Query 1977 Exhibition Game in Darwin - Hawthorn v Geelong

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Just wondering if anyone has any info on this game, played 8th October 1977 in Darwin.

Per page 129 of this http://websites.sportstg.com/get_file.cgi?id=110634 (The whole thing is quite an interesting read).

Promotional games were arranged on 8 October 1977 and 31 January 1983 to whet the football public's appetite for top class football. The 1977 game between VFL clubs Hawthorn and Geelong provided an exhibition of high standard football, but proved a financial disaster for NTFL club Wanderers, who were the organisers of the game. It appeared the Darwin football public, like their southern counterparts, would rather support a game between a competitive local representative team against a southern team, than an exhibition match between two southern clubs albeit VFL clubs. Hawthorn won the game quite convincingly 18.14.122 to Geelong 8.14.64 (sic).

Specifically I'm after confirmation of Geelong's final score, as well as qtr x qtr scores, goalkickers and best players.

Appreciate any help.

Cheers
 

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I have the program somewhere
don't think many people went and the organizers dropped a bundle

Wasn't the first game in Darwin between to southern teams

i think the first would have been Sturt v Glenelg in Early 1975
Wow, so you were there?

Do you have any of the info I was after?
 

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killer

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No wasn't there

but here are the scores written on the program

Hawthorn 2.5...8.10...11.14....19.16
Geelong.....3.7....4.9....7.12...8.18

Umpire was Neville Nash

this is whats penciled in on the score page:
Hawthorn
1 Hudson 0.0
2 Ablett G 0.0
6 Moncreiff 0.0
8 O'Halloron 0.0
13 Rice 0.3
14 Martello 0.0
15 Moore 6.2
16 Bennett 0.0
17 Tuck 0.0
20 McCarthy M 0.0
21 McCarthy G 0.0
22 Rowlings 0.0
23 Scott D 0.0 (c)
24 Knights 0.0
25 Hendrie 0.0
27 De Wolde 0.0
28 Trott 1.0
penciled in 3 goals 1 for Lee? and a number 31 against it
31 Jones 0.0
32 Murphy 0.0
33 Steele 0.0
34 Petch 0.1
35 Ablett K 1.0
37 Murry 0.0
40 Scott M 3.2
42 Paton 0.0
43 Murnane 3.0
45 Walter 0.0
rushed 3.7


4 Bright 1.3
5 Malarkey 0.0
6 Manson 1.0
8 Sheehan 1.2
9 Turner 1.1
13 Sarah 0.0
14 Clarke 1.0 (v.c)
17 Newman 0.0
18 Witcombe 0.0
20 Card 1.0
22 Jeffreys 0.0
23 Donohue 1.2
25 Fehring0.0
28 Preston 0.0
29 Reseuklic 0.1
31 Nicholls 0.0
32 Fitzgerald 1.0
33 Nankervis 0.0
34 Hovey 0.0
35 Neal 0.0
40 Nankervis i 0.1 (c)
43 Hinch 0.0
52 Steven 0.0
rushed 0.8
 
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35Daicos

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Looks like a strange game, with Moore scoring 6.2 and Hudson 0.0 for the Hawks! Most likely Hudson didn't play at all!

I couldn't find anything at all on the match in The Canberra Times or The Age, unfortunately.

Edit: John Hendrie, Peter Knights, Barry Rowlings, Don Scott and Michael Tuck couldn't have played for Hawthorn as they were playing for Victoria in Perth on the same day, and the same applies to Geelong's Ian Nankervis.
 
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stemline

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The Hawthorn annual report simply stated that Hawthorn took a very young and inexperienced side up to Darwin, and so were very pleased with the convincing win (no further detail given).
 

Rainier Wolfcastle

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Looks like a strange game, with Moore scoring 6.2 and Hudson 0.0 for the Hawks! Most likely Hudson didn't play at all!

I couldn't find anything at all on the match in The Canberra Times or The Age, unfortunately.

Edit: John Hendrie, Peter Knights, Barry Rowlings, Don Scott and Michael Tuck couldn't have played for Hawthorn as they were playing for Victoria in Perth on the same day, and the same applies to Geelong's Ian Nankervis.

Hawks definitely went in with an advantage... they had played the preliminary final three weeks earlier and played Richmond the week before in a hastily arranged curtain-raiser for the GF Replay.

In contrast, the Cats had missed the finals. This was their first match in six weeks.
 

Rainier Wolfcastle

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Hudson i suspect he wasn't there ...appearing only in the program
but knowledge is scare on this

Match report of the Hawthorn-Richmond game in The Age (Oct.3) confirms that Hudson - along with a number of senior players - would not be making the trip to Darwin.

From memory, Hudson was a FIFO (Fly-In, Fly-Out) player for the Hawks throughout 1977, managing his pub in Hobart during the week and training locally, then flying across to Melbourne for the premiership and Night Series games. So no surprise he didn't venture north.

BTW - I've started a thread on that Hawthorn-Richmond match played the week before the match in Darwin:
https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/1977-gf-replay-curtain-raiser-hawthorn-v-richmond.1186052/
 

killer

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The Darwin Star NP put the crowd at 5000 which would be quite large
I had it at 3 figures

not a lot of "name" players in their report

"big ruckman Newman and Murray tried to kung fu kick each other..."

"...Geelong running towards the city on gardens oval put up the first goal of the match"

" however, Hawks Scott was beating the Geelong full back every time ....."

"Newman emerged with a very large, very red spot around his right eye"

"There were many misses from set play marks and kicks that the locals were offering to teach the
vistors how to put the ball between the big ones"

"By the start of the third quarter it was obvious the southerners were feeling the heat"

writer of the piece seemed to have trouble recognizing would these players were (geelong full back hawthorn half back etc)
Sounds like Geelong gave up at half time
 

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killer

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No
gave the half time score as 8.9 to 4.9
the full time score as 18.14 to 8.14

it does say hawks kicked 6.5 to 1.2 in the second
quarter so you could work back from there

the NT News would have had a more detailed report
but I don't have that

i'm thinking the hawks brought up new prospects ( '78) mark scott , Warren lee, and jeff murray
and left ayres wallace and goss at home

Though there were few top line players David Parkin, Rod Olsen, John Cahill, Bob Davis, and Maurie Fields were all in Darwin for the game

Stuart Trott had been to Darwin before with St Kilda in the 1960s


"Official attendance figures was 4500, a Wanderers official estimated there was 6000 in the ground"

"Geelong's Sam Newman left the ground at one stage with blood streaming from a cut above his eye.
He returned some 10 mins later in search of a player who somehow always seemed to be at the other end of the ground"
- Nt News 10.10.77
 
Last edited:
Aug 27, 2014
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Yes, am practically certain I watched some of match live at the time, and if not all live at time then full replay later that day or that night.

Yep, would have been but seems like no one kept the master copy and if any punter taped it on VHS they must not have kept it either. At end of day was exhibition and even if I recorded it would have taped over soon after. Back then you could buy one hour video tapes, 2 hours or 3 hours. Did not take much to need to tape over something to fit something else on.
 

Gibbsy

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I have the program somewhere
don't think many people went and the organizers dropped a bundle

Wasn't the first game in Darwin between to southern teams

i think the first would have been Sturt v Glenelg in Early 1975

This is the sort of stuff that would go well in the media gallery so we can look back on it at a later date.

If you have a photo of the program it'd be great if you could post it in our new Footy History gallery (https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/media/albums/footy-history.101/) and also this thread. :thumbsu:
 
Feb 24, 2013
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Kelvin Moore came to Hawthorn as a full forward but made a name for himself as a full back.

Nah...The goal-kicker would have been Terry Moore, who played for us between 1976-1980, before being involved in the swap for Russell Greene, going across to St.Kilda.
 
Feb 24, 2013
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Terry Moore ex central district?

He may well have ended up there in the 80's after his stint at St.Kilda, where he failed to play a senior game.....After checking some more, it says he finished up at North at the end of the 1977 season, so maybe it wasn't him after all.....Though he did come across to Hawthorn after that....Unless he jumped ship immediately following North's Premiership that year.
 

killer

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nt news had a picture on their report (10/10/77) of kelvin moore bumping david clarke
 

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