| Venue: Princes Park | Date: Saturday April 21, 1956 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Lose by 43 points | Umpire: Frood. | Crowd: 18,656 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: B.Crowe 2, L.Kerr 2, D.Beasy 1, R.O'Dwyer 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: Robinson (twisted ankle) replaced by English at three-quarter time. Bergin (cramp) replaced by Nicholls at three-quarter time. | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Thousands of Carlton supporters boo their new coach Jim Francis as Melbourne lead Carlton 10.15.(75) to 1.7.(13) after three quarters, a deficit of 62 points. The Blues, reduce the final margin to 43 points at the final siren. - 100 Years of Australian Rules Football.Renowned Argus sports writer Jack Canon stated;
"The outburst started in the Robert Heatley Stand - headquarters of Carlton barrackers. Carlton players and trainers turned in stunned amazement at the demonstration, which lasted for half a minute."
"Only fans in the main stand took part in the outburst."
"Perhaps the Carlton fans were justified in giving vent to their feelings about Carlton's woeful showing. But Francis was not to blame. I am firmly convinced that several Carlton players were only going at half pace."
The club reported that "it was swamped with calls from supporters who wished to disassociate themselves from the demonstration."
For Jack Canon's full story which includes rumours of dissention at Carlton, click here> http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71798883
Melbourne played text book football and capitalized on Carlton's mistakes. The only winners the Blues had was the centre line of John Chick, Doug Beasy, debutant Max Ellis, and backman George Ferry who beat Melbourne's centre half forward Laidlaw. However, the Demons easily by-passed these weak points. The Blues failed to man-up and comically turned the ball over.
"Too much ruck responsibility was thrown onto Ken Hands, who needs a big partner like Milroy or Caspar to take the buffeting."
Carlton coach Jim Francis;
"Melbourne showed our boys how football should be played. There was no drive in the Carlton play and the amount of handball and short passing used by our players was heartbreaking. The only redeeming feature was the way our two reserves Nicholls and English, lifted the standard of play and inspired the strong finish when we brought them on at three-quarter time."Former Carlton coach Perc Bentley believed some of the Carlton players were "only going at half pace."
Melbourne coach Norm Smith;
"Carlton literally gave us many opportunities by persisting with short passing and misdirected handball in defence."
Scorers; Kerr 2.3, Crowe 2.0, Beasy 1.4, O'Dwyer 1.0, Milroy 0.1, Bergin 0.1, Donaldson 0.1, Clarke 0.1. In addition 6 shots at goal failed to score.
Best; Ferry, Chick, Beasy, Kerr, Zeunert, Ellis.
Team
| B: | 15 Bruce Comben | 6 Keith Robinson | 24 Vic Garra |
| HB: | 19 Denis Zeunert | 25 George Ferry | 4 Bob Bosustow |
| C: | 23 John Chick | 17 Doug Beasy | 8 Max Ellis |
| HF: | 11 Laurie Kerr (vc) | 3 Peter Webster | 34 Bob Crowe |
| F: | 2 Bill Milroy | 13 Graham Donaldson | 7 Ron O'Dwyer |
| Ruck: | 1 Ken Hands (c) | 16 Kevin Clarke | 36 Kevin Bergin |
| Res: | 12 Don Nicholls | 14 Vin English | |
| Coach: | Jim Francis | ||
Milestones
100 Games: Vin EnglishDebut: Max Ellis, Don Nicholls, Ron O'Dwyer
Last game: Kevin Bergin, Keith Robinson
Round 1 | Round 3