1966 and all that: Round 7 – Hawthorn v St Kilda
1966 and all that: Round 7 – Hawthorn v St. Kilda
Saints sixth century score in seven rounds
Saturday, June 4
Glenferrie Oval
The teams:
Hawthorn
B. Poole Growcott Gardner
HB. Wynd McPherson Lade
C. Meagher Browne Wilson
HF. Porter Gay Arthur
F. Dickson Peck Albiston
Foll. Beck Olsson
Rov. Crimmins
Res. Tickell Ferguson
St. Kilda
B. Head Murray Synman
HB. Sierakowski Breen Griffiths
C. Dowling Stewart Read
HF. Ditterich Baldock K. Roberts
F. Morrow Neale Smith
Foll. Mynott Cooper
Rov. Rowland
Res. Cross Mann
Playing Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval was never a welcome proposition for any VFL club. St. Kilda had only recorded two wins at the venue in the 13 years before their Round 7 encounter with the Hawks. Ian Cooper was back in the team after injury, bolstering the already strong brigade of followers.
After a hesitant and slow start, the Saints eventually got going. A nine-goal second term set up a potential big win for the Saints, but the Hawks refused to give in and still had a chance going into the last quarter, being only 14 points down. St. Kilda steadied the ship and ran out four-goal winners. They kicked a score of over 100 points for the sixth time in seven rounds.
Alan Morrow and Kevin Roberts together contributed five valuable goals. The ‘Doc maintained his regular output, pitching in with three, while ‘Cowboy’ Neale, Brian Mynott and Ross Smith hit the scoreboard with two each. For the Hawks, rover Peter Crimmins and centreline players Des Meagher and Morton Browne gave their forwards plenty of opportunities. Full forward John Peck loomed as a potential match-winner, kicking six majors, but lacked support around goal with only four Hawks raising the two flags.
St Kilda again demonstrated the ability to suddenly switch-on and eclipse their opposition in a flurry of quick goals, but a crucial question lingered – would that recipe work in September?
The two teams were due to meet again in the last round of the home and away matches. It would be a vital game for the Saints.
Scores:
St. Kilda 2.0 (12) 11.2 (68) 13.6 (84) 15.12 (102)
Hawthorn 3.3 (21) 7.7 (49) 10.10 (70) 11.12 (78)
Goals – St. Kilda: Baldock 3, Morrow 3, Mynott 2, Neale 2, Roberts 2, Smith 2
Hawthorn: Peck 6, Crimmins 3, Arthur, Dickson
Best – St. Kilda: Mynott, Baldock, Stewart, Breen, Morrow, Head
Hawthorn: Crimmins (best on ground), Peck, Albiston, Meagher, Browne, Dickson
The usual suspects, Darrel Baldock and Ian Stewart, topped the disposals count for St Kilda while David Albiston had 24 disposals for Hawthorn.
Injuries – St. Kilda: Read (fractured jaw), Stewart (slight concussion), Neale (bruised back).
Hawthorn: McPherson (knee).
Reports: Ian Cooper (unduly rough play).
Umpire: Perkins Crowd: 17 755
Reserves: St. Kilda 9.12 (66) d. Hawthorn 5.10 (40)
Under 19s: St. Kilda 8.5 (53) d. Hawthorn 5.15 (45)
Around the grounds:
At Kardinia Park – Geelong 8.9 (57) d. Carlton 8.8 (56)
At the Western Oval – Collingwood 8.20 (68) d. Footscray 6.12 (48)
At the M.C.G. – Melbourne 14.10 (94) d. Essendon 9.6 (60)
At Brunswick St – Richmond 15.12 (102) d. Fitzroy 12.6 (78)
At The Lake Oval – South Melbourne 17.16 (118) d. North Melbourne 15.16 (106)
Read The Age, Monday 6th June 1966, for coverage of all matches HERE.
Highlights of the round:
The battle of the ruck giants, ‘Polly’ Farmer and John Nicholls, captured everybody’s attention at Kardinia Park. Umpire Crouch was lenient in not pulling up frequent infringements by the two ace ruckmen as they bustled one another at centre bounces and throw-ins. On the day, Geelong’s Farmer slightly shaded his opponent and was well supported by Sam Newman. The game was headed for a draw when in the final minutes a kick off the ground by Carlton half-back flanker John Gill inadvertently went through for a point to Geelong. And what might have happened to the Cats later in the season if Gill had not scored that ‘own point’ which averted a draw? Two premiership points might just make the difference in the finals race, or would they?
Next round:
Matches of the round: Collingwood v Geelong at Victoria Park (Saturday);
St. Kilda v Essendon at Moorabbin on the Queen’s Birthday (Monday).
Interstate Footy
In the WANFL, Claremont defeated ‘Polly’ Farmer’s home club, East Perth. Ken Mann played three games with St. Kilda in 1966 before returning to Claremont. In the round seven match against the Hawks, Mann had 13 disposals, but it was to be his final appearance for the Saints.
Country Footy
It is time to head north of the Murray and check out the results in the various leagues spanning the Riverina (eventual 1966 premiers are in bold type).
In the Hume League: Howlong took the points against Burrumbuttock; Walbundrie defeated Walla Walla; Jindera thrashed Balldale, while Rand outclassed Brocklesby.
In the Coreen League: Daysdale defeated Wahgunyah; Oaklands scraped home against Rennie; Coreen had a big win against Hopefield, while Urana-Cullival were victorious over Blighty.
In the Farrer League: Culcairn claimed bragging rights over rivals Holbrook; Mangoplah Cookardinia United were too strong for Wagga; The Rock narrowly defeated Temora; and Lockhart had a good win over an inaccurate Henty.
In the Central Riverina League: Marrar enjoyed a big win over East Wagga; Osborne thrashed Uranquinty; Cootamundra were too strong for Junee; and Boree Creek outlasted Army.
In the South West District League: Narrandera pipped Ganmain at the post; Grong Grong Matong were too strong for Ariah Park-Mirrool in the battle of the ‘combines’; Ardlethan easily accounted for Whitton; Coolamon outscored an inaccurate Griffith; while Leeton got home against Turvey Park.
In the Barellan League: Coleambally took the points against Beckom; Hay were way too strong for Sandy Creek; in a foretaste of the grand final, Barellan-Binya prevailed against Darlington Point while Yanco finished on top of Kamarah-Moombooldool.
Northern Riverina League scores are unavailable, however Condoblin-Milby defeated Four Corners in the ’66 grand final.
Meanwhile …
West Indian batsmen Conrad Hunte (135) and Garfield Sobers (161) guided their team to a strong position in the First Test against England at Manchester. It was the start of a golden summer for the great West Indian all rounder, Sobers.
In Rugby Union, Australia was annihilated by the British Lions 31-0 at Lang Park, Brisbane. It was the worst defeat in Australian rugby union history.
Space walks by US astronauts and pictures of the lunar landscape were the top news stories in early June 1966. At home, Qantas announced plans to have the controversial supersonic Concorde aircraft in service by 1973.
During the week the VFL announced details of the country zoning scheme which was a plan to allocate football leagues in Victoria and the Riverina to the 12 VFL clubs as designated recruiting areas. At the time there were 119 leagues and 990 football clubs under the umbrella of the VFL/VCFL. The scheme was ultimately introduced prior to the start of the 1968 season and it was originally intended for the zones to be periodically rotated between the VFL clubs. St. Kilda scored fairly well in being allocated the Ballarat district.
Read more of Peter Clark’s weekly reviews of St Kilda’s triumphant 1966 footy season HERE
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Read The Age, Monday 6th June 1966, for coverage of all matches HERE.
About Peter Clark
is a lifetime Geelong supporter. Hailing from the Riverina, he is now entrenched on the NSW South Coast. His passion for footy was ignited by attending Ovens and Murray League matches in the 1960's with his father. After years of watching, playing and coaching, now it is time for some serious writing about his favourite subjects… footy, especially country footy, and cricket.
Ta Peter.
I never got to a footy match @ Glenferrie Oval; last game there being 1973. St Kilda beat them in the mud there that year,ending the Hawks finals run. That was the last, or second last, VFL game there. I went to a few district cricket matches there, though.
Looking at the ovals matches were played on in round 7, 1966, most are just memories. The MCG is still in use, but now it’s a stadium ,not an oval. Goodness knows what Kardinia Park is now called.
Correen League ?! Wahgunyah the token Victorian side. I know Urana, but Urana-Cullival?
Ardlethan; nice race track, decent pub.
Northern Riverina League: Condobolin? That’s a few miles from the Riverina i know.
Glen!
G’day Peter.
Did ‘Big Carl’ score a goal to round it off to a total of 15 goals for the Saints?
Yes the Windies had a good series,repeating the score line of the 1963 series: 3-1. Sir Garfield and his cousin David Holford had a big stand in saving them in the draw at Lords.
Glen!
G’day Glen
Yes, well spotted, Big Carl kicked a goal to make it 15.
Cullivel is the last stop on the old railway line between The Rock and Urana.
The Northern Riverina League stretched a fair way north. At various stages Cobar, Young and Parkes had teams in the NRFL.They are in Central West territory and beyond.
The Saints just keep on winning!
At Glenferrie Oval no less.
Mort Arthur coaching the Hawks back then.
Kanga Kennedy coaching Stawell and running the tech college….
Salad days in the Riverina.
Interesting that both Coleambally and Darlington Point had footy teams back then.
I see where DPC won the Group 20 rugby league premiership last year.
Colly after time in the Coreen and Murray leagues now in the Farrer league.
And now Barellan United also in Farrer pretty much takes in all the old clubs around it.
And Hay long gone to the Kerang and District league.
Hay began in 1881.
The chalkies, civil servants, and coppers bought rugby league to the Riverina.
Needed to have the fruit fly boundary at the Murrumbidgee to stop them!
I am greatly enjoying this series, Peter. Thank you.
Just curious: how many players did St Kilda use throughout the 1966 season?
By my reckoning, there are 6 players in this Rd 7 team who don’t play in the premiership, not including the unfortunate Ross Oakley
St. Kilda used 33 players in 1966.
Those who did not play in the G/F were:
Ian Rowland, Des Kennedy, Kevin Roberts, Ray Cross, John Dowling, Ross Oakley, Carl Ditterich, Ken Baker, Jack Austin, Ken Mann, Graham Croft, Pat Murphy and Stephen Roberts.
A boy from Bendigo, the very first VFL game I saw was at Glenferrie Oval in 1963, when Carlton lost by six points to Hawthorn (9.6 to 7.12) . I went with my brother-in-law and his brother, who were avid Carlton supporters, and having no real VFL team that I was passionate about (I followed Sandhurst in the Bendigo league) I soon joined them as a Navy Blue. It was Round 9, 22 June, and the ground was a mud pack. John Bennetti had hands like glue at centre-half-back and pulled in many marks despite the greasy ball, but John Peck was a match-winner with five or six goals, as was Kevin Coverdale at centre half-forward. Coverdale could have become a real star of the game, but retired from football early. I remember a kick by John Nicholls from near the wing that landed in the goal square. Wes Lofts was a young full-forward for Carlton that day. I have checked the records and 25,600 turned up. When you see Glenferrie today, you wonder how that many people could fir in. Yet the record for the ground was a staggering 36,000 when the teams met in Round 2 the following year.