Last Saturday night I went to the 150th function at Jeff's Shed.

Walking into the venue from the carpark was an event on its own, as I kept spotting players of the past and had to resist the urge to go on a mass autograph hunt. Once in the foyer, it was a who's who of Carlton greats, and a supporter's dream.

The event itself was predictable in most ways, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the night. There was lots of video from the past, segmented into the usual marks and goals categories, but one of the packages included biffo. This produced the biggest cheers of the night, especially when footage of David Rhys-Jones going berserk in the 'Battle of Britain' was played.

On one side of the stage the sixteen premiership cups were on display, and on the other a mock up bench and lockers from Princes Park. There small groups of players from different eras were interviewed. First up, Tim Lane talked with John 'Ragsy' Goold, Kevin Hall and Ian Collins about the sixties. These guys were the most passionate about how much they loved our club; which is not to say those speaking afterward didn't, but I hope the current players who were there took on board how lucky they are to belong to a club with such rich history and that it's not just about the money.

Next HG Nelson interviewed 'Swan' McKay and Mark Maclure about the '70's. I could listen to 'Sellers' for hours, as he always speaks with such a great combination of passion and pragmatism.

Sandra Sully discussed the '80's with David Parkin, Ken Hunter and Wayne Johnston. It still amazes me how Hunter is still alive, or at least not in a wheelchair, given the way he punished his body during his playing career, and especially given how slender he was. 'Dominator' is clearly miffed with not being inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame (and rightly so), while Parkin mused at how the 1979-1982 side is never discussed with the same reverence as Melbourne of the '50's, Richmond of the '70's, Hawthorn of the '80's and Brisbane a decade ago.

Lastly, Andrew Maher reminisced with Jon Dorotich, Anthony Koutoufides, Justin Madden and Brendan Fevola. It was great to see Fev there, and the crowd roared when his name was announced. It's easy to forget, given how his career with us ended, how good a player he was. In particular, during those crap years, he was often the only thing to get excited about, and this night was very appropriate to see him back in the fold.

Unsurprisingly, John Nicholls was named the #1 Blue of all time, and it was interesting to hear him rue how arrogant we became. Clearly he wasn't a big fan of how George Harris and John Elliott conducted themselves, although he did praise Harris for the changes he made during his tenure.

The raffle prize of a new Hyundai was won by Ahmed Fahour, who gave the car back to be auctioned for the club's multi-cultural programs. The other auction items went for plenty, including an original painting of the top twelve Carlton players, which was won by 'Diesel' Williams for $53,000.

There were only two down sides to the night. Firstly that people kept talking during the q&a sessions, which made it hard to hear. Tim Lane stopped his interviews at one stage to tell people to shut up and pay some respect, and the MC (Craig Willis) told people there was plenty of space outside the room if people had to have a conversation. The second disappointment was that the club song wasn't sung during the night, which given the occasion, was very surprising.

All-in-all a terrific night, and one that firmly reinforced how great it is to be a Blue.

Last Saturday night I went to the 150th function at Jeff's Shed.

Walking into the venue from the carpark was an event on its own, as I kept spotting players of the past and had to resist the urge to go on a mass autograph hunt. Once in the foyer, it was a who's who of Carlton greats, and a supporter's dream.

The event itself was predictable in most ways, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the night. There was lots of video from the past, segmented into the usual marks and goals categories, but one of the packages included biffo. This produced the biggest cheers of the night, especially when footage of David Rhys-Jones going berserk in the 'Battle of Britain' was played.

On one side of the stage the sixteen premiership cups were on display, and on the other a mock up bench and lockers from Princes Park. There small groups of players from different eras were interviewed. First up, Tim Lane talked with John 'Ragsy' Goold, Kevin Hall and Ian Collins about the sixties. These guys were the most passionate about how much they loved our club; which is not to say those speaking afterward didn't, but I hope the current players who were there took on board how lucky they are to belong to a club with such rich history and that it's not just about the money.

Next HG Nelson interviewed 'Swan' McKay and Mark Maclure about the '70's. I could listen to 'Sellers' for hours, as he always speaks with such a great combination of passion and pragmatism.

Sandra Sully discussed the '80's with David Parkin, Ken Hunter and Wayne Johnston. It still amazes me how Hunter is still alive, or at least not in a wheelchair, given the way he punished his body during his playing career, and especially given how slender he was. 'Dominator' is clearly miffed with not being inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame (and rightly so), while Parkin mused at how the 1979-1982 side is never discussed with the same reverence as Melbourne of the '50's, Richmond of the '70's, Hawthorn of the '80's and Brisbane a decade ago.

Lastly, Andrew Maher reminisced with Jon Dorotich, Anthony Koutoufides, Justin Madden and Brendan Fevola. It was great to see Fev there, and the crowd roared when his name was announced. It's easy to forget, given how his career with us ended, how good a player he was. In particular, during those crap years, he was often the only thing to get excited about, and this night was very appropriate to see him back in the fold.

Unsurprisingly, John Nicholls was named the #1 Blue of all time, and it was interesting to hear him rue how arrogant we became. Clearly he wasn't a big fan of how George Harris and John Elliott conducted themselves, although he did praise Harris for the changes he made during his tenure.

The raffle prize of a new Hyundai was won by Ahmed Fahour, who gave the car back to be auctioned for the club's multi-cultural programs. The other auction items went for plenty, including an original painting of the top twelve Carlton players, which was won by 'Diesel' Williams for $53,000.

There were only two down sides to the night. Firstly that people kept talking during the q&a sessions, which made it hard to hear. Tim Lane stopped his interviews at one stage to tell people to shut up and pay some respect, and the MC (Craig Willis) told people there was plenty of space outside the room if people had to have a conversation. The second disappointment was that the club song wasn't sung during the night, which given the occasion, was very surprising.

All-in-all a terrific night, and one that firmly reinforced how great it is to be a Blue.

Great post Jack, the lack of respect our 79-82 sides get against the other great sides of the modern era shits me no end.

I think it's a combination of the fact that Tom Prior (who was football writer at The Sun and ghost wrote for Lou Richards) who were both Carlton haters never giving Carlton the credit they deserved, and when Essendon** went back to back in 84/85, they went all masturbatory on that for some reason, and Carlton's achievements were given short shrift.

Last Saturday night I went to the 150th function at Jeff's Shed.

Walking into the venue from the carpark was an event on its own, as I kept spotting players of the past and had to resist the urge to go on a mass autograph hunt. Once in the foyer, it was a who's who of Carlton greats, and a supporter's dream.

The event itself was predictable in most ways, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the night. There was lots of video from the past, segmented into the usual marks and goals categories, but one of the packages included biffo. This produced the biggest cheers of the night, especially when footage of David Rhys-Jones going berserk in the 'Battle of Britain' was played.

On one side of the stage the sixteen premiership cups were on display, and on the other a mock up bench and lockers from Princes Park. There small groups of players from different eras were interviewed. First up, Tim Lane talked with John 'Ragsy' Goold, Kevin Hall and Ian Collins about the sixties. These guys were the most passionate about how much they loved our club; which is not to say those speaking afterward didn't, but I hope the current players who were there took on board how lucky they are to belong to a club with such rich history and that it's not just about the money.

Next HG Nelson interviewed 'Swan' McKay and Mark Maclure about the '70's. I could listen to 'Sellers' for hours, as he always speaks with such a great combination of passion and pragmatism.

Sandra Sully discussed the '80's with David Parkin, Ken Hunter and Wayne Johnston. It still amazes me how Hunter is still alive, or at least not in a wheelchair, given the way he punished his body during his playing career, and especially given how slender he was. 'Dominator' is clearly miffed with not being inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame (and rightly so), while Parkin mused at how the 1979-1982 side is never discussed with the same reverence as Melbourne of the '50's, Richmond of the '70's, Hawthorn of the '80's and Brisbane a decade ago.

Lastly, Andrew Maher reminisced with Jon Dorotich, Anthony Koutoufides, Justin Madden and Brendan Fevola. It was great to see Fev there, and the crowd roared when his name was announced. It's easy to forget, given how his career with us ended, how good a player he was. In particular, during those crap years, he was often the only thing to get excited about, and this night was very appropriate to see him back in the fold.

Unsurprisingly, John Nicholls was named the #1 Blue of all time, and it was interesting to hear him rue how arrogant we became. Clearly he wasn't a big fan of how George Harris and John Elliott conducted themselves, although he did praise Harris for the changes he made during his tenure.

The raffle prize of a new Hyundai was won by Ahmed Fahour, who gave the car back to be auctioned for the club's multi-cultural programs. The other auction items went for plenty, including an original painting of the top twelve Carlton players, which was won by 'Diesel' Williams for $53,000.

There were only two down sides to the night. Firstly that people kept talking during the q&a sessions, which made it hard to hear. Tim Lane stopped his interviews at one stage to tell people to shut up and pay some respect, and the MC (Craig Willis) told people there was plenty of space outside the room if people had to have a conversation. The second disappointment was that the club song wasn't sung during the night, which given the occasion, was very surprising.

All-in-all a terrific night, and one that firmly reinforced how great it is to be a Blue.

I agree 100%, AIRCAV. Kind of like the reverse of, "OMG, that meat pie only costs $9.99? I'll take four!".

EDIT - will be interesting to see how Geelong is viewed in 10-20 years time for the same reason.

Walls and Doull were the notable omissions. Walls was holidaying in France and Doull was having an operation.

Amputating his shy-bone?