One of Princes Park’s distinctions was a reliable and “fast’’ scoreboard. Electronic scoreboards were unknown, big screen replays, too – and the scoreboard operators of the day seemed to compete to be quickest. At Princes Park, the goal would be “up’’ sometimes even before it was kicked

Carlton was missing Alex Jesaulenko, a player to make Kouta look like Franchina,

Banners were replaced by hoardings, the scoreboard by the screen, Pleasant Sunday Mornings by rehab on a lonely beach, Rohrt by rort and Jesaulenko by ... nobody, yet.

there was no pre-match "entertainment". Instead, there was something much more fundamental and engaging, the football follower's bread-and-butter: the reserves. A fan could see with his or her own eyes how a star was progressing on his way back from injury or poor form, and could take a fancy to a little-known youngster and later pride himself upon his "discovery". Best of all, he could loosen his vocal chords and rehearse his vocabulary for the main match ahead. Lists were longer then, salaries barely considered – let alone caps – and reserves teams more decorated; Carlton once fielded a seconds team featuring 11 senior premiership players.