| Venue: VFL Park - Waverley | Date: Saturday April 17, 1976 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Win by 49 points | Umpires: K.Smith & A.Bryant | Crowd: 32,648 Receipts: $41,684 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: G.Southby 5, T.Keogh 3, R.Galt 2, R.Ohlsen 1, D.Halloran, L.McConnon, T.Pickett. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: M.Maclure, A.Jesaulenko, G.Towns, K.Heath, R.Austin, R.Ohlsen. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: Nil | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Also, the Blues would welcome their second Tasmanian for the year in Leigh McConnon, who followed the debut of Tony Pickett in Round 1.
A little remembered side-show was Geoff Southby's unhappiness at Carlton and his wish to move to South Melbourne. His beef with the club was that he wanted to play up forward for a change & the club wouldn't have a bar of it long-term but to assuage his feelings, he was moved to the forward line for a time, including this match where he kicked five goals.
Despite the magnificent conditions at VFL Park for the opening game of the season there, Carlton and Fitzroy played a poor type of game with the respective defences being well in control until the Blues broke clear in the last term for their fifth win over the Lions at the ground. Fitzroy are still lacking a spearhead to kick goals as they do have control of the ball in the field just as much as their opponents. - Football Record.
The first match at the fully-completed VFL Park was played between Carlton and Fitzroy, with a crowd of 32,648. The Blues, playing under new coach Ian Thorogood for the first time, proved much too strong for the Lions, who broke down on the forward line. - Football Record.
Team
| B: | 19 John O'Connell | 21 Rod Austin | 18 Kevin Heath |
| HB: | 36 Mark Maclure | 11 Bruce Doull | 25 Alex Jesaulenko (c) |
| C: | 26 Ray Byrne | 8 Trevor Keogh | 32 Leigh McConnon |
| HF: | 31 Danny Halloran | 43 David McKay | 9 Greg Towns |
| F: | 17 Rod Galt | 20 Geoff Southby | 30 Tony Pickett |
| Ruck: | 28 Peter Jones (acting vc) | 24 Russell Ohlsen | 10 Alan Mangels |
| Res: | 15 Phil Pinnell | 29 Garry Higgins | |
| Coach: | Ian Thorogood | ||
Milestones
Debut: Leigh McConnonRound 2 | Round 4