Australian Football

1976 VFL Prelim Final: North Melb v Carlton - a 'Roos-Blues thriller!

Match Summary

The shock resignation of coach John Nicholls on the eve of the 1976 season seemed if anything to have a positive effect on the Carlton players, at least initially, as the side remained unbeaten until round 8, when it succumbed to St Kilda by 38 points in the wet. This heralded something of a mid-season slump which attracted a fair share of criticism over the team's apparent inability to handle the heavy grounds. The worst example of this came not in the VFL, but against Norwood in the fledgling and short-lived NFL series; the Redlegs hammered Carlton by 106 points, which up to that point in time was the Blues' heaviest ever senior defeat.

Once the weather began to improve, however, so did Carlton's form, and after finishing the home and away season with a 10 match unbeaten run (including a draw against Footscray) the side commenced its finals campaign with a week's rest, courtesy of finishing top of the ladder with a 16-5-1 record.

Statistically, the 1976 VFL season was one of the most evenly contested on record, with even eventual wooden spooners Collingwood retaining a realistic chance of qualifying for the finals as late as round 16. Nevertheless, most observers felt that the eventual premiers would come from among the top three clubs at the end of the minor round: Carlton, Hawthorn (16-6), and reigning premiers North Melbourne (15-7). The Kangaroos had learned the hard way that winning a flag makes you Public Enemy Number One as far as other teams in the competition are concerned. They had lost their opening 3 games of the '76 season and after 7 rounds were standing 2 and 5 with their season in the balance. Their recovery, when it came, was spectacular, including memorable, come from behind, against the odds wins over Essendon and Carlton in rounds 9 and 10. It was in the latter of these two games that Malcolm Blight booted his famous, 60 metre after the siren goal - the third goal he had kicked during the timeon period of the last term - to secure a 5 point victory for the 'Roos. Blight's contribution in the vital closing minutes of the preliminary final clash with the Blues would be less spectacular, but no less telling.

Once September arrived, however, it was Hawthorn which began to move ominously into top form, overcoming North by 20 points in the qualifying final after pulling away strongly in the 2nd half, and then doing more or less the same in the following week's 2nd semi final against Carlton en route to a 12.15 (87) to 9.16 (70) triumph. The Hawthorn style was not pretty, but then football teams do not acquire points for artistic impression; with a berth in the grand final, the Hawks were now well poised to clinch their 2nd flag of the decade. The Kangaroos recovered from their disappointing 2nd half performance against Hawthorn to score a comfortable 33 point victory over Geelong in the following week's 1st semi final. Meanwhile, at Carlton there were rumours that first year coach Ian Thorogood did not enjoy the respect of his senior players; perhaps the inimical impact of 'Big Nick's' abrupt pre-season departure was only now beginning to hit home?

A crowd of 69,234 turns up at VFL Park on a warm, fine, almost breeze-less spring afternoon for the first ever preliminary final to be controlled by two umpires. Messrs Robinson and Smith are the men entrusted with the task of overseeing a match which, in terms of the fundamental skills of football, will fluctuate dramatically between the awe-inspiring and the squalid. it will also have more than its share of controversy, but for sheer, gut-wrenching excitement it would be hard to better.

1st Quarter

2 mins Robert Walls, having marked strongly midway between right centre wing and half forward right for the Blues, looks to be preparing to unload a hefty kick towards the goal square but at the last minute he props, changes direction, and floats a pass in the direction of Barry Armstrong in the right forward pocket. Despite some heavy attention from Mark Dawson, Armstrong manages to take a clean, one grab mark overhead, before setting himself and effortlessly steering home the opening major score of the match.
Carlton 1.1; North Melbourne 0.0

3 mins North win the ball from the ensuing centre bounce, scrambling it forward to Malcolm Blight near the front edge of the centre square. Blight's ungainly looking tumble punt narrowly evades the attempted smother of Armstrong before wobbling towards centre half forward where, fortunately for the 'Roos, Wayne Schimmelbusch (right) is standing unmarked. The young North half forward has no trouble in marking on the chest, and his precisely elegant drop punt sails straight through the centre.
Carlton 1.1; North Melbourne 1.0

20 mins Ray Byrne takes a diving mark some 50 metres from goal, more or less straight in front. He tries unsuccessfully to get onto a torpedo punt and the ball drops flaccidly to earth a good 15 metres from goal, whereupon Rod Ashman, at the front of the waiting pack of players, just manages to get his hands to the ball for a split second before dropping it. The umpire, however, perhaps feeling that there has been insufficient scoring so far in a quarter which has seen both teams' half back lines in supreme form, somewhat surprisingly awards Ashman a mark, from which he calmly converts.
Carlton 2.1; North Melbourne 1.0

As the ball is relayed back to the centre of the ground after the goal, North Melbourne suffer a blow when the injured Graham Melrose is forced to leave the ground. His replacement is Peter Chisnall.¹

Seven minutes later the siren sounds bringing to an end a hotly contested quarter of football which has seen both sides' defences well on top.

QUARTER TIME: Carlton 2.1 (13); North Melbourne 1.0 (6)

2nd Quarter

5 mins After attacking consistently since the start of the term, Carlton finally bag a goal courtesy of Trevor Keogh who kicks truly from centre half forward after being awarded a free kick for being held when not in possession of the ball by Ross Henshaw.
Carlton 3.5; North Melbourne 1.0

11 mins North manufacture a rare attacking foray which culminates in Frank Gumbleton spearing a pass towards Darryl Sutton at centre half forward, only to see Blues defender Mark Maclure get a touch on the ball first. Sutton nevertheless manages to catch the ball, and is as surprised as anyone when the umpire blows his whistle to award him a mark. Making the most of the opportunity, he sinks his boot into a high torpedo punt that just manages to elude both the goal line pack and the left goal post as it sails through for full points.
Carlton 3.5; North Melbourne 2.0

13 mins Schimmelbusch somehow contrives to miss everything for North after marking 30 metres from goal directly in front.

14 mins Running into an open goal, Darryl Sutton blazes away with all his might and manages to completely mistime his kick, sending it scudding through for a behind.
Carlton 3.5; North Melbourne 2.1

17 mins Paul Feltham snatches up the ball near the centre of the ground and fires off a low pass in the direction of Blight at centre half forward. The former Woodville utility uses his opponent Bruce Doull as a step ladder to take a towering mark, before pushing off and running into space. From roughly 40 metres out, straight in front, his untidy right foot kick gives the impression of being held up in a gale force breeze, but nevertheless does just enough to elude the flailing arms of Blues full back Geoff Southby (left) before bouncing through for a goal. Despite making a succession of embarrassing and elementary errors - missing the body repeatedly with attempted passes, kicking out of bounds on the full when under no pressure, and so forth - the Kangas are now back to within 3 points of Carlton.
Carlton 3.5; North Melbourne 3.2

19 mins North Melbourne's frailties suddenly become contagious as Geoff Southby, having marked the ball in the right back pocket for the Blues, and having carefully weighed up his options, kicks the ball a good 30 metres over the boundary line having gained less than 20 metres for his team. The resultant free kick is taken by Keith Greig, who cleverly runs around the man on the mark before taking a couple of bounces and sending a low, centering kick across the face of goal and onto the chest of Sutton, who is 20 metres out on perhaps a 45 degree angle. The ex Glenorchy star makes no mistake.
North Melbourne 4.2; Carlton 3.5

25 mins A boundary throw in takes place in Carlton's left forward pocket and North ruckman Mick Nolan leaps high over Mike Fitzpatrick from behind to palm the ball deftly to Barry Cable (right). The triple Sandover Medallist dashes off down field, bouncing twice, and then spears a handball forward, only to see the ball smothered by Alex Jesaulenko, and snatched up by Anthony Pickett. With Jesaulenko fending off Cable, the former North Launceston player has sufficient time to take his bearings, steady, and inflict the ultimate punishment with a perfectly weighted 40 metre kick for goal.
Carlton 4.5; North Melbourne 4.2

27 mins Another atrocious error by North gifts the Blues a second easy goal in as many minutes. After collecting the ball in the right back pocket, Blight runs back towards goal with it to avoid the attentions of two on rushing Carlton forwards, and then sends a high looping handball across the face of goal to Henshaw. Instead of immediately 'sinking the slipper', Henshaw elects to finesse by weaving adroitly around Jesaulenko (left), only to see his cleverness quickly come undone as he somehow contrives to slip over, dropping the ball in the process. In a flash, Rod Ashman snatches up the crumbs, and gleefully splits the centre with a high, left foot snap shot, whereupon the TV camera switches to the North Melbourne coaching box, in which Barassi and co. can just be made out behind the welter of feathers issuing from the coach's mouth.
Carlton 5.5; North Melbourne 4.2

Despite enjoying almost total dominance, Carlton still find themselves only 9 points to the good when the siren sounds a couple of minutes later.

HALF TIME: Carlton 5.5 (35); North Melbourne 4.2 (26)

3rd Quarter

Both sides make replacements at half time, with Barassi (right) replacing the possession-less Kekovich with Keenan, and Austin coming on for Carlton in place of Heath.

9 mins With both sides producing far and away their most fluent football of the afternoon it is nevertheless an unforced error which gives rise to the first goal of the quarter. Rod Austin, collecting the ball deep in defence for the Blues, has time to weigh his options, but instead throws the ball blindly onto his boot and sends it straight to Malcolm Blight at half forward left for the Kangas, 50 metres from goal. Having marked easily on his chest, Blight sets himself with great deliberation before unloading a perfectly weighted drop punt that never looks like missing.
Carlton 5.6; North Melbourne 5.4

10 mins Nolan's tap from the ensuing centre bounce is fielded by Blight who steers the ball toward Sutton, who shrugs off the stern attentions of Maclure to mark strongly overhead. Despite being some 60 metres from goal, it is obvious that Sutton is setting himself to have a go, and to the uproarious acclaim of the North faithful his prodigious torpedo punt never deviates as it perfectly splits the centre.
North Melbourne 6.4; Carlton 5.6

15 mins Carlton run the ball forward in numbers until it reaches Jesaulenko on the front edge of the centre square. 'Jezza' props, looks up and, spotting Pickett in the clear 15 metres ahead of him, floats a high handball to him over the head of a rapidly arriving defender. Pickett runs on and propels a high kick deep into the goal square where Dench (left) gets hands to the ball, only to see it spill to ground where it is pounced on by 'Percy' Jones who, from a keeling position, deftly feeds Byrne with a handball, enabling that player to snap truly from a position adjacent to the right behind post, and about 10 metres in field.
Carlton 6.6; North Melbourne 6.5

21 mins Kicking in after a Carlton behind, Dench goes short in the direction of Feltham in the left back pocket. Feltham collects the ball on the first bounce before attempting to return the ball to Dench by hand. Walls, however, anticipating Feltham's intentions, manages to get a hand to the ball ahead of Dench, and deflects it still deeper into the forward pocket into the path of Jesaulenko. Rising to the challenge, Jesaulenko makes light of the near impossible angle by spearing a low kick right through the centre for the third 'gimme' goal conceded by the North defence in the match.
Carlton 7.8; North Melbourne 6.5

23 mins Pickett gathers up the ball near the left centre wing boundary and endeavours to evade the attentions of Schimmelbusch. In doing so, he bounces the ball, whereupon 'Schimma', with clever and perfectly legal use of the body, sends him sprawling, collects the bouncing ball, and hits Dawson on the chest at half forward right with a bullet like drop punt pass. From close to 50 metres out, Dawson's kick could neither be more precise nor better judged.
Carlton 7.8; North Melbourne 7.6 Both sides add a behind to their tallies before the three quarter time siren. North Melbourne has dominated affairs for most of the term, but failed to translate this dominance to the scoreboard, which reads:

THREE QUARTER TIME: Carlton 7.9 (51); North Melbourne 7.7 (49)

4th Quarter

6 mins Incessant attacking pressure from Carlton finally pays off as Pickett's speculative kick into the left forward pocket is gathered up by Keogh, who sidesteps adroitly around Chisnall, and snaps truly from 15 metres out on a 45 degree angle.
Carlton 8.9; North Melbourne 7.7

10 mins Peter 'Crackers' Keenan is awarded a free kick after Southby's hurried clearance sails out of bounds on the full some 70 metres from North's goal on the eastern wing. Before he can take the kick, however, the umpire awards him a 15 metre penalty after Pinnell (right) oversteps the mark. Keenan now feels sufficiently confident to set his sights on the big sticks, but his kick falls just short and is punched away from the rear of a pack of players, towards the left back pocket boundary, by 'Percy' Jones. Recovering quickly from the marking contest in which he has just been engaged, however, Darryl Sutton manages to get a hand to the ball, deflecting it into his own path and then snatching it up and throwing it almost instantaneously onto his boot. To the obvious delight of the North supporters behind the goal the ball skids across the vacant goal square and over the line for full points.
Carlton 8.9; North Melbourne 8.7

11 mins Cable intercepts the ball at centre half back, takes a quick bounce while running towards left centre wing, and then spears a kick in that direction which sits nicely for Burns who is able to gallop forward his full distance before hitting Cowton on the chest with a perfect left foot pass. Unfortunately for Cowton, however, the ball bounces off his chest, but his nearest opponents, having seemingly succumbed to the cardinal sin of anticipating the mark, are flat-footed, and Cowton is able to swoop on the spilled ball and drill it home before they fully realise what has happened.
North Melbourne 9.7; Carlton 8.9

12 mins Chisnall sharks Fitzpatrick's tap at the centre bounce following Cowton's goal and kicks high towards centre half forward where it is marked on the chest by Sutton. Almost casually, the future All Australian latches onto a 60 metre torpedo punt that perfectly splits the centre.
North Melbourne 10.7; Carlton 8.9

14 mins After allegedly being tripped by Gumbleton, Walls shows just as much nonchalance as Sutton by calmly steering home a 55 metre torpedo punt goal, his 54th major of the season.
North Melbourne 10.7; Carlton 9.9

17 mins A forced behind reduces the margin to 3 points.
North Melbourne 10.7; Carlton 9.10

24 mins Armstrong's high left foot snap shot from 30 metres out directly in front narrowly misses to the left to bring the Blues to within 2 points.
North Melbourne 10.7; Carlton 9.11

26 mins As Walls (left) and Gumbleton scramble for possession of the ball on hands and knees at half forward left, some 50 metres from Carlton's goal, the umpire, who seems to have taken a dislike to the North defender, somehow manages to pick out another free kick to Walls. Again resorting to his favoured torpedo punt, Walls' kick easily makes the distance, but misses slightly to the left.
North Melbourne 10.7; Carlton 9.12

27 mins As Carlton continue to attack relentlessly, Ashman's snap from 40 metres out directly in front is marked right on the goal line by Blight.

28 mins McKay has a set shot from almost 60 metres out straight in front which looks to be going through for a behind to level the scores, only for Malcolm Blight once again to take a last ditch saving mark.

With 28 minutes and 50 seconds showing on the clock, and Byrne having just propelled the Blues deep into attack yet again, the siren sounds to bring to end both a riveting, if flawed match, and Carlton's season.

FINAL SCORE: North Melbourne 10.7 (67); Carlton 9.12 (66)

Match Summary

BEST
North Melbourne: Cable, Blight, Dench, Sutton, Gumbleton, Greig
Carlton: Keogh, Byrne, Armstrong, Maclure, Southby, Ashman

GOALS
North Melbourne: Sutton 5; Blight 2; Cowton, Dawson, Schimmelbusch
Carlton: Ashman, Keogh 2; Armstrong, Byrne, Jesaulenko, Pickett, Walls

ATTENDANCE: 69,234 at VFL Park

For match details and video highlights, click here.