| Venue: Princes Park | Date: Saturday July 3, 1937 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Win by 22 points | Umpire: Blackburn | Crowd: 8,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: K.Shea 3.3, J.Wrout 3.3, H.Vallence 2.1, C.Davey 2.0, H.Bullen 1.0, M.Crisp 1.0, A.Shields 1.0, Price 0.2, Butler 0.1, rushed 0.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: D. McIntyre, B. Chitty, K. Shea, F. Gill, J. Hale, M. Crisp | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: J. Hale (shoulder), replaced by G. Collard in final quarter | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Playing at their best for only one quarter, Carlton was able to defeat a determined and lively Fitzroy by 22 points on a cold and wet winter afternoon. The Blues’ were surprised by Fitzroy’s sparkling play early in the game and took a half to take control with a strong third quarter doing the damage.
Satisfied with players’ conditioning, Percy Rowe had a light training session on Tuesday night. Keith Shea and Eric Huxtable had resumed from their injuries and were expected to be right for inclusion on Saturday. Jack Hale was also expected to be available after his concussion. The news wasn’t so bright with other players. Ansell Clarke (ankle) and Jack Carney (calf) were making slow progress with their recoveries and Ron Cooper (shoulder) and Frank Anderson (ankle) were doubtful starters. Kevin Fox was expected to miss some weeks with a slipped knee cartilage, Fred Ayers had sustained a broken bone in the hand in last week’s seconds’ game and Gordon Mackie’s broken finger was taking ages to heal. In the team announced on Thursday, Fox was out injured and Clen Denning was omitted. Harry Vallence and Keith Shea were welcome additions to the side.
In other news, boom recruit Pat Farrelly trained and was named in the seconds’ team. Carlton had cleared Will Kuhklen to Kyneton, Frank Williams to amateur club Old Paradians and Clem Neeson to St Kilda (he played in their seniors side on Saturday). Ted Pollock had remained with Carlton as a player in the reserves’ team.
Rod McLean was a late withdrawal from the team due to illness and Bob Chitty, one of the emergency players, took his place. An icy north westerly wind and sweeping showers kept many supporters at home and those in attendance were well rugged up. Carlton had first use of the wind but Fitzroy shocked the Blues from the opening bounce, with two goals before Carlton had gone into their forward line. The first came through great team play, and the second from a mark and a goal on the run. Fitzroy was handling the wet conditions far better than Carlton. They were kicking soundly and wisely, scouting the packs well, marking strongly and not wasting opportunities, whereas Carlton was doing exactly the opposite at this stage. Three promising thrusts by the Blues went nowhere and were easily rebuffed by the Maroons’ defence. Fitzroy was continually in attack, keeping Carlton’s defence under great pressure. Finally Carlton rallied and, with determined play and vigorous use of weight, burst forward after a hard slog and Shields gained the first goal. The wet ground and increased use of the body by both sides had made the game crowded and many players were sent sprawling into the turf. Carlton’s second goal came after Shea made good position and marked. He played on but slipped as he was about to kick and handballed to Crisp who raced into goal and scored. Carlton’s tactics had worked and Fitzroy now wasn’t the dominant side of before. Just before quarter time, Crisp swung the ball across to Wrout, who kicked a nice goal for a ten point lead at the break.
From the bounce, Fitzroy surged forward and deserved more than two behinds from two good passages of play. Keeping Carlton’s defenders working overtime, they brought the ball around the outer side and a nice mark in front of a pack resulted in their third goal. Fitzroy’s defence was playing well and stopped several thrusts. But by now, Carlton’s forwards had settled into a nice rhythm, making good position for the ball and combining well. Wrout brought up the fourth goal after marking a pass from Shields unopposed in front of goal. Carlton was the better side but were made to work hard by determined Fitzroy play. Cashin and Crisp got Carlton into attack and Chitty scored a behind. Carlton hammered away and a shot from Davey fell short, but Bullen was quick to pounce on the ball in a pack in the goal square and kicked truly. Three behinds to the Maroons followed, but the strong defence of Carlton had made Fitzroy’s forward work very ragged, and their one goal nine for the term was a poor result. Carlton had gained the ascendancy by half time, but couldn’t be said to be playing well. Shea, McIntyre, Gill, Chitty and Hale were the best for the first half.
Several changes were made by Fitzroy at the break. The wind had strengthened, which aided Carlton, and two goals were scored by Vallence and Davey, both after good, high marks. Crisp and Shea were working well together out of the middle, providing the source of most attacks. Fitzroy’s defence, under pressure for some time, cracked after Davey and Shea kicked the eighth and ninth goals. McIntyre and Chitty were impassable in the back line and Carlton was now displaying some brilliant football; the early inaccuracy and lack of team work long gone. The Maroons tried several players on Shea, but he was unstoppable and gained two goals, bringing his tally to three for the term. Another goal to Vallence ended a dominant quarter by the Blues, with seven goals three to two behinds giving a 51 point lead at the last break.
Carlton took its foot off the pedal somewhat in the last term, allowing the Maroons to get back in the game. After a run of eleven successive behinds, a strong rally by Fitzroy put Carlton sustained pressure. Four goals came from splendid play, making the difference just 22 points. Hale, battered and bruised as usual and with a shoulder injury, was replaced by Collard. Fitzroy players seemed to be everywhere, doing everything right and only wasteful kicking in the forward line prevented them from getting closer. However, Carlton was still on top across the centre and went forward to where a goal to Wrout sealed the game. A final goal to Fitzroy brought them to 22 points down when the final bell rang.
After the game, McIntyre and Chitty were presented with trophies for being the Blues’ best players for the game. It was revealed that Gill and Park had played with injuries and would not have been selected but for the long list of Carlton’s injured.
Carlton sat fifth on the ladder with six wins and a percentage of 115.8 but would need to play well in the coming weeks to make the finals. Three big tests were coming up against the powerful sides, with South Melbourne, Geelong and Melbourne in a row.
Footnote
"During the interval of the Carlton-Fitzroy match the Carlton club entertained old players.Men who had donned the blue and white nearly sixty years ago were in attendance, and as far as could be gathered the two oldest were Agar Fitzgerald 1879 and Tom Norsworthy* 1883.
A large number of more recent former players were in the room and the pleasant interlude was enjoyed by everybody present."
(Age July 05 p16)
.* Blueseum believes ths is Tom Nosworthy
Team
| B: | 2 Don McIntyre | 21 Frank Gill | 33 Bob Chitty |
| HB: | 6 Fred Gilby | 10 Jim Francis (acting capt.) | 11 Jack Hale |
| C: | 4 Norm Cashin | 12 Creswell 'Mickey' Crisp | 32 Bob Green |
| HF: | 8 Keith Shea | 28 Jack Wrout | 25 Arch Shields |
| F: | 17 Charlie Davey | 22 Harry Vallence | 29 Bert Butler |
| Ruck: | 15 Horrie Bullen | 26 Jim Park | 30 Mick Price |
| 19th Man: | 13 George Collard | ||
| Coach: | Percy Rowe | ||
Milestones
Last game: Charlie DaveyRound 10 | Round 12