CARL RODWELL

6 feet 9 inch (205cm) Centre/Forward

1964, 1968 Olympic Games

Australia was playing Poland in their first game of the 1968 Mexico Olympic Basketball Qualification Tournament in Monterrey, Mexico. Poland was a tough, difficult and talented basketball nation and it had finished in 6th position in the Tokyo Olympics four years before. This game was vital for the Australians to start off the tournament well and to gain confidence for the games ahead. Everything was going to plan and they led 41-29 at half-time, and by eleven points with ten minutes left in the game. The Australian Centre Carl Rodwell, who was now playing College basketball in the USA, was a dominant player for Australia so far in the game. Rodwell committed his fourth foul, however the official bench signalled that Rodwell had five fouls and was out of the game. The Australian Manager and team were keeping check scores and they knew the officials had made a mistake. The referees did much shoulder shrugging and arm waving to say “we can do nothing...it is the official bench call.” In addition the variety of languages and inability to understand each other became a factor. Reluctantly Rodwell had to leave the court. Without Rodwell on the floor the Poles were able to power over the smaller Australians and went on to win 68-64. That loss and the manner of the loss severely affected the Australian Team which was to go on and fail to qualify for the Olympic Finals in Mexico City. Clifford Carl Rodwell was born on the 12th of May 1944. He grew up in Cowra, central NSW. Carl was introduced to basketball by Gordon Rintoul a local school teacher who later became a NSW Junior Team Coach. European immigrants in the district also had a basketball influence on Carl. Cowra, although only a small community of four thousand, had an Army Camp during the Second World War which was converted into an immigration centre after the war. The displaced immigrants had learned basketball in Europe through US servicemen and had brought the game with them to their new home in Cowra. In 1961 with Carl leading the way Cowra won the NSW Under18 title. This proved to be no small feat since Cowra was such a small community and the team had beaten all the far larger communities in the state to capture the title.