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Universal Love Down Memory Lane

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I heard Tery Wallet say in his mind Pendles is the best ever Collingwood player. Out of his mind - Daicos every day of the week for mine but he really needs to qualify his comments to players he has seen. Bobby Rose, Syd Coventry, Bob Pratt, Albert Collier, Len Thompson (he would have seen Len) etc........
 
thylacine60 said:
I heard Tery Wallet say in his mind Pendles is the best ever Collingwood player. Out of his mind - Daicos every day of the week for mine but he really needs to qualify his comments to players he has seen. Bobby Rose, Syd Coventry, Bob Pratt, Albert Collier, Len Thompson (he would have seen Len) etc........
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South Melbourne legend.
 

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I found this thread deep in the bowels of the Big Footy castle and thought it needed a bump.

It’s a great week for a bump because I can’t remember the last time I watched Carlton play a game at Kardinia Park. Perhaps some of my memories will allow me to carbon date it but I’m still not certain that’s going to work. I’m getting old, and as some erudite posters have pointed out, I’ve passed through a number of stages of the aging process.

Now I do know when I was last at the ground. I was there with my son watching TAC Cup finals for the 2005 season. We had a connection with the Calder Cannons so we watched its game against the Dandenong Stingrays. A couple of handy players emerged from that game. Richard Douglas was playing for the Cannons and Nathan Jones for the Stingrays. I remember seeing lots of recruiters but my most vivid memory is seeing Mick Malthouse on the phone away from the seating in that stand which replaced the outer at Geelong. He looked earnest and was probably discussing Daisy and Pendles.

Now for Carlton memories. They’re a little bit hazy.

I’ve always remembered that it was a bugger of a ground because it was often a windy day. This gave the Cats an enormous advantage. I’m thinking it favoured the city end but it’s blustery nature made it a nightmare for visiting teams.

And the wind is a segue for one of my enduring memories from a Carlton v Geelong game. Before Gary Ablett Snr became a superstar it was left to Tom Alvin to lessen his influence. Tom managed to do this on several occasions. Well this day GA decided to deal with it and he used the wind to his advantage. Alvin was a courageous footballer. He stood his ground if he thought he was a chance to mark the ball.

The ball was launched high into the breeze. Think of an NFL punt. Tommy as usual had from position and Ablett was lurking some twenty metres from the drop of the ball. You can guess the rest because GA, like Tony Lockett, saw this as an opportunity to put Tom in hospital. Crunch. I don’t remember the outcome. I blaming mental trauma.

So I don’t think I’ve seen a Carlton game there in over 30 years.

However prior to this I probably attended more games at Kardinia Park than I can remember.

One memory that is painful is seeing my hero severely injured at the ground. This game probably occurred in the mid-70s and I think Robbo suffered a broken ankle which ended his career at Carlton. I remember John ‘Sammy’ Newman being the culprit. No wonder I never liked the guy. Robbo took a mark, was felled awkwardly and stupidly got up and took his kick. No wonder I love the guy.

The memories are becoming clearer as we go back into the 60s. Big Nick v Polly. Billy Goggin v Gags Gallagher. Wes Lofts v Doug Wade. The Lord twins. John Sharrock. Denis Marshall. Tony Polinelli. They had a seriously good team. Won the flag in 63. Unluckily lost the 67 GF.

However Carlton was on the rise and our efforts from 68 onwards speak for themselves. This means trips down the highway saw Carlton coming home with the 4 points plenty of times.
 
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mediumsizered said:
Players really struggle to hit a decent torp nowadays yet Southby did it as a matter of course.
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That’s because players these days were never out in the street playing kick to kick with their mates for hours on end. Practice man, practice.
 
Another favourite street game was ‘Three goals in’. You would use the lamp post as one goal post with an imaginary one on the other side. You had to kick three goals from the 45 angle before you could become the goal umpire. Anyway Robbo learned how to kick the torp, flat punt (Big Nick’s weapon of choice) and drop punt in these games. The drop kick was outlawed because roads and leather footies were never a good combination. The escapism of those times were magical.
 
Robbo's my hero said:
Another favourite street game was ‘Three goals in’. You would use the lamp post as one goal post with an imaginary one on the other side. You had to kick three goals from the 45 angle before you could become the goal umpire. Anyway Robbo learned how to kick the torp, flat punt (Big Nick’s weapon of choice) and drop punt in these games. The drop kick was outlawed because roads and leather footies were never a good combination. The escapism of those times were magical.
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Used to play this at Raeburn Reserve with my older brother. Given he is 5 years older than me he had to make some concessions for my inability to kick the ball as long as him, but the torp was always my kick of choice.
 

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Robbo's my hero said:
Another favourite street game was ‘Three goals in’. You would use the lamp post as one goal post with an imaginary one on the other side. You had to kick three goals from the 45 angle before you could become the goal umpire. Anyway Robbo learned how to kick the torp, flat punt (Big Nick’s weapon of choice) and drop punt in these games. The drop kick was outlawed because roads and leather footies were never a good combination. The escapism of those times were magical.
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then into the milk-bar for a 5c sunny boy or glug or razz and hope like **** you get a free..............
 

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mediumsizered said:
Players really struggle to hit a decent torp nowadays yet Southby did it as a matter of course.
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Players are told not to kick torps these days plus they are using up to 6 new footy's a game.

In the old days there was 1 footy and it was usually water logged and the key to kicking a good torp is not to try and kick it too hard.
 
mediumsizered said:
Southby was, IMHO, a better defender than SOS, but of course SOS could go forward & win a game off his own boot.

Those who don't mention Southby in the best player conversations are either kidding themselves or didn't see him play.
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I would have both in my greatest Carlton team of all time.
Southby full back, SOS at Centre Half Back
 
I went down there last Saturday, first time since the 1990's and I hope it's the last time.

Does anyone recall a game there when team mates Vin Waite and Brent Crosswell (I think) were having a fight between themselves when the ball was at the opposite end of the ground?
 
blueycarlton said:
I went down there last Saturday, first time since the 1990's and I hope it's the last time.

Does anyone recall a game there when team mates Vin Waite and Brent Crosswell (I think) were having a fight between themselves when the ball was at the opposite end of the ground?
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I don’t recall the fight on the ground but I don’t doubt the basics of the story.

If my mum was still alive I’d be one of the most respected posters on BF Carlton because she had close contacts within the Carlton Footy Club. Inner sanctum stuff.

Of course I’d have to apply a standard of the Official Secrets Act when releasing sensitive information to protect the innocent.

This is what I can recall about the said incident.

The match took place in 1975. My information confirmed a fracas in the change room at half time between Brent Crosswell and Vin Waite. It became Brent’s last match for the club as he was cleared by the club to North Melbourne before the June 30 deadline. He went onto premiership glory later that year when the Roos won the flag for the first time.

In an interesting side note Robbo was suffering mental anguish as a member of Carlton’s u19 squad that year. Like Brent I’d become frustrated at the treatment I’d been receiving. Like Brent I was cleared to North Melbourne before the June 30 deadline. It led to one of my three mentions in the VFL Record during my playing career. The article referred to players cleared to other clubs before the June 30 deadline. I remember Grasshoppers being in the title. There was Brent and Robbo mentioned in the same list as players who had hopped to another club. My 15 minutes of fame.

All facts are verified and sworn by affidavit.:)
 

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Universal Love Down Memory Lane

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