George Robert Alexander Duncan ( – ) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League, for Stratford in the Gippsland Football League, for Coburg Football Club in the Victorian Football Association, and for Havelock in the Industrial Football League (at the age of 36).
Duncan made his debut for Carlton in Round 1 of the 1921 season. He retired from VFL football in 1930, having played 141 senior games for Carlton, and four interstate games for Victoria.
He is especially remembered for his performance in "Duncan's match".
Footballer
Carlton He made his debut for Carlton on 7 May 1921, playing on the half-forward flank, against Richmond, at the Punt Road ground. A crowd of 32,000 saw Carlton defeat Richmond by 9 points, 7.11 (53) to 8.14 (62).
He played 15 senior matches in 1924; and, with 27 goals, he was Carlton's top goalkicker.
Stratford Apparently for the sake of his wife's health, he decided to leave the city, and Carlton; and, in January 1925, a public meeting at Stratford, Victoria appointed Duncan the captain-coach of the Stratford Football Club.Stratford Football Club: Coach Appointed, The Gippsland Times, (Monday, 12 January 1925), p. 2. He was given a house, rent-free, a job, and was also to be paid an additional salary of £8 a week as captain-coach.
Having left Carlton on good terms,Duncan had "received a very fine certificate, framed in oak, from the Carlton Foot ball Club for the fine services rendered that Club during the last four years" (Stratford, The Gippsland Times, (Thursday, 26 March 1925, p.3). "R. A. Duncan" was granted a clearance from Carlton to Stratford on 25 March 1925.League Permits Granted, The Argus, (Thursday, 26 March 1925), p.10.
On 2 May 1925, "Alex. Duncan (Stratford's coach and captain) marked his first appearance in Gippsland football… by winning the toss, playing a good game, kicking five goals and leading his side to victory [over Rosedale, 13.14 (92) to 9.7 (61)]".Notes by "Full Back", The Traralgon Record , (Friday, 8 May 1925), p. 3.
The Stratford team, which had not won a single match in 1924, and only two in 1923, won a number of matches under Duncan, despite problems with an ever-increasing absence of stronger players as the season went on, and were still potential finalists until they were soundly beaten by Maffra, 7.11 (53) to 2.4 (16), in the last match of the home-and-away season on 19 September 1925 (the match was marred by a very strong wind blowing across the ground for the entire match).
At the end of the 1925 season, he returned to Melbourne, ready to resume his career with Carlton the following season.Popular Footballer farewelled: Mr. Duncan Honored, The Gippsland Times, (Thursday, 1 October 1925), p. 4.
Return to Carlton
Moved from the forward line to centre half-back, he played his first return game for Carlton, against Melbourne at Princes Park on 8 May 1926 (round two). There was an influenza epidemic in Melbourne at the time, and Duncan was bedridden on the day of the first match of the season.
"Duncan's match" The encounter between Carlton and Collingwood Football Club at Victoria Park on Saturday, 25 June 1927, in which a strong Carlton team outmuscled, outplayed, and (coming from behind) beat a champion Collingwood team playing at its peak, is one of the most famous encounters in the game's history; and is remembered as "Duncan's Match".1927 VFL season#Round 9; Ross, (1996), p. 124; Blueseum Game Review of Duncan's Match
Playing at centre-halfback, the "impassable" and "unbeatable" Duncan dominated the game as, perhaps, no other player has done before or since.Without in any way denigrating Duncan's performance on that day, it should be remembered that — ostensibly to reduce "the unseemly bullocking in the ruck at boundary throwins" (Ross, 1996, p. 114) — the laws of the game had been altered in 1925 so that the last player to have touched the ball before it went out of bounds was penalized by the awarding of a free kick to the opposing team. This meant that, whilst this law was in operation (1925–?1939), much of the play was directed up the centre of the ground along the goal-to-goal line, and very little play was directed along the flanks.
According to The Age, "Duncan's meteoric marking and wonderfully dashing defence was the most sparkling individual performance of the season".A Memorable Contest, The Age, (Monday, 27 June 1927), p. 8.
According to The Argus, "Duncan his played many fine games for Carlton, and has also been a tower of strength in interstate teams, but he has never been seen to better advantage. His marking was superb, his judgment faultless, and his kicking splendid, while his dash turned many attacks."Collingwood Outplayed: Brilliant Win by Carlton: Best Players, (Monday, 27 June 1927), p. 6.
He took at least 33 marks (some claim he had taken as many as 45) and his beautiful drop-kicks on that day were as flawless as his marking.On 23 June 1951, in a drawn match between Fitzroy Football Club 12.13 (85) and South Melbourne 12.13 (85) which, although conducted under different "out of bounds rules", was played at the small, narrow Brunswick Street Oval in Fitzroy North, the 1949 Brownlow Medal winner, South Melbourne's Ron "Smokey" Clegg took 32 marks.
Carlton won the match 14.11 (95) to Collingwood's 13.5 (83).
Collingwood, a football club not generally known for magnanimous gestures towards its opponents, were so impressed with Duncan's outstanding performance (perhaps, even, a best of all time performance) that they had the match ball suitably mounted and inscribed and presented the trophy to Duncan.
Coburg He went to the VFA's Coburg Football Club in 1931,Duncan's Movements; May Play with Association Club, The Argus, (Thursday, 16 April 1931), p.11.Football: League Permits Granted, The Argus, (Thursday, 30 April 1931), p. 10. and was appointed the captain-coach of Coburg in 1935.Coburg's New Coach, The Argus, (Wednesday, 20 February 1935), p. 16.
In his first match for Coburg, against Preston, on 2 May 1931, playing against Preston's Roy Cazaly, "Duncan was a tower of tremendous strength at centre half-back";Association: Preston Wins Splendid Game, The Argus, (Monday, 4 May 1931), p. 12. however, he sustained several internal injuries, including bruised kidneys, in the match, and he was forced to miss the next match because his doctor had confined him to bed.
His first senior match in 1936 for Coburg was on 13 June 1936 (round nine), when he played at centre half-back against Preston ("Alex Duncan gave a creditable performance at centre half-back in the first game for the season"), and Coburg won by 33 points.High Scoring Game: Preston Without Hyde, The Argus, (Monday, 15 June 1936), p. 15. He also played for Coburg on 18 July 1936, despite having been cleared to play for Havelock.Runaway Victory, The Argus, (Monday, 20 July 1936), p. 15.
Havelock In 1936, aged 36, he was granted a permit to play for the Havelock Football Club, representing the Havelock tobacco factory of W.D. & H.O. Wills, in the "Saturday Morning League" competition, conducted by the Industrial Football League.Too Old at 36?, The Argus, (Saturday, 13 June 1936), p. 18. He played in Havelock's Grand Final 6.16 (52) to 4.12 (36) loss to Victoria Brewery on 22 August 1936.Morning League, The Argus, (Thursday, 20 August 1936), p. 15; Victoria Brewery Retains Pennant, The Argus, (Monday, 24 August 1936), p. 15. The Havelock club withdrew from the competition before the start of the 1937 season, due to its difficulty in attracting sufficient suitable players.Morning League: Havelock Withdraws, The Argus, (Wednesday, 17 March 1937), p. 11. It returned to the competition in 1939.Havelock Returns, (Wednesday, 8 March 1939), p. 24.
Tribunals Despite coming a close equal second with Melbourne's Dick Taylor to Collingwood's Syd Coventry in the 1927 Brownlow Medal, having been declared best on the ground in six matches, compared with Coventry's seven (at that stage only one vote was given to one player in each game),Brownlow Medal: Won by S. Coventry, The Argus, (15 September 1927), p. 5. In the only match that Carlton played against Collingwood that year (round nine), Duncan was far, far better than anyone else on the ground, including Coventry (it was "Duncan's match"). Duncan had quite a history of rough play.
Carlton (July 1922) During the particularly torrid match against Collingwood at Princes Park on 29 July 1922, which Carlton won, Duncan scored three goals despite being knocked out on two separate occasions. Eric Cock was found guilty of punching Duncan (he claimed that Duncan had kicked him in the ankle and verbally abused him), and was suspended for six matches. Duncan was found guilty of having elbowed Harry Saunders, and was suspended for three matches. Saunders pleaded guilty to punching Duncan, pleading provocation; he was suspended for six matches and was fined £5 by the police for his assault on Duncan.Blows During Football: Three League Players Disqualified, The Argus, (Saturday, 5 August 1922), p. 22.
Carlton (June 1924) In a torrid, low-scoring match at a windswept Princes Park on 21 June 1924, against Richmond, which Richmond won 5.8 (38) to 3.10 (38), Duncan was reported three times: for elbowing Reuben Reid, for kicking George Rudolph whilst he was on the ground, and for making an offensive gesture towards Boundary Umpire Johnson.Football: Players Suspended, The Age, (Friday, 27 June 1924), p. 7. Duncan was acquitted of all three charges due to lack of corroborating evidence; whilst Richmond's Reid, cited for "charging" Horrie Clover, was suspended for three matches, and Donald Don of Richmond, cited for "charging" Newton Chandler from behind, was suspended for eleven matches.Charges of Rough Play; Two Players Disqualified, The Argus, (Friday, 27 June 1924), p. 5.
Stratford (May 1925) In his second match as captain-coach of Stratford, Duncan was reported, by the Sale Football Club (i.e., rather than any of the match officials), for using obscene language on the playing arena, directed at N. "Tiny" Wilson — a 6 ft 4in (193 cm) member of the Sale team — during the match against Sale Football Club on 9 May 1925.Football Tribunal: Three Players Stood Down: Wilson and Duncan, The Traralgon Record, (Friday, 22 May 1925), p. 2.
In the tribunal hearing the field umpire (D. E. Paterson) stated that Duncan had been awarded a mark; and, on the way back to take his kick, Duncan was struck by Wilson with a deliberate blow, and "was 'out' for about five minutes". Play resumed after ten minutes; and the umpire stated that he "did not hear any language". In giving his evidence, Duncan stated that after he had taken the mark he was kicked on the leg and, without using any bad language, he had said "Cut it out Wilson, you have been at it all day." He was then struck by Wilson.
The Sale delegate admitted that Wilson had kicked Duncan. Wilson claimed that, he had "struck Duncan under great provocation" and that, as Duncan went back to take his kick, Duncan had said "You mongrel — " (the newspaper did not print the word). Wilson claimed that he had replied "What! you say that again and I'll punch you under the ear", to which, he claimed, Duncan had replied "You dirty — "; and, he said, it was only then that he had struck Duncan. The Stratford delegate made the obvious comment that, if such an interchange had occurred, ""Duncan would have been prepared for a blow"; when, in fact, he was most obviously not expecting any sort of attack.
Duncan protested that Sale had only complained to retaliate for Wood having been reported by the field umpire. After much discussion Wood was suspended for four matches (for striking Duncan) and Duncan two (for using obscene language to Wilson).Football Tribunal: Wilson and Duncan, The Gippsland Times, (Thursday, 21 May 1925), p. 3.
Stratford (September 1925)