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Happy 70th to Ian Nankervis

A very happy 70th birthday to Ian Nankervis today!

 

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Career : 1964 – 1966
Debut : Round 2, 1964 vs Hawthorn, aged 20 years, 43 days
Carlton Player No. 760
Games : 27
Goals : 24
Last Game : Round 6, 1966 vs Footscray, aged 22 years, 75 days
Guernsey No. 23 (1964 – 1966).
Height : 170 cm (5 ft. 7 in.)
Weight : 67 kg (10 stone, 7 lbs.)
DOB : March 13, 1944.
Club Leading Goalkicker 1964

Ian Desmond Nankervis was a handy goal-kicking rover who played 27 games for the Blues between 1964 and 1966. He was Carlton’s leading goal-kicker in his first season, albeit with a very modest total of 18 majors. Afterwards, however, his career was almost completely overshadowed by another player with the same name; Geelong champion Ian J. Nankervis – who made his VFL debut in 1967 and played 325 games for the Cats. While captaining his club for five seasons, he represented Victoria 11 times, and was one of the first men chosen in Geelong’s Team of the Century.

Carlton’s Ian Nankervis was recruited from Mildura Imperials. A quick and lightly-built rover, he inherited the number 23 guernsey from Martin Cross, a fellow small man with a similar build and playing style. After making an eye-catching debut for Carlton Reserves against North Melbourne in the first game of 1964, Nankervis was included in the senior team the following week for the match against Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval. He spent most of that game on the bench as 20th man, watching on while Hawthorn beat the Blues by 21 points.

Another Saturday afternoon warming the bench followed, before Ian was included in Carlton’s starting line-up for the first time when the Blues met Footscray at Princes Park in round 4. Nankervis started well in that match, and kicked his first career goal in the opening quarter, but after that, it was all Footscray and they ran out convincing winners by 31 points. Although Ian was a regular in Carlton’s senior team for the rest of that year, and notched up 18 goals from his 15 games, 1964 was the worst season in Carlton’s history to that point, and mediocrity is never tolerated for long at Princes Park.

In a stunning football coup, a new committee took power in the off-season, and rocked the game to its core by appointing Melbourne champion and captain Ron Barassi as captain-coach of the Blues for five years. Under Barassi, Nankervis found the going tougher, and a place in the senior side increasingly harder to claim. He managed eight first-grade appearances in 1965, and another four during the first six rounds of 1966, but after that, spent the rest of the year in the Reserves side.

Over the spring and summer of 1966-67, Barassi and Carlton’s match committee culled the Blues’ playing list, and Nankervis was among those who were told that their services were no longer required. Prior to the next season, he was cleared to Williamstown in the VFA. Twelve months later, his name was to hit the sporting headlines in regrettable fashion.

After enjoying a superb debut season with the Seagulls, Nankervis won the 1968 Field Medal as Best and Fairest in the VFA 2nd Division. Williamstown finished a game and a half clear on top of the ladder, before comfortably defeating the Geelong West Roosters in the second Semi Final to firm into raging hot favourites for the flag. But afterwards, while being presented with his award, Nankervis somewhat foolishly used the occasion to publicly criticise his coach Max Papley, and to demand more money. The Seagulls were outraged, and Nankervis was immediately suspended. He didn’t play in the Grand Final and was sorely missed, as Williamstown lost a nail-biter by 12 points to the persistent Roosters.

In 1969, Nankervis was traded to Dandenong, and Williamstown earned their delayed promotion by defeating Sunshine in the Grand Final.

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Expression of Interest for Past Players Game

“Get the boots on again and bring the family”
Carlton v Collingwood Past Players Match – Sun, May 4, 2014, Visy Park.
As part of the clubs 150th celebrations the Spirit of Carlton Past and Present committee is organizing a past player match between our arch enemy – the Collingwood Football Club.
To the best of our knowledge this is the first past player match that these two great clubs have ever played in 150 years of being in the VFL/AFL competition.
The purpose of the match is to raise funds for the Peter McCallum Cancer Foundation, the Ted Whitten Prostate Cancer Research Foundation and our respective Past Player Welfare accounts.
We are confident that we can attract a crowd in excess of 10,000 and our planning will include a corporate lunch, after match entertainment, past player novelty events, auction items, past player interviews and a Sons / Daughters / Grandsons / Daughters Match at half time of past players children and grand children. We are doing some research into the possibilities of have the match televised as a part of our 150th celebrations – watch this space!
We need your support!
1. We are seeking players from the following eras – 1980s, 1990s, 2000s to assist us form a competitive team and if you are interested please complete the Expression of Interest Form by CLICKING HERE TO DOWNLOAD.
2. Sons/Daughters/ Grandchildren Under 12 – if you would like your siblings to participate in the half time matches please complete the Expression of Interest Form below
3. RSVP – 31st March 2014 or earlier please.
4. Please note that Colin Kinnear will be the coordinator for all past players and children participating on the day so please feel free to contact him for further information and follow up mobile – 0412 315 1780412 315 178
Looking forward to your support and we encourage you to come and join us for what should be a great day for all concerned.
Executive – Spirit of Carlton

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Birth of the “Woof”

Paul Kelly once wrote that “from little things big things grow”, a sentiment that duly applies to the evolution of the “Woof” at the Carlton Football Club. Frank Andreula was one of the original group that came up with the idea to shout “Boof” whenever Val Perovic booted the ball. Frank described to the Blueseum how the six high school friends who regularly watched and enjoyed the footy at Princes Park from in front of the old press box wanted to honour the kicking prowess of recent recruit, Val Perovic. The idea which originated at the start of the 1982 VFL season was to imitate the sound of the foot connecting with the ball to accentuate the kick itself.

Understandably six people in a crowd of thousands are not easily heard and for the first few weeks their efforts were not really catching on. However, good ideas have a way of succeeding and by the round four match against Hawthorn a quiet but discernible noise could be heard on the TV replay. It was not loud enough to get the public’s attention, but many of the regulars in front of the press box could hear it and liked the idea.

The breakthrough came in the round seven game at Princes Park against Geelong. In what was a convincing ten goal win to the Blues. Perovic only gathered a handful of kicks for the game, however the mood of the crowd was buoyant with the big win against strong opposition and as the game progressed the “Woof” became louder and louder. It was in this game that Val Perovic himself began to notice the noise coming from the crowd every time he kicked the ball.

The media noticed at this stage as well but the “Boof” was interpreted as a “Woof” and from that time forward the moniker would stick (although Mike Coward did refer to Val “Boom” Perovic in a game review for The Age after the Geelong game). Round eight saw a loss at the Western Oval and Val did not play in the round nine thrashing of South Melbourne. Thus it was in the round ten game against Richmond where the “Woof” became a phenomenon. It was loud and proud throughout the entire game and the supporters at Princes Park had become hooked on the “Woof”.

After a while the “Woof” would take off to such an extent that it seemed as though Val’s kicks were travelling an extra ten metres on the power of the crowd alone. Of course the legend has lived on most notably through the efforts of Ang Christou and later Chris Bryan. Tradition demands that the legend must live on, Frank Andreula, one of the six originators of the call reckons that either Josh Bootsma or Matthew Watson are the most likely candidates on the Blues current list.

A video of the evolution of the “Woof” has been produced below.

 

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When Carlton went with the big C

By Tony De Bolfo

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A still taken from footage of the 1909 Grand Final. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

It’s a seemingly innocuous minute, hidden amongst entries such as the appointment of Dr Strahan as club surgeon at a remuneration of 15 guineas.

But the minute listed at a Carlton committee meeting at the League Rooms on Collins Street on the evening of March 15, 1909, surely ranks as one of this club’s most significant.

“Uniforms: Resolved unanimously that a large white C. be worked on front of sweaters.”

In the room for this landmark moment in Carlton history were messrs Urquhart (Chair), Abrahams, Uren, Quirk, Blay, Hooper, Coulson, McInerney, Bruce, O’Connor, Gurr, Taylor, Kennedy, Coulthard, McGregor, secretary.

It was the night those 15 gentlemen also recommended that Fred “Pompey” Elliott be presented with the 1908 Premier Ball on pedestal on the opening day of the 1909 season.

Thirty-five days later, on April 19, 1909 the Carlton committee received correspondence from the then VFL approving the “letter C to be worn on the jerseys”, replacing the original blue lace-up with chamois yoke.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

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VC awarded to Doug Baird’s boy

By Tony De Bolfo
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The late corporal Cameron Baird. (Photo: Supplied)

The late corporal Cameron Baird – son of the former Carlton footballer Doug Baird, has been posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross – the 100th recipient of the highest military medal.

Doug, his wife Kay and their son Brendan were amongst members of Corporal Baird’s family present in the Australian Federal Parliament when Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed the news.

“This is a bittersweet day,” Mr Abbott told the Lower House, reminding that the honour was bestowed for “acts of valour, extreme devotion to duty and ultimate self-sacrifice”.

Corporal Baird, who previously served in East Timor and Iraq, died in Afghanistan on June 22, 2013 – the 40th digger to die in the conflict.

As a 32-year old member of the 2nd Commando Regiment, Corporal Baird was killed in a firefight in the Khod Valley.

Corporal Baird’s courage was previously acknowledged with his awarding of the Medal for Gallantry six years ago. He had braved Taliban machine-gun fire to lead his men in recovering a mortally-wounded Private.

At the time of Corporal Baird’s death, Brendan contacted the club this morning to confirm the link and to say that all members of the Baird family, Cameron included, “have been Carlton to the core from day dot”.

The Carlton-Baird connection can be sourced to the late 1960s, to when Doug, a six-game Carlton player through 1969 and the Premiership year of 1970, was recruited from the Paramount Football club in Melbourne’s north.

Doug plied his craft at Under 19 and Reserve Grade level at Princes Park through the Barassi years. From full-forward he took out the League’s Under 19 goalkicking honours with 40 goals in 1968 (to tie with Richmond’s David Droscher) and he was adjudged fourth in the reserve grade best and fairest award just two years later.


The 1970 squad. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

At senior level, Doug donned the No.27 now worn by Dennis Armfield, and while his senior career was all-too-brief the interest in Carlton never wavered – in part through the lifelong friendships with Robert Walls, Andy Lukas and the late Vin Waite.

“Wallsy” would act as best man at Doug’s wedding, and Andy and “Vinny” as groomsmen.

With Alex Jesaulenko the resident Carlton full-forward through the period, senior appearances for Doug were unfortunately all too few. That said, Doug’s contemporaries like the four-time Premiership player David McKay remember him as a very capable footballer.

“Doug was a good strong mark and an accurate, but as a full-forward he was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time with ‘Jezza’ there,” McKay said.

“He led the goalkicking in the Under 19s and reserves and I remember playing alongside him in ’69 when the reserves were runners-up in the Grand Final against Melbourne.”

Corporal Baird was born in Burnie, for this was a time when Doug captained and coached Cooee and later Ulverstone. On the family’s relocation to Melbourne, Corporal Baird, at just 15, turned out with the Calder Cannons’ 17 year-olds under the watch of the former Northern Blues coach Robert Hyde. There he played alongside Jude Bolton and Ryan O’Keefe (later dual Premiership players with Sydney) and Paul Chapman, a three-time Premiership player for Geelong.

Mr Abbott said Corporal Baird was already an iconic figure in the army, and was recognized with his awarding of the VC for most conspicuous acts of valour, extreme devotion to duty and ultimate self-sacrifice in Afghanistan as a commando team leader.

“He was on his fifth special forces tour when he was killed in the action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross,” the prime minister said.

Mr Abbott said Corporal Baird was the 40th Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan – “and, please God, the last”.

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Barry Schmidt’s 70th

Happy 70th birthday to Barry Schmidt today.

 

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From the Blueseum:


Playing Career: 1965
Debut: Round 13, 1965 v Geelong, aged 21 years, 159 days
Carlton Player No. 776
Games: 4
Goals: Nil
Last game: Round 17, 1965 v Richmond, aged 21 years, 187 days
Guernsey No. 34
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 75 kgs
DOB: February 15, 1944

Schmidt, wearing guernsey #34, played 4 games for Carlton in 1965. Schmidt came up through Carlton U/19’s and reserves before finally cracking it for four senior games during the 1965 season.

Schmidt had previously played for Carlton Youth Foundation and Collingwood Technical School.

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Vale Geoffrey “Brother” Luke

Geoffrey “Brother”Luke was a great friend and mentor for many generations of Carlton footballers and we are all saddened by his passing.

My early memories of Brother Luke were when he conducted pre season training with a srong emphasis on strengthening and conditioning us for the rigours of the then VFL.

As a physiotherapist, with a speciality in rehabilitation, Brother Luke was well qualified for this task and was well before his time at any VFL club in helping to strengthen our ankles, hamstrings and knees to prevent injury.

This was in contrast to most other clubs where physisiotherapists mostly had a single role in helping players to recover from football injuries.

Brother Luke treated generations of Carlton players with a firm but sympathetic approach that always put the onus back on the individual to help themselves by adopting his well planned exercise and strengthening regimes. His methods were tried and true and many of us owe him a huge debt in helping to extend our careers when it looked like serious knee or ankle injuries had put us beyond continuing our football careers.

Brother Luke not only treated current players but also a legion of former players found their way back to see him for treatment either at the club or in his threadbare consulting rooms in Carlton.

He also had a range of other clients from Carlton’s connections in the corporate and business world, and even was given the tough task of helping the Rt Honorable Robert Gordon Menzies, our former Prime Minister, recover from a stroke.

As well as being an outstanding physiotherapist, Brother Luke will also be remembered as  a keen investor, house renovator and environmentalist.

I remember asking him one day what the secret was to successful stockmarket investing.  He said it is simple Brother, “Buy low and sell high” , I then followed up with the question, when do you know when shares are at highs and lows? – that he said Brother is the secret of stockmaret investing!  After many years of reasonably patient investing I am still not privvy to his secret!

He was also well before his time in buying up run down terraces in Brunswick and Fitzroy and with his son, renovating them to make tidy profits. He was handy with a range of tools and with his son in tow, they did the bulk of the renovations themselves. I wish I had listened to him more on his real estate ideas. I am sure I am not alone in this!

His other great love was nature and he put his money where his mouth was by investing in significant tracts of land in the little desert in Victoria and at Flinders Island. I am sure both these land holdings will have serious covenants on them to keep them as pristine wilderness acreages. I am sure they have been highly sought out by property people for development, but Brother Luke would not ever entertain the thought of spoiling this natural land.

Brother Luke kept a keen interest in the Blues and was a paid up and loyal supporter of the Spirit Of Carlton. He will be sadly missed by everyone who came in contact with him as either a friend or client, and a legion of former Carlton footballers. He will be sadly missed by all of us!

Vale Geoffrey “Brother” Luke

– David McKay on behalf of the Spirit of Carlton Past and Present executive

 

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Kevan Hamilton turns 80

A happy 80th birthday to Kevan Hamilton today.

Unfortunately Kevan is one of the past players we have no contact details for, so if anyone reading this knows his whereabouts please let the Spirit of Carlton know.

 

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From the Bluesuem:


Career : 1956
Debut : Round 3, 1956 vs St Kilda, aged 22 years, 86 days
Carlton Player No. 703
Games : 11
Goals : 22
Last Game : Round 17, 1956 vs Richmond, aged 22 years, 191 days
Guernsey No. 5
Height : 180 cm (5 ft. 11 in.)
Weight : 81 kg (12 stone, 10 lbs.)
DOB : February 1, 1934
Club Leading Goalkicker 1956

Nicknamed ‘Icy’, Kevan Hamilton found his way to Princes Park in 1956 from McKinnon via Melbourne seconds. A tall rover-forward, he started his career impressively with eight goals in his first two matches, and by midway through the year was regularly selected as first rover.

But thereafter his form tailed off, and his goal-scoring opportunities dried up as opposition teams starved him of opportunity. While Carlton wound up fifth on the ladder and missed out on a finals berth by just two points, the lack of a consistently reliable goal-scorer proved the team’s main drawback – as shown by Hamilton’s total of 22 goals from only 11 matches. That was good enough to win him our club goal-kicking award, but it was one of the lowest tallies for the Blues in 50 years.

‘Icy’ finished up at Carlton after just that one season, and returned to McKinnon as captain-coach in the Federal League, where he became a five time league best and fairest.

Hamilton would also wore Guernsey No. 29 during the 1957 season.

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Happy 40th to Peter Turner

Happy 40th today to Peter Turner.

 

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From the Blueseum:


Career : 1996
Debut: Round 17, 1996 v Essendon, aged 22 years, 186 days
Carlton Player No.: 1011
Games : 2
Goals : Nil
Last game: Round 18, 1996 vs Fremantle, aged 22 years, 193 days
Guernsey No. 28
Height: 194 cm
Weight: 94 kg
DOB: January 23, 1974

Turner was a 194cm, 94 kilo recruit from South Australia who was on the Carlton playing list from 1995 to 1996. Despite his impressive size and good turn of speed, he only played 2 games for Carlton in 1996. Turner played mainly as a key defender, but occasionally as a tagging ruckmen if there was a big guy turning it on against the Blues.

Three weeks after being dropped back to the Reserves after his 2 senior games, he had a brain fade against Footscray & punched his bulldog opponent fair in the face in front of two field umpires & a boundary umpire. He received a four week suspension & needless to say his career with Carlton was immediately over.

Turner had also played 3 games for the Crows in 1994.

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Pull on the Boots Again

2014 is a huge year for the Carlton Football Club celebrating 150 years.

As part of those celebrations the Spirit of Carlton Past and Present in conjunction with the Collingwood Past Players will be holding a ‘legends’ match mid-year at Princes Park between the old rivals.

If you feel like pulling on the boots once again to have a kick on the hallowed turf of Prince Park against the old enemy in front of a big crowd please contact the Spirit of Carlton Past and Present to express your interest in participating.

admin@spiritofcarlton.com.au

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AFLPA Players Trust

The AFLPA Players Trust was launched recently and is an important initiative for past players who face problems related to injuries received during their playing days. Read the extract below and download the brochure if this can help you or a friend.

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Professional football has changed incredibly over recent years and  continues to evolve at a rapid rate. It’s easy to become consumed by  the game and forget that there is indeed life after footy. As leaders of our modern era, it’s important that we focus on the opportunity to leave a legacy once our time in the game has ceased. We recognise the significance of looking after the players that have gone before us and we are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of players as a collective.
Past player research shows that 64% of past players remain affected in their current daily life from a previous AFL injury, with 60% of these requiring ongoing medical treatment.
Therefore, with the contribution of all players, the Players’ Trust has been formed. A support mechanism for former players facing hardship after they have finished their careers in the AFL, one of the main goals of the Players’ Trust is to provide real and valuable assistance to its former members.
The AFL Players’ Association provides a range of benefits, services and programs that have been designed to assist in your life after football. This booklet outlines the process and eligibility criteria involved in the Players’ Trust and serves as a starting point in obtaining information about the fund. It’s important to gain an understanding of what’s available
to you – you never know what’s around the corner.
Luke Ball
AFL Players’ President

DOWNLOAD THE BROCHURE CLICK HERE