The 1982 Carlton Football Club season was the Carlton Football Club's 119th season of competition, and 86th as a member of the Victorian Football League. Carlton fielded teams in the senior, reserves and under-19s grades of the 1982 VFL season, and its senior team also contested the 1982 Escort Championships.
Carlton won the senior VFL premiership, defeating in the grand final. It was the club's second senior VFL premiership in a row, its third in four years, and the 14th in the club's history.
Club summary The 1982 VFL season was the 86th season of the VFL competition since its inception in 1897; and, having competed in every season, it was also the 86th 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 contesting the VFL premiership, the Carlton senior team contested the 1982 Escort Championships, which ran concurrently with the premiership season. Carlton also fielded teams in both the VFL reserves competition (the Statewide Cup) and the VFL under-19s competition.
Carlton's key senior personnel were all unchanged from 1981: Ian Rice as club president, David Parkin as senior coach, and Mike Fitzpatrick as captain.Official Website of the Carlton Football Club The Carlton Honour Board Retrieved on 19 April 2007. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was the club's No. 1 ticket holder.
Squad and player statistics for 1982 The following is the final senior squad as announced at the start of the 1982 season, plus mid-season transfers. Numbers in parentheses represent games played and goals kicked for Carlton in the 1982 VFL premiership season.
Playing list changes The following summarises player transfers to and from the club between the conclusion of the 1981 season and the conclusion of the 1982 season.
In Player Previous club League Comments Ross Addlem Serpentine Ross Ditchburn Kukerin Central Great Southern FL Previously played for Claremont (WAFL) Stephen Easton VFL Allan Montgomery Perth WAFL Spiro Kourkoumelis Carlton U19s VFL U19s M. Lenaghan Sandhurst Bendigo FL Country zone selection Paul Meldrum Princes Hill VAFA David Clarke VFL Cleared to Carlton shortly before the start of the season Shane Robertson Carlton U19s VFL U19s Elevated from the junior list prior to the Escort Cup quarter-final
Out Player New Club League Comments Kevin Heath Newton (NSW) Trevor Keogh Retired David McKay Retired Rod Waddell VFL Cleared prior to Round 11 Stephen Buckley Brunswick VFA Cleared at approximately Round 15
Season summary
Pre-season matches Carlton played four competitive matches in the lead-up to the 1982 VFL season – three practice matches and an Escort Cup match.
Date Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Home Away Result Sunday, 7 March 27.10 (172) 23.23 (161) Lost by 11 points Swan Hill Showgrounds (A)Tentatively listed as an away match because Swan Hill was part of Richmond's country recruiting zone. Saturday, 13 March Claremont 15.13 (103) 23.16 (154) Won by 51 points Perth Oval (A) Tuesday, 16 March () Escort Championships first round match against Port Adelaide – see details below Saturday, 20 March 13.13 (91) 8.9 (57) Won by 34 points Princes Park (H)
Home-and-away season Carlton entered the season as the defending premiers. After a slow start, Carlton climbed to the top of the ladder and cemented its position as premiership favourites with nine consecutive wins (plus one in the Escort Cup) between rounds 3 and 11. The Blues then suffered two heavy losses in three weeks against and , dropping to second on the ladder, and causing the media to question whether Carlton was still a realistic premiership contender. Their form remained patchy, and after heavy upset losses to Geelong and the Swans, Carlton dropped to third. They were considered a serious risk of losing the double chance, with difficult games in the last three weeks of the season, but an upset win over first-placed Richmond in round 20, and an unexpectedly heavy victory over fifth-placed North Melbourne saw Carlton hold onto third place, and regain form going into the finals.
Round Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Ladderposition Home Away Result 1 Saturday, 27 March () 16.17 (113) 17.11 (113) Match drawn Princes Park (H) 26,669 6th 2 Saturday, 3 April () 8.17 (65) 13.13 (91) Lost by 26 points VFL Park (H) 60,208 9th 3 Saturday, 10 April () 13.16 (94) 20.8 (128) Won by 34 points Victoria Park (A) 34,055 7th 4 Saturday, 17 April () 21.22 (148) 12.15 (87) Won by 61 points Princes Park (H) 29,654 5th 5 Saturday, 24 April () 9.12 (66) 9.22 (76) Won by 10 points M.C.G. (A) 26,950 4th 6 Saturday, 1 May () 11.14 (80) 16.22 (118) Won by 38 points Moorabbin Oval (A) 26,185 3rd 7 Saturday, 8 May () 15.20 (110) 7.7 (49) Won by 61 points Princes Park (H) 28,742 2nd 8 Saturday, 15 May () 11.11 (77) 14.22 (106) Won by 29 points Western Oval (A) 17,903 2nd 9 Saturday, 22 May () 27.23 (185) 12.11 (83) Won by 102 points Princes Park (H) 23,954 2nd Tuesday, 25 May () Escort Championships quarter final against – see details below 10 Saturday, 29 May () 18.16 (124) 16.11 (107) Won by 17 points Princes Park (H) 35,372 1st 11 Saturday, 5 June () 13.18 (96) 15.15 (105) Won by 9 points Arden Street Oval (A) 23,448 1st 12 Monday, 14 June () 19.12 (126) 8.18 (66) Lost by 60 points Windy Hill (A) 33,792 2nd 13 Saturday, 19 June () 12.26 (98) 9.17 (71) Won by 27 points Princes Park (H) 30,346 2nd 14 Saturday, 26 June () 17.14 (116) 12.10 (82) Lost by 34 points Princes Park (A) 23,354 2nd Tuesday, 29 June () Escort Championships semi final against – see details below 15 Saturday, 3 July () 18.20 (128) 16.15 (111) Won by 17 points Princes Park (H) 21,971 2nd 16 Saturday, 10 July () 21.13 (139) 9.9 (63) Won by 76 points VFL Park (H) 27,829 2nd 17 Saturday, 24 July () 16.19 (115) 11.9 (75) Lost by 40 points Kardinia Park (A) 19,892 2nd 18 Saturday, 31 July () 30.21 (201) 10.12 (72) Won by 129 points Princes Park (H) 17,564 2nd 19 Sunday, 8 August () Swans 15.16 (106) 9.18 (72) Lost by 34 points S.C.G. (A) 25,601 3rd 20 Saturday, 14 August () 9.10 (64) 13.14 (92) Won by 28 points M.C.G. (A) 71,203 3rd 21 Saturday, 21 August () 26.24 (180) 17.8 (110) Won by 70 points Princes Park (H) 28,207 3rd 22 Saturday, 26 August () 17.9 (111) 23.12 (150) Won by 39 points VFL Park (A) 46,130 3rd Source:
Finals series Despite being below Hawthorn on the ladder, Carlton's form in the final rounds of the home-and-away season meant it was favourite to win the qualifying final, which it did by a comfortable margin. They were then comprehensively beaten by minor premiers Richmond in the second semi-final; Richmond led by 30 points at quarter time, and the final margin of 23 points was not reflective of Richmond's overall dominance on the day.
The preliminary final against Hawthorn was a tough, ugly game of football which divided opinions; the Sun reporters Lou Richards and Tom Prior were critical of both teams for their poor skills, but their Sun colleague Don Scott described it as a classic preliminary final, finding the tightly defensive contest enthralling. Only five goals were scored in the first half arm-wrestle, before Carlton opened up a big lead with six goals to two in the third quarter, ultimately winning by 31 points.
In the grand final, Richmond led a close game by 11 points at half time, aided by Carlton's inaccurate goalkicking – the score was 9.4 (58) to 6.11 (47). Carlton then added five goals to zero in the third quarter to lead by 17 points, maintaining roughly this margin to the final siren to win the premiership.
Week Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Home Away Result Qualifying Final Saturday, 4 September () 16.9 (105) 25.13 (163) Won by 58 points M.C.G. (A) 70,552 Second Semi-final Saturday, 11 September () 16.17 (113) 13.12 (90) Lost by 23 points VFL Park (A) 65,611 Preliminary Final Saturday, 18 September () 13.16 (94) 8.15 (63) Won by 31 points VFL Park (H) 61,307 Grand Final Saturday, 25 September () 12.13 (85) 14.19 (103) Won by 18 points M.C.G. (A) 107,536 Source:
Commonwealth Games Eleven days after the season was over, Carlton played a grand final rematch against Richmond as a demonstration sport at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. Richmond won the high-scoring match by eighteen points.
Week Date Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Carlton Opponent Result Commonwealth Games Wednesday, 6 October 26.10 (166) 28.16 (184) Lost by 18 points Gabba (N) 15,000 (approx.)
Escort Championships Carlton participated in the 1982 Escort Championships, which ran concurrently with the VFL season. Carlton reached the semi-final stage before being eliminated by North Melbourne.
Week Date and local time Opponent Scores (Carlton's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Carlton Opponent Result Round of 16 Tuesday, 16 March () Port Adelaide 14.16 (100) 5.6 (36) Won by 64 points VFL Park (N) 6,220 Quarter-final Tuesday, 25 May () 12.14 (86) 12.8 (80) Won by 6 points VFL Park (N) 7,063 Semi-final Tuesday, 29 June () 8.13 (61) 13.12 (90) Lost by 29 points VFL Park (N) 5,642
Ladder
Premiership team The Carlton premiership twenty was as below.
For the second consecutive season, both Geoff Southby and Rod Austin were missing from the premiership team due to injury. Southby was injured in the semi-final, as he had been in 1981; Austin had been widely considered best on ground in the preliminary final, but was hospitalised after he suffered a flare-up of a groin complaint which he had carried into that match.
Notable events Controversial finish in round 1 draw against Fitzroy In the round 1 match at Princes Park, overcame a 32-point half-time deficit to hit the lead late in the match, but Carlton drew the game with a behind on the final siren from Greg Wells. Fitzroy complained about the game-tying behind for three separate reasons: that the free kick from which Wells scored the behind was a wrong decision; that after Wells played on, the kick was actually taken after the siren had sounded because the siren wasn't loud enough to be heard; and that the kick, which fell short and went through off the hands of a pack, was deliberately forced through for a score by a Carlton player and should have been a dead ball. There was no formal protest against the result, and the VFL endorsed the umpires' decision in all three cases.
Death of Robert Dickson Crowd behaviour at VFL matches was put under the spotlight after the death of 28-year-old father Robert Dickson. Dickson, an innocent bystander to a brawl in the crowd of the round 1 match between Carlton and Fitzroy at Princes Park, was king-hit as he tried to protect his six-year-old son from the violence. He was released from hospital after the incident, but suffered an aneurysm a week later and died in hospital in late April. Dickson's autopsy did not connect his aneurysm to the trauma suffered in the brawl, but the incident nevertheless served as a trigger for the VFL and police to review behavioural standards of patrons at VFL matches, which had been poor in recent years. From 4 May, patrons were banned from bringing alcoholic beverages into VFL matches, and were limited to purchasing at most two pre-opened cans at a time from vendors at the ground. The Carlton and Fitzroy Football Clubs and the VFL all donated money to Dickson's widow.
Retirement and reinstatement of Warren Jones