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Venue: Princes Park | Date: Saturday June 15, 1907 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Won by 54 points | Umpire: | Crowd: | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: G.Topping 4, V.Gardiner 3, M.Grace 2, D.Harris 2, F.Jinks 2, F.Caine 1, J.Marchbank 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: B.Payne, G.Bruce, T.Kennedy, D.Harris, J.Marchbank, G.Topping, L.Beck, M.Grace, N.Clark, J.Flynn and G.Johnson. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
This was a big, percentage-boosting victory for Carlton against an Essendon team that was rebuilding. The Same Old had some promising young players, but was missing the experience of a group who had retired at the end of the previous season. A columnist for The Argus newspaper had little sympathy, noting that "...other teams have had similar losses, and have been compelled to struggle against adversity season after season when Essendon were winning matches with almost monotonous regularity, yet have risen superior to neglect and misfortune. The position of St. Kilda and Carlton at the present time is an example to clubs which are disorganised because they no longer win every time.On a cloudy Saturday afternoon at Princes Park the game started evenly, with scores level at 1.2 each, but after that Carlton dominated. The Blues added a further three goals for the quarter – two of them to George Topping. Into the second term, it was Mick Grace’s turn to score two majors early, then Topping added his third. Essendon was overwhelmed, adding just one goal before the half-time break, and ruckman Allan Belcher was the only Essendon player in the second quarter who did justice to his colours.
A mini-recovery kicked off the third term for the Same Old, with goals to Cameron and Landemann. However, Carlton answered immediately through Dick Harris, and by then the only interest remaining in the game was the margin at the end. Poor decision-making characterised Essendon's game, and while they didn’t throw the towel in at any stage, they were dominated in the last quarter and few Blues had a bad day. Billy Payne across half-back recaptured his best form, George Bruce played slashing football on the wing, and Ted Kennedy was almost as good on the opposite side of the ground. Dick Harris was first rate among the forwards, while Marchbank, Topping and Grace also stood out.
Adding joy of to Carlton’s victory, news soon came through that St Kilda had been beaten at last – by their traditional rivals South Melbourne - at the Junction Oval. This meant that Carlton was now just one win behind the ladder leaders, and the percentage figure for both teams was almost identical; 151.53 for the Saints, and 150.68 for the Navy Blues.
Carlton’s big win also shook up the goal-kicking table. Topping’s four goals lifted him into equal third on the list with 12 majors – just two behind the leader, Matthews of St Kilda.
At the end of this round Carlton were in 2nd spot on the ladder with a percentage of 150.7.
Team
| B: | Norman Clark (vc) | Doug Gillespie | Les Beck |
| HB: | Billy Payne | Jim Flynn (c) | Fred Jinks |
| C: | Ted Kennedy | Alex Lang | George Bruce |
| HF: | Frank Caine | Dick Harris | Jim Marchbank |
| F: | Mick Grace | George Topping | Vin Gardiner |
| Ruck: | George S Johnson | Fred Elliott | Archie Snell |
| Coach: | Jack Worrall | ||
Changes
In: J.Marchbank, N.Clark, D.GillespieOut: C.Hammond, R.McGregor, A.Bickford
Milestones / Facts
The Guernsey: For the first time, Carlton players ALL wore the Navy Blue guernsey. Prior to this, players wore a mixture of the Navy Blue jumper and the uncomfortable canvas/chamois jackets.In 1903 the Wesley College football team was fitted out for a tour of Adelaide in purple and gold-trimmed woollen guernseys. Carlton and Essendon were the first League clubs to pick up on this trend.
Round 6 | Round 8