1960

Background

After the 1952 premiership, North finished fifth three years in a row, narrowly missing the finals each time.  In 1956 the Club rose to third, easily winning the first semi-final and then losing the preliminary final by 20 points.  1957 was another disappointing season, winning just six games and finishing sixth.  1958 shaped as a magnificent season with the Club winning 15 of its first 16 matches, the last 11 in a row (a Club record).  Then in round 17 North sustained four serious injuries and another the following week.  Not surprisingly, with a patched-together side, North lost the second semi-final - and lost another two players injured.  They then lost the preliminary final as well, thus finishing third in a season which had promised so much.

1959 proved to be a disaster - after winning the first game, North lost 12 in a row and ultimately finished seventh with just three wins.

Jack McCarthy was appointed coach in 1960 and had an immediate impact.  The first two games resulted in magnificent 65 and 40 point wins, and North finished with 13 wins and 5 losses.  The second semi-final against Port was a tight contest, with North leading at each change by 18, 12 and 12 points respectively.  Port got within 3 points with 10 minutes to play, but North stood firm with raw courage and were ultimately victorious by 10 points.  The win gave North a week's rest and when Norwood eliminated Port in the preliminary final, it set up a North-Norwood Grand Final.  The 3 matches between these teams during the year had all been closely fought, with the biggest margin 6 points, so a rugged, stirring clash was expected.

Premiership Team

(Coach : J. McCarthy ;  Captain : D. Gilbourne)

The Grand Final

North wins a thriller

Pre-match excitement was intense and conditions were perfect as Gilbourne won the toss and North kicked to the Northern end.

Norwood settled first and goaled within the first minute.  Two more goals saw them out to a handy lead before Trenorden finally opened North's account with a major.  Norwood replied quickly to restore their lead, but North had steadied and began to turn on the pace.  Potts scored his first after a fiery clash, then goaled again.  When he put his third goal on the board with a checkside punt, North hit the front for the first time.  Lindner marked and goaled to complete a remarkable run of 4 goals in 5 minutes, giving North a 9 point lead at the first break.

As the second term got underway, North had the ascendency across centre and through Trenorden, Gambling and Lindner.  Potts kicked his 4th goal, but was immediately flattened in the centre and was in the hands of the trainers for 3 minutes before groggily resuming.  Norwood seized the momentum and kicked 3 unanswered goals (2 from free kicks) to again hit the front.  A fine passage of play saw Barbary pass to Whitford, who got the ball over to Thomas who snapped for goal, and Potts got his foot to the ball on the line to give the lead back to North.  When Kent walked into an open goal shortly after, it restored a 7 point lead to North.

North attacked repeatedly at the start of the third term but managed only 3 points.  Finally Thomas snapped truly to stretch the lead to 15 points.  Norwood goaled, but Hughes replied for North.  Then a magnificent piece of play saw Hammond race from defence to mark, play on and send a 70 yard drop kick deep into attack.  It cleared the pack and was sharked by Potts, who put through his 6th goal.  In yet another twist to the game, Norwood kicked the next 3 goals to trail by only 4 points at the last break.

The stage was set for a thriller, and the crowd was not disappointed.  The first 10 minutes were so tight that neither team scored.  Then Norwood goaled to hit the lead and when they goaled again they had an 8 point lead at the 15 minute mark.  But there was to be one final twist to the game.  Whitford kicked a huge screw punt goal and then Barrie Barbary gathered a great pick up on the run and kicked a magnificent dropkick goal to put North in front again at the 20 minute mark.  The defining moment came when Pascoe had a long shot at goal that came off hands to Trenorden who got it over to Potts.  It was fitting that his seventh goal sealed the game for North, although Norwood quickly replied and North had to hang on grimly for the final minutes to record a stirring victory.

Tribute was paid to North Coach Jack McCarthy who, in his first season, transformed North into a speedy, power-packed aggressive combination.  Courage and refusal to admit defeat were seen as North's greatest attributes.

Scores

Goals : Potts 7.1, D. Lindner 1.2, Whitford 1.2, Trenorden 1.1, Thomas 1.1, Hughes 1.1, Barbary 1.1, Kent 1.0, Pascoe 0.1, Faggotter 0.1

Attendance : 54,162

Team Photo

Back row, L to R : A. Ryles, D. Cox, K. Fuss, K. Jones, G. Donnisthorpe, P. Weyland, R. Hurst, A. Sutton, J. Kennedy
Second row, L to R : M. Hayes, A. Drew, M. Murphy, R. Trenorden, M. Codd, R. Hammond, M. Montgomery, P. Sheppard, N. Drew, K. Curtis, R. Hosking
Third row, L to R : C. Drew, G. Griffen, T. Ivey, R. Pascoe, B. Kent, M. Whitford, J. Bubner, A. Faggotter, D. Lindner, T. Lindner, D. Stringer, R. Lapham, J. Cearns
Fourth row, L to R : W. Ashman, C. Alexander, J. Blunden, B. Barbary, J. McCarthy (Coach), D. Gilbourne (Captain), A.J. Claughton (Chairman), R. Hewett (Vice-Captain), L.J. Thompson (Secretary), B. Gambling, N. Herring, J.W. Forrester, L. Edwards
Front row, L to R : W. Thomas, T. Hughes, R. Carroll, P. Bottroff
Inset : B. Potts