by Between the wars, Cocky Marr was the Carlton Football Club’s unofficial mascot: a crested cockatoo who loved the Blues, and despised bad umpiring.
No one can say exactly when Cocky Marr began attending games at Princes Park. This is one elusive part of the story – there are others – different accounts give different dates.
In an article on bluseum.com, football historian Anthony De Bolfo says, ‘The legend of Cocky Marr is believed to have been born at some point in the 1930s, possibly earlier.’
‘The Argus’ newspaper, reporting on Cocky Marr’s death in 1955, opted instead for a broad range of dates, giving his years of match attendance as 1920 – 1940.
A different obituary from the same period states that Cocky Marr had been a Carlton supporter for 30 years, which would place his start in the mid 1920s.
In life, and eventually in death, Cocky Marr was an Australian football legend. And when you are dealing with legends, the story is more important that the specifics.
Cocky Marr was a sulphur crested cockatoo, one of Australia’s most iconic birds.
Cockatoos are medium sized, with a white body, upright stance, and bright yellow fan of feathers on top of their heads. They are found throughout Australia, often in large flocks, and are known for their harsh, squawking cry.
They are also highly intelligent.
Recent studies have shown cockies to be one of the few animals able to use primitive tools, and viral videos regularly circulate of them opening bins, using implements to access food, and ingeniously defeating anti-bird measures designed to keep them out of things.
Like other parrot species they are also expert mimics, and can be taught to say words and phrases.
Cocky Marr’s owner was Robert St Marr, a Carlton supporter who lived in Carnegie. Marr had followed Carlton since 1902, and as an adult, attended most of their home games at Princes Park.
Between the wars he separated from his wife, and became distant from his children; this is around the time he began bringing his pet Cocky to the football.
Exactly how St Marr first got the bird into the ground is another unknown. The 1920s was a more relaxed time at the football, with fewer regulations than today, but even so: there were turnstiles, and ticket checkers, and officials.
Somehow St Marr got past them all. Princes Park itself may have been a factor: Carlton’s home ground developed something of a reputation for tolerating eccentric behaviour, as evidenced by famous supporter Robert Menzies being able to drive his chauffer driven car up to a special viewing platform.
However, and whenever, it first happened, by the early 1930s Cocky Marr had established himself at the ground.
St Marr caught the tram to the football with the bird on his arm, when they reached the relevant stop, the cocky would cry ‘Here we are Bob!’ Once they made their way inside, Cocky Marr either perched on his owner’s shoulder, or the fence, and watched the play.
He quickly made his opinions known.
‘Cocky Marr stood defiantly in the outer at Princes Park, greeting each Carlton goal with high-pitched squawks of “Go Blues” and wildly flapping wings. His shrill voice could be heard all over the ground.’
– ‘When Cocky Marr Was Carlton King’, Anthony De Bolfo
He also favoured certain players. His particular favourite was Carlton’s champion full forward Harry ‘Soapy’ Valance; when Valance got the ball, Cocky Marr would cry ‘Up there Soapy!’
Umpires were a different matter. Cocky Marr would frequently chastise the officials if things didn’t go Carlton’s way; ‘Who told you that you could umpire?’ was one well-known rebuke.
Football grew hugely in popularity between the wars, and Cocky Marr found himself a minor celebrity.
His antics were frequently mentioned in match reports, and cartoonists loved to use him when drawing anything Carlton related. Alex Gurney, one of the best-known illustrators of the era, had struggled to find an image to represent ‘blue’, and deployed Cocky Marr with enthusiasm.
Some people even referred to Carlton, unofficially, as ‘the Cockies’.
A game between Carlton and Richmond in 1936 saw an official group in attendance, including the Governor of Victoria and the Lord Mayor of Melbourne. Hearing Cocky Marr’s calls, some of the party went to investigate.
‘Cocky’s enthusiasm attracted the attention of Lord Huntingfield, and Cocky kissed the Lord Mayor, the Governor, and other members of the vice regal party.’
– Report in ‘The Advertiser’
To the delight of the group, Cocky Marr then returned to barracking, shortly crying out, ‘Give us a fair go umpy!’
While this event was widely reported in the press at the time, other Cocky Marr stories are harder to validate. But it was said that he could differentiate between goals and points, waving two wings for one and one for the other, and that he sometimes flew over the Carlton quarter time huddle, offering coaching advice.
Cocky Marr continued to attend Carlton home games, until his passing.
Much like his origins, his demise also has an element of mystery. Most sources indicate he died sometime during World War II, the report in ‘The Advertiser’ cited above is an obituary from November 1939.
In Anthony De Bolfo’s blueseum article, Robert St Marr’s grandson Bill Stocker says he remembers the bird in his parent’s house in the early 1950s.
Whenever it actually occurred, Cocky’s Marr’s passing was noted. Obituaries appeared in Melbourne publications, recapping his match day antics and famous sayings; several of these mentioned that he started each day with a bacon and egg breakfast, and was fond of custard pudding.
He was not a fan of bird seed.
In 1955, St Marr had Cocky Marr stuffed, and presented him to the Carlton Football club. He was mounted, and placed in the club’s museum, then inside the Robert Healey stand at Princes Park.
In 1976, the club decided to clean out its museum and storage areas. These had been neglected over the previous two decades, and had become disorganised without a curator.
Many items had simply been stacked in cupboards, and forgotten about.
Bob Lowrie, a former trainer, runner, and clubhouse doorman, was tasked with removing any items without value. In a later interview he noted the poor condition of the materials, and the rooms they were kept in, calling them ‘buggered’.
A lot of what he sorted through was destined for the tip.
‘There was a lot of crap in there, and we started turfing it all out. Then we came across this stuffed old bird on a perch and nobody knew anything about it. I said, ‘Who put this dead bird in here?’ There was nothing on him to identify who he was.’
– Bob Lowrie
Lowrie checked with club board member Jack Carney, a member of the 1938 Premiership side; Carney advised he knew nothing about a bird. Cocky Marr was added to the discard pile.
Carney did not realise his mistake until two weeks later; he rushed to find Lowrie, but it was already too late.
Cocky Marr had been thrown out.
‘Jack told me that the bloke would stand with the cockatoo right behind the goals. Whenever a Carlton player kicked a goal the bird would flap his wings all over the joint, when an opposition player kicked a goal he’d just sit there on the bloke’s shoulder. I’m damned if I know how he got the bird into the ground.’
Lowrie would later say, he was still hoping someone would bring a new bird, to a future Carlton home game.
