Round 1, 1951
| Venue: Princes Park | Date: Saturday April 21, 1951 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Win by 30 points | Umpire: Barbour | Crowd: 13,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: K.Warburton 7, B.Comben 2, J.Mills 2, J.Baird 1, F.Davies 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: Warburton, Deacon, Grieve, English, Hands, Comben. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: F. Stafford replaced J. Brown (rib) in the last quarter. | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
This game featured a brilliant debut from 21 year-old Carlton recruit Keith Warburton, whose spectacular marking and accurate shooting for goal at full-forward produced seven goals. Future club Best and Fairest Doug Beasy also began his senior career this day, while champion full-back Ollie Grieve celebrated game number 100 for his beloved Navy Blues.
Hawthorn had finished dead last and winless in 1950, but they had recruited extensively in the off-season and were confident of stretching the home side. However, Carlton’s aerial dominance and accuracy in front of goal proved too much for the visitors, who were beaten by 30 points in front of a disappointingly small crowd. The Blues sat third on the ladder with a percentage of 152.6 after this solid start, behind Collingwood and Geelong. Fitzroy were fourth, and Warburton shared top spot on the goal-kicking table with Essendon star John Coleman.
Team
| B: | 33 Ritchie Green | 27 Ollie Grieve | 19 Don Calder |
| HB: | 16 John Brown | 23 Bert Deacon | 26 Jim Clark |
| C: | 8 Arthur Hodgson | 6 Ern Henfry (c) | 11 Laurie Kerr |
| HF: | 17 Doug Beasy | 14 Vin English | 25 Jim Baird |
| F: | 28 Fred Davies | 7 Keith Warburton | 15 Bruce Comben |
| Ruck: | 1 Ken Hands (vc) | 24 Harry Caspar | 9 Jack Mills |
| Res: | 34 Bernie Baxter | 10 Fred Stafford | |
| Coach: | Percy Bentley | ||
Changes
IN: B.Deacon, B.Baxter, B.Comben, D.Calder, D.Beasy, K.Warburton OUT: K.Baxter, D.Williams, J.Conley, R.Garby, B.Huntington, H.Sullivan
Milestones
Debut: Doug Beasy, Keith Warburton 100 Games: Ollie Grieve
"2394","Round 2, 1951","
| Venue: Western Oval | Date: Saturday April 28, 1951 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Loss by 1 point | Umpire: Jamieson | Crowd: 26,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: K.Warbuton 3, J.Mills 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: Nil | Injuries: Nil | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
The previous Saturday, Footscray had gotten off to an encouraging start by knocking over Richmond by a solitary point at Punt Road. This week, against Carlton at the Western Oval, they did it again – charging home from 14 points behind at three-quarter time to beat the Blues by the smallest possible margin. Celebrating champion Bert Deacon’s 100th match, the Blues seemed in control at the last change, but the Bulldogs packed their defence and used the advantage of a freshening breeze to hit the front a minute from full-time, then hung on grimly to win.
This loss dropped the Blues to seventh on the ladder. The top four (all undefeated) were Collingwood, Fitzroy, Essendon and Footscray. Another three goals to Keith Warburton took his total to 10, just one behind Jack O’Rourke of Richmond.
Trove; Age April 30 p14
Team
| B: | 33 Ritchie Green | 27 Ollie Grieve | 19 Don Calder |
| HB: | 16 John Brown | 23 Bert Deacon | 26 Jim Clark |
| C: | 8 Arthur Hodgson | 6 Ern Henfry (c) | 11 Laurie Kerr |
| HF: | 17 Doug Beasy | 14 Vin English | 25 Jim Baird |
| F: | 28 Fred Davies | 7 Keith Warburton | 15 Bruce Comben |
| Ruck: | 1 Ken Hands (vc) | 24 Harry Caspar | 9 Jack Mills |
| Res: | 32 Harry Dern | 10 Fred Stafford | |
| Coach: | Percy Bentley | ||
Changes
IN: H.Dern OUT: B.Baxter
Milestones
100 Games: Bert Deacon
