Resource The NMFC History thread

[kangaroo7]

1912 (Cont.)


ROUND 10---PRAHRAN

Prahran, confident of winning the return bout against North, fielded their strongest team for the year. A new brass band had been formed to play at North’s home games. Roach, Rawle and Speakman were back in the side but Pemberton was out ill. Although North had a relatively easy win, Prahran had the better of the play at times, and it was felt that some North players were holding themselves in reserve for the big match against Footscray the next week. Best players were Treloar, S. Barker, G. Barker (four goals), Hardy, Speakman, Rawle, Heron and Grierson.

NORTH MELB. 11.6-72 d PRAHRAN 6.9-45


ROUND 11---FOOTSCRAY

The eagerly awaited return match against Footscray at Footscray was a disaster. Corrigan and Elliott were included in a VFA team that went to Broken Hill, Pemberton and a new player, Teague, replacing them. Footscray had been playing well, although they had sustained two losses, and it was thought by some that they might stop North’s unbeaten run. But no one anticipated the magnitude of the defeat. The largest crowd ever seen at Footscray saw the local team dominate the second and last quarters to record an 83 point win. Their pace and system was superior to North’s who were obviously starting to feel the pressure of winning each week. Their percentage, already better than North’s got another substantial boost. Best for North were J.Johnson, Treloar, Heron, Hardy, Rawle, Hopkins and Jones. Newcomer Teague shaped up well.

FOOTSCRAY 17.13-115 d NORTH MELB. 4.8-32

Such a crushing defeat on the previously unbeaten Northerners naturally raised questions and the club’s committee held a special meeting during the week. It came out that considerable betting took place on the game, with one player said to have made a bet of 20 pounds (for North to win). Several players were required to explain their reversal of form. But there was no hard evidence for the committee to act on. It was George Barker's last game for North.


ROUND 12---BRUNSWICK

North dropped Williamson and G. Barker—two forwards who were out of form—and lost Speakman and Corrigan to injury. J. Stewart, who had played at North several years ago, returned after stints at St Kilda and Carlton. Elliott was recalled and a new player from Northcote, Girdwood, was included. Brunswick wasted the wind in the first and third quarters when they had it, scoring 1.4 and 3.7. North’s forward line was much better this week and virtually won the match with a five goal second quarter. Hopkins, Treloar, Heron, S. Barker, Teague, Hardy and Johnson were best for North.
NORTH MELB. 9.7-61 d BRUNSWICK 5.13-43


ROUND 13---NORTHCOTE

There was trouble at the club during the week when captain Syd Barker, after an argument with a committee member, threatened to “return his uniform” but things were smoothed over. The club traveled to Northcote with two new players—Hanna from Ascot Vale, and Hawkins (North Juniors). Heron, who had played last week while ill paid the price, and Girdwood was omitted. Second-last placed Northcote put in a good performance and led for most of the game.It took North until the last quarter to overtake them. Northcote lost a good player in the first quarter and Hardy injured his shoulder in the third quarter and had to stop roving. Best for North were Johnson, Treloar, Pemberton (who kept Northcote star Joe Johnson quiet again), S. Barker, Jones and Hopkins. Elsewhere Footscray were soundly beaten by Essendon, giving North a two game buffer on top once more. After an indifferent start to the season, Essendon were now beginning to assert themselves.

NORTH MELB. 8.18-66 d NORTHCOTE 7.11-53


ROUND 14---BRIGHTON

North finally appointed a coach—Paddy Noonan—to instill more system in training and play into the team. Speakman and Heron were still unavailable and Hardy was injured. Homan, who had not played at North since 1910, and Wilson, a junior, came in. Once again, North had to come from behind and play one good quarter to win a close game by six points. Had Brighton been a little more accurate—seventeen scoring shots to thirteen--they may have beaten North. Best for North were J.Johnson, Treloar, Rawle, Pemberton, S.Barker, Hopkins, Jones and Corrigan.
In an after-match incident, Frank Barker, another of Syd’s brothers tried to force his way into the North dressing room. After the doorman refused him entry, and Syd Barker came out twice and told him to leave, he used insulting language and was arrested by a plain clothes police officer. On the way to the watch-house he further insulted the police officer and spat on him. He was fined five pounds in court.

NORTH MELB. 8.5-53 d BRIGHTON 6.11-47

 

[Luke72]

I take it George Barker was one of the guy’s they thought had bet on the game. 4 goals in round 10 then a quiet game and dropped for being out of form seems a bit of an extreme reaction.

Great work as always K7, most appreciated.

 

[kangaroo7]

Just brilliant.

K7, if you find the time a piece on the first rules committee (1877?), including our role in it would be great.

We need to let more folks know what a pivotal player North was in the formation of the game.

Nothing much to find about this. The VFA was formed on 7 May 1877 as a controlling body for the game in Victoria. Rules were formulated and defined. Secretaries of all the senior clubs took part. North Melbourne had just reformed under the name of Hotham after abandoning the merger with Albert Park that lasted only one season (1876). Hotham's newly elected secretary was John McIndoe who had previously served as President in 1869-71. No information as to what any individual secretary contributed.The five inaugural senior metropolitan clubs were : Albert Park, Carlton, Hotham, Melbourne and StKilda. Barwon and Geelong were also regarded as senior teams.

 

[kangaroo7]

1912 Cont....

ROUND 15---PORT MELBOURNE

North’s goal-keeper, Percy Speakman, who had not played since Round 11 due to injury, had an argument with the committee and decided to play no more. He would return to the club in 1914, but it was a blow for North to lose such a good player with the finals just a month away. Hardy, Hanna and a new player, Cairncross, came into the side in place of Hawkins, McKay and Homan. Port held North in the first quarter, but after that North pulled away scoring eight goals to three for the rest of the match. North’s shooting for goal was bad, Elliott missing many chances, but Port at times lacked determination, their chances of making the finals all but gone. Best for North were Rawle, Hopkins, S. Barker (his best game of the season), Jones, Corrigan, Hanna (who was an able replacement for Speakman), Hardy, Treloar and Grierson.

NORTH MELB. 9.16-70 d PORT MELB. 4.6-30






With just three rounds to go North were two games clear on top and looked to have a grip on the minor premiership. But their failure to put sides away and inaccuracy was going to cost them.


ROUND 16---WILLIAMSTOWN

North went to Williamstown without Hardy (ill). Hanna, Teague and Roach were also out, their places taken by Heron, Brown, and McKay. Williamstown, always a better side on their home ground, beat North by outscoring them in the second quarter by four goals to one. The other three quarters were even. North were beaten at their own game of fast, open play. They were also hampered by the following: Hanna missed the train and did not play. His place appears to have been taken by George Hardy, Charles’s brother. Also Pemberton played with a bruised hip and J Johnson with a bad leg. Best players were Treloar, Elliott (three goals), Heron, Jones, Rawle, Corrigan and Grierson.

WILLIAMSTOWN 9.17-71 d NORTH MELB. 6.10-46



ROUND 17---ESSENDON

With no VFL matches scheduled due to the state match in Adelaide, supporters flocked to the NMRR and a crowd of around 15,000 paid a record gate of 248 pounds. Before the start of the game, a middle-aged woman collapsed and died as she was about to enter the ground. North were without Johnson and Heron while several other players were not fully fit. Hardy came back into the side along with Hawkins, and Hanna made it to the game this week. As a spectacle the match was spoiled by the wind, but it was extremely close all day. In a low scoring match, Essendon kicked the winning goal in the last thirty seconds to snatch victory by four points. It was a costly loss as it allowed Footscray to draw level with North on premiership points and, because of their superior percentage, replace North as ladder leaders, and the double chance as minor premiers. Some fights broke out towards the end of the game and Hawkins was reported for charging. Hardy, Jones, Hopkins, Barker and Corrigan were best for North.

ESSENDON 5.15-45 d NORTH MELB. 5.11-41


ROUND 18---MELBOURNE CITY

North used this game as a practice exercise and to see if their forward Elliott could create a new individual goal kicking record. Pemberton, Heron, Treloar and Hawkins were out and Johnson, Teague, Stewart and Kelly in. North played to Elliott as much as possible, but he had two or three opponents for much of the game and also had his nose broken at the start of the third quarter. He scored seven goals, well short of the record. North may have put up a record score had players tried for goal instead of looking for Elliott. But there was little chance of making up the 47% to regain top spot. Footscay, it turned out had a narrow escape over Williamstown. Best for North were Jones, Barker, Hopkins, Rawle, hardy, Elliott, Hanna, Roach and Teague.

NORTH MELB. 15.20-110 d MELBOURNE CITY 2.12-24








This was the final ladder. Under the system used then Footscray would play Essendon, North would meet Brunswick and the two winners would play off in the Final. In the event that Footscray lost their semi final or the Final, they could challenge the winner of the Final to a Grand Final playoff. In fact, the VFA made it compulsory that the minor premiers had to challenge if they lost, after Richmond failed to challenge North Melbourne in 1904 and forfeited.

 

[kangaroo7]

1912 The Finals



THE FIRST SEMI FINAL ---BRUNSWICK

This match was full of incident on and off the field. Firstly, club members (football and cricket) found to their disgust that their tickets would not admit them to the ground. The VFA had done an about-face on patron’s tickets admitting them to finals matches only a few weeks ago and was not popular. A barracker who tried to scale a 9 foot picket fence, thinking it connected to the ground, slipped and fell head first onto a heap of road metal. He escaped serious injury.

North had J.Johnson and Heron back but were without their leading goal kicker Elliott (broken nose). The two teams were evenly matched and the match was close all day. Umpire Kendall penalised Brunswick several times for throwing the ball. North had first use of the breeze but only a point separated the sides at the first break.

North suffered a blow in the second quarter when Johnson severely twisted his ankle and had to be carried off. He took no further part in the game and North played a man short. Despite this they continued to match Brunswick and scores were level at half-time. North outscored their opponents in the third quarter and led by fourteen points at the last break. In the last quarter, North rather unwisely went on the defensive and Brunswick attacked continually. North’s defence, led by Hopkins repelled many attacks, and had North had a couple of players forward they might have scored. Brunswick also made the mistake of trying all the time for goals when behinds were easier to score and may have given them the lead. North were making a forward move when the bell rang showing the scores level---9.6-60 each. Brunswick had played with more system, but North’s ruck was superior. The VFA decreed that the game would be re-played in two weeks time, as the other semi-final between Footscray and Essendon was to be played next week. Best for North were Hopkins, Barker, Hardy, Corrigan, Heron, Hawkins, Roach and Wilson.

A few days after the game, it was revealed that one of Brunswick’s leading players, Henry Chase, had been disqualified for the rest of the season by the Goulburn Valley District Association. Chase had been acting as coach for the Rushworth team and on the 15th of August he was disqualified by the GVDA for using insulting language to a delegate and other persons. The Goulburn Valley Association was affiliated with the VFL, which had a reciprocity agreement with the VFA, whereby each body recognised each other’s disqualifications. The League had been informed of Chase’s disqualification. Under these rules, Chase, who had returned to Brunswick some weeks before the finals, was ineligible to play and Brunswick must lose the semi-final. After inquiries by the North Melbourne secretary and claims that Chase had not received any correspondence from the GVDA (later proved untrue) the VFL advised two days before the semi final that they had received notification of the disqualification, but Chase had lodged an appeal. It was now too late for North to lodge a protest, but Paddy Noonan said at the VFA meeting that they had known of the disqualification in plenty of time, but refrained from lodging a protest. They did not want to win a match that way. The VFA ruled that Chase could play until the appeal to the League was heard.


FIRST SEMI FINAL REPLAY---BRUNSWICK

Two weeks after the tie, the two teams faced each other again at the NMRR. North were without J.Johnson (injured) but Elliott was back. Teague replaced Hanna. Hopkins had been a passenger on a train that had been involved in an accident with another train during the week, but to the club’s relief, he was unhurt. Intermittent showers and crowding on the ball spoilt the game, but once again the scores were close all day, the differences at each break being: quarter time-North by 9, half-time-North by 14, three quarter time-Brunswick by 2, and the final—level! Yes, another tie. Both teams locked on 6.12-48 each. North lost Hawkins in the last quarter with an eye injury. Brunswick had their chance to win but overdid the passing. North on the other hand, were strong in the ruck and defence, but their forward play was weak.Best players were Hardy, Treloar, Barker, Jones, Rawle, Heron, Roach, Hopkins and Stewart.








The match arrangement committee decided that another replay would happen next week on 14th September. This meant that Essendon would have three weeks rest before they met the eventual winner, and Footscray would be idle for four weeks before they met the winner of the Final. North Melbourne and Brunswick would be coming off three hard games when one of them would eventually face up to Essendon, who had beaten Footscray in the Second Semi final a week previously.

It was now also becoming quite expensive for both teams. The net proceeds of all finals matches was divided by the VFA equally among the ten clubs. The finals participating teams were running into debt while others outside the “four” were reaping the benefit. It cost a club around 28 pounds to field a team each week, and the VFA gave them only 7 pounds 7 shillings. The other two finals teams were also feeling the effects of the extended season, with Footscray’s trainers going on strike. After a meeting, the VFA agreed to allow North and Brunswick an extra 36 pounds a week in expenses.



FIRST SEMI FINAL REPLAY No.2---BRUNSWICK

Williamson and Grierson came into the side at the expense of Teague and Wilson. Rain fell before the match and during the first quarter. North had first use of a strong breeze and scored five goals to none to lead by 34 points This was a valuable lead in view of the ground’s condition. In the second quarter the rain stopped and the wind lulled. The standard of football improved as a result, but Brunswick only gained six points on North’s lead, so at half time the difference was 28 points. North had increased their lead to 41points at the last change. It was well that they had for Brunswick dominated the final quarter. North played a defensive game but were tiring. Brunswick got an early goal. Treloar had to leave the game before the end. He had received news at half-time that his sister was dangerously ill and in danger of dying. Brunswick got two more goals from free kicks. In fact the free kick count in that last quarter favoured Brunswick 15-1.Brunswick continued to attack, but several shots were missed and the lead was too big to make up. North had finally vanquished their foes by 15 points after not scoring in the last quarter. Nearly every player contributed to the win. Hardy was easily best. Barker, Rawle, Treloar, Jones, Heron, Corrigan, Stewart, Hopkins and Hawkins were also prominent. Pemberton shut down the dangerous Chase. Forwards Williamson and Elliott kicked eight goals between them.

NORTH MELB. 12.11-83 d BRUNSWICK 9.14-68







Captains toss. Syd Barker can just be seen.






Playing in the rain.

 

[kangaroo7]

1912 (Final)


THE FINAL---ESSENDON

North named an unchanged line-up to finally face Essendon, although it was rumored that Grierson was going to be replaced. Conditions were good and over 20,000 attended. The match was always strenuous, but a good, clean game. With a slight wind advantage North led by ten points at quarter time. The second quarter belonged to Essendon as they kicked 7.1 to 2.0 to hold a comfortable 21 point lead. North’s defenders were paying too much attention to McNamara and allowing the other Essendon forwards too much latitude. Essendon got a quick goal at the start of the third quarter extending their lead to 27 points, and things looked bleak for North. But from that point North completely dominated the quarter and three goals came quickly. Essendon were clearly rattled by North’s pace and system and did not score again this quarter. So dominant were Barker and Hardy that Essendon resorted to playing six men on the ball. But too many of North’s shots resulted in behinds. Hardy got a lucky goal that went between the legs of the Essendon goal keeper then Wlliamson snapped another which put North 17 points ahead at the final break. In later years, Hardy would say this was the most memorable match he ever played recalling North’s brilliant third quarter recovery. The final quarter was a real battle. Grierson and Williamson both got goals extending the lead to 20 points. But McNamara soon reduced it to 14. North fought on, but were holding the ball too much, Hardy being penalised twice for this. Two more goals to Essendon made the difference just two points. Williamson then goaled again for North, but McNamara replied for Essendon after a controversial time-wasting free kick was paid against Grierson on North’s half forward line. Essendon went into attack again, and North defended desperately. Then, with less than a minute left, Grierson got the ball in defence and dashed away with it.Unfortunately, his kick, meant for Hardy, went out of bounds. Had Hardy got it he was clear and would have driven the ball well down the field. But instead it was a free kick to Essendon and the kick was marked by McNamara next to the goal post. He walked around the mark and put it through, but the umpire called him back and made him take the kick again. He then bounced the ball, ran in front and put it through again. As the ball was bounced in the centre, the bell rang signalling heartbreak for North. A tie this week would have been a fitting result as both teams played gallantly. Best for North were Barker, Hardy, Rawle, Corrigan, Hopkins and Stewart.


In all three of their meetings this season, the winning margin between these two sides had been four points. Essendon had twice snatched victory in the last minute.

Essendon went on to defeat Footscray in the Grand Final the following week. They had struck top form at the right time, overcoming a slow start. It was their second and last premiership. Although they would make the finals over the next two years, they would not win another finals match. It was the beginning of the end. Their star player, McNamara, who scored more goals in 1912 than the next two leading goal kickers put together, would seek a clearance back to St Kilda and would stand out of football for a year to get it. After 1914 they would hover at the foot of the table until their end in 1921.

North fans were most disappointed at the loss. Some wanted a scapegoat and they found one. They forgot about North’s great effort to get to the Final in the first place, forgot about their wasteful kicking throughout the season which had cost them the minor premiership, and in the third quarter of the Final when they could have scored 8.6 instead of 6.8 and had a big enough lead to win. Forgot about the foolhardy tactic of triple teaming McNamara for most of the game, allowing two Essendon players to run free. No, the blame lay squarely at the feet of Charlie Grierson and that last minute fatal error he made. Grierson was the most hated man in North Melbourne that night. The ill-feeling against him by some fans was palpable. And although he would line up in Round 1 for North the following year, the hurt was too much and within weeks he had transferred to Footscray. He gave Footscray good service and would come back to haunt his old team several times over the following years, including the 1913 and 1919 Finals.


So ended an extraordinary and long season, North blissfully unaware that they would be cruelly deprived once again the following season. But after that came their Golden Era.

 

[giantroo]

 

[giantroo]

 

[Hojuman]

7.21 ?

 

[kangaroo7]

7.21 ?

Yep. Bad kicking. Should have won. Round 13 1985. Footscray beat us three times that year. Beasley kicked 5,5 &7.

 

[Gumble Frankieton]

 

[Gumble Frankieton]

 

[gokangas]

Was there that day. One of the greatest NM wins in the history of the club.

 

[kangaroo7]

Was there that day. One of the greatest NM wins in the history of the club.

I was there too. Didn't give them much of a chance. They were playing catch-up most of the match. Then the following week at Carlton when Blight's huge goal won another one after North had trailed all day. Two great matches to be at.

 

[Hojuman]

I was there too. Didn't give them much of a chance. They were playing catch-up most of the match. Then the following week at Carlton when Blight's huge goal won another one after North had trailed all day. Two great matches to be at.

Me too. Great time to be a North supporting school-boy.

 

[kangaroo7]

Still got that magazine.

 

[Gumble Frankieton]

 

[Gumble Frankieton]

 

[Snake_Baker]

Monstrous. The greatest game ever by a North ruckman................or any ruckman.

Todd's game vs Port would run 2nd in my time of viewing matches.

 

[Luke72]

Dempsey was a superstar.

 

[Hojuman]

Dempsey was a superstar.

Shame he didn't come a year earlier.

 

[Snake_Baker]

The enigmatic Bertie Johnson

 

[Hojuman]

The enigmatic Bertie Johnson

View attachment 1151187
View attachment 1151188

Brilliant Bertie ( and Snake )

" The Firebrand Bertie Johnson......."

 

[kangaroo7]

The enigmatic Bertie Johnson

View attachment 1151187
View attachment 1151188

 

[Hojuman]

View attachment 1151487



View attachment 1151497

He play in either of those night flags K7 ?