The 1972 Carlton Football Club season was the Carlton Football Club's 109th season of competition, and 76th as a member of the Victorian Football League. Carlton fielded teams in the senior, reserves and under-19s grades of the 1972 VFL season.
Under captain-coach John Nicholls, who assumed the coaching role this season after the departure of dual-premiership coach Ron Barassi at the end of 1971, Carlton won the VFL minor and major premierships, defeating in the Grand Final. It was the 11th senior VFL premiership in the club's history.
Following the VFL season, Carlton competed in the Championship of Australia tournament, finishing runner-up to the SANFL's North Adelaide. The club then embarked upon a world tour, playing three exhibition matches overseas against an Australian All-Stars team.
Club summary The 1972 VFL season was the 76th season of the VFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 76th season contested by the Carlton Football Club. As it had been since 1897, the club's home ground was Princes Park in North Carlton; additionally, it was standard for all clubs in the league at the time to play three or four matches per year at the neutral VFL Park in Mulgrave. In addition to its senior team, Carlton fielded teams in both the VFL reserves and under-19s competitions.
Senior personnel George Harris continued as club president through 1972, a position he had held since after the 1964 season.Official Website of the Carlton Football Club The Carlton Honour Board Retrieved on 19 April 2007.
Following the 1971 season, Ron Barassi stepped down as coach; at the time, he left to focus on his business career, although he ultimately returned to VFL coaching (at ) after only a year. Barassi had coached Carlton for seven seasons, and led the team to two senior premierships: 1968 and 1970. John Nicholls, who had been captain since mid-1968, took on Barassi's former role to become captain-coach.
Squad and player statistics for 1972 The following is the final senior squad as announced at the start of the 1972 season. Numbers in parentheses represent games played and goals kicked for Carlton in the 1972 VFL premiership season. Only supplementary players who played a senior match during the season are listed.
Playing list changes The following summarises player transfers to and from the club between the conclusion of the 1971 season and the conclusion of the 1972 season.
In Player Previous club League Comments David Dickson Preston VFA Murray Dickson Hobart TANFL Greg Kennedy Eaglehawk Bendigo FL Country zone selection Greg Lethborg Scottsdale NTFA Eric Pascoe Northern United Bendigo FL Country zone selection Gary Whitney City-South NTFA
Out Player New Club League Comments Mark Amos VFL On the Carlton senior list at the start of the year, but later cleared to Fitzroy Bill Barrot VFL Initially retired, before attempting a return to league football with North Melbourne. Ian Collins Port Melbourne VFA John Goold Retired Ted Hopkins Retired Gary Lawson-Smith Retired Ricky McLean VFL Chris Mitchell Retired Sergio Silvagni Retired
Season summary
Pre-season practice matches Carlton played three practice matches during March 1972 – including, as it turned out, matches against both of the teams it would face in Grand Finals later in the year: and . Carlton won all three practice matches.
Date Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Home Away Result Sunday, 5 March 18.16 (124) 20.11 (131) Won by 7 points Lake Oval (A) Saturday, 18 March 12.7 (79) 23.19 (157) Won by 78 points Prospect Oval (A) 3,000 (approx.) Saturday, 25 March 14.14 (98) 13.19 (97) Won by 1 point Princes Park (H)
Home-and-away season Carlton finished the home-and-away season as the minor premiers in 1972, with a win–loss record of 18–3–1. The team sat as low as 6th after Round 4 with a record of 2–1–1, but lost only two of its remaining eighteen matches for the season, moving up to and holding first place from Round 12 until the end of the season. Two of Carlton's three losses were by fewer than six points; a 31-point loss against in Round 14 was the worst performance of the home-and-away season.
Despite the strong performance, Carlton was in a constant fight for the minor premiership with , who finished with a record of 18–4–0. Richmond drew within half a game of Carlton after beating them in Round 14; both teams then won all of their remaining eight matches, maintaining that half-game margin until the end of the season. Carlton came very close to losing the minor premiership in the final round, eventually beating by three points with the significant assistance of Footscray's inaccurate goalkicking .
RoundDate and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Ladderposition Home Away Result 1 Saturday, 1 April () 11.15 (81) 10.10 (70) Won by 11 points Princes Park (H) 33,601 5th 2 Saturday, 8 April () 10.15 (75) 11.9 (75) Match drawn Victoria Park (A) 37,070 4th 3 Saturday, 15 April () 14.10 (94) 18.18 (126) Won by 32 points Lake Oval (A) 20,491 3rd 4 Saturday, 22 April () 15.14 (104) 15.19 (109) Lost by 5 points Princes Park (H) 28,377 6th 5 Tuesday, 25 April () 10.13 (73) 13.10 (88) Won by 15 points VFL Park (A) 50,367 6th 6 Saturday, 6 May () 22.15 (147) 14.14 (98) Won by 49 points Princes Park (H) 18,365 3rd 7 Saturday, 13 May () 10.15 (75) 5.8 (38) Won by 37 points VFL Park (H) 30,114 2nd 8 Saturday, 20 May () 10.12 (72) 14.15 (99) Won by 27 points Moorabbin Oval (A) 31,547 1st 9 Saturday, 27 May () 16.13 (109) 6.11 (47) Won by 62 points Princes Park (H) 15,626 1st 10 Saturday, 3 June () 11.22 (88) 13.7 (85) Lost by 3 points Glenferrie Oval (A) 26,585 3rd 11 Saturday, 10 June () 7.9 (51) 7.15 (57) Won by 6 points Western Oval (A) 23,948 2nd 12 Saturday, 24 June () 8.7 (55) 13.13 (91) Won by 36 points VFL Park (A) 29,258 1st 13 Saturday, 1 July () 10.10 (70) 9.8 (62) Won by 8 points Princes Park (H) 35,106 1st 14 Saturday, 8 July () 17.17 (119) 13.10 (88) Lost by 31 points M.C.G. (A) 46,471 1st 15 Saturday, 15 July () 20.8 (128) 8.15 (63) Won by 65 points Princes Park (H) 13,865 1st 16 Saturday, 22 July () 20.13 (133) 17.15 (117) Won by 16 points Princes Park (H) 27,720 1st 17 Saturday, 29 July () 9.13 (67) 17.17 (119) Won by 52 points Kardinia Park (A) 24,797 1st 18 Saturday, 5 August () 8.18 (66) 11.11 (77) Won by 11 points M.C.G. (A) 33,364 1st 19 Saturday, 12 August () 13.16 (94) 10.11 (71) Won by 23 points Princes Park (H) 22,109 1st 20 Saturday, 19 August () 8.12 (60) 23.11 (149) Won by 89 points Arden Street Oval (A) 11,271 1st 21 Saturday, 26 August () 24.12 (156) 11.22 (88) Won by 68 points Princes Park (H) 32,048 1st 22 Saturday, 2 September () 13.8 (86) 11.17 (83) Won by 3 points Princes Park (H) 24,619 1st Source:
Finals series Under the new McIntyre Final Five, Carlton had a bye in the first week of finals, before playing qualifying final winner in the second semi-final. In a low-scoring match, Carlton held Richmond to only one goal in the first half, but Richmond was able to fight back and level the scores at 8.13 (61); Alex Jesaulenko had an unlikely set shot from 70m after the final siren to attempt win the game, but did not make the distance. The match was replayed the following weekend, and Carlton suffered its heaviest loss of the season, by 41 points. In the preliminary final against , Carlton overcome an 11-point half-time deficit to win by 16 points, and to progress to the Grand Final.
Entering the Grand Final, Richmond was the strong favourite, with bookmakers offering odds of 1–2. Richmond had a record of 11–0–1 from its last twelve games, and had a record of 3–0–1 in its four games against Carlton for the season, including inflicting Carlton's heaviest two losses. Some commentators thought Carlton was impressive enough against St Kilda to be a chance at winning, but most tipped Richmond for the premiership. In an unprecedentedly high scoring game, Carlton kicked eight goals in the first quarter and ten in the second quarter to set up a match-winning 45-point lead by half-time, which Richmond never challenged; Carlton ultimately won by 27 points. In a strong display from its forwards, Alex Jesaulenko kicked seven goals, and Robert Walls and John Nicholls kicked six each.
WeekDate and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Home Away Result Week 1 Received first week bye for finishing as minor premiers Second semi-final Saturday, 16 September () 8.13 (61) 8.13 (61) Match drawn VFL Park (H) 54,338 Second semi-final Replay Saturday, 23 September () 9.15 (69) 15.20 (110) Lost by 41 points M.C.G. (H) 92,670 Preliminary Final Saturday, 30 September () 16.13 (109) 13.15 (93) Won by 16 points M.C.G. (H) 96,272 Grand Final Saturday, 7 October () 22.18 (150) 28.9 (177) Won by 27 points M.C.G. (A) 112,393 Source:
Championship of Australia The 1972 Championship of Australia series was played on the weekend following the VFL Grand Final. The tournament was held at the Adelaide Oval, with two semi-finals played on the Saturday, and the final and third-place playoff on the Sunday. The tournament was contested by the premiers of the four state leagues: Carlton (VFL), (SANFL), East Perth (WANFL), and City-South (from the NTFA, winner of the Tasmanian State Premiership). The prize for the winning team was $10,000.
Carlton easily accounted for East Perth in its semi-final, a rough game from which several East Perth players earned suspensions. The Grand final against North Adelaide was a close contest; Carlton held a two-goal lead after five minutes of the final quarter, but did not score again and was overrun by North Adelaide by one point.
WeekDate and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Home Away Result Semi-final Saturday, 14 October () East Perth 20.15 (135) 12.12 (84) Won by 51 points Adelaide Oval (N) 19,599 Final Sunday, 15 October () 10.13 (73) 10.12 (72) Lost by 1 point Adelaide Oval (A) 23,213
World tour matches In October and November, Carlton and a team of All-Stars embarked upon a world tour, playing three exhibition matches in different countries. The All-Stars won the series 2–1.
WeekDate Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Home Away Result 1 Sunday, 29 October All-Stars 12.12 (84) 10.18 (78) Won by 6 points The Oval, London, UK (N) 9,000 (approx.) 2 Sunday, 5 November All-Stars 19.10 (124) 19.13 (127) Lost by 3 points Athens, Greece (N) 3,000 (approx.) 3 Sunday, 12 November All-Stars 9.11 (65) 11.11 (77) Lost by 12 points Singapore (N) 8,500 (approx.)
Ladder
Premiership team The Carlton premiership twenty was as below.
Notable events
World tour From 22 October until 13 November, the Carlton team went on a three-week world tour. The tour was organised during the season by president George Harris. In addition to a busy social calendar, the tour featured three exhibition matches between Carlton and a team of All-Stars from other senior teams around Australia.
When initially organised, the tour was to have featured matches at: The Oval in London, UK; on a temporary field in Stuttgart, West Germany; and at Lenin Stadium in Moscow, USSR – however, of these, only the London match went ahead. The Moscow match was abruptly cancelled by the Soviet Union, which cited "technical reasons" in its communication to the Australian embassy; Harris arranged for the Russian leg of the tour to instead be played in Athens, Greece. The Stuttgart match was then cancelled when it became apparent that an early winter would render the match unplayable; Harris organised for this leg of the tour to be played in Singapore.