Career : 1950 - 1953
Debut : Round 7, 1950 vs Sth Melbourne, aged 20 years, 194 days
Carlton Player No. 641
Games : 39
Goals : 2
Last Game : Round 18, 1953 vs Nth Melbourne, aged 23 years, 281 days
Guernsey No. 4
Height : 180 cm (5 ft. 11 in.)
Weight : 79.5 kgs (12 stone, 7 lbs.)
DOB : November 21, 1929
Doug Guy’s career at Princes Park got off to a very slow start. After warming the reserves bench for his first three games in 1950, the only time he actually started on the ground turned out to be his last match for the year. But he persisted, and a shift to the backline paid off when he played all 18 games in his final season of 1953.
Guy was recruited as a follower from East Brunswick, only a few tram stops further north along Sydney Rd. from Princes Park. He was selected for his debut game as 20th man for Carlton’s senior team in round 7, 1950, when the Blues travelled across town to the Lake Oval and beat the Swans by 6 points in a tough, close encounter.
He warmed the bench twice more over the following month or so, before eventually being given a starting place (on a half-forward flank) against Melbourne in round 12. Carlton beat the Demons by 11 points, but Guy was omitted from the side after that and spent the rest of 1950 in the seconds.
In 1951 he made another six senior appearances, and wound up the year positively when he was a member of Carlton’s Reserves Premiership team that defeated Essendon by 11 points in the curtain-raiser at the MCG on Grand Final day. At the celebrations afterward, Guy and big-hearted ruckman Bill Milroy were presented with trophies for being voted the team’s best players during the finals.
However, the game that eventually relaunched Guy’s stuttering career was the 1952 Semi Final against Fitzroy. Doug had played all of his matches until then as a follower-forward, but when coach Percy Bentley asked him to play on a half-back flank against the Maroons, he agreed, and was something of a revelation.
That game is remembered as a lost opportunity for the Blues, who had nine more scoring shots than Fitzroy, yet somehow lost by one point. Carlton’s defence, led by Vin English and Ollie Grieve, with strong support from Doug Guy – held the Maroons to a modest 10.9 (69). In turn however, Carlton’s wayward forwards managed 8.20 (68) and the Blues’ finals dream was shattered again.
Guy’s eye-catching effort was one of the few positives to come out of that defeat, and from then on he played out his career in defence. Although he only stayed one more year at Princes Park, Doug was never again omitted from the senior team, and never again ventured past the centre line.
At his best on a flank, he was also a capable back pocket who was comfortable picking up the opposition’s shorts or talls. He wore guernsey number 4 throughout his time at Princes Park, and kicked his only two goals precisely one season apart – the first in round 13, 1951 against Footscray, and the second in round 13, 1952 against North Melbourne.
Although Doug was only 23 when he finished up at Carlton, his football journey afterwards took him to Brunswick for the 1955 season.
Career Highlights
1950 - Reserves Best and Fairest1951 - Reserves Premiership Player
1951 - Reserves Most Serviceable Player Award
1951 - Reserves Best Player in Finals Series Award
1952 - Reserves Best & Fairest