Shinboner number: 100
Guernsey number: 17
Born: February 4, 1909
Died: June 6, 2001
North Melbourne games: 137 (1929–1940)
Goals: 32
Coach: 1940, 1948–1953, 1958–1962
North Melbourne Hall of Fame inductee: 2002

Recruited from local club Balmain, Wally Carter was another great North Melbourne personality to give the club many years of service on the field and then many more years of commitment beyond his playing days.

Carter played his first senior match as a 20-year-old midway through 1929, playing the last seven games of the season. He was in and out of the struggling North Melbourne side over the next three seasons but hit his straps in 1933 and rarely looked back from there, establishing himself as a fine ball player. Carter was neither tall (175cm) nor heavy (72kg) but he was a fine mark and had a lovely, penetrating kick, which served him well over many fine seasons.

The 1935 season saw Carter play all 18 matches, and it was through no fault of his that North could win only one of them. Carter polled five Brownlow votes in that season and was voted North’s best and fairest. Two years later he had an even better season, his 16 games yielding 10 Brownlow votes as he took home the Syd Barker Medal once more. His fine form also saw him earn selection for the ‘Big V’ in that year.

Injury saw Carter play only seven matches the following year, but he returned to play more solid football throughout 1939 and into 1940, the latter season seeing him take over the role of coach from Len Thomas after Round 7. Carter retired as a player soon after. With his 11 games at the helm returning only two wins, Carter was replaced as coach by Bob McCaskill in the 1941 season.

When the VFL instituted an under-19s competition for the 1946 season, Carter took on the role of coach of North’s under-age side and found immediate success, taking the juniors to an inaugural premiership. He mentored the under-19 side again in 1947 before being elevated to the senior role for the 1948 season, and his second stint as coach would prove to be far more fruitful.

North lost its first five matches under Carter’s direction in 1948 but finished strongly to win eight of its last 13 games. That wasn’t enough to secure a place in September action but the following year saw North sweep all before it to win 14 of 19 matches and give the club its first VFL minor premiership. Unfortunately two narrow finals losses followed, but the 1950 season saw Carter take the newly nicknamed Kangaroos all the way to the Grand Final. North won its first ever final against Geelong in that year, winning the preliminary final by 17 points after Geelong had led at each break. Sadly the team fell well short of Essendon in the ‘big one’.

Carter continued to coach North Melbourne for the next three years but the Kangaroos were unable to scale the heady heights of the 1949–50 seasons, missing the finals in each of those years. After a four-year absence, Carter returned to the coaching fold and again had an immediate impact, taking the Roos to a preliminary final in 1958.