We made no effort on the Scanlons footy cards, was always a guy wearing the jumper, and trakkiesin front of the Heatley Stand doing the fake handball.
I wanted Teddy Whitten action kicks in full get up!!
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"Are you there Harry?" The late, great Tommy Lahiff on 3AW. Harry Beitzel would send Tommy down to the rooms after the game for interviews. Tommy would get them and his first line from the rooms always made me smile.
Kicked 5 against Geelong, but as you rightly state, he was soon back in defence where he belonged.
never knew that
So we got Whiley, Jaksch, Sumner, Phillps, Plowman, Lamb, Palmer, Pickett and Marchbank all from GWS.
When was the last time a club had so many players go from one club to another over a few years ?
I do not know the answer to that but the reality is GWS had such a good list that they could never keep all the talent they had and had to distribute some injured ones or those on fringes missing out on bigger contracts to fit within salary cap.
It does remind me a bit of 1980's Carlton lists were very strong that often a few would move on and end up at St.Kilda.
The trend started after the 1979 premiership when very political reasons and falling out with Carlton saw Jezza goto St.Kilda in 1980.
Then 1981 St.Kilda came chasing fringe players Peter Fitzpatrick and Michael Jez.
Not sure Jez got there however mentioned in article here from Blueseum site.
Most of these writes ups below are from their wonderful site. Give it a visit as it is brilliant if you are a big Carlton fan and love looking over bits and pieces of our player history.
Then another fringe player Greg Sharp in 1984 went there.
Greg Sharp was a solid, wingman and key defender in the early 1980's.
Sharp was recruited from NSW side Western Suburbs in 1978, after he had played in their 1977 premiership and was runner-up for NSW Rookie of the Year in 1977. He was recommended to the Blues by former Carlton U/19's and Reserves player Ian Harry who was Sharp's coach whilst playing for Western Suburbs, ironically, both players would wear the No.29 guernsey at Carlton.
Sharp debuted in 1981, playing 9 games in our Premiership Year, but only managed 2 thereafter for the Blues. He also played in the losing 1981 Escort Cup Grand Final against Essendon, where Tim Watson's leap over Doull is stuck in footy folklore.
Sharp was later transferred to St Kilda for the 1984 season where he played a further six games and kicked one goal. Sharp debuted in round 1 of the 1984 season at full-back for the Saints, later that season another debutant for the Saints who would take the full-back role for many years to come was a young Danny Frawley who would play 240 games for the Saints.
Next was Mark Buckley. Warren Ralph basically stopped him getting games.
The Old Dark Navy Blues dominated the VFL between 1979 and 1982, winning three flags while costing ourselves a fourth in the aftermath the Harris/Rice boardroom brawl. The team was as strong as at any time in our history during those years, so just gaining a place on the list was a creditable achievement. Mark had enjoyed a good, consistent year with the Reserves by July 1982, so when he was named to make his senior debut on the interchange bench for Carlton’s round 18 match against Footscray at Princes Park, it was a just reward.
Buckley’s first game was an unforgettable experience for the youngster. Led by the dynamic Waynes; Johnston and Harmes, Carlton shredded the Doggie defence to kick 10 goals in the first quarter, and from then on, dominated the match. The Blues piled on the second-biggest score in our history; 30.21 (201) to 10.12 (72), as full-forward Ross Ditchburn helped himself to 6 goals, Ken Sheldon booted 4, and Buckley joined in the fun with two on debut.
Mark played off the bench for all three remaining rounds of the ’82 home and away season, but was left out when the finals got underway. Three weekends later, Carlton claimed our third flag in four seasons with a gutsy, determined Grand Final victory over Richmond – a triumph that set the seal on that team as one of the best of all time.
Buckley swapped to guernsey 10 in 1983, and burst into the new season in the traditional Grand Final rematch at Princes Park in round 1. This time, Carlton hammered the Tigers by ten goals, even though full-forward Ditchburn damaged a shoulder and was forced off the field just after half time. Buckley (who had taken a couple of good marks and kicked a goal during a brief run in the first half) was sent to the goal square in Ross's place, and set the partisan crowd alight by marking everything that came his way. He kicked five impressive goals in the second half that afternoon – including a pearler from an impossible angle in the forward pocket.
That game showcased Buckley’s potential, but other teams weren’t prepared to concede him time and space like the Tigers did, and from then on he was closely marked whenever he was sent to the goal-mouth. When centre half-forward Mark Maclure was sidelined by injury mid-season, Buckley proved to be a capable replacement, although the team as a whole lost its edge and was bundled out of the finals in the first week by Essendon.
That was the high-water mark for Buckley’s career, because in 1984 the arrival of boom West Australian Warren Ralph and the return to full fitness of Mark Maclure squeezed him out of the senior team for all but two games, both of which he started from the bench. He switched numbers again in 1985, taking on the number 4 worn with such distinction by Peter Bosustow, but only got to wear it once for the senior team – in a 17-point win over Richmond in round 8 at Princes Park.
Sometime soon after that game, Mark decided (or perhaps was told) that he would get more opportunities somewhere else, and that his time at Carlton was up. In the following weeks while his future was decided, Mark finished off his career in style with the Carlton Reserves, kicking 16 goals in three matches before heading off to the Junction Oval to play with St Kilda. He added seven games and four goals to his tally with the Saints, and in 1987 rounded off his career with another four matches and two goals with the Brisbane Bears.
Next the infamous Ricky Nixon in 1986.
Nixon began his football journey as a promising junior at Bendigo League club Golden Square, where he represented the Bendigo region in the 1979 Sunkick finals. In 1980, Nixon and his Golden Square team-mate Greg Williams played for Victoria in the elite Teal Cup Under 17 national championships. At Golden Square, Nixon had often contested Best and Fairest awards with Williams. “Diesel” generally won them, but not all the time, and both promising youngsters were soon invited to try out with the Navy Blues.
As has been often noted, Williams was not retained on Carlton’s list, but Nixon was. A free-running half-back flanker who took the odd spectacular mark, he graduated through the Under 19's and Reserves to make his senior debut in round 15, 1983 against Melbourne at Princes Park - on the same day that Bruce Doull played the 300th game of his celebrated career. Nixon wore guernsey number 48 throughout his stay at Carlton, and became only the second Blue (after Geoff Hocking) to wear those numerals onto the field in a senior game.
Like others, Nixon found it hard to crack into the strong Carlton line-up of the early eighties, and a broken ankle after two more appearances in1984 didn't help his chances. He always seemed to find himself as an emergency for the seniors, so, after celebrating his first career goal in Carlton’s good win over Fitzroy in round 20, 1985, he asked Carlton for a trade to another club.
At the end of that year, Nixon had planned a three month overseas holiday that was approved by Carlton’s senior coach David Parkin. But problems surfaced when Parkin was abruptly sacked and replaced by Robert Walls, who told Nixon to cancel the trip. Nixon refused the new coaches direction, and that was the end of Ricky’s stay at Carlton.
Somewhat disillusioned, Nixon headed back to Golden Square in 1986, where he soon recaptured his old form. He impressed during an inter-league game, which led to approaches from Geelong and Essendon. But Carlton would only deal with St Kilda, and a transfer to the Saints was eventually agreed upon. Nixon embraced St Kilda, where he was a popular clubman throughout his stay from 1986 to 1991. In that time, he added 51 games and 32 goals to his career tally.
Also same period of Sticks, Braddles, Motley and Dorotich coming to Carlton saw the the next two go to the Saints.
Peter McConville and Wow Jones
Allocated guernsey number 33 by the Blues, “Macka” impressed each time he appeared in those early practice matches, so it wasn’t surprising when he bypassed Carlton’s Reserves team to make his senior debut at full-forward against Richmond at the MCG in the opening round of the 1978 season. Although the Tigers crushed the Blues on that occasion, McConville’s 11 possessions, four marks and three goals made quite an impact, especially when he was awarded Mark of the Day by Channel 7's World of Sport. Peter then went on to complete an impressive first season for the Navy Blues, playing 18 games (generally at full-forward) for 38 goals. Carlton wound up fifth on the ladder, before falling to Collingwood in a hard-fought and entertaining Semi Final in front of almost 92,000 at the MCG. A week or so later, McConville was acclaimed as Carlton’s Best First Year Player.
As many others have done, and continue to do, Peter suffered from the second-year blues in 1979. By early August he had played only 8 games for 8 goals at full-forward, so Carlton’s match committee sent him back into defence to freshen up. “Macka” responded in spectacular fashion, running and jumping at the football with a new-found freedom, and setting up numerous attacks from half-back. On the last Saturday in September of that year, McConville played his 31st match for Carlton in his first VFL Grand Final, against Collingwood at a packed MCG – and emerged victorious, thanks to the heroics of his fellow defender Wayne Harmes.
In 1980, Peter became Carlton’s Mr Fixit – a player who could be thrown forward or back at a moment’s notice, and relied upon to do whatever was required. His high marking remained his strength, leading legendary North Melbourne and Hawthorn coach John Kennedy to describe him as the best aerialist in the competition, and his value was not lost on the Carlton match committee or Blues supporters either. Despite his relative lack of inches, “Macka” could match it with most opposition talls, and was still agile enough to play on the smaller, quicker types.
A new senior coach in David Parkin arrived at Princes Park in 1981, leading to many changes on and off the field. Under Parkin, McConville rediscovered his goal-kicking mojo and picked up his second Premiership medal when the Blues recovered from a 9-point deficit at three-quarter time in the Grand Final to emphatically beat the Magpies. On the way to that triumph, Peter kicked 35 goals in 21 games over the season, including successive hauls of five majors against Geelong in round 8, and South Melbourne in round 9. He was selected at full-forward in the Grand Final, but that was a ruse. Before the opening bounce, “Macka” picked up Collingwood’s monster forward Rene Kink, who ended the game beaten, goalless, and with his name on the umpire’s report sheet.
In 1982 it was a similar story. McConville began the year with another 5-goal haul against Fitzroy in round 1, but by finals time was thrilling the crowds with his aerial feats in Carlton’s defence. As the Blues battled their way through another tough final series, he was rock-solid on the big stage, racking up 15 disposals, 6 marks and two goals as the Blues vanquished Richmond in another action-packed Grand Final to claim their third flag in four years.
Peter played the 100th game of his career against Geelong at Princes Park in round 6, 1983, and soon afterwards was selected to represent Victoria in the Australian Football Championships. However, in what was to be his only state game, he suffered a torn knee cartilage in Victoria’s first match against South Australia, and was sidelined for months. Eventually, he was recalled for the Blues’ meek loss to Essendon in the Elimination Final, when it was revealed that he had hurt his knee in a club game prior to the Big V clash, but disguised the severity of the injury and damaged it further.
Having regained full fitness, McConville played consistently well again throughout 1984 and ’85, as Carlton remained a perennial finals contender. In the 1985 Elimination Final against North Melbourne, “Macka” was thrown forward early on when Wayne Blackwell twisted an ankle, and his three goals were valuable, but the Shinboners dominated the second half and won by 19 points. Although he didn’t know it then, Peter had just played his last game for the Navy Blues.
McConville came out of contract at the end of that season, and said later that he would have been content to stay at Princes Park - until St Kilda came calling with an offer that was just too good to refuse. Carlton couldn’t or wouldn’t match what was on offer from the Saints, so right on the deadline for clearances, club secretary Ian Collins- at the behest of the match committee - cleared McConville and popular ruckman Warren 'Wow' Jones to Moorabbin. Both were fine players for their new club, where McConville's aerial prowess and consistency quickly endeared him to the St Kilda faithful. He added another 54 games and 23 goals to his credit with the Saints, before retiring in 1990 because of a chronic hamstring injury.
Those who saw Peter in action throughout his illustrious career still believe that he was good enough to hold his spot at Carlton, even with the influx of interstate talent that landed at Princes Park during 1986 and ’87. Had he remained a Bluebagger, he may well have added another Premiership medallion to his collection after the 1987 Grand Final, but that was not to be.
Then card carrying member of mosquito fleet was moved on... Alex Marcou
Alexander Marcou was a member of Carlton’s fabled Mosquito Fleet of brilliant small men of the 1970s and ‘80s – a lightning quick, three-time Premiership rover renowned for his ball-handling skills and excellent goal sense. After being recruited from VAFA club Thomastown at the age of 18, he won Carlton Reserves Best and Fairest award in 1978, and the following year began his senior career.
Upon arrival at Princes Park in 1976, Marcou was allocated the Blues’ guernsey number 50 before switching to the number 34 previously worn by three-time Premiership star Ian Robertson. Like Robertson, Marcou would go on to win three flags, and as at 2016, his 134 games still stand as the club record for most appearances in this number. Of mixed Greek and Macedonian heritage, Alex grew up in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and inherited his love of Australian football from his father, who at that time was a rusted-on Fitzroy supporter.
Although he was eligible to play at Under-19 level, Marcou started with Carlton Reserves and served a lengthy apprenticeship of 33 games over two seasons, primarily as a winger or centreman. His coach in 1978 was Carlton Legend Sergio Silvagni, and it was Serge who convinced the Blues’ match committee to include Alex in the senior team for the opening round of the 1979 season against Essendon at VFL Park. Three other first-gamers in Wayne Johnston, Robbert Klomp and Peter Francis were also included for that Saturday afternoon match, and all were destined for Premiership glory. Playing as second rover to Ken Sheldon, Marcou collected 15 disposals, 2 marks and 2 goals in an eye-catching debut. Carlton won by 21 points, and from that day on, Alex was an automatic selection in the Blues’ senior side.
Midway through that first fairytale season, in his 13th senior game, Marcou (already nick-named “Marcel” after the famous French mime artist Marcel Marceau) was named Best on Ground when he kicked five goals in the Blues’ big win over Richmond at Princes Park. By September, Carlton was two wins clear of North Melbourne on top of the ladder, and raging hot favourites to claim another flag when they met the Roos in the Second Semi Final at VFL Park. Marcou and Rod Austin warmed the interchange bench for much of that afternoon, before Marcel was unleashed and got busy with eight effective possessions. Carlton won convincingly, and marched straight into the against Collingwood.
A fortnight later, having played every game of the season for an excellent return of 34 goals, Marcel sat next to “Curly” Austin on the bench again on Grand Final day at the MCG, surrounded by an enormous crowd of more than 113,000. A boggy surface, cold wind and intermittent rain didn’t dampen the ferocity of the contest between the game’s greatest rivals, until some individual heroics by Wayne Harmes during time-on in the last quarter won the games’ biggest prize for the Navy Blues. Marcou was on the ground at the final siren, having had a shot for goal that just missed with his 12th possession After just 24 games, Alex had joined the exalted ranks of Carlton Premiership players.
Season 1980 saw upheaval at Princes Park when President George Harris was voted out of office in tumultuous circumstances. Former champion ruckman “Percy” Jones replaced Alex Jesaulenko as senior coach, but the Blues never really gelled as team before crashing out of the finals in straight sets. Marcou had another fine year (apart from spending a month on the sidelines with an ankle strain) and kicked 17 goals in 19 matches. Late in the season he was selected in the VFL squad for a match against a combined ACT team in Canberra. Alex did well and was named among the three best for the Vics, but in a huge upset, the home side won by 13 points. Back at Carlton, Jones was sacked at season’s end and replaced by former Hawthorn Premiership player and coach David Parkin.
Parkin’s methods and discipline took Carlton into the finals again in 1981, thanks in no small way to the Blues’ array of brilliant, versatile small men – the Mosquito Fleet of Rod Ashman, Jim Buckley, David Glascott, Trevor Keogh, Ken Sheldon and Alex Marcou. In the Second Semi Final against Geelong, Buckley and Marcou shared the roving duties and the Blues had so many stars in their 40-point victory that Alex’s 26 disposals, 5 marks and one goal wasn’t good enough to earn a mention among his team’s best five players. Two weeks later, Carlton took on Collingwood for the flag for the second time in three seasons, and triumphed by 20 points after trailing by 21 half-way through the third quarter. In front of another huge crowd of 112,000 at the MCG, Marcou started from the interchange bench, but was soon in the thick of the action, racking up 31 disposals and six marks on the way to collecting his second Premiership medal.
Alex enjoyed his most consistent and rewarding season the following year, when Carlton survived four consecutive tough finals to claim their third flag in four years. The Blues’ opponent in the 1982 Grand Final was their other great traditional rival, Richmond - who began the decider as strong favourites after cleaning up the Blues in a rugged Semi Final. As part of his game plan, Parkin ran three rovers in Ashman, Sheldon and Marcou, and all three became influential as the contest unfolded. With their team behind by 11 points at half-time, Carlton ruckmen "Wow" Jonesand captain Mike Fitzpatrick seized the initiative in the second half and the Blues came storming back for a gritty 18-point win. That evening, amid the euphoria of a third flag win in four years by the Blues, Alex’s remarkable career statistics stood at 9 finals, three Premierships and 112 goals in 87 games.
Highlights kept coming for Marcel in 1983, despite a couple of muscle strains that cost him the odd game or two. In May, he played his first and only State of Origin game for Victoria against South Australia in Adelaide, in a famous match that produced an aggregate 43 goals and a 56-point victory to the Crow Eaters. In July, Alex celebrated game number 100 for Carlton with a 6-goal victory over Fitzroy at Waverley, before playing his 20th final when the Blues suffered a devastating Elimination Final loss to Essendon. Perhaps that was a portent of things to come, because in an all too common story, Lady Luck seemed to turn her back on Alex from that time on.
Having already suffered a series of persistent soft tissue injuries, Marcou had his jaw broken in 1985, and again in 1986. Over those two seasons he managed only 10 senior games, and his frustration was compounded when he was on track for a return to the senior side on the eve of 1986 finals, only to tear a hamstring. Before that injury his form with Carlton Reserves had been good enough to see him finish third in the voting for the Gardiner Medal (Reserves Best and Fairest) despite only playing half a season.
Carlton’s heavy defeat by Hawthorn in the ’86 Grand Final turned a blowtorch on the Blues’ roster of players, and indirectly ended Marcou’s career at Princes Park. When club secretary Ian Collins bluntly told Alex that his place in Carlton’s senior team could no longer be guaranteed, it prompted the 28 year-old to consider a fresh start another club. Mainly because a number of ex-Blues were already playing there, he eventually chose St Kilda, and Carlton did not stand in his way.
Alex’s first season with the Saints in 1987 saw him used at both ends of the ground, and his experience was invaluable in a young team. However, hamstring and calf injuries slowed him down in 1988, and when he fell out with his coach Darrell Baldock, he made the decision to retire at season’s end. In two seasons at Moorabbin, he had played 24 games and booted 17 goals.
Although finished with League football, Marcou wasn’t quite ready to hang up his boots for good, so in 1989 he signed on with VFA club Springvale, where he was coached by his dual Premiership team-mate Phil Maylin. In 1993, Marcou, Maylin and another Premiership-winning Blue in Peter McConville formed an organization called the VFL - Virtually Forgotten Legends - as a social club and support network for former players and officials. Later, Alex returned to Princes Park as an energetic member of the Past Players Association, and in 2006 he was inducted into the Carlton Hall of Fame.
Same period we would also move on the wonderful Kenny Sheldon that would later become the next Saints coach and get them into finals for first time in well over a decade.
By 1984, Sheldon had played 114 games in a relatively injury-free career. However, before that season had even begun, a couple of serious hamstring and calf strains stopped him in his tracks. He made it back on to the field in time for the finals, but lacked match fitness as the Blues went out in straight sets losses to Hawthorn and Collingwood. Thereafter, right through until his final game for the Blues, Kenny was a worthy senior player, and a popular clubman who was always happy to guide and advise the less-experienced members of the squad. His last appearance in the famous Navy Blue guernsey came when he skippered Carlton’s Reserves to a huge win over Footscray in the 1986 Reserves Grand Final, leaving “Bomba” to sign off from Princes Park with yet another flag.
In 1987, Sheldon was cleared to St Kilda, where he soon became a leader. Often playing in defence, Ken added a further 53 games and 24 goals to his career tally, before eventually hanging up his boots in 1989. The following year, he was appointed senior coach of the Saints, and took the perennial wooden spooners to successive finals appearances in 1991 and 1992. In September 1993 he was controversially sacked at a time when only the legendary Allan Jeans had a better ratio of wins from games played.
The final two I can remember at Saints in this 1980s was Kourkemelis and Ian Muller
So all up we let St.Kilda get access to about a dozen Carlton players whilst we had very strong lists.
By about 1987 and 1988 the Saints were running around at times with 6 or more ex-Carlton players in the senior team.
Can remember playing them with Sheldon, Wow Jones, McConville, Marcou, Mark Buckley and Kourkemelis in their team around 1987. We gave them two coaches in a way too. Jezza in early 1980s. Sheldon in late 1980s.
Amazing to see three decades on we have become to GWS what Saints were to us.
True though Big Nick will probably always cover him for Big V appearances.
