Alexander Bruce Doull (born 11 September 1950) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). Wearing guernsey number 11, he was nicknamed the "Flying Doormat" due to the matted appearance of the constantly disarranged long portions of his extreme "

combover A comb over or combover is a hairstyle commonly worn by balding men in which the hair is grown long and combed over the bald area to minimize the appearance of baldness. Sometimes the parting is lowered so that more hair can be used to cover the ...

" hairstyle. He was recruited from Jacana at the age of 19 as a half-back flanker. Doull was a safe mark, a dependable kick, and a footballer who rarely made a mistake. Doull, shy and extremely reserved, did not give interviews; instead, he always preferred to stay in the background. He won Carlton's Best & Fairest in 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1984; played in four Carlton premiership sides: 1972, 1979, 1981, and 1982; won the

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football ...

in 1981; and also played in the losing Grand Finals of 1973 and 1986. Doull was also a regular

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

representative. In 2009, ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' nominated Doull as one of the 25 greatest footballers never to win a

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

. He is often remembered as being harassed by Carlton scarf–wearing streaker Helen D'Amico in the 1982 Grand Final between

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. This incident was the focus of an instalment of the

Toyota Memorable Moments The Toyota Legendary Moments series is a series of television advertisements produced over several years for the Australian Football League by its major sponsor, Toyota. The advertisements feature comedians Stephen Curry and Dave Lawson and a f ...

advertisement (with D'Amico appearing at the end), and is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting ''The Game That Made Australia'', commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport. Doull and D'Amico posed for a photo together 25 years later, making it clear they had long since settled their disagreements. Doull's trademark was his greying beard and the navy blue and white headband which kept his thinning long hair in place. Never reported by the umpires for foul play, he was noted for his determination to play the ball rather than the man, which was rare in an era of occasionally brutal clashes.

Brent Crosswell Brent Tasman Crosswell (born 8 August 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club, North Melbourne Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). An articulate and ou ...

wrote: "Doull's game has a moral purity about it, and that is why opponents have always found it extremely difficult to be unfair to him. It would have shamed them." Only once did he lose his temper. In a match against Hawthorn, he was tackled around the neck by

Kevin Ablett Kevin Ablett (born 26 March 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn, Richmond and Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Sources *Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2009). The Encyclopedia of AFL Football ...

. Bruce chased after Ablett, with the commentator saying "Bruce Doull has gone berserk". Contrary to stories told, he did not have his headband stolen in that incident. The game where his headband was removed was against Essendon in 1983, late in his career. A frustrated

Cameron Clayton Cameron Clayton (born 5 February 1957) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond, Melbourne and Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Clayton came to the VFL from Tasmanian club New Norfolk and would go on ...

snatched off his ancient, faded headband and his team-mate

Tony Buhagiar Anthony Francis "Tony" Buhagiar (born 3 October 1955) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL). A pint-sized rover, he made his senior debut for West Australian National Football League club Ea ...

ended up with it and threw it into the crowd at

VFL Park Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) was an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. For most of its history, its purpose was as a neutral venue and used by all Victorian-based Victorian Football Lea ...

. Contrary to stories told, he did not go berserk in this incident. These two incidents were in effect combined and recreated in his

advertisement, except that he remained his usual docile self when he was supposed to lose his temper. By the end of his career, he had played 356 games – then a club record – and since surpassed only by

Craig Bradley Craig Edwin Bradley (born 23 October 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer and first-class cricketer. He is the games record holder at Carlton in the AFL/VFL, and in elite Australian rules football (the AFL/VFL, SANFL and WAFL). Early ...

. Doull holds the current club record for most consecutive games played, with 162 matches played between 1971 and 1978; he actually missed two club games due to representing Victoria in interstate matches during this streak, but the AFL has formally included such games within a player's consecutive games streak following an amendment to its interpretation in December 2012. Doull kicked just 22 goals over his 18-year career.

Statistics

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1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

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1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, , , , 4 , 9 , , 0 , , 1 , , 94 , , 29 , , 123 , , 12 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 10.4 , , 3.2 , , 13.7 , , 1.3 , , , , 0 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

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1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

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1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

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1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

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1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

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1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, , , , 11 , 23 , , 0 , , 1 , , 235 , , 97 , , 332 , , 64 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 10.2 , , 4.2 , , 14.4 , , 2.8 , , , , 18 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

, , , , 11 , 21 , , 1 , , 0 , , 233 , , 106 , , 339 , , 93 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 11.1 , , 5.0 , , 16.1 , , 4.4 , , , , 34 , - , scope=row ,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, , , , 11 , 21 , , 6 , , 3 , , 181 , , 169 , , 350 , , 73 , , , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 8.6 , , 8.0 , , 16.7 , , 3.5 , , , , 8 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

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1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, , , , 11 , 22 , , 2 , , 3 , , 182 , , 217 , , 399 , , 68 , , , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 8.3 , , 9.9 , , 18.1 , , 3.1 , , , , 5 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

^# , , , , 11 , 24 , , 3 , , 3 , , 225 , , 168 , , 393 , , 70 , , , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 9.4 , , 7.0 , , 16.4 , , 2.9 , , , , 9 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

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1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, , , , 11 , 22 , , 0 , , 1 , , 180 , , 140 , , 320 , , 56 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 8.2 , , 6.4 , , 14.5 , , 2.5 , , , , 2 , - , scope=row ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, , , , 11 , 24 , , 0 , , 0 , , 188 , , 93 , , 281 , , 65 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.8 , , 3.9 , , 11.7 , , 2.7 , , , , 7 , - style=background:#EAEAEA , scope=row ,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, , , , 11 , 3 , , 0 , , 0 , , 23 , , 9 , , 32 , , 4 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.7 , , 3.0 , , 10.7 , , 1.3 , , , , 3 , - , scope=row ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, , , , 11 , 25 , , 0 , , 0 , , 174 , , 86 , , 260 , , 49 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.0 , , 3.4 , , 10.4 , , 2.0 , , , , 4 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 356 !! 22 !! 24 !! 3304 !! 1994 !! 5298 !! 1034 !! !! 0.1 !! 0.1 !! 9.3 !! 5.6 !! 14.9 !! 2.9 !! !! 108

Honours and achievements

Team * 4× VFL premiership player ():

* 2×

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

():

Individual *

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

* 4×

John Nicholls Medal The John Nicholls Medal (formerly the Robert Reynolds Trophy from 1934 to 2003) is an Australian rules football award given to the player(s) adjudged best and fairest for the Carlton Football Club for the season. The voting system as of the 2017 ...

(

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

* Australian Football League Team of the Century 1897-1996 * Carlton Team of the Century 1897-1996

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doull, Bruce Norm Smith Medal winners 1950 births Living people Australian people of Scottish descent All-Australians (1953–1988) Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club Premiership players Victorian State of Origin players John Nicholls Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Geelong Jacana Football Club players Four-time VFL/AFL Premiership players