1914 Sydney Carnival
Tournament information
SportAustralian football
LocationSydney, Australia
Dates5 August 1914–15 August 1914
AdministratorAustralian National Football Council
FormatRound Robin
Teams6
Final champion
Victoria
← 1911
1921 →
New South Wales vs South Australia at the SCG
Victoria vs Western Australia at the SCG

The 1914 Sydney Carnival was the third edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian football interstate competition. It was held between Wednesday 5 August and Saturday 15 August 1914. As in previous competitions, players could represent the state that they were playing in at the time. Victoria was the winning state, going undefeated through the competition.

The carnival, which was the first to take place in New South Wales, was contested by teams from each of the six states: Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland. Interest in the event was overshadowed by the declarations of war by Britain on Germany on 4 August, and the opening manoeuvres of World War I which followed.[1] Altogether, the event made a loss, drawing at the gate enough to cover approximately half of its operating expenses.[2]

Enthusiast's Letter to the Editor
The Herald, 21 September 1934.[3]
Victorian team winners of the Sydney Carnival

Teams

Six teams competed at the Carnival.[4]

New South Wales

Walter Abotomey, Desmond Baird, Francis Ernest "Frank" Beaver, Reginald Horace Blackburn, John "Con" Cannon, Leslie Glen Clarke, Walter Davis, Albert Herbert "Bert" Ellis, Albert V. Erickson, John "Jack" Fisher, Walter Harris, Eric Emerson Hughes, Allan Raymond "Sacko" Jackson, William Henry Kumnick, Vincent "Bing" McCann, Harry A. McCullagh, Frederick Roy "Freddy Mack" McGargill,[5] Francis Leo "Frank" McDonald, Edward Alexander McFadden, Michael "Mick" McInerney, Frederick Arthur "Sailor" Meadows, James Howarth "Jim" Munro, Cornelius J. Murphy, Brutus E. "Bruce" O'Grady, George Parr, S.V. Peace, Andrew Thomas P. "Andy" Ratcliffe, Ralph "Robby" Robertson, Robert Sands, E. Stevens, R.W. Stevenson, Gerald Stewart, William "Billy" Thomas, E. Tyson, Albert Henry Vincent, William "Jack" Webb. Coach, Dick Condon; manager and assistant coach, Bill Strickland.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Queensland

D. Arnall, G. Beech, E. Bliss, E. Crouch, W. H. Cooke, A. J. Cowley, D. Duffy, W. East, A. Grieves, J. H. Hawke, P. W. Jones, C. Lawrence, S. McKinley, A. McPherson, A. C. McCaul, J. Minus, W. Maroney, D. Ogilvy, A. C. Roberts, A. E. Skuce, P. R. Willshire, G. Wilson, L. Wilson.[6]

South Australia

W. Mayman, F. H. Golding, D. V. McDougall (Sturt), W. H. Oliver; J. C. Watson, F. G. Magor, J. W. Robertson, A. McFarlane, J. Ashley, A. Congear (Port Adelaide). F. H. Keen, J. J. Tredrea, F. M. Barry (South Adelaide), S. Patten, D. Low (West Torrens). A. Klose, E. Johns, T. Leahy, L. Thomas (North Adelaide), W. H. Dowling, J. R. Hanley, H. R. Head (West Adelaide), Manager, Mr. J. Hodge.[6]

Tasmania

Absolom, Aulsebrook, R. Bailey, Bennison, F. Burton, Jack, Bastick J. Barnett, R. Coogan. R. Cooper, C. Dunn (vice-captain), J. Dunn, Flanagan, Goddard, Hanigan, J. Pennicott, Randall, L. Russell, Bailey (captain), Barnett, Margetts, Morrison, J. "James" Pugh.[6]

George Heinz, voted
Victoria's best player

Victoria

Alf Baud, Billy Dick, Harry Haughton (Carlton), Jack Green, Jim Jackson, Dick Lee (Collingwood), Cyril Gove, Percy Ogden (Essendon), George Holden, Jack Cooper, Wally Johnson (Fitzroy), Dick Grigg, George Heinz, Harry Marsham (Geelong), Dave McNamara, Wels Eicke, Billy Schmidt (St Kilda), Charlie Lilley (Melbourne), Les Charge, Bruce Sloss (South Melbourne), Jack Brake, Eric Woods (University), Hugh James (Richmond).[6]

West Australia

Smith, Hebbard, Robinson, Dan Scullion,[13] Hurley, Daly, Sullivan, Slattery, Eddy (Goldfields),[14][15][16][17] Burns, Limb, Sellars, Doig, Tapping, Youlden, Truscott, Thomas, McIntosh, Cain, Tomkins, Fisher, Oakley, Matson, Mose (Coastal League).[6][18]

Umpires

Jack Elder from Victoria, Henry "Ivo" Crapp from West Australia, S.F. Carter from South Australia, and L.J. Pitcher (New South Wales).[6][19]

Results

1914 Sydney Carnival
Wednesday, 5 August (12:45pm) New South Wales 13.15 (93) def. Queensland 2.4 (16) Sydney Cricket Ground [20]
Wednesday, 5 August (3:00pm) South Australia 12.16 (88) def. Western Australia 12.11 (83) Sydney Cricket Ground [20]
Thursday, 6 August (3:00pm) Victoria 28.20 (188) def. Tasmania 8.9 (57) Sydney Cricket Ground [21]
Friday, 7 August (3:00pm) South Australia 32.18 (210) def. Queensland 2.9 (21) Sydney Cricket Ground [22]
Saturday, 8 August (1:30pm) New South Wales 15.14 (104) def. Tasmania 5.13 (43) Sydney Cricket Ground (crowd: 8,000 C-R)) [23]
Saturday, 8 August (3:00pm) Victoria 13.16 (94) def. Western Australia 11.14 (80) Sydney Cricket Ground (crowd: 8,000) [23]
Monday, 10 August (1:30pm) Tasmania 15.17 (107) def. Queensland 4.5 (29) Sydney Cricket Ground [24]
Monday, 10 August (3:30pm) South Australia 16.20 (106) def. New South Wales 10.3 (63) Sydney Cricket Ground [24]
Tuesday, 11 August (1:30pm) Western Australia 33.31 (229) def. Queensland 6.5 (41) Sydney Cricket Ground [25]
Tuesday, 11 August (3:00pm) Victoria 24.20 (164) def. New South Wales 4.7 (31) Sydney Cricket Ground [25]
Wednesday, 12 August (3:00pm) South Australia 18.23 (131) def. Tasmania 5.7 (37) Sydney Cricket Ground [1]
Thursday, 13 August (1:30pm) Western Australia 29.14 (188) def. Tasmania 12.8 (80) Sydney Cricket Ground [26]
Thursday, 13 August (3:00pm) Victoria 28.22 (190) def. Queensland 4.3 (27) Sydney Cricket Ground [26]
Saturday, 15 August (12:40pm) Western Australia 23.24 (162) def. New South Wales 8.10 (58) Sydney Cricket Ground (crowd: 12,000 C-R)) [27]
Saturday, 15 August (3:00pm) Victoria 11.11 (77) def. South Australia 5.10 (44) Sydney Cricket Ground (crowd: 12,000) [27]


Ladder

1914 Sydney Carnival ladder
TEAM P W L D PTS
1 Victoria 5 5 0 0 20
2 South Australia 5 4 1 0 16
3 Western Australia 5 3 2 0 12
4 New South Wales 5 2 3 0 8
5 Tasmania 5 1 4 0 4
6 Queensland 5 0 5 0 0
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PTS = Premiership points. Source[2]

Other awards and events

At the completion of the tournament, the best player from each state was awarded a gold medal, also known as Referee Medals, named after the Sydney newspaper.[28] The winners were:

Additional events held as part of the carnival included a series of junior and schoolboys' representative matches, played in timeslots not occupied by senior matches,[1][21][22] as well as a goalkicking competition and a long-distance kicking competition, in both of which the best Australian rules football players in each discipline faced off against rugby league star Dally Messenger.[31]

  • In the goalkicking competition, Herbert Limb (Western Australia) won the preliminary round amongst the Australian rules footballers. Messenger then defeated Limb in the final.[27]
  • In the distance kicking competition, Dave McNamara (Victoria) won with a distance of 67yds 8in from a place kick (before later kicking 76 yards in an out-of-competition kick); Alex Robinson (Western Australia) was second with a distance of 65 yards.[27]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "The Football Carnival". The Farmer and Settler. Sydney, NSW. 14 August 1914. p. 4.
  2. ^ a b "Carnival Football". The Register. Adelaide, SA. 17 August 1914. p. 7.
  3. ^ 'Enthusiast', "Best Ever in Victoria (Letter to the Editor)", The (Melbourne) Herald, (Saturday, 22 September 1934), p. 30.
  4. ^ [ Gillett, Rodney (2021), "1914 ANFC Carnival in Sydney", New South Wales Australian Football History Society, 11 November 2021.]
  5. ^ Frederick Roy McGargill, New South Wales Australian Football History Society. He changed his name, post-First World War, to Frederick Roy Blackeby (see: Funeral Notice: Blackeby, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 20 December 1958), p.48).
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "The Teams". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, NSW: National Library of Australia. 5 August 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  7. ^ 'Centre Forward', "On the Ball: Australasian Football Carnival", The Sydney Sportsman, (Wednesday, 2 August 1914), p.7.
  8. ^ 'Old-Timer', "Notable Players of the Australian Game in Sydney Since 1903", Saturday Referee Globe Pictorial: Issued as a Supplement to the Saturday Referee, (Saturday, 1 August 1914), pp.2-3.
  9. ^ 5 August 1914: New South Wales v. Queensland, New South Wales Australian Football History Society.
  10. ^ 8 August 1914: New South Wales v. Tasmania, New South Wales Australian Football History Society.
  11. ^ 10 August 1914: New South Wales v. South Australia, New South Wales Australian Football History Society.
  12. ^ "NSW had trouble raising a team with a number of selected players unable to get time off work. Several of their selected eighteen were not of a representative standard." 11 August 1914: New South Wales v. VFL, New South Wales Australian Football History Society.
  13. ^ Later (c.1913), he gave "Scullin" as his family name.
  14. ^ The National Game: The Fifteen: Selectors choose team that gives satisfaction, The Westralian Worker, (Friday, 10 July 1914), p.7.
  15. ^ "The Goldfields Nine". The Sunday Times. Perth: National Library of Australia. 12 July 1914. p. 2. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  16. ^ The National Game: Goldfields Footballers for the East, The Westralian Worker, (Friday, 31 July 1914), p.6.
  17. ^ The National Game: W.A. Team now on Water: Opens campaign against South Australia on Wednesday, The Westralian Worker, (Friday, 31 July 1914), p.6.
  18. ^ "WA State Games 1904–1950".
  19. ^ Leslie John Pitcher (1889-1943): Leslie John Pitcher, New South Wales Australian Football History Society; World War One Service Record: Corporal Leslie John Pitcher (4877), National Archives of Australia; Deaths: Pitcher, The Age, (Saturday, 6 March 1943), p. 8.
  20. ^ a b "Australian Football Carnival". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, NSW. 6 August 1914. p. 9.
  21. ^ a b "Australian Football Carnival". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, NSW. 7 August 1914. p. 12.
  22. ^ a b "Australian Football Carnival". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, NSW. 8 August 1914. p. 16.
  23. ^ a b "Australian Carnival". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, NSW. 10 August 1914. p. 5.
  24. ^ a b "Australian Football Carnival". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, NSW. 11 August 1914. p. 10.
  25. ^ a b "Australian Football Carnival". Referee. Sydney, NSW. 12 August 1914. p. 12.
  26. ^ a b "Football Carnival, Sydney". The Ballarat Star. Ballarat, VIC. 14 August 1914. p. 8.
  27. ^ a b c d "Australian – the Carnival Games". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, NSW. 17 August 1914. p. 4.
  28. ^ "Criticism of the Carnival Players". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 19 August 1914. p. 12. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  29. ^ "Australian Rules Star With Expeditionary Force". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 25 November 1914. p. 13. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  30. ^ Nipper Truscott (4 August 1937). "Carnival Memories". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  31. ^ "Australian Football Carnival". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, NSW. 15 August 1914. p. 16.

References