Geelong’s Record Run – Round 17, 1952: North Melbourne v Geelong – Cats prevail with pace and power

 

(9/26)

 

Featuring Leo O’Halloran and Terry Fulton

 

 

North Melbourne v Geelong

Saturday 16^th August 1952

Arden Street

 

 

The Northerners were running into some late season form, and with three wins on the trot, posed a threat to the Cats in round 17. They had a record of putting up a good fight at home against Geelong and were well in the contest for the first three quarters the last time the sides met.

 

Geelong was strengthened with the return of Bob Davis and Russell Middlemiss but looked shaky in the ruck department with injuries to Tom Morrow and George Swarbrick. Their unavailability gave fresh opportunities for Jim Tuckwell and Leo O’Halloran.

 

 

 

The teams

 

North Melbourne

 

B.	Parkes	McCorkell	Lawrence
HB.	Icke	Hamilton	Kelly
C.	Doolan	Dynon	Edwards
HF.	Aylett	Spencer	Brady
F.	O’Halloran	Marchesi	Brooker
Foll.	J. Reeves	Grambeau
Rov.	Alford
Res.	L. Reeves	Jarrard

 

Geelong

 

B.	Hovey	Morrison	Tuckwell
HB.	Middlemiss	Hyde	Williams
C.	Worner	Palmer	Fulton
HF.	Turner	Flanagan	Davis
F.	Pianto	Goninon	O’Halloran
Foll.	McMaster	Renfrey
Rov.	Trezise
Res.	S. Smith	Stevens

 

 

 

Geelong dazzled North Melbourne with blistering pace and superlative teamwork in the first half but became complacent later in the match and was shaken by North’s inspired football. While the Cats had a comfortable victory in the end, they were jolted by a seven goal to two North Melbourne recovery.

 

In the first quarter Leo O’Halloran provided an excellent foil for George Goninon in the forward line booting three goals. Geelong took full advantage of the wind, racing away to a five goal quarter time lead. North failed to take advantage of the wind in the second quarter and struggled against the well organised Geelong defence. As the wind died, Geelong took a healthy 46 point lead into the main break.

 

After a stalemate for most of the third term, Geelong slammed on three quick goals and appeared home and hosed with a 56 point lead at the last change. But North awoke from their slumber and with a rejuvenated forward line managed to halve the margin in the final quarter. Full forward Jock Spencer kicked four goals for the term taking his season tally to 43, equal with Geelong’s George Goninon.

 

 

Scores

 

Geelong                                          6.2         10.7      13.9      15.13 (103)

North Melbourne                    1.3         3.3         4.7         11.9 (75)

 

Goal kickers: Geelong – Goninon 5. O’Halloran 3, Davis 3, Trezise 2, Pianto, Worner

North Melbourne – Spencer 5, Alford 3, O’Halloran 2, Marchesi

 

Best: Geelong – McMaster, Hyde, Morrison, Williams, Pianto, Renfrey, Hovey

North Melbourne – O’Halloran, Brady, Hamilton, Alford, Aylett, Kelly, Brooker

 

Umpire:           Beitzel                Attendance:  15 000

 

The match was umpired by Harry Beitzel. Harry went on to umpire 152 matches in a VFL career with the whistle that spanned 13 seasons (1948-60). He umpired four finals, but only one grand final; the 1955 decider between Melbourne and Collingwood. During his career he umpired many country football grand finals, including the 1958 and 1959 Ovens and Murray League grand finals.

 

Many readers will remember Harry Beitzel (the ‘Big H’) as a colourful and controversial character. He compered the ABC TV football panel, was a long-term radio football broadcaster and established the statistics-rich Footy Week magazine. He pioneered the composite rules sport, International Rules football. Beitzel was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2006 (as a media inductee).

 

Reserves:        North Melbourne 14.6 (90) defeated Geelong 11.18 (84)

Around the grounds

 

VFL 1952 season attendances passed the 2 million mark in round 17.

 

At Princes Park Carlton staged a brilliant last quarter to defeat Collingwood by 19 points.

At Windy Hill Essendon were untroubled by St. Kilda, winning by 96 points.

At Glenferrie Oval Fitzroy returned to the winners list with a 36 point win over Hawthorn.

At Punt Road Richmond defeated Footscray by 45 points.

At the Lake Oval South Melbourne led at every change but only just held off Melbourne to win by 8 points.

 

 

The ladder

 

 

Leading goal kickers

 

J. Coleman	(Ess)	9	81
N. Clarke	(Melb)	3	44
J. Spencer	(NM)	5	43
G. Goninon	(Gee)	5	43
T.Ongarello	(Fitz)	5	42

 

 

Next week      Round 18 Geelong v Richmond at Kardinia Park

 

With features on Leo Turner for Geelong and for the opposition, Ray Poulter.

 

 

 

 

This week’s featured Geelong players: Leo O’Halloran from Barwon Heads and Terry Fulton from East Geelong

 

 

Leo O’Halloran (jumper number 20) was one of the two Geelong players who made only a single appearance in Geelong’s record of 26 undefeated games. The other was Don Worland.

 

O’Halloran, a follower and forward, came from local club Barwon Heads (Geelong and District League) in 1949. He was a mature age recruit who played 20 games over four seasons for Geelong before moving to South Melbourne in 1953. His sole appearance during the streak, in round 17 1952, was a good one with three goals to his name that day. O’Halloran was captain of the Geelong seconds team and won the league’s Reserve Grade best and fairest award, the Gardiner Medal, in 1952.

 

Another local recruit, Terry Fulton (jumper number 33) from East Geelong (Geelong and District League), also played his first game for Geelong in 1949. Fulton first played at Kardinia Park in the thirds (under 19s) in 1947. By 1951 he had established himself as a regular in the senior team playing every game of the season. Fulton was a tenacious and speedy wingman with excellent disposal skills who enjoyed a good understanding with half forward Bob Davis. He played in 11 of Geelong’s 26 matches without a loss, before his 51 game VFL career ended in 1954.

 

 

 

In 1955, at the age of 25, Terry Fulton took on the job as playing coach of Geelong West (in the Ballarat League) and led them to four premierships in a row (1956-59). After his retirement from football in 1959 he returned to his beloved Geelong where he gave decades of service to the club in various roles, including the Past Players Association, the general committee, the match committee and the vice presidency. He became a Geelong FC life member in 2001.

 

 

For the opposition: Mick Grambeau from North Melbourne

 

Who was the highest paid footballer in the ‘country’ in 1956? Arguably it was ex-North Melbourne big man Mick Grambeau, at the time coach of Ganmain, NSW (South West District Football League). Grambeau’s fee was £40 per game plus a house and a job paying £20 per week (with a milking cow thrown in!). That’s not bad money when you consider that in the same year Collingwood champion Bob Rose was recruited by Wangaratta Rovers on a contract of £35 per week (plus other financial assistance). Grambeau’s two-season Riverina football excursion produced premierships for Ganmain in both 1956 and 57. In fact, Ganmain lost only one game in Grambeau’s time with the club.  No doubt, money well spent.

 

 

 

 

Mick Grambeau was recruited by North Melbourne in 1952 from VFA club Sandringham. He played his early football down the road at Blackrock. Known as ruthless and as hard as nails, Grambeau played 56 games for the ‘Shinboners’ over four seasons. He is also remembered (along with Laurie Icke) for being sacked by the club during 1955, only to be reinstated days later amid talk of legal action and strong support from teammates. Mick Grambeau’s wish was to be cleared to St. Kilda in 1956, but when that was denied he set off for the ‘job’ at Ganmain, which is located on the south west rail line between Junee and Narrandera.

 

Most of Ganmain’s 800 residents attended his welcome to the town. He soon became a very popular figure and generated a lot of publicity for Ganmain and the South West District League. Grambeau was surrounded by members of the Carroll clan at Ganmain; with eight Carroll’s in the 1956 premiership team and nine the following season. After two seasons in the Riverina he went to Minyip (Wimmera League) as playing coach, replacing his old North Melbourne teammate Laurie Icke. Later, Grambeau completed the circle by returning to Sandringham in 1960.

 

 

Country football connections

 

Terry Fulton’s future club Geelong West (Ballarat League) enjoyed a 48 point win over Maryborough that Saturday in 1952.

 

Mick Grambeau’s future Riverina club, Ganmain, finished third after the home and away rounds in 1952 but were knocked out by Leeton in the first semi-final. Grambeau’s next country club, Minyip (Wimmera League), defeated Horsham by a solitary point that Saturday in 1952. When coached by Laurie Icke in 1956, Minyip reached the grand final but fell at the final hurdle to Ararat by 13 points.

 

 

In a footnote to last week’s report (from the Alberton League) on the 34 goals kicked by Toora’s full forward, the Football Record (16 August 1952) put things into perspective when it revealed that Carrajung started the game with just eight players and finished with only 12.

 

 

Meanwhile …

 

In the Hunter Valley, NSW, severe flooding continued with Maitland inundated after the Hunter River broke its banks. 4000 Maitland residents were forced to evacuate their homes. Meanwhile, flooding in Devon, England, claimed 34 lives.

 

The Australian National Library purchased one of 14 known copies of the Magna Carta, making Canberra the only world capital outside London to have a copy of the historic charter.

 

How lucky can you be? A mountain climber on the summit of Mount Stuart in the Cascade Mountains, USA, was reportedly struck three times by lightning … and survived.

 

 

 

 

To read about the earlier games in Geelong’s run, click HERE.

 

 

Peter also wrote about St. Kilda’s premiership season in his 1966 and All That series. You can read that HERE.

 

 

 

 

The Tigers (Covid) Almanac 2020 will be published in 2021. It will have all the usual features – a game by game account of the Tigers season – and will also include some of the best Almanac writing from the Covid winter.  Pre-order HERE

 

 

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