If the measure of a man is how well he times his leaving of this world, then no one would begrudge ‘Northeast’ Noel Duckworth exiting stage left in the hours immediately following Carlton’s magnificent victory over Collingwood last weekend.
Northeast Noel was a Carlton member for 52 of his 72 years until ‘the dancer’ finally robbed him of seeing any more than Carlton’s last eight flags. It was a good return for this battler from the bush who was instantly recognisable by his spade-handle grey beard and the twinkle in his eye.
After his funeral in Euroa next Tuesday, his ashes will be scattered at the Coliseum of our Conquering Champions. Then he will forever keep an eye on training sessions at Princes Park from his favourite possie in front of the old Harris stand.
He used to sit there week-in and week-out next to his old mate Frank ‘Wacker’ Strachan, a legendary Carlton character once famous among the players and the fans for his whacky annual Wacker Awards nights and his incomprehensible one-eyed Carlton column in The Melbourne Times.
Born at the Epworth Hospital in Richmond on August 16, 1935, Northeast Noel was initially a Fitzroy supporter because his beloved mother fancied the Gorillas from the other side of Nicholson Street.
His conversion to the True Blue Carlton cause came one day in his youth when one of the Fitzroy players had a Barry Hall moment and sunk the slipper into one of the Carlton Conquering Champions. Nicholson Street proved to be the road to Damascus.
Plutarch says the measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune. Young Duckworth contracted the debilitating polio disease as a kid and spent many years in a hospital at Macedon.
He could not walk properly when he got out of hospital but – if he took the back streets from his home in Thornbury and timed the traffic lights well enough – he could just manage to balance on his bicycle till he got to training twice a week at Princes Park.
With his awkward gait, he attempted to run with the players around the boundary line and received enormous encouragement for his efforts from the team doing circle work with cigarettes before going over the road to Naughton’s pub for a few sherbets to complete the training session.
He recalled last weekend before the Collingwood game that Jim Clark in particular was always there to lend young Noel a helping hand and see him safely on his bike for the perilous journey home through the traffic – where balance depended on perpetual motion and hang time on footpath fences.
Like most Carlton supporters, Northeast Noel lists “the last one” as his favourite Carlton premiership. When pushed, he says 1970 was an absolute beauty because it came at Collingwood’s expense.
However, he can not split his all-time favourite player from between Big Nick and Jezza and demands to have both.
His current favourite is Heath Scotland. A get-well card from Heath Scotland and Brett Ratten will go into his coffin next to one from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Oh, and two bottles of Jimmy Watson’s Trophy best reds from 1987 and 1995 which he insists on taking with him to Blue Heaven to share with the Good Shepherd of Princes Park.
Travel well, Blues Brother. The next flag is for you…
