Born Eaglehawk, Victoria November 24, 1880 - died Carlton, Victoria February 8, 1940
Recruited to Carlton from Footscray (VFA)
Carlton player No. 202
At Carlton
60 matches, 28 goals 1906-1909
Premiership player 1906, 1907 & 1908
They say Jack Worrall was an advocate of the time-honoured football truism that a good big man will always beat a good little man – hence the Carlton Secretary/Coach’s commitment to securing the follower-forward Fred Jinks from VFA club Footscray.
Originally hailing from the old Victorian gold-mining town of California Gully where he chased the leather for Eaglehawk, Frederick Tyson Jinks was a seasoned 25 year-old when he first fronted for training at Princes Park – and his vigor and vim earned Worrall’s respect from the outset.
Worrall turned out for his first Carlton game in Round 8, 1906 against Melbourne at the MCG, partnering Fred ‘Pompey’ Elliott in the ruck. By September of that year, the Jinks/Elliott combination had developed into the game’s most daunting combination. Together they drove Carlton to the top of the ladder, and – in Jinks’ 12th senior appearance – to the old dark Navy Blues’ first Premiership in League competition – the 1906 Grand Final triumph over Fitzroy.
Carlton’s second flag in as many seasons was secured in a titanic struggle with South Melbourne – and with ‘Pompey’ Elliott suspended and Rod McGregor unavailable due to injury, Jinks was named on a half-forward flank as part of the restructure and was named amongst Carlton’s best afield.
In 1908 Jinks was honoured with the vice-captaincy of the Carlton team, and he and Elliott were reunited in a dominant ruck division that also featured George ‘Mallee’ Johnson, Jim Marchbank and ‘Champagne’ Charlie Hammond. On Grand Final day in ’08, all five big men were named by Worrall, and Carlton completed the Premiership hat-trick with a narrow nine-point win against Essendon.
Fast forward 12 months, and Jinks was again named amongst Carlton’s best in the team’s narrow two-point loss to South Melbourne on Grand Final day 1909. But it would be his last hurrah as a Carlton player.
Prior to the 1910 season, and amongst serious political upheaval, a reform group wrested control of the Carlton committee, prompting Worrall’s resignation as Secretary. Amid widespread recrimination, seven players, Jinks included, parted company with the club – but he’s forever remembered at Carlton as a “Hat Trick Hero”.