The image was taken by the boundary line at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, moments before Carlton confronted Essendon in the first semi-final before a then record attendance of 63,948, on the afternoon of Saturday, September 23.
Carlton fell agonizingly short - 4.10 (34) to 5.9 (39) - on a day in which Essendon’s Jack Moriarty booted the match-winning goal having been awarded a dubious mark. For all intents and purposes the match proved lackluster, and as The Argus reporter noted of its impact on the punters: “It was very seldom that the murmur swelled to a roar”.
Featured in this photograph is the great Horrie Clover (middle row, fourth form the left), who assumed the role of captain-coach from the legendary Norman “Hackenschmidt” Clark eight rounds into the 1922 season. Clark, the 1899 Stawell Gift winner and a member of Carlton’s 1906’, ’07 and ’08 premiership teams, had also coached the old dark Navy Blues to the back-to-back Grand Final victories of 1914 and ’15, but was duly replaced anyway because “the committee was not satisfied that his methods were in the best interests of the side . . . ”
Three Carlton players, whose images were not previously known to have existed in the archive, have now also been identified in this photograph. They are Alec Farrow (front row, second from the left) the former Melbourne footballer who served in both the First and Second World Wars; Harold Credlin (back row, far right) who booted five goals on debut against South Melbourne and later turned out for North; and Frank Pritchard (front row, second from the left) and then in his maiden season having been recruited to the club from Tatura.
Little is known of Pritchard, other than that he represented Carlton in 20 senior matches through 1922 and ’23 as a “fast-moving full-forward” according to The Argus’ correspondent.
But the stories abound for both Credlin and Farrow, a signaler in the Middle East, whose visage was matched with a military portrait captured in September 1915 and now featured on the Australian War Memorial website.
Originally hailing from Carlton District, and a 14-game Carlton footballer through the 1922 and ’23 seasons, Farrow completed the move to Princes Park in the twilight of his playing career. Regrettably, that career was brought to an abrupt halt against Richmond at Punt Road when Farrow suffered severe concussion in a head clash with a Richmond opponent - on the same afternoon Carlton’s Frank Martin copped a compound fracture of the arm and never played League football again.
Almost twenty years later, when the world was once again plunged into a global conflict, Farrow volunteered a second time to serve his country, this time in the blue serge uniform of the RAAF. He was restricted by his age to duty within Australia, but rose to the rank of Corporal before his final discharge in January, 1948.
Alec Farrow in uniform.
Seven years later, on September 15, 1955, Alec Farrow died at the age of 61.
Credlin, who appears under either of his given names in VFL records, completed an impressive debut with his five-goal haul at Princes Park in the 14th round of 1922, as the perfect foil for the centre half-forward Horrie Clover. As an agile 19 year-old from Inglewood in central Victoria, Credlin seemed a real find for the Blues, particularly when he landed another five majors at Corio Oval in round 16. But from then on, his career took a long, slow decline.
Although he found himself playing finals football in just his fifth senior game - against Essendon in the ’22 first semi - Credlin didn’t trouble the scorers. He would manage 16 senior appearances in total, completing his Carlton swansong in the same match as the former captain and two-time Premiership player Paddy O’Brien, versus Collingwood at Victoria Park in the 8th round of 1925.
Five years later, in the opening round of the 1930 season against Geelong at Corio Oval, Credlin completed a surprise comeback, lining up at full-forward for North Melbourne. Unfortunately, the Shinboners booted their only two goals of that game in the first quarter, and were routed to the tune of 102 points.
At selection the following week, Credlin was duly omitted . . . and he never again returned to the fray as a League footballer.
The team which represented Carlton in the first semi-final of Saturday, September 23, 1922 is as follows from left to right;
Back row: Maurie Beasy, Rupe Hiskins, Albert Boromeo, Harold Toole, Alex Duncan, Harold Credlin
Middle row: Jim Goonan, Frank Pritchard, Frank Martin, Horrie Clover, Paddy O’Brien, Jack Morrissey, Fred Johnson
Front row: James Russell, Alec Farrow, Stewart McLatchie, George Bolt, Billy Blackman
