1967

The solid groundwork laid by Ron Barassi in his previous two years since crossing from Melbourne to be Carlton Captain Coach paid dividends in 1967. A 94 point thumping of Fitzroy in round 1 at Princes Park seemed to set up the season for the Blues. Solid wins in rounds 2 (Hawthorn) and 4 (Melbourne) followed, and the club managed to win its first six games to be flying high, on top of the ladder by percentage above the also unbeaten Geelong.

Carlton entered a period of amazingly close matches from round 5. The next 5 matches would all be decided by less than a goal, the Blues winning in rounds 5, 6 and 8, drawing in round 7, and losing in round 9. In fact, out of the eight rounds between rounds 5 and 12, seven of them finished with margins of less than 10 points, the other being a 16 point victory against Footscray in round 10. The club was successful despite eight close games on the trot, winning 6, losing 1 and drawing the other. This left the team 6 points clear on top of the ladder after round 12.

A solid end to the season saw Carlton win 4 of its last games. Unfortunately Richmond won its last 6 games straight, including a 114 point thumping of Hawthorn, to sneak into top place on the ladder after round 17, a position that Carlton had held for the first 16 weeks of the season. The Blues, however, finished a creditible second, with a 14 win, 1 loss and 1 draw record, and was in the finals for the first time since 1962.

It was the top 2 teams in the second Semi Final, but the Tigers were way too powerful for the Blues, comfortably outscoring Carlton 20.21 (141) to 14.17 (101). Having earnt the double chance, the club got the opportunity to play Geelong the following week in the Preliminary Final and a chance for another crack at the Richmond in the Grand Final. The Blues had a great first half, kicking 5 goals to 1 in the first quarter, and holding a 27 point half-time lead. Geelong managed to shut Carlton down in the second half, and restricting the Blues to only one goal for the rest ot the match, they went on to win 17.6 (108) to 11.13 (79).

Carlton was officially classified third for the season, and the finals would be the only time during the year that the Blues lost consecutive games. The confidence gained from this year would be vital in 1968, when the Blues went on to win the flag.

Ladder

People of 1967

Captain & Coach: Ron Barassi
Leading Goal-kicker: Brian Kekovich - 36 goals
Best & Fairest: John Nicholls

Debuts

Round 12: Ian Nicoll, Ken Jungwirth
Round 8: Dennis Munari
Round 4: Bob Edmond, Peter Kerr
Round 3: John Leatham
Round 2: Robert Walls
Round 1: Alex Jesaulenko, Brian Kekovich

1967: World of Sport Handball Game Competition

Richmond v Carlton at the HSV7 Dorcas street studios.
Courtesy of the Rhettrospective site.
Ron Barassi (No.37), Kevin Hall (3), Bryan Quirk (32), Ian Robertson (34)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-_1uHwrMSE