THE Carlton Football Club’s on-field fortunes have, throughout the decades, been seriously shaped by some of the Bendigo district’s greatest exponents of the great Australian game – from as far back as Eaglehawk’s Fred Jinks Fred Jinks who featured in the old dark Navy Blues’ acclaimed premiership teams of 1906, ’07 and ’08 under Jack Worrall’s watch.
Fast forward 60 years to the early 1970s, when the likes of Sandhurst’s Geoff Southby and Trevor Keogh formed part of the Blues’ all-conquering Carlton premiership teams, and others such as Newlyn’s David McKay, Campbells Creek’s Peter Brown, Eaglehawk’s Rod Ashman and Des English, Kyneton’s Jim Buckley, Mitiamo’s Ken Sheldon, Castelmaine’s Warren Jones, South Bendigo’s Peter Dean, Sandhurst’s Michael Sexton, and Golden Square’s Peter McConville and Greg Williams followed suit.
Which is why the Spirit of Carlton saw fit to celebrate the seismic contributions to the Club of Bendigo’s finest, at a reunion of Carlton’s first, second and third-grade players of the region at Strathdale’s All Seasons Hotel, in support of former players facing various health and welfare issues.
The event attracted many of the aforementioned past players. Others in the house included Castlemaine’s Peter Fyffe, Chewton’s Paul Starbuck, Heathcote’s Tony Zoanetti, Maryborough’s Garry Higgins, Northern United’s Eric Pascoe, Golden Square’s Michael Gallagher and Tony Southcombe, Eaglehawk’s Greg Kennedy, Paul O’Brien, Golden Square’s Dean Strauch and Sandhurst’s Brendan Hartney.
Bill Redmond, who starred for South Bendigo in its 1956 Grand Final victory, and who at 98 is Carlton’s oldest surviving former player, was also in the house, as was the former Geelong rover and long-serving VFL/AFL administrator Kevin Sheehan (ex-Sandhurst).
Former Carlton Chief Executive Stephen Gough, an old Bendigo boy himself, officiated as Master of Ceremonies.
“The Bendigo district and Carlton association was created by the VFL midway through the ’67 season where the state was divided into 12 zones. How very fortunate for the Blues that the Bendigo district became the Carlton zone,” Gough said.
“The strength of the Bendigo Football League in the early 70s was amazing. Southby, Keogh and (Brian) Walsh were stars but had headed off to Carlton. However, the late Ron Best, Greg Kennedy and Tony Southcombe provided fans with some great football. The ’71 GF showed the quality of these players.”
A letter penned by Carlton and Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend John Nicholls was also read to the audience.
Nicholls’ letter is as follows:
To the people of the Bendigo community,
I am incredibly sorry that I can’t be there with you in person to share a glass and a few stories. I’ve been sitting here thinking about my connection to the Bendigo district, and the truth is, it goes back a lot further than most people realise - long before I was recruited to Carlton, and captained and coached at the top level.
My territorial history with the Bendigo area goes back a long way. I grew up in a little place called Cotswold near Carisbrook - a locale I’m sure not many in Bendigo have even heard of - and my earliest memories are of nearby Castlemaine.
Warren Jones and Arthur Sanger, the Carlton premiership players of 1982 and 1945 respectively, had both represented Castlemaine – and if you go back to the 1920s my father Charles and his three brothers Alex, Percy and Roy all played for Castlemaine. My Dad actually topped the Bendigo competition’s goalkicking tally with 58 goals off a half-forward flank in Castlemaine’s inaugural season of 1925. The following season, he was a member of the team which defeated Sandhurst to earn the League pennant – so that’s where it all started for me.
I remember playing for a local Maryborough team called Primrose when I was just a kid of 12 or 13. We used to play on the ground at nearby Campbell’s Creek, which was dairy country back then - cows everywhere you looked – and that’s the same ground on which a future Carlton premiership player Peter Brown chased the leather. Then in June 1956, I played my one and only game on Bendigo’s Queen Elizabeth Oval. My brother Don and I got a call up from Maryborough to represent the Ballarat League team in the country championships, and we beat Bendigo by 13 points in the final. At Carlton later on, my involvement with Bendigo became more serious – and I spent plenty of time travelling to the region with Bert Deacon and scouting the zone to recruit future champions like Geoff Southby to Princes Park.
Though I’ve never been a big believer in the old zoning system myself - I think talent should be open to everyone - I have never lost my respect for the history of the Bendigo district or the players who were and are part of it. The players I’ve had the privilege to play with, coach or recruit from your neck of the woods are among the best I’ve ever known. They have given me memories that will stay with me forever.
To those of you gathered at this afternoon’s function - especially the old-timers still flying the dark Navy Blue flag - have a wonderful day. You represent a proud football league with a massive heart, and I’m honored to have been a small part of it. All the best. John
