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Who will be the fifth player to win the John Nicholls Medal.?
Who will finish 1-2-3 in the 208 John Nicholls Medal.?
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For all that he has achieved in the game - the record Victorian representation, the three premierships as captain and coach of the Carlton Football Club and five best and fairests over 328 games in 18 seasons - John Nicholls unhesitatingly rates the naming of the club champion’s medal in his honour on a par with his induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Now in his 70th year, the man widely regarded as Carlton’s greatest player of all time is truly humbled that the club saw fit to acknowledge his contributions in this way.
“The older you get the better you get,” Nicholls said dryly, “and people tend not to think about your bad games or your weaknesses. Instead they tend to regard you as a figurehead and if I am regarded as that then it makes me feel very warm inside and very happy.
“One of the best things to have happened to me in the past 10 to 15 years of my life is to have been inducted into the Hall of Fame as a legend. And one of the greatest things the club has done for me in the past few years is to have named the best and fairest after me. I’m very thrilled with that. That is something that will probably go on for a very long time.”
Go to the record, and it’s hardly surprising that the coveted medal now carries the Nicholls moniker. Nicholls always strived for consistency of performance, game by game, season by season, and history records that he was true to that philosophy.
“To me, you always have to try to finish in the top ten in the best and fairest and I’m very proud of my best and fairest record,” Nicholls said. “I won five, was runner-up four times and third three times and in my 18 years as a player that was what I was most proud of.”
Only four men can lay claim to earning the John Nicholls Medal since the bauble was renamed in 2004 – David Teague, Anthony Koutoufides, Lance Whitnall and Andrew Carrazzo.
Who will “take home Big Nick” in 2008?
Carlton Best & Fairest
SOLD OUT!
John Nicholls Medal
Thursday, September 11
7.00pm for 7.30pm
Crown Palladium
Dress – Lounge Suit for men, Cocktail for Women
