The 1924 Carnival decider
There are few men who could give facts about the final clash of Victoria and Western Australia at Hobart Oval in the 1924 carnival better than those who actually played in the game. Brilliant Subiaco follower of those days, Tom Outridge (below), and ace centre-forward Hugh “Bonny” Campbell, for years a champion with South Fremantle and later East Perth, were interviewed by "Wing" during the week. They were asked to tell the story of the game which has gone down in history as the most the thrilling match ever played in carnival football.
Tom Outridge commenced the story
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'To realise fully the intense rivalry between Western Australia and Victoria prior to the game," he said, "anybody who did not witness the match must harken back to the 1921 carnival which we won. Feeling ran high after our initial success among both States, especially as word went around that all was not fair about the victory.
"The Victorians held that Horrie Clover, a brilliant centre half-forward, had been severely dealt with by the WA side and this was not the only debt they wished to settle. The main sore point was the initial defeat by Western Australia of Victoria."
Big crowd
Bonny Campbell then took up the narrative.
"Before the final game both Victoria and Western Australia had beaten South Australia and the crowd of 18,000 at Hobart Oval fully expected to see a game out of the ordinary. Behind the scenes, however, the real reason for the great battle has never been published. It happened like this. We had in the WA team a practical joker of the highest—or lowest—class. He was "Snowy" Hamilton, who annoyed and amused us with his mad-headed pranks throughout the journey to Tasmania.
To digress, I can remember him changing the shoes placed outside the doors of our hotel rooms on one morning so that it was hopeless to try to find a pair of shoes. Anyhow, before the game Snowy went up to big Jack ‘Fats’ McDiarmid and told him that his opposing ruckman in the final game, Roy Cazaly, had gone around telling everyone that he would 'get', McDiarmid, which was in reality untrue.
"Jack did not say a word, but in the first second of the game slammed Cazaly in the ruck. Thereafter Cazaly and McDiarmid fought each other by indirect means with every opportunity that presented itself."
Tom Outridge then interrupted;
"Don't get ahead of yourself Bonny," he said. "Firstly, I think the conditions should be explained to get a real idea of the game. Visualise the geographical position of Hobart, which is near the southern tip of Tasmania. Visualise the town in winter with drizzling rain, a slushy ground and, in addition, an ice-cold wind blowing from the nearby mountains. The match was played in such weather, and to make matters worse, started late in the afternoon. When it finished street lights were on and the Press box was using lanterns!"
Tassie public holiday
"The day had been declared a public holiday throughout Tasmania as the game was anticipated to be the match of the century. This was the climax. Victoria fielded its finest eighteen. It was not until 1927 that the Victorian Football League limited its choice of players by the selection of two players from the eight top ranking sides and one each from the four lower teams. Western Australia had the greatest galaxy of talent ever placed on a football field as its representatives.
"In 1924 there was no stipulation to nominate 25 players and when McDiarmid was seen to be such a power in the ruck, the Victorians sent an urgent message to bring Goldie Collins, the champion Fitzroy follower, over to counter McDiarmid."
But, Outridge and Campbell agreed, Collins was helpless against the strong ruck work of McDiarmid.
Torrid tempo
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Tom Outridge continued. "When McDiarmid (left) hit Roy Cazaly the game never relaxed and the pace grew hotter as it progressed. I was in the ruck with Jack when it happened and Cazaly had his nose stripped clean of flesh. It was a tribute to the Victorian umpire Jack McMurray that he kept the game from developing beyond his control.
"I can see the scoreboard now at three-quarter time with WA 13.10, Victoria 13.10, providing the fitting commencement for the final stage. Men hurled themselves into the game. I have never seen anything to equal such great football.
The crowd went mad with excitement
"Two minutes from the end Lloyd Hagger, the Victorian forward, who had been knocked to the ground, staggered to his knees to take a chest mark. He could hardly see but he kicked the winning goal. Victoria won by eight points.
Harry Sherlock, the West Australian full-back, had kept Hagger quiet all day [not exactly, as Hagger kicked 7 goals that day], but this final effort of Hagger's atoned for the mistakes he had made.
The two former carnival champions were each asked to give their views of the best player in the game. Both agreed that the West Australian winger George Scaddan was unbeatable. A remarkable feature of the match was that Scaddan on his wing was in brilliant form, and on the other wing Colin Watson of Victoria was winning easily over Snowy Hamilton, but for no apparent reason would the coaches change the tactics of the respective teams to fit the winning flanks.
"When the match finished the crowd swarmed on to the ground to inspect the oval and to carry the players off."
"A most remarkable exhibition," said Campbell, which was probably the best and most concise summary which could have been made of Australia's most thrilling carnival game.
[Note: For a full match report, please see: http://australianfootball.com/articles/view/A%2BCa...
Footnotes
Title: The clash of champions: The final game of the 1924 carnival
Author: Wing (as told by Tom Outridge and Bonny Campbell)
Publisher: Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 1954)
Date: Thursday, 6 September 1945, p.45 (Article)
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