There have been some larger-than-life characters swan through the doors of the Pavvy over the decades but few have a reputation and a Uni Blues resume to equal that of Wayne “Turk” Carroll. Turk may presently be holed up in Kuala Lumpur but he found time to give uniblues.com the complete story regarding his current whereabouts, his days at Uni Blues and his recent return to onfield action.
Turk says that he first pulled on the Blues jumper in 1975 and that his playing career “fizzled out” in the early 90’s. In the process, he notched up around 90 senior games and more than 200 appearances in the Twos. He was also a busy man off the field, serving as club president in 1981 and 1982 and MUFC Secretary for 4 years or so in the 1990’s. Turk, who is a Life Member of the MUFC, regards the highlights of his time at the club as “playing in the powerhouse Uni Blues team of the late 1970’s when we finished on top of the ladder in 1978, 1979 and 1980 but could not win the Premiership” and “having the privilege of knowing and playing alongside the legendary Chris Brown”.
Asked to nominate a memorable event from his playing days, Turk recalls an incident that occurred in a match against St Bernards:
“At the Snake Pit in the late 1970’s when Rod Hager was captain and it was the last quarter. The Bernards big bad ruckman Billy Schwartzenberg took a mark on the edge of the Blues 10 metre square. I was in front of the pack waiting for the crumbs. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rod Hager running full pace (which was pretty slow as he had two knee reconstructions by then) to the contest. As big Swartz came down to the ground, Hager ran past him and lifted his right elbow and connected squarely on Swartz’s jaw and the elbow immediately came down. Best elbow I have ever seen in football. Hager kept running and 5 seconds later was standing on the opposite HFF. Swartz hit the ground like a ton of bricks and was immobile for a good 20 seconds. Glenn Anderson, playing FP, ran over and stood where Swartz lay, arms outstretched on the mark. When Swartz came to, he looked up and all he saw was Glenn Anderson standing there. As Swartz got up, he let a right hand go from way down low which connected with Glenn’s chin. Glenn fell back, still with arms outstretched, and hit the ground semi-conscious. The umpire blew the whistle and awarded a free kick to Glenn. We picked him up, put the ball in his hands and pointed him in the direction of the goals (10 metres away). Glenn’s kick just made it over the line but he went on kick another 4 that quarter and ended up with a 6 goal haul against Bernards for a big win for the Blues.”
By Turk’s reckoning, he was the only player on the ground that day that witnessed the incident and “the mastery of Rod Hager, the boy who learnt his football the hard way playing senior football as a teenager for Edenhope”. Turk’s other onfield anecdote involves a colourful character from a Uni Blues’ reserves outfit:
“Playing in the twos (I was playing coach and Shane Rothe captain) against NOBs at their Royal Park home ground (Brens Oval) in the 1980s, we were kicking to the southern end and Bruce “Disco” Moir was our big full forward (6’3” and 14.5 stone). The ball was kicked down to a very open forward line and the NOB fullback and Disco raced out but was outpaced by the fullback who got to the position of where the ball was to land probably 5 seconds too early. This allowed Disco to get to the contest and launch himself from behind at the ball. The full back was getting ready for his own leap at the ball and was in a crouched position. Disco launched himself and ended up with both feet on the full back’s shoulders. The fullback stood up and Disco stretched out to his full height and marked the ball standing fully upright on the full back’s shoulders. He marked the ball at least 15 feet above the ground. Everyone on the field was astounded. But Disco had had his usual Friday night training of hard drinking until 5.00 am and was not in cat-like form. In fact, it was like a giant redwood being felled as Disco started his descent towards terra firma. In what seemed like slow motion, the fall was a pivot from the full back’s shoulders and Disco hit the ground horizontal and on his back. All the wind was knocked out of him and he failed to trouble the scoreboard attendant from 30 metres out.”
Selecting the best player that he saw at Blues is tough for Turk. He says that Mike Yeo “stands out” but also makes mention of Bernie Angel and Mike Sleeman (an “all Australian Amateur who kicked 6 from the HFF against Canberra at Waverley Park”).
Not surprisingly, Turk has a treasure trove of post-match tales (“too many to talk about”, he says). They include footy trips to Sydney and Adelaide, a Thursday night après training “when we polished off 100+ long necks”, players from Blues and Blacks drinking together in the Pavvy on a Saturday night (“the away team always came back to the Pavvy for a drink”) and “Frank Ross being Frank Ross”.
When Bomber Thomas recently returned from Kuala Lumpur, he suggested that Turk was now settled quite some distance from the front bar of his beloved Lord Newry Hotel. The man himself confirms that he is living and working in Puchong, KL, “a town run and controlled by Indian gangsters”.
“I was recently sitting in a bar having a few coldies at 12.30 am on a Thursday night when 8 Indians with motorcycle helmets on and armed with a few parangs (machete like long knives) came in, stole the night’s takings and all the spirits they could carry away. Funnily enough, they did not rob the patrons. I wondered what would have happened if 6-8 footballers had been sitting in the bar that night.”
Turk’s role in KL is as a Sterile Injectable Manufacturing Consultant “for an Australian Singapore based consulting company that is assisting a Malaysian pharmaceutical company to start up”. With 15 months already under his belt, Turk says that he could have another 6 months in his present location.
The other rumour that is spreading like wildfire is that a Wayne Carroll comeback is imminent. This can now also be confirmed:
“Last weekend, I played my first game of football (an intraclub practice match) for the KL Warriors (Bomber’s old club) and snagged 2 and 1 assist. However, my form and fitness was terrible and I have a lot of work to do in both these areas. My goal is to play for the KL Warriors in the all Asia Cup in August and therefore be probably the oldest footballer ever to play international football.”
Look out Asia.
