North Melbourne never surrenders
North Melbourne, despite its long and honourable record in both cricket and football, is still the ‘ugly duckling’ of the athletic world of Melbourne. Its ground is the property of the Melbourne City Council, but that body has never displayed proper proprietorial interest in it, with the result that it suffers by comparison with its neighbours, Carlton, Essendon, and Footscray. Each of these grounds has been well developed, while North Melbourne was, for many years, almost entirely neglected; and even now, though some improvements have been effected, the accommodation for the public on the North Melbourne Oval is not up to League standard.
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In two respects North Melbourne stands second to none. One is the loyalty of its supporters. The other is the determination to carry on, despite its disadvantages. In the face of adversity which might well have broken the spirit of most men, we find that from the earliest days there were always enthusiasts to fight for North Melbourne. The late Alderman James Gardiner never ceased in his endeavours to secure due recognition of the ground; the late E. E. Bean for cricket, and the late A. J. Woodham for football, gave their lives to North Melbourne, but though each worked in the section which interested him particularly, each strove for North Melbourne. In later years James Howlett for cricket and Johnny Meere for football have carried on the good work.
North Melbourne has always suffered because of its geographical position. It was originally Hotham, so called after the Governor of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham, who might have applied to this suburb the description he gave of Prahran 85 years ago, “not wholly in the busy town nor quite beyond it”. A description of North Melbourne I once heard—“it is a place where men work but do not sleep”—seems particularly applicable. No district scheme has ever been evolved for either cricket or football, which could do justice to North Melbourne. The Royal Park on one side, the West Melbourne swamp and the railway yards on the other, have prevented North Melbourne becoming much of a residential suburb, and thus reduced its recruiting grounds. The spirit has always been there, but the opportunities have been lacking.
North Melbourne owes its origin to Royal Park. As early as 1873 there was a Hotham United playing at Royal Park, in the blue and white uniform, always the mark of North Melbourne teams, and close beside them played the Hotham Alberts. On another slope of the park was West Melbourne, of which Pat Douglas was captain, and on the Sydney roadside was the Victory, which was more associated with Carlton than North Melbourne. Other clubs which flourished in Royal Park were West End, Bands and McDougalls, Excelsior, Adelphian, Victoria Parade, Victoria United, and finally, perhaps the most famous of them all, North Park.
I have often tried to obtain some information as to some of the North Park players. Two I remember particularly were the famous ‘Tracker’ Forbes and George Stuckey. I wonder can anyone help me. This club flourished in the late eighties, and had a decided run of success for many years. The remarkable thing about all these clubs was that so few of their members went on to play with North Melbourne. Other clubs used the park as a recruiting ground, but, for some reason I have never heard, North Melbourne lost the boys. In recent years, the North Melbourne committee has fostered the local products.
Among the early players for Hotham, as North Melbourne was first known, were Jimmy Robertson, captain in 1878, described as ‘the fastest man that plays’; Harry Furhop, ‘a splendid, all round player’; Billy McLean, ‘determined and sure’; Joe Traynor, who afterwards went to South Australia; Jim ‘Tiger’ Gardiner, not to be confused with his namesake, Alderman John Gardiner, of Carlton; Paddy Lacey, Ned Blatter, Arthur Ley, Fred Lording, and Joe Shaw, ‘the backbone of the team plays well anywhere, excels following, never tires, always plays a good game’. Later Joe Shaw became a well-known umpire in the days when J. J. Trait, Harry Wilson, and Pat Roy were famous, and had no boundary umpires to throw in the ball for them, but had to keep going from start to finish.
A peculiar combination was established in 1876 when North Melbourne and Albert Park amalgamated. Each had been on the point of disbanding when the remnants of each side joined forces and Albert Park-North Melbourne became a strong side. The coalition lasted only a year, and was dissolved. Internal friction had died out and the old clubs were re-established. A little judicious amalgamation just now might help many of the clubs, especially in the Association.
North Melbourne had many fine players in the eighties and early nineties, and among them I recall Harry Todd, a splendid half-back, a good mark and kick; Billy Carroll, a very clever rover; Harry Alessio, ‘Joey’ Tankard, ‘Dodger’ O'Connor, Paddy Noonan, M. Abrahams, E. E. Bean, and George Bingham (the busy B's, they were called), Len Webb, the Tasmanian, who transferred from Essendon; Billy Christian, also an Essendon man; George Stuckey, Dick Houston, ‘Dutchy’ Peters, Wal and Will Johnson, Steve Rolent, Billy Carlton, Tom Buncle (captain in 1885), Harry Hems, Alf Todd, and others.
The establishment of the League [VFL] was a severe blow to the old established clubs like North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Williamstown, and Footscray, which were left to carry on. Those were dark days, but there were stout hearts, and gradually the Association gathered strength. From 1897 to 1924, when North Melbourne, Footscray, and Hawthorn were promoted, there were 26 premierships—there was no play in 1916 and 1917 on account of the war—and North Melbourne won the premiership six times, was second six times, and third six times.
Just before and just after the break away in 1896 there were many good players at North Melbourne, and these included staunch Northerners in Bill Stuckey, Steve Rolent, J. Ciceley (‘Sisso’), and others. The premiership was won in 1903 and 1904 by a particularly good side, which included J. Graham, A. Morrison, ‘Dido’ Considine, L. O'Brien, Tom Boyle, Barnes, Kennedy, T. Watson (the full back), Mickey Londerigan (an elusive and eccentric wing man), Jimmy Stewart, Paddy and Dave Noonan, and E. Jamieson.
Local jealousy weakened North Melbourne at that stage, and another club, West Melbourne, playing at East Melbourne, won the premiership in 1906 and was second in 1907, but it did not last, and by 1910 North had a premier ship side again. The famous Carlton team which won the League premiership in 1906 and 1907 and 1908 had broken up, and some of its star players transferred to North. The most notable of these were ‘Mallee’ Johnson (Captain), ‘Pompey’ Elliott, Charlie Hammond, Fred Jinks, and Frank (‘Silver’) Caine. In addition there were such men as Syd Barker, Charlie Hardy, Tom Shea, Tich McCann, Perry Williamson (otherwise known as ‘Bull’ Williams).
That period marked the high-water mark of the Association, for Essendon Association, North Melbourne, Brunswick, and Footscray each had a number of League players, and the leading teams were very strong. North regained the premiership in 1914, 1915, and 1918 (there was no play in 1916 and 1917), and that team was I think the best that ever represented an Association club. Just look at some of the names: Syd Barker, Charlie Hardy, Tommy Jones, Charlie Speakman, Harold Hart, Fred Carpenter, George Rawle, Dick Cave, Ted Gardiner, Ralph Cornell, Dick Condon, Bert Franks, Jack Wells, and others.
Between the beginning of the 1914 season and the second semi-final in 1919 North Melbourne was unbeaten in premiership matches, winning 49 without a defeat, until it met its Waterloo at the hands of Brunswick. In all that period North had 58 successive victories. Much of their success was due to the leadership of Syd Barker and the astuteness of Charlie Hardy. These two, with George Rawle, made the best ruck the Association has ever seen, and in all football I think it was only surpassed by Barker and Hardy, when they took In Norman Beckton as third man when they played with Essendon.
In 1921, there was friction between the North Melbourne club and the Victorian Football Association, and the club withdrew. Essendon had lost the East Melbourne ground, taken over by the Railways Department, and there was talk of an amalgamation with Essendon. In the shuffle North Melbourne lost Syd Barker, Charlie Hardy, Vince Irwin, and Ted Gardiner. The famous North Melbourne ruck, Barker, Hardy, and Rawle, was broken up, but George Rawle, staying at North Melbourne for a while as captain, eventually followed his companions to Essendon.
After the break-up of the team which had had such success North Melbourne slipped back, and though it had good individual players, it did not regain the premiership which it held in 1914, 1915, and 1918. At the end of 1924 the League took in North Melbourne, Footscray, and Hawthorn, much to the delight of those clubs. They had been the backbone of the Association, and until the invitation to join the League was issued had declared their loyalty to the Association. The opportunity to join in the big money was one to be grasped, just as a similar invitation would be to day to any of the Association clubs.
The first team to represent North Melbourne in the League was led by Wels Eicke of St. Kilda, who brought with him R. Harper. The only other League player included was J. Doherty, the little South Melbourne rover. Another rover with senior experience was H. Clapson from South Australia. Other good players were Jack ‘Johnny’ Lewis, a great follower; Dave Walsh, a splendid full back; A. Linton, a good centre-man; Harold Johnson, a clever rover; W. Smith, the vice-captain; and two useful wing men, J. Lock and Billy Russ.
Sympathy was expressed for North Melbourne when it had to meet Geelong on the Corio Oval in its first match. No team views its prospects at Geelong with equanimity, but North Melbourne was not dismayed. The last time the teams had met, before the break away, was in July, 1896, and North won by 4-4 to 2-7. North went to Geelong hopeful and confident, and returned triumphant, winners by eight points, 9-13 to 8-11. Jack Lewis, the North follower, justified all that had been urged on his behalf, for he completely eclipsed Wallace Sharland, the Geelong crack ruckman, and Dave Walsh's skill as a full back impressed everyone. Jack Lewis has just given up senior football, but is coaching.
The opening performance was not repeated. Since then North Melbourne has striven, but without much real success. It has beaten every other League team, and has justified its inclusion. It has often found that its financial responsibilities have hampered it, and it has never been able to afford the money to go far afield for recruits; and at times it has had to let men go because it could not afford to keep them. At various periods the team has been coached by such players as Wels Eicke, Charlie Tyson, Dick Taylor, Keith Forbes, and now Len Thomas. In its 15 years as a member of the League, North Melbourne has had many fine players, notably Charlie Cameron on the wing, J. Donnelly, J. Anderson, H. Gregory, J. Cordner, a champion centre man; A. Trevaskis, G. Gaudion, and J. Dyer.
Footnotes
Title: North Melbourne never surrenders
Author: Old Boy
Publish: The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic: 1864-1946)
Date: Saturday, 15 Jun 1940, p.14 (Article)
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