1945 Carlton Football Club season

Kenneth Luke continued as club president through 1945, a position he had held since the 1938 season.[4] Harry Bell continued as the secretary, a role he had held since 1940.

Percy Bentley continued as coach, a role he had held since crossing from Richmond in 1941. Bob Chitty, in his ninth season with the club, was appointed the new captain of the club;[5] he replaced 1944 acting-captain Bob Atkinson, who returned to captain his former VFA side Coburg.[6] Bob Green was appointed vice-captain at the start of the year,[7] then Rod McLean took over after Green was transferred on service.[8]

The club entered the home-and-away season with an overall inexperienced team, noted as speedy but lacking in big, experienced key position players.[35][36] The highly regarded half-backline combination of 1943 had suffered with the loss of Jim Francis to retirement and Frank Anderson to Preston, and Bob Atkinson had also been lost from the back pocket,[36] leaving Bob Chitty as the only established key defender.[37] A total of 18 players from the 1944 list were unavailable.[38] Carlton also had a limited preseason, due in part to the Carlton Cricket Club occupying the ground later than usual as it won its first district cricket pennant;[6] simultaneous intra-club matches were played at 2:45 Saturday 7 April at Princes Park and Ransford Oval,[39] then again at 2:45 Saturday 14 April at Princes Park and McAllister Oval.[40] As a result, sportswriters did not have high expectations of Carlton for the season.

As such, few were surprised when Carlton's season opened poorly, with three comfortable losses, including a club record 100-point defeat at the hands of Essendon, to sit last on the ladder. The club was described as "surely the weakest Carlton team sent out in years", and it was again noted that the small players were reasonable but the lack of key position players was a major problem.[41] After the early losses, Carlton started rebuilding, adopting something of a youth policy; no fewer than eight older but underperforming players – Bernie Bignell, Les Gregory, Arthur Hall, Adrian Hearn, Jim Jones, Cyril Mann, Fred Rose, and vice captain Bob Green – were omitted by the end of Round 6; among them, only Jones ever played for Carlton again.[38]

Carlton improved over the following six weeks, with three wins and three losses, to move to 9th place with a 3–6 record overall. The three wins were all good wins against Fitzroy, St Kilda, and Geelong (who were all in the bottom six after Round 9), and the losses came against Richmond, Collingwood and Footscray (who were all in the top five after Round 9). The Round 7 game against Richmond was almost won: holding a one point lead, Frank McGrath had taken a saving mark in defence, before played on and being caught dropping the ball, Richmond's Bob Bawden kicked the winning goal from the free kick, which was the last kick of the game.[42]

Recruits of star key position players as the season progressed strengthened the Carlton team down the spine. The Blues recruited 18-year-old Geelong junior Ken Hands after Round 3, who made an immediate impression at centre half forward, and was touted as a future champion by the press within a month.[43] Coburg key position player Lance Collins, who had played for Carlton on a wartime permit, was cleared back to Carlton after Round 5; and, after making little impact at pivot, was moved to full forward and led the club in goalkicking for the season. Star forward Ken Baxter returned from three years of active service after Round 11. Finally, Bert Deacon, another VFA player who had played with the club on a wartime permit, was cleared to the club after Round 13, immediately became one of the league's best players, holding down the centre half-back position and giving the Blues the best half-back line in the league.[44] This, coupled with Vin Brown servicably adapting to his new position at full back,[45] gradually turned Carlton into one of the league's strongest teams through the second half of the season, with strength in both key positions and small players.[46] The line-up became very settled, with very selection changes made in the last two months of the season.[47]

This translated into a remarkable improvement in results starting with wins against fourth-placed North Melbourne and first-placed South Melbourne in Rounds 10 and 11. After four straight wins which had seen the club rise to 7th place, Carlton suffered an upset loss against an out-of-form Essendon, which itself had lost six straight games,[48] in a dramatic ending in which Essendon kicked three goals in the final two minutes of the game to snatch a three-point with only 13 seconds left.[49] Sportswriters noted that this loss would likely end the Blues' faint hopes of playing finals, as they were two wins and percentage behind fourth place with six games left.[50]

However, Carlton's performances continued to strengthen. Over the next five weeks, it recorded narrow wins against finals rivals Fitzroy, Collingwood and Richmond and big wins against the bottom two St Kilda and Geelong, to rise to fifth place. This set up, for the second consecutive year, a final round clash against third placed Footscray, the winner of which would qualify for the finals.^Note Footscray had won the equivalent match in 1944 by one point, kicked after the siren by Harry Hickey; but this year, in front of a then-record crowd of 30,000 at the Western Oval,[51] Carlton dominated with a seven-goals-to-two first quarter before winning by 53 points. This saw Carlton enter the top four for the first time in the season, in fourth place with a 13–7 record, after winning ten of its last eleven home-and-away matches.[52]

The finals series was staged at Carlton Oval, as a result of the Melbourne Cricket Ground once again being unavailable due to its role in the war effort. Carlton had staged the 1942 and 1943 finals, and the St Kilda Cricket Ground had staged the 1944 finals; but lower capacity and attendance at St Kilda encouraged the league to return the finals to Carlton for 1945.[18] Additional terraces were installed at the ground in August, to increase the official capacity to 62,800.[68]

Despite being in fourth place, Carlton's strong form in the second half of the season meant they were considered a genuine premiership threat by sportswriters.[45][69] Through the latter stages of the season and into the finals, coach Percy Bentley conducted very limited Thursday training sessions, to reduce the pressure to the team which had played in so many consecutive pseudo-elimination games.[70]

Carlton faced third-placed North Melbourne in the first semi-final, which was in its first ever VFL finals series, and whose late season form had been a little bit patchy. Carlton dominated the game and won easily. Although the final margin was only 26 points, Carlton had led 13.7 (85) to 2.13 (25) at three-quarter time, before North Melbourne added respectability to the scoreboard with a six-goals-to-one final quarter. Lance Collins scored a VFL career-high eight goals in the match.[71]

The preliminary final against Collingwood, was a vicious, and famous affair. Collingwood was by far the better team throughout the game, with Carlton not playing as well as it had been; Hands and Deacon both had rare off games.[72] Collingwood held a 28-point lead at quarter time, a 9-point lead at half-time, and opened up a game-high 34-point lead after kicking the first goal of the final quarter. At the same time, the Blues engaged in rough play to try to put their smaller Collingwood opponents off their game, and melee involving twelve players broke out early in the final quarter.[73][74] After the melee, Carlton mounted a massive comeback, and kicked the next five goals in a fifteen-minute purple patch, to reduce the margin to two points. Then Lance Collins, who had kicked the first goal of the rally, was again the hero, kicking the last two goals of the game late to steal a ten-point win. The roughness of the game drew condemnation, but only one player – Fred Fitzgibbon – was reported and suspended.[75]

Carlton faced minor premiers South Melbourne in the Grand Final. Played in blustery, then rainy conditions, it was a low quality and rough game better remembered for its violence than its gameplay, and eventually gaining its nickname "The Bloodbath" from the several melees which broke out. The game was closely fought through the first half, Carlton holding a two-point lead at half time. Carlton pulled away with a five-goals-to-two the third quarter to lead by 23 points at three-quarter time, and managed to keep at least a two-goal buffer through the rough final quarter before winning by a game-high 28 points.[76] Three Carlton players were suspended: captain Bob Chitty and Don Grossman for eight weeks, and Fred Fitzgibbon – who was already suspended after the preliminary final and who ran onto the ground from the outer to join a melee – for four weeks. Four South Melbourne players were also suspended.[77] Bob Chitty's strikes behind play of two of South Melbourne's young stars were the main instigators of the game's violence, and – by the later admission of South Melbourne star Laurie Nash – successfully did much to distract South Melbourne from its game in the second half.[78] Vin Brown was the best player on the ground, and the win gave Carlton its seventh premiership.