| Venue: Princes Park | Date: Saturday June 6, 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Win by 31 points | Umpires: Deller & Smith | Crowd: 31,808 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: W.Johnston 4, P.Bosustow 3, D.McKay 3, P.McConville 2, R.Ashman 1, G.Sharp 1, A.Marcou 1, W.Harmes 1, P.Francis 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best; W.Johnston, P.Bosustow, B.Doull, R.Ashman, M.Fitzpatrick, W.Harmes, V.Perovic, K.Hunter. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: Nil | Injuries: R.Klomp (torn hamstring) | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
In hindsight, this was the beginning of the end of the North Melbourne era. From 1973 up to this point in 1981 (they were 6 and 4 and seemingly on their way to another finals series) they were ever present. But this heralded the beginning of a six match losing streak that culminated in Blight's resignation as coach.In his first game back from injury, Carlton's Wayne Johnston was in superb touch and picked up a swag of kicks against North Melbourne. Johnston was voted best afield, but had to look no further than Carlton forward Peter Bosustow to award votes to as well. Bosustow kicked three goals and played a creative role in setting up the Blues big win at Princes Park. - Inside Football Player of the Year.
Carlton's Mario Bortolotto can consider himself as a lucky footballer indeed. On Saturday Bortolotto used his elbows in a tackle, yet umpire Bill Deller saw fit only to penalise Bortolotto there and then. There was nothing savage in Bortolotto's actions, but there was none in Sth Melbourne's Greg Smith who was suspended for two weeks for a similar incident. - Jim Main Inside Football.
What a difference classy half forward Wayne Johnston makes to the Carlton line-up. Johnston starred for the Blues in his first senior game for the season on Saturday. He showed no signs of the knee injury that has troubled him this season and capped off an excellent game with four goals. Apart from WA recruit Peter Bosustow, Carlton has struggled up forward this season. Johnston's return gives the Blues far greater striking power. - Tony Greenberg Inside Football.
Umpire Bill Deller officiated in his 250th game when he umpired the Carlton-North Melbourne clash at Princes Park. That the Blues ran out comfortable winners was due mainly to the efforts of the magical Peter Bosustow and Bruce Doull. - Football Record.
Team
| B: | 24 Brendan Hartney | 36 Mark Maclure | 9 Ken Hunter |
| HB: | 22 Robbert Klomp | 15 Val Perovic | 11 Bruce Doull |
| C: | 29 Greg Sharp | 37 Wayne Harmes | 47 Peter Francis |
| HF: | 4 Peter Bosustow | 40 Scott Howell | 7 Wayne Johnston |
| F: | 43 David McKay | 33 Peter McConville | 34 Alex Marcou |
| Ruck: | 3 Mike Fitzpatrick (c) | 5 Ken Sheldon | 14 Rod Ashman |
| Interchange: | 1 Greg Wells | 6 Mario Bortolotto | |
| Coach: | David Parkin | ||
Milestones
Debut: Brendan HartneyLast game: Peter Francis (Carlton)
Round 10 | Round 12