Happy 80th Birthday to Kevin O’Brien

Happy 80th birthday to Carlton past player, Kevin O'Brien today!

----------------------

From the Blueseum:

Career: 1954 - 1957
Debut: Round 3, 1954 vs Richmond, aged 22 years, 20 days
Carlton Player No. 680
Games : 9
Goals : 3
Last Game : Round 12, 1957 vs Hawthorn, aged 25 years, 86 days
Guernsey Nos. 22 (1954-56) and 37 (1957)
Height: 188 cm (6 ft. 2 in.)
Weight: 100 kg (15 stone, 10 lbs.)
DOB: 10 April, 1932

A vigorous ruckman with strong family ties to the Carlton Football Club, Kevin James O’Brien was born in Melbourne’s inner-western suburbs at Newport, and recruited by the Blues from Parade College at Bundoora in 1953.

A nephew of Carlton Hall of Fame member Paddy O’Brien, and brother in-law to North Melbourne’s Bryan ‘Skinny’ Martyn, Kevin wore guernsey 22 in his first couple of seasons at Princes Park, which began on a high when he was a member of the Blues’ 1953 Reserves Premiership team.

He made his senior debut in a defeat by Richmond at the Punt Road Oval in round 3, 1954, and kicked his first career goal the following week against Footscray at Princes Park, in an extraordinary game that saw the Bulldogs’ full-forward Jack Collins boot nine goals in the first half (and none thereafter) as the Bulldogs held off the fast-finishing Blues by 11 points. The following Saturday, Kevin’s third match brought up his first win – by 3 points over Essendon at Windy Hill in round 5.

In 1955, O’Brien was granted leave of absence by the club, but retained on the list “to be considered for selection when available.” As things turned out, that wasn’t until midway through 1956, when Carlton lost to Melbourne at the MCG in round 13, and he spent most of the afternoon sitting outside the boundary as 19th man.

In 1957 O’Brien switched to guernsey 37 before adding another five matches to his tally. In four of those games, he started from the bench as either 19th or 20th man – including his last appearance for the club in a nine-point win over Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval in round 12.

Happy 80th Birthday to Harry Sullivan

Happy 80th birthday to Blues past player, Harry Sullivan today.

---------------------------------------

From the Blueseum:

Career : 1950 - 1954
Debut : Round 18, 1950 vs South Melbourne, aged 18 years, 139 days
Carlton Player No. 646
Games : 31
Goals : 16
Guernsey No. 2 (1950), No. 3 (1951 - 54)
Last Game : Round 13, 1954 vs Melbourne, aged 22 years, 99 days
Height : 183 cm (6 ft. 0 in.)
Weight : 82.5 kg (13 stone, 0 lbs.)
DOB : April 8, 1932

Harry Sullivan joined Carlton from Brighton Technical School in 1949 at the age of 17, and played in our Under 19 Premiership side in that same year. Over the next two seasons he made his way up through the Reserves, and was selected for his senior debut in round 18, 1950, when Carlton finished off a dismal year by losing to South Melbourne by almost six goals at Princes Park.

By then, the strongly-built youngster was looked upon as a likely replacement for Carlton’s champion centre half-forward Ken Baxter, who was due to retire at season’s end. But as Sullivan’s potential couldn’t be properly assessed until he had played more games at the top level, he was sent to the key forward post in round 6, 1951 and stayed there throughout the season.

By the end of that year, there was no denying that Sullivan’s all-round skills were quite good – the problem was that as a key forward, he just didn’t kick enough goals. His first 15 matches produced only 12 majors, with a best haul of two. He was briefly tried in defence in 1953 - with unspectacular results - and although his season ended on a bright note when he was a member of that year’s Reserves Premiership team, it seemed as though his future at Carlton lay as a spare parts player and a regular bench-warmer.

Understandably, Harry wasn’t happy with that situation, especially when he wasn’t selected in the seniors again after round 14, 1954. So, after 31 games in five seasons at Princes Park, he was granted a clearance to Collingwood.

His first season at Victoria Park was much like those that came before; 10 games, 5 goals and regular demotion to the seconds. Then, in early 1956, someone had the bright idea of trying Harry at full-back, and a star was born.

In September of that year, Sullivan was at full-back for the ‘Pies in their Grand Final loss to Melbourne, and played there again when they defeated the Demons two years later to deny Melbourne four flags in a row. Cool under pressure, near-impossible to shake off, and renowned for his ability to punch the ball from his opponent’s grasp at precisely the right moment, Harry also represented Victoria in 1958, on the way to 78 games and immortality among the Collingwood legions.

Surprisingly, Sullivan retired from VFL football in 1960 at the age of 28, due to the pressures of his burgeoning business interests.

Happy 70th Birthday to Cliff Stewart

Happy 70th birthday to Cliff Stewart today!

From the Blueseum:

--------------

Career : 1962 - 1968
Debut : Round 10, 1962 vs Fitzroy, aged 20 years, 87 days
Carlton Player No. 750
Games : 78
Goals : 6
Last Game : Round 18, 1968 vs Collingwood, aged 26 years, 135 days
Guernsey No. 39
Height : 175 cm (5 ft. 9 in.)
Weight : 67 kg (10 stone, 7 lbs.)
DOB : April 4, 1942

A blonde-haired, lightly-framed wingman recruited from Gippsland club Thorpdale, Howard Clifford Stewart played seven seasons of senior football with Carlton during the mid-sixties. Although he was nimble and had good foot skills, Cliff came in for plenty of punishment in the hurley-burley of sixties football. In particular, Des Tuddenham of Collingwood seemed to make a point of seeking out Cliff when the old foes met, but what endeared Stewart to Carlton fans was that no matter how many times he was bowled over, he always bounced straight back up.

Wearing guernsey number 39, 20 year-old Stewart made his debut as 20th man against Fitzroy in round 10, 1962, in a cracker of a match at the Brunswick St. Oval. Carlton charged home from 12 points down at three-quarter time to win by a point that afternoon, but it was a rare bright moment in a gloomy era of little success for the Blues.

It took another two seasons for Cliff to establish himself as a regular senior player, and in 1964 he didn’t miss a game. Under new captain-coach Ron Barassi in 1965 he played all but two games, although the emergence of two of Carlton’s great wingers in Garry Crane and Bryan Quirk made Stewart’s regular place in the team less secure. Still, he carried on playing good football, and in 1967 was selected in a Victorian B team for a match against Tasmania. The Blues made the finals at last that same year, and Cliff experienced the thrill of finals football, as well as the bitter taste of defeat in successive losses to Richmond and Geelong.

The trend toward taller, physically-stronger wingers, and a bout of glandular fever combined to restrict Cliff to only nine senior games in 1968. In what turned out to be his last appearance, he was as keen and courageous as ever when Carlton thumped Collingwood by 37 points at Victoria Park in round 18. But after that he was overlooked for a place in Carlton’s historic finals campaign, and amidst the wild celebrations of Carlton’s first flag for 21 years, Cliff realised that the time had come to move on.

The main beneficiary of that decision was Diamond Valley Football League heavyweights, Eltham. Stewart joined the Panthers in 1969, and, playing dominant football as a free-ranging centreman, helped drive them to consecutive Premiership victories over Diamond Creek in 1969 and ’70. He was also a popular winner of Eltham’s Best and Fairest award in 1970-71.

Happy 50th Birthday David Honybun

Happy 50th birthday to former Blue, David Honeybun today.

From the Blueseum:

--------------------------------

Honybun was a mobile ruckman who joined the Blues around the time that Wow Jones and Justin Madden were the first choice talls. Originally zoned to Geelong as a youngster, Honybun was recruited from NSW country town and Murray League club Coleambally, which is located between Jerilderie and Griffith. He was cleared from the Cats to the Blues as part of a deal that saw rover Denis Lenaghan move to Geelong.

His debut game against North Melbourne was an eventful one. After making a very good debut and being one of the best players on the ground, Honybun was knocked out nine minutes into the third quarter and stretchered off the ground. Unfortunately for Honybun what he described as an"elbow to the jaw" left his memory of his debut game dimmed, when asked about his memories he said "I wish I could, but I can't remember much of the game at all".

Although on the list for a few years, he only played 5 games and Madden or Jones were dropped to the reserves. He was plagued with a few injuries and moved to North Melbourne for the start of the 1986 season after the Blues had loaded up their playing list with the likes of Kernahan, Dorotich, Bradley, Motley, Evans etc. In 1988, moved to Richmond where he played 55 serviceable games for the Tigers and will be remembered for taking a few screamers which occasionally pop up in the highlights reels.

Back injuries ended his career in 1992 and he total league career was 60 games and 41 goals.

Other than Coleambally, Honybun also played at few other clubs prior to his VFL debut, they included, University Blues, University Blacks thirds, Scotch College and Mackay, QLD.