| Venue: Princes Park | Date: Saturday June 9, 1934 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Win by 62 points | Umpire: Boyd | Crowd: 15,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Best: M. Crisp, J. Kelly, R. Green, E. Huxtable, H. Vallence, R. Cooper | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: H.Vallence 7, J.Cooper 4, J.Cashman 3, M.Crisp 3, A.Clarke 1, R.Cooper 1, K.Shea 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: E.Huxtable (bruised thigh) replaced by J.Park in third quarter, J. Gill (twisted ankle) | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
In a lacklustre game Carlton, after a slow start, overwhelmed North Melbourne after quarter time and from there, the result was never in doubt. North was missing eight senior players but neither side was impressive.
Two changes were made on Thursday night. Gordon Mackie, still troubled by his ankle, was left out and Eric Little was omitted. Their replacements were captain Mocha Johnson, who had recovered from his broken rib, and Les Hughson.
A good crowd watched in delightful weather and a fresh breeze blew towards the grandstand end as play commenced. North Melbourne, kicking with the breeze, was into attack early, scoring two behinds before their first goal came as the result of a free kick. Carlton had Jack Cooper at full forward and Vallence at centre half forward. The Blues’ first scores were three behinds from Clarke, Crisp and Jack Cooper. It was seesawing play, not fast and with both sides showing poor skills. At this point, North was winning in the air and the forward line. Future Carlton great Jack Wrout was prominent in the lead up to North’s second goal. Carlton’s first goal came following an attack around the outer wing when Hughson kicked long to Crisp, who snapped truly. Another snap from Crisp shortly after hit the post. On several occasions, Umpire Boyd seemed officious and pedantic in his decision making. North scored their third goal to take a handy lead, but two late goals to Crisp levelled the scores at quarter time.
Carlton opened the second quarter with a running goal from Vallence. Attacking constantly, the Blues were denied several chances through their own errors and North’s strong defence. Following a chain of handpasses, North scored their fourth goal but Jack Cooper replied with a nice kick after a high mark. Another Carlton attack was saved by North’s defenders but the ever alert Clarke picked up and snapped the sixth goal. It was clear that the Blues were now the stronger and faster side, with Cashman and Hughson prominent players. From a doubtful free, Cashman kicked goal seven and further onslaughts yielded two goals to Vallence. At half time, Carlton led by 36 points.
North Melbourne scored the first goal of the second half following a Carlton defensive error. The game was still lacking polish and sparkle and the kicking in particular was generally poor. The Shinboners did themselves no favours with their disorganised forward play costing some scoring chances. Carlton’s tenth goal came following a chain of passes from which Vallence punted his fourth goal. He was involved in the next two goals, assisting Ron Cooper to score and then receiving a kick from Crisp, who had received a free, and kicking truly. Carlton was now in full command of the game; the centreline and flankers were well on top and the defence was very tight. An unfortunate incident now occurred. Crisp bumped a North player quite fairly, but the force of the bump propelled the player into the picket fence from which he received a nasty gash on the scalp, which required seven stitches. He was replaced. Cashman received a free close to goal and kicked Carlton’s 13th major. North seemed demoralised and playing without spirit but their hopes were raised following some direct play which scored their sixth goal. From the bounce, Carlton was well into attack as the three quarter time bell sounded, with the Blues 52 points ahead.
Huxtable (bruised thigh) was replaced by Park at the break. Although the result was beyond doubt, North had come determined to fight the last quarter out and scored their seventh goal on the resumption of play. There followed some minutes of even play, before Jack Cooper marked well on the lead and goaled. Play had become quite willing by now and Cashman goaled from a free kick. His three goals so far had all come from frees. North, not done with, kicked the next two goals, the first from a mark and the other following a free kick. A faulty kick from Vallence was luckily marked by Shea and he kicked the 16th Carlton goal. Three more followed; Jack Cooper snapped his third goal and then kicked another soon after and Vallence kicked his sixth. Late in the game, North kicked three goals but Carlton had the last word when Ron Cooper and Vallence co-operated to score Carlton’s 20th goal. When the bell sounded, the Blues were comfortable winners by 62 points.
Footnote
The Argus reported that at half time, Mocha Johnson caused some consternation in the Carlton camp when he reported that he had no memory of any of the events of the first half. He could not recall any blows or knocks he may have received. He returned after half time and played out the game but was well below his best. It says a lot for modern day medical assessments that a player today would not be allowed back on the field in such a condition.
At the end of this round Carlton were in 5th spot on the ladder with a percentage of 112.2.
Team
| B: | 20 Alby De Luca | 21 Frank Gill | 25 Harold Maskell |
| HB: | 9 Eric Huxtable | 35 George Dougherty | 11 Jack Hale |
| C: | 7 Joe Kelly | 32 Bob Green | 27 Terry Ogden |
| HF: | 8 Keith Shea | 22 Harry Vallence | 12 Creswell 'Mickey' Crisp |
| F: | 1 Les Hughson | 33 Jack Cooper | 31 Ansell Clarke |
| Ruck: | 4 Jack Cashman (acting vc) | 15 Maurie Johnson (c) | 19 Ron Cooper |
| 19th Man: | 26 Jim Park | ||
| Coach: | Dan Minogue | ||
Milestones
Last Game: Les HughsonRound 5 | Round 7