| Venue: Victoria Park | Date: Saturday May 29, 1937 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Loss by 27 points | Umpire: Nicholson | Crowd: 24,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: A.Shields 4.1, H.Vallence 3.4, J.Wrout 1.0, K.Shea 0.2.. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: F. Gill, A. Shields, D. McIntyre, J. Francis, R. McLean, J. Hale | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: R. Green (shoulder ligaments) replaced by C Neeson at 1/4 time, J. Hale (twisted ankle), N. Cashin (sprained ankle). | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Carlton dropped to seventh spot on the ladder, losing to a strong Collingwood side at Victoria Park. Collingwood made use of a short game and combined that with great teamwork, control of the ruck and better use of the ball in contrast to Carlton who kicked poorly, lacked team play and were sloppy in attack. At two wins and four losses, the finals were looking far away for Carlton.
Throughout the week it was reported that the players were eagerly looking forward to their clash with great rivals Collingwood. All players were on the park for training on both nights except for Jack Carney (calf), captain Ansell Clarke (foot), Gordon Mackie (broken hand) and Charlie Davey (groin strain). Ron Cooper trained well and was a good chance to resume. J. Lyons, a new recruit from Western Australia, trained and was likely to play in the seconds. Carlton made only one change, Cooper coming in for Mick Price, who could consider himself unlucky after his good game last week. Norm Cashin had recovered from concussion and maintained his place and Clem Neeson was named 19th man. After training, the players attended a dinner with the committee and listened to an address from coach Percy Rowe.
Collingwood had first use of a strong cross breeze blowing diagonally across the ground but Carlton were first to attack from Francis, who dashed forward. Crisp and Wrout then worked the ball forward to Butler, whose shot appeared to be marked behind the goal line, but the goal umpire thought not and the mark stood. Collingwood had adapted well to the conditions, playing a neat short passing game and using the stand wing as their avenue in attack. By contrast, Carlton used the opposite wing and was playing the long kicking game. The Blues were hesitant with the ball despite a clear advantage in the air. Repeated Collingwood attacks had Carlton’s defence under pressure and it finally buckled; the Woodsmen rattling on five goals two in an inspired burst before Carlton had even scored. It was a hard game, occasionally fiery, and typical of these teams. There were cheers and boos when Francis was felled well after kicking the ball and a Collingwood player appeared to have his number taken. Shields answered in the best manner, kicking Carlton’s first after receiving from Ayers. At quarter time, Carlton found themselves 27 points adrift of the Pies.
Both sides were forced to replace players at the break. Green had received a heavy knock to his shoulder and was replaced by Neeson, who went to a half back flank, with Francis moving to the wing. Crisp was having a great duel in the centre and sent the Blues into attack to start the term. Good play in the first five minutes resulted in goals to Vallence, from a free, and to Wrout. Now it was Carlton doing all the attacking but Collingwood held out well until Shields was infringed and goaled for the free kick. Carlton was the more brilliant side but, due to Carlton’s terrible kicking, and by the use of their short game, ruck ascendancy and good teamwork, Collingwood was able to keep control of the game. It was a scrambly, fumbling affair with neither side at their best. It was getting fiery too. Park was decked after kicking the ball and a Collingwood player was bumped hard after crossing the boundary line. Shields was unlucky when a good shot hit the post, before a promising thrust by Collingwood registered two behinds. Carlton went into attack again and closed the gap to three points, after a brilliant mark and long punt from Vallence brought Carlton’s fifth goal. But Collingwood answered with a good rally and a goal close in, after smart work following a dropped mark not long before the bell. At the main break, Carlton was nine points down and still in the game, but would have to improve to stay in it. Best for the half were Gill, McIntyre, Francis, Crisp and Hale.
Upon resumption, Collingwood made several attacks in the first five minutes but solid defence from Gill and McIntyre kept the scores to just two behinds. A strong rebound by Carlton set up two opportunities, but Vallence could manage only a behind. Collingwood shot forward and, in a great burst, kicked three unanswered goals to take a strong lead. The Pies had gained dominance in the centre and were getting plenty of drive from there. Carlton produced a nice passage of play with Crisp cleverly kicking sideways to Wrout, who used his pace to break clear and forward to Vallence but another behind was registered, leaving the Blues 27 points down. Vallence atoned with a nice goal after marking a kick from Dunn but the Pies had the answer straight away and brought up a goal and two behinds to take a strong 29 point lead into the last break. The timekeepers had mistakenly rung the bell to signal three quarter time early which drew the wrath of the fans from both sides.
The last term began with several players from both sides looking the worse for wear. Hale and Neeson were both limping from ankle injuries. Such was the strength and dominance of his game, Gill had Collingwood’s star full forward moved away from him. Butler had gone to a wing to start the term. Carlton was still making errors all over and loose checking of Collingwood’s forwards allowed for a series of passes which resulted in a goal to just about seal the game. The game had now become lifeless and ragged with players sore and the result fairly certain. However, the Blues weren’t quite done with, and in a rattling burst Gill, Crisp and Shea were involved in two moves to Shields, who goaled twice; the first from a tight angle and the other with a nice snap. Collingwood made a couple of thrusts but good defensive work kept them out. In one of these, McLean was lucky to escape injury after being caught in a sandwich against the goal post. Shea was unlucky after some nice play when his shot hit the post. But it was all a bit academic with Collingwood comfortably 27 points ahead when the bell rang for the last time.
At the end of this round Carlton were in 7th spot on the ladder with a percentage of 99.4.
Team
| B: | 2 Don McIntyre | 21 Frank Gill | 26 Jim Park |
| HB: | 10 Jim Francis (acting capt.) | 1 Frank Anderson | 11 Jack Hale |
| C: | 4 Norm Cashin | 12 Creswell 'Mickey' Crisp | 32 Bob Green |
| HF: | 8 Keith Shea | 28 Jack Wrout | 25 Arch Shields |
| F: | 5 Keith Dunn | 22 Harry Vallence | 29 Bert Butler |
| Ruck: | 14 Rod McLean | 3 Fred Ayers | 19 Ron Cooper |
| 19th Man: | 34 Clem Neeson | ||
| Coach: | Percy Rowe | ||
Ron Cooper returned to the team for his first senior game for the year. Cooper had been suspended by the Carlton committee, at the committee's pleasure, for striking Jim Francis in a practice match. After he had missed the first three games, the suspension was lifted. He resumed training and played his first game last week in the Reserves. (see Herald May 19 p30)
Round 5 | Round 7