On Grand Final day 1995 - the day the famed Record Breakers made it 16 premierships with their 16th win on the trot - David Parkin and his assistants, amongst them the late Ken Judge, watched on in wonderment from the Carlton coach’s box.
Four years later, in the Round 14 match of “1999” to quote Dipper, football would again bring Parkin and Judge together, only this time as opposing coaches, for the Carlton-Hawthorn contest at a typically windswept VFL Park.
In what doubled as the great Craig Bradley’s 300th senior appearance in the dark Navy Blue guernsey, Carlton rose to the lofty occasion to inflict a 34-point victory over the Hawks - 13.11 (89) to 7.13 (55) – with Lance Whitnall booting four goals up front and best afield Andrew McKay in slashing form off a half-back flank.
The game was memorable for a series of highlights both collective and individual – the best of them a goal on the run to Bradley, set up by McKay and Whitnall, which brought members of the dark Navy Blue faithful to their feet.
At game’s end, 'Braddles' was handed the match-day ball and offered a few words to Seven’s boundary rider and 1989 Brownlow Medallist, the late Paul Couch. To Couch’s question about how he handled the week’s build-up to the milestone, Bradley simply replied: “I’m glad it’s over”.
The Carlton Football Club’s games record holder and dual premiership player was then chaired from the field by McKay and Stephen Silvagni to the hearty applause of teammates and supporters one and all – and 'Parko', having captained and coached Hawthorn to premierships in an earlier football life, truly savoured the moment.
Come Friday, Parkin again gets to savour the moment when those of the Carlton and Hawthorn persuasion gather in his honour for a tribute luncheon at Zinc at Fed Square.
