Round 17, 1974

Carlton 4.7 31 6.9 45 9.12 66 11.14 80 South Melbourne 2.3 15 7.7 49 9.10 64 14.17 101	Venue: Lakeside Oval	Date: Saturday 27 July 1974
Result: Loss by 21 points	Umpire: Jim Chapman	Crowd: 14,114 Receipts: $12031
Goalkickers: R.Ashman 2, B.Crosswell 2, C.Davis 2, J.Nicholls 2, P.Hall 1, D.McKay 1, B.Walsh 1.
Best: G.Southby, T.Keogh, R.Austin, B.Walsh, B.Armstrong, M.O'Halloran.
Reports: Nil	Injuries: R.Walls (bruised buttocks, replaced in selected side), A.Jesaulenko (ankle)

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Game Review

A week after re-igniting hopes of September glory with a great victory over Collingwood, the Blues threw away 4 points by falling to lowly South Melbourne at the Lake Oval. This loss was made harder to bear later on, when it became obvious that club legend John Nicholls had finally retired after 328 games over 17 seasons.

On the Tuesday night following this loss, club President George Harris called Nicholls aside to advise him that while he could continue as coach of the Blues, his playing days were over – effective immediately. It was a risky decision by Harris – Nicholls was every bit as single-minded and determined as his President, and many Carlton insiders were certain that he wouldn’t stay under the circumstances. But to the credit of both men, Nicholls accepted the situation – although the rift it caused between he and Harris never truly healed. Big Nick carried on, and steered Carlton into the finals yet again in 1975.


South Melbourne caused the upset of the 17th round by soundly beating Carlton for the first time in their last nine meetings. It was their highest score against the Blues since 1970 and they topped the century with 101 points - their 13th in 77 years against Carlton. South registered their fourth win at home (plus a draw) and they stopped the Blues from scoring a century for the first time in their last seven meetings. - Football Record.

Film

There is a short colour clip from the TV series "Homicide" of this game on youtube.
Features John Nicholls, Alex Jesaulenko, Rod Ashman, Craig Davis or Max O'Halloran?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWH2h8J_DqY

Team

B:	21 Rod Austin	20 Geoff Southby	30 Vin Waite
HB:	22 Max O'Halloran	17 Brent Crosswell	11 Bruce Doull
C:	6 Garry Crane	12 Barry Armstrong	32 Bryan Quirk
HF:	25 Alex Jesaulenko (acting vc)	43 David McKay	15 Phil Pinnell
F:	2 John Nicholls (cc)	23 Craig Davis	18 Brian Walsh
Ruck:	28 Peter Jones	8 Trevor Keogh	14 Rod Ashman
Res:	31 Peter Hall	27 David Dickson
Coach:	John Nicholls

Milestones

Last Game: John Nicholls

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Round 16 | Round 18