discreetly for a few drinks, mix with other famous types and have nothing leaked?

Which leads to the obvious question - was his fadeout due to his body still recovering from the late night just a few days beforehand?

Not sure of the stats but how many inside 50s we get in that last quarter?

Pun intended???

I know I get bagged a lot on here, but I don’t care. The stuff I post is driven by one thing, a love of this club and a desire to see it succeed. As such, I have a special fondness for players who appear to genuinely love the club, to cherish the jumper, to bleed for the side. There aren’t many in the AFL that do that these days. There are unfortunately too few. Fortunately for us, we have one of those players and that player is Fev. Whatever you think of him, whether it be goalkicking champion, idiot, brilliant player or headcase, leader, inspirer or distracter, no one can doubt or deny his love for the jumper and the club.

I’m going to tell you a story about Fev. I’ve told it before and I’ll tell it again. It was at a function for a socceroos game, and basically a young kid went up to another player who I won’t mention and asked for an autograph. He was brushed aside. Fev then intervened, spoke to the kid and gave him an autograph. He asked the kid who he went for, and when finding out it was not Carlton, Fev tried to convince the kid to go for Carlton.

If you think I’m now going to claim that this excuses a lot of the mistakes Fev has made in the past, you are wrong. It does not. But I think it puts into context what Fev really is, and that is a big kid. I honestly do not think he ever means anyone any harm when he makes his mistakes. He is certainly not a bad person in my opinion. There are bad people in football, one of which has been the subject of much speculation, innuendo and controversy recently, both here and in another country. I think we all know who I am referring to. But Fev is not like this. Deep down he’s a good man with a kind heart. He makes stupid mistakes of course, but that’s what they are, stupid and not malicious.

I think it was Cazzesman on here who predicted at the beginning of 2006 that Fev would have a good year as he had settled down with his wife and kid, and that can have a huge effect on you, a huge positive effect. Cazzesman was 100 per cent on the ball with that comment. Fev went on to win the coleman in a side that finished last, an achievement which had not been done for decades. That year he showed us what he was truly capable of, both on and off the field. On field he was devastating, and ultimately was judged the best full forward in the league by gaining All Australian Selection. Off field the kids looked up to him, and he was touted as a potential Captain.

OF course a lot has changed since then, but it is not irreparable change. I have no doubt Fev can get back to the 2006 form and the way he conducted himself that year if we give him the chance and help he needs. It’s pretty obvious alcohol is a problem for him, and I have no doubt the club would be helping him with this issue. But in the mean time I urge all the supporters on here calling for him to be traded or sacked to have a long hard look at themselves.

Fev at his best is in my opinion our most devastating player. He can tear teams apart in a half and win games off his own boot, and has done so countless times. He could have probably kicked a 100 goals a year in a West Coast or Geelong lineup, with the quality of their midfields. In fact not probably, I’d say it’s an almost certainty. Instead for the past few years he has put up with one of the worst midfield set ups in history. Does anyone remember 2003, with our starting centre of Kouta, Campo and Hulme? Or 2004? Or 2005? We had a couple of quality mids in those years, but the midfield was also complimented by the likes of Mckormick, David Clarke, Chambers, etc. Of course Fevola chucked the dummy sometimes. But at the end of the day he never ever tried to leave the club, despite many clubs being ready to happily swoop him away.

Because at the end of the day Fev loves this club. If you look at the players in the room after a loss, you will see Fev being the one that genuinely hurts the most. Fevs the one that kives the kids his time at Family Days. Fevs the one that is always trying to promote the club in one way or another. Fevs the one that never ever thinks about leaving, but rather puts his efforts into helping get other quality players to the club. One of Judd’s conditions of coming to Carlton was that Fev remained here. Fev is liked by players both inside and outside the club who respect his football ability. You only need to look at Judd to see this.

Fev has played full forward to us during the worst period to do so in our history. We are going to come good in the next couple of years, and I for one hope to see Fevola remaining at Full Forward and finally bearing the fruits he so richly deserves. He’s an idiot yes, but he’s our idiot. He’s made mistakes yes, but they’re stupid mistakes not malicious one. He’s had a problem with alcohol yes, but so have lots of others and he made such good progress in 2006 I see no reason why he can’t do it again. And finally, even in his supposedly “bad years”, 2005, 2007, etc, he has still come close to being the competition’s leading goalkicker and kicked over 55 goals despite playing with one of the worst midfields in the league. It is a phenomenal achievement.

There are a lot of players that have not shown this club as much love as Fev has. That’s fine, football is a career now and I understand that. But that should be no reason why we do not try and lend out a bit more sympathy, and a bit more help, and a bit more patience with a guy who genuinely loves the club and has genuinely produced for the club. I love you Fev, and I hope you stay with this club until you retire.