BRAD Fisher would have given anything to have seen the signwriter go to work on the No.14 locker at Visy Park.

For a bloke who toiled for years in the forward line of a Carlton side during the darkest period in its history, his name on the locker as a 100-game player would have been a fitting reward.

Instead Fisher is stranded on 99 games, delisted by the Blues eight months after undergoing LARS surgery on his knee in a desperate attempt to save his career.

You won't hear the 26-year-old say a bad word about Carlton, the club he's called home since being taken with pick No.72 in the 2002 national draft.

But that little addition to his corner of the changeroom would have been nice.

"Falling one game short of getting the name on the locker might haunt me for a while, but I've got to move on from that and I'm grateful for everything they did for me," Fisher said yesterday.

"Obviously it would have meant everything to have the name on the locker, but it wasn't to be so that's life. There's not a heap I can do about it."

Fisher returned to VFL action last May, 14 weeks after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, but was given only one more chance at AFL level - Carlton's Round 18 thrashing at the hands of Collingwood.

There would be no Josh Fraser-style milestone gift.

"I'm a realist now and sentiment is gone in footy," Fisher said.

"Carlton was pushing towards finals and they wanted to play who they considered to be in their best 22 and obviously I didn't fall into that. That was disappointing for me, but the club is obviously a lot bigger than the individual.

"I thought I was playing well enough (in the VFL) and even the coaching staff thought I was playing well enough, but they were pretty determined to stick with the formula they had with the small forwards and I can appreciate that.

"I'd been there since I was 18, loved every minute of it and I've got nothing but great memories."

Fisher has no shortage of offers to continue his career at a lower level, but hasn't given up his AFL dream and will nominate for the draft.

I remember on my footy jumper (St Thomas Moore's) the collar came off - so in fact I may just have been ahead of my time with that collarless look!

st thomas moore's in hadfield?

i went there!!!!

st thomas moore's in hadfield?

i went there!!!!