blues.

Happy 50th to Mark Williams today.

————–

Career : 1983 – 1988
Debut : Round 13, 1983 vs Footscray, aged 19 years, 91 days
Carlton Player No. 911
Games : 19
Goals : 10
Last Game : Round 17, 1988 vs Richmond, aged 24 years, 127 days
Guernsey No. 39 (1983 – 1988).
Height : 184 cm (6 ft. 1 in.)
Weight : 76 kg (12 stone, 0 lbs.)
DOB : 18 March, 1964 
Best First Year Player: 1983

His playing career may have been almost completely overshadowed by two other AFL identities with the same name; 2004 Port Adelaide Premiership coach Mark M. Williams, and 2008 Hawthorn Premiership forward Mark L. Williams – but Carlton’s Mark Patrick Williams spent six loyal seasons at Princes Park from 1983 to 1988. More than 20 years later, he is still coaching at elite level.

The son of former Blue John Williams, Mark first pulled on the navy blue strip in 1975, as a member of Carlton’s Little League squad. Later, he began his career proper at Carlton with the Under 19 team, after coming under notice as a lively schoolboy forward at St Mark’s College at Fawkner. By 1983 he was a regular half-forward flanker in the Blues strong Reserves team, and was promoted to the seniors for the first time in mid-June, when Carlton hosted Footscray. Wearing guernsey number 39, he lined up at half-back alongside champion Bruce Doull, and had an easy day of it as the dominant Blues won by a mammoth 89 points. Jim Buckley, Ken Hunter and Peter Bosustow kicked 14 goals between them on a good afternoon for the Blues.

Mark went on to play another four games in his debut year, kicking his first two senior-level goals in a huge win by the Blues over St Kilda in round 19. He wasn’t selected in Carlton’s losing Elimination Final team, but still finished off a memorable season when he was awarded the club’s Best First Year Player trophy.

From then on however, although he was a consistent contributor at Reserves level, Mark played only 14 more senior matches in five seasons. He was at half-forward in Carlton Reserves’ 1986-87 Premiership double, before asking for – and being granted – a transfer to Footscray in 1989. At the Western Oval, Williams managed 14 games for the Bulldogs over 1989-90, before heading to Coburg in the VFA to finish off his playing career.

Afterwards, Williams was appointed senior coach at VFL club Preston from to 1998 to 2003, during which time he oversaw the club’s amalgamation with Carlton, and its transition into the Northern Bullants. In 2004 he was appointed senior coach at Sandringham with immediate success, taking the Zebras to three successive Premierships in 2004-05-06. Whilst at Sandringham, he combined his duties with the role of development coach at the Melbourne Football Club. After eight seasons with the Demons, Mark moved on again in 2011, crossing to Richmond as a senior assistant to Damien Hardwick.

Williams also wore guernsey No. 45 whilst playing with Carlton reserves in 1982.

Ken Baxter

Bob Chitty

Bob Green