Game Review

A huge crowd of almost 45,000 came to see which side would make it into fourth place this season - Carlton or Footscray. The Dogs had had a gruelling struggle to earn this chance to bump the Blues off the rung. When the Dogs took the lead in the second term they held on with a classic defensive display for the rest of the game, with Ted Whitten repulsing the Blues' attacks from centre-half back. Footscray dislodged the Blues from the 1956 Finals with a 17 point victory. - 100 Years of Australian Rules Football.

The Argus; "Footscray used handball to devasting effect whenever a player was in trouble. Rarely have I seen it done well this season. By contrast, Carlton, reverting to it's old fault of silly handball, looked second rate in this department."

Carton were woefully inaccurate with 7 shots at goal that failed to score. It was a poor effort by the Blues because the big-hearted ruckman Bill Milroy was playing his last game and deserved a better send-off.

Carlton coach Jim Francis

"We failed to handle the conditions adequately, and the longer the game lasted, the more we dropped back. One of our serious failures was that our boys would persist in short passing, instead of kicking the ball long and far. We played second fiddle in the air, and, except for Bill Milroy, our rucks were beaten for most of the game."

Best; Milroy, Hands, Webster, Comben, Kerr, Nicholls, Zeunert, Gilchrist.
Scorers; Ellis 2.0, Kerr 1.4, Beasy 1.0, Nicholls 1.0, Gilchrist 1.0, Mills 0.1, Milroy 0.1, Clarke 0.1, Sullivan 0.1 rushed 1.

Team

Milestones

50 Games: Peter Webster
Last Game: Vin English and Bill Milroy