There’s been a lot of talk around ‘Jezza’ kicking the ton at the minute, most of it from down the highway in respect of Geelong’s Jeremy Cameron.
But as any self-respecting Carlton supporter will tell you, there’s only one ‘Jezza’ – the great Alex Jesaulenko, who turns 80 this Saturday – and it is he who booted 100 goals in a season, thereby becoming the one (and still) the only player in 128 years of League competition to do so for the Club.
It happened in the opening minute of the last quarter of the final home and away match of 1970, against Melbourne on the MCG – four weeks to the day before ‘Jezza’ took the game’s most iconic mark in the greatest Grand Final of them all.
Jesaulenko’s fifth goal for the game gave him his 100th for the season – and while Brendan Fevola came excruciatingly close almost four decades later, the former’s goalkicking feat has not been equalled.
In celebration of the 80th birthday of one of the greatest League footballers ever to lace a boot, the following is the story of how Alex Jesaulenko kicked his 100th goal amid manic scenes on the paddock that grew – and of how the man in white played a vital part in his incomparable milestone.
When John Craven filed his detailed match report for the final edition of The Herald on that wintry Saturday evening in August 1970, the seasoned sports journalist quite rightly noted that Alex Jesaulenko’s historic 100th goal for the season came “when he took a pass from [Adrian] Gallagher and gave Carlton a 17-point lead”.
But that was only the half of it. For Gallagher revealed to this reporter almost 40 years after the event that the officiating field umpire Ray Sleeth also had a hand in ‘Jezza’s’ historic fifth goal - from a set shot in the opening minute of the final quarter of that contest.
The Melbourne-Carlton fixture pitted the 12th placed Redlegs against Barassi’s Blues, then second and six match points adrift of the all-conquering Collingwood on the Victorian Football League ladder. Maybe this was THE year for Bob Rose’s Magpies.
By Round 22 in 1970, Jesaulenko was within two goals of Harry Vallence’s tally of 97 – then the most goals kicked by any Carlton footballer in any season - set in 1932, the year Geelong’s George Moloney topped the ton with 109. ‘Soapy’ had given the three figures a fair old nudge too, having booted four, 11 and five goals in Carlton’s three finals appearances, in what was ultimately a disappointing series for the team.
A five-goal return would afford Jesaulenko exalted status as the only Carlton footballer to kick 100 goals in a season - a feat Brendan Fevola, also wearing the famous No.25, fell tantalisingly short of achieving with his 99-goal return in 2008.
A bag of five for Jezza would also signal a first for the competition - the first time in which three League footballers - Jesaulenko, Hawthorn’s Peter Hudson and Collingwood’s Peter McKenna no less - each kicked the ton in the course of the season.
A crowd of 40,973 - the fortunate few, really - were there to see Carlton win the match - 14.17 (101) to 12.15 (87) - and Jezza boot five to bring up the three figures . . . but not without a struggle, as Jesaulenko’s teammate the three-time Carlton Premiership player Adrian Gallagher explained.
“I think it was a pretty miserable day at the MCG, there weren’t a hell of a lot of people there, but they kept running onto the ground because ‘Jezza’ wouldn’t kick the bloody goal,” Gallagher recalled in an interview for the book Out of The Blue.
“I don’t know how many points he kicked, but they came on at least three, maybe four times and it took 10 minutes to get them off because back then it was all acceptable and there were no terrorists running around then.
“Early in the last quarter I was running into an open goal, quite literally in the I0-yard square, so it was an absolute certainty and the field umpire Ray Sleeth’s yelling out to me, ‘Give it to Alex!’. So I kicked it to him and I reckon it went five yards.
“Anyway, Ray Sleeth paid the mark and Jezza finally got it over with. The bottom line is that I kicked the ball to Alex Jesaulenko in the goalsquare because the umpire kept yelling ‘Give it to Jezza!’.”
It’s history now that Jesaulenko’s dream season of 1970 ended with a return of 115 goals, 72 behinds from the 25 matches in which Carlton was involved, at an outstanding average of 4.60 goals a game. Incredibly, the great man contributed almost a third of his team’s goals - 32 per cent in fact - in what was, to say the least, a very good year.
As Gallagher said: “It was a big deal then because we’d never had anyone kick 100 goals in a season, and when you think about it, it was a damned good effort for him to go on and kick 115 . . . Fevola didn’t even make the ton, and it still holds up easily, doesn't it?”
This story carries an incredible postscript.
Though the Seven cameras rolled on the day ‘Jezza’ kicked the ton, footage of the historic football moment was tragically lost. However, in 2020, on the 50th anniversary of Jesaulenko’s noble act, a call-out from this reporter for any relevant footage elicited a breakthrough discovery of football’s equivalent of the Zapruder film.
Responding to the plea, Carlton Cricket Club and Carlton Cricket & Football Social Club Life Member Gary Schickerling confirmed that he had captured the moment with his trusty Bell & Howell Optronic Eye Super 8 camera.
Shickerling’s flickering colour footage – the only known surviving footage in existence of Jesaulenko kicking goal No.100 for the season – was shot by him at the MCG on that historic afternoon of Saturday, August 29, 1970.
By way of an email to the Club, Schickerling recalled:
“I went to this game armed with my Super 8 movie camera in high anticipation of recording a memorable CFC ‘occasion’. Good news - I was rewarded! I did succeed in capturing ‘Jezza’s 100th’goal, and the near misses when he was on 99.
Some background. To ensure I was within a reasonable distance to film what could/would be a historic moment for Jezza and our club, [because of his near misses] I needed to dart from one end of the ground to the other!
At a Carlton Social Club Directors Christmas function around 1990 my wife and I shared a table with Alex and Anne-Marie. During the evening I mentioned that I had taken a movie of his 100-goal achievement, and enquired whether he had a copy or TV record himself. When he replied in the negative, I said I would get a copy of my film for him. Some thirty years later I have not delivered!
Your CFC website plea to anyone who has a record of his 100th goal to make contact could enable me to finally ‘make good my offer’!
The footage has been in storage, but as I don't have a working projector anymore, I'm unable to vouch for the quality. However, I think it should be okay.
Cheers,
Gary Schickerling
CC&FC Social Club Life Member, CCC Life Member
ps - Go Blues!
Schickerling’s footage shows Jesaulenko, in the interests of his own safety, make a beeline for the centre immediately after kicking his fifth matchday goal to bring up the ton. As hundreds of supporters jump the fence and converge on their Carlton hero, the famous No.25 is surrounded by John Nicholls, Dennis Munari (in his last game for the club), Syd Jackson, Sergio Silvagni, Brent Crosswell and David McKay – each of whom form a human shield.
When Schickerling agreed to avail his film to Carlton, this reporter made a beeline for the former’s inner city home in Melbourne’s north-west for the pick-up – no easy feat as this was during COVID lockdown and a driving permit was required.
“I’m thrilled to be able to share this film of the 100th goal. I’m just delighted that it’s happening,” Schickerling said at the time of the handover.
“It’s a privilege to be in a position to do this and I hope it brings people a lot of enjoyment, because we may not see it happen again, not with the way today’s game is played.
“ . . . and if you’re speaking to Jezza, tell him I’m sorry it took so long.”
Many happy returns Alex.
