...and the simple historical fact is that only four Blue Hyphens have run out for a senior game for Carlton:
1. Bruce McMaster-Smith
Career : 1962 - 1964
Debut : Round 5, 1962 vs Essendon, aged 22 years, 181 days
Games : 54 (26 at Carlton)
Goals : 14 (6 at Carlton)
Last Game : Round 4, 1964 vs Footscray, aged 24 years, 172 days
DOB : November 19, 1939
One of the smallest and lightest players of his time, "Hyphen" Smith was just 169 cm tall and 61 kg when fully dressed and wringing wet. Nevertheless, he managed over 50 games of VFL football - including a Grand Final - at three clubs from 1960 to 1965. From Greensborough in the Diamond Valley League, he was first attracted to Fitzroy, where he played 13 games and kicked a solitary goal in two seasons.
Carlton were quietly impressed by the diminutive, clever wingman, so when their neighbouring club showed Bruce the door, he was made welcome at Princes Park. In three years with the Blues in guernsey number 40, he turned out on 26 occasions and booted 6 goals - despite an unfortunate accident that left him almost blind in one eye, and the first indications of a chronic hamstring injury that would eventually force him out of the game.
2. Gary Lawson-Smith
Playing Career : 1970-71
Debut : Round 10, 1970 vs Footscray, aged 22 years, 341 days
Games : 7
Goals : Nil
Guernsey No. 16
Last Game: Round 11, 1971 vs Collingwood, aged 23 years, 349 days
Lawson-Smith debuted for the Blues in 1970, playing 7 games over 2 seasons.
Gary Smith was born in South Australia on June 30, 1947 and was recruited from Central District and had to stand out of football for the 1969 season, when he kept fit by being Carlton's match day runner while waiting for his clearance. He played in guernsey number 16 and debuted in Round 10, 1970 against Footscray at the Western Oval at the age of 22 years and 341 days old in this 10 point loss where he was named on the half back flank. He was listed as 6' 3" (191cm) and 13.11 (87.5kg) and he played 3 senior games during 1970.
Before the start of 1971 season he married and changed his name from Smith to Lawson-Smith (Lawson being his middle name). He was one of the two Carlton players to change their surnames for this season the other one being Andy Lukas who shorted his name to Lukas. These stories are explained in great detail in the attached link.
3. David Rhys-Jones
Career : 1985 – 1992
Debut : Round 1, 1985 vs Footscray, aged 22 years, 287 days
Carlton Player No. 923
Games : 182 (106 at Carlton)
Goals : 112 (73 at Carlton)
Last Game : Round 24, 1992 vs West Coast, aged 30 years, 75 days
Premiership Player 1987
Norm Smith Medal 1987
Carlton Hall of Fame
Superbly skilled, fiery, volatile - these are all apt descriptions of the enigmatic David Rhys-Jones, who starred for the Blues in the 1987 Grand Final triumph over Hawthorn, in the middle of a 12-year VFL/AFL career studded with controversy and repeated trips to the tribunal.
Originally from Oakleigh Districts, Rhys-Jones was recruited by South Melbourne as a 17 year-old in 1979. From his first practice match he created excitement, leading his coach; Ian Stewart, to point him out during a pre-season press conference and say; “Look at that kid over there. He’ll play 200 league games, no question.” Later, legendary commentator Lou Richards was to write; “David Rhys-Jones could be one of the best footballers around, if he wasn’t trying to be the middleweight boxing champion of Australia.” For his part, Rhys-Jones was rarely repentant. “I was always the one who used to follow the old saying, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” he said. “That’s the way I operated. I didn’t want to be pushed around, and I let it be known.”
4. Simon Minton-Connell
Career: 1989 - 1991
Debut : Round 15, 1989 vs Collingwood, aged 20 years, 80 days
Games : 19
Goals : 50
Last Game: Round 24, 1991 vs Richmond, aged 22 years, 126 days
Guernsey Nos. 53 (1989) and 29 (1990-91)
Tasmanian-born Simon Minton-Connell spent time on the lists of four AFL clubs - Carlton, Sydney, Hawthorn and Footscray - in a ten-season career from 1989 to 1998. A capable, accurate full-forward, he was the nephew of Hawthorn’s legendary Peter Hudson, and to date, the only player in Carlton’s history to have worn guernsey number 53 in a senior appearance for the Blues.
Nicknamed ‘SMC’, Minton-Connell first attracted Carlton’s attention as a dashing defender for North Hobart and Tasmania in the elite Teal Cup competition. He was drafted by the Blues at number 38 in the 1986 National Draft, and spent two seasons with Carlton’s Under 19 and Reserve teams. During that time, he was trialled as a key forward, where he discovered an aptitude (and a considerable hunger) for scoring goals.
Eventually, he was called into Carlton’s senior team for his debut as a reserve in the Blues’ last-gasp round 15 victory over Collingwood at Waverley Park in July, 1989. Wearing the afore-mentioned number 53, Minton-Connell spent most of the day on the bench, and like everyone in his team, was overjoyed when rover Andrew Phillips kicked a late goal to snatch the match for the Blues.
With "DVR" not having played a game yet, the race is on for Carlton guernseys for these two current players to join this exclusive band of Hyphens!