1986 - FOOT NOTES FROM THE GRAND FINAL
A BASIC PLAN, AND ALMOST EFFECTIVE
Make no mistake Seaford went into this grand final with a plan. Chelsea were a very talented team but, if they had a weakness, it lay in their ability to handle the rough stuff. Leigh Carpenter aside, they had no-one who could really mix it with the likes of Ian Boswell, a very capable player who knew how to dish out the rough stuff to good effect. He did so in such a way as to have maximum impact on the game. Selective and efficient, Boswell was a very influential player in any match.
This particular day it was Chelsea’s strong ruck division that would be the target of Boswell’s tactics. Michael Ritchie was the first to fall in the first quarter and had to depart the playing field, with concussion. This left veteran Ron Stubbs to shoulder the burden of Chelsea’s ruck division for the remainder of the game. That he was able to do so effectively despite being under considerable physical attention from the Tiger heavies, remains a testament to the greatness of this amazing footballer who was a worthy recipient of the Best On Ground award.
At the end of the day he had given the Seagulls first use of the ball and, with the benefit of Leigh Carpenter’s strength around the ball, allowed Chelsea’s array of young stars the opportunity to play their natural games, assuring victory.
ANSWERING THE CALL
Blood clots are a serious matter. They have a habit of moving quickly and erratically. If they move to a vital organ, such as the brain, death can arrive quickly and without warning. The medical solution to this condition is a drug called Warfarin. This serves to reduce the likelihood of blood clots by thinning the blood. All very well, but the drug has side effects in that bleeding, should it happen, is very difficult to halt and cuts or internal bleeding, as is the case with bruising, become serious matters in their own right. The cure is almost as bad as the cause.
Leigh Carpenter learned that he suffered from blood clots whilst still in his mid-twenties. He had already won three senior Best and Fairest awards with Chelsea by that stage and was a gun player by anybody’s standards.
But, the physical risks associated with such a high impact sport were extreme, particularly for a man as uncompromising and hard at it as Leigh. He retired from playing in 1984 after missing most of 1983 with injuries.
The Seagulls, after losing the 1985 Grand Final, were now experiencing a seventeen year drought since they last enjoyed senior premiership success. In an act of desperation, head selector Noel Hopgood made an impassioned plea to Leigh to make a comeback for the 1986 finals. Leigh responded to the call and, at high risk to himself, played the last match of the season in the seconds and then reappeared on Grand Final day for an epic encounter with arch rivals Seaford.
The outcomes? The flag went to Chelsea with a place in history for the tough on-baller who immediately spent the next ten days in hospital recovering, such was the impact of the game on his ailing body.
Leigh never returned as a player, but he did coach an amazing 280 senior games with various Peninsula clubs during the following sixteen years and has earned himself a wonderful reputation throughout the local football world for his courage and devotion to the game.
TOUGH CALL
Grand Finals are littered with sad luck tales of players who have failed to make selection for one reason or another. The selectors are often required to make the toughest of decisions.
In 1986, star recruit Glen ‘Sparrow’ Stewart was the centre of attention with a suspect ’hammy.’ Chairman of Selectors Noel Hopgood was adamant that he wouldn’t be able to get through the match, and successfully plugged for the inclusion of Leigh Carpenter who had himself, missed a greater part of the season through injury.
The decision was made and quickly vindicated as Leigh set about imposing himself on the game with great courage and effectiveness, despite receiving a damaging kick to the knee early in the game.
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