moshe25 wrote:
There are a number of factors for the 1973 loss, which really devastated the club. We didn't recover for 6 years, after which we'd missed out on at least two premierships.
1. Keogh and Armstrong - our main midfielders - were both unavailable (Keogh was injured, I believe, and Armstrong had appendicitis). This is akin to Brisbane losing Voss and Brown before their GFs, or WC losing Judd and Cousins. I'm not comparing their quality, just their importance to the team structure. This forced us to bring in a young, slight, overwhelmed first-gamer - Vinnie Catoggio.
2. Hafey/Sheedy tactics used against us for the first time. Nicholls, Walls, Jessa, Waite, McKay, Pinell, and Southby all illegally felled. After Nick went down in the first few minutes, everyone was stunned. When Pinnell was downed, and someone (Waite, I think) went in to hit Sheedy, they paid a free kick against us, and that was the end of the resistance. I remember saying that Carlton suffered from Southby-itis throughout the rest of the 70s, until Jezza toughened us up again.
3. Because Nick was probably concussed, we came up with no Plan B. He wasn't just a tough guy, he was a tactical genius. Many people don't realize this. With him out of the picture, not only did we not have a real enforcer, we had no-one working out who to move where.
When you consider those three factors, it's remarkable we got as close as we did. Unfortunately, it cost us probably 2 flags, heaps of self respect, and probably what could have been a great career (Vinnie). He was ok, but was so screwed up by that game, that he never really recovered.
I've always maintained that 1979 is our most important premierhip, because it broke the hold that the 73 GF had on us, and demonstrated that we had what it takes as a club (not just skill and flair, but mongrel, etc). As if to confirm that, we then went on to win another two in the next 3 years.
Yes fantastic analysis of 1973 - great post Moshe.
It wasn't Cattogio's first game (
might have been his 4th - certainly his first in the starting 18). We had an excellent on ball division with Keogh, Armstrong, although Walsh was more a forward pocket specialist.
Our Match Committee didnt realize till too late that Nicholls was in actually no fit state to be pulling the strings as Coach after he was felled.
The mid 70s were a curiosly unproductive time for Carlton - always touted as "the best team on paper" we just never delivered. 1976 was very disappointing when we finished on top of the ladder and went out in straight sets with a 1 point loss to North Melbourne in the Preliminary Final.
You are the first person I have heard to draw a connection to the 1973 Grand Final loss and our lack of out put during this period, makes for a good discussion.
Nicholls certainly lost enthusiasm for the role of coach in 1974/75 but I had heard it was attributed to his personal and financial problems - and the fact that he was "asked" to leave the club at the start of the 1976 season rather than resigning willingly.
It was actually his 3rd, I was 8 at the time and it was the 1st time I had seen the Blues lose a GF. I was at the 70 & 72 GFs and still remember the excitement of us winning. My memory through this era is not bad and most seasons went to every game.