Watch: Carlton set to release documentary inside 1970 VFL grand final against Collingwood

Ahead of the latest chapter in footy’s biggest rivalry, Carlton are set to take fans behind the scenes of arguably their greatest clash with the rival Magpies. Watch the preview here.

Former Carlton great Adrian Gallagher has revealed in a new documentary legendary coach Ron Barassi warned his players at halftime of the 1970 grand final that if they were thrashed by Collingwood they would have to carry the stigma for the rest of their lives.

Just days out from the next instalment in the bitter rivalry between the Blues and the Magpies, a group of Carlton’s 1970 premiership players gathered at Cinema Nova on Wednesday night to watch the launch of 1970, The Final Story, a documentary made by award-winning filmmaker Peter Dickson.

It remains one of the most famous grand finals in VFL-AFL history where Carlton looked to be in a hopeless position at halftime when it trailed Collingwood by 44 points.

The Blues will release a documentary one of the most famous VFL games ever.

Barassi urged his team at halftime to ‘handball, handball, handball’ and made a few key positional changes which transformed the match, and indeed changed the landscape of modern football, with an extraordinary come-from-behind 10-point premiership victory.

“There was a key message that struck home (for) me from ‘Barass’ at halftime, ‘If you get thrashed by Collingwood, you will never forget it for the rest of your life,” Gallagher said on the documentary, which will air in full on the club’s website on Thursday night at 7.30pm.

“Jeez … he was right. It brought us back to reality.”

Dickson worked in conjunction with Blues historians Tony De Bolfo and Howard Kotton on capturing the dramatic events of the 1970 grand final, which was played out before a VFL-AFL record crowd of 121,696.

Blues captain of the time John Nicholls, Gallagher, Kevin Hall, Syd Jackson, Peter ‘Percy’ Jones, David McKay and Ian Robertson were among the past players interviewed, while former Magpies Des Tuddenham, Peter McKenna and Ross ‘Twiggy’ Dunne also gave their recollections in the 55-minute documentary.

Ron Barassi celebrates the Blues’ comeback.

Barassi, who died last September, also features in the documentary from earlier interviews Dickson did with the AFL legend.

“I asked the players (at halftime) ‘Guess how many handballs we have had?’ And I can remember replying ‘a lousy, stinking, rotten 13’,” Barassi said.

The message he gave to the group at halftime was simple but revolutionary. While Collingwood had a rule at the time not to handball in the backline, Barassi urged his Carlton players to handball at every opportunity.

Kevin Hall said: “‘Barass’ was amazing … (he said): ‘Handball handball handball, I don’t care where you are on the ground, handball’.”

Then came one of the other seismic moments when Barassi overruled his match committee just before sending his troops back out for the second half. He wanted to take rover/forward Bert Thornley and bring on the fresh legs of reserve Ted Hopkins.

John Nicholls with the premiership cup after the famous game.

“It was a very interesting halftime interval,” Barassi said years after the game. “I must admit I wanted to have Bert Thornley, our rover, off the field at halftime, but in those days of no interchange, the selectors convinced me that it was a bit dangerous, a bit risky.”

“That was true, but as the players were milling around, I had this very strong hunch so to speak to make that change.”

Hall was about to run out onto the ground and was just behind Thornley when the coach quite literally made his move.

“We were going down the race and Bert Thornley was in front of me and then I felt this arm reach over my shoulder,” Hall recounted. “‘Barass’ has grabbed Thornley by the jumper and just said ‘Bert, come back here’.”

The rest is history as Hopkins went on to kick four of Carlton’s 13 second-half-goals as they stormed over the top of Collingwood, who managed only four goals after the main break.

The Blues had won a flag that looked to be out of their reach an hour earlier, inflicting more pain on the Magpies, who would not win their next flag for 20 years.

Among the black and white and colour footage used from the day, there are many untold stories behind the story from the game that is considered the gateway to modern football.

The Blues put on a special screening for the 1970 premiership heroes who were able to attend on Wednesday night as a thank you for telling their story and their part in one of footy’s most significant moments.

This adds to the collection of Dickson’s other ‘The Final Story’ series on some of the other great grand finals.

1970, The Final Story, by Peter Dickson, will be released on Carlton’s website on Thursday night at 7.30pm.

Originally published as Watch: Carlton set to release documentary inside 1970 VFL grand final against Collingwood