CARLTON’S true giants of yesteryear - luminaries from as far back as the football club’s inception - have been remembered at IKON Park in an historic and equally moving Hall of Fame presentation ceremony.

In what was effectively a family reunion of sorts, descendants of nine of the Club’s 21 greats most recently inducted into to this year’s Hall of Fame joined former Carlton players and coaches, and long-serving club members and officials at the ceremony in the Club’s Presidents Room at the ground. There they were presented with certificates acknowledging the contributions to Carlton of their forefathers by Heritage & Tradition Sub-Committee Chairman Tim Lincoln.

Amongst them was the former St Kilda footballer Geoff Cayzer, who unhesitatingly declared his grandfather and recent inductee Alf Baud his hero. Another was Jacquie Moore (nee O’Brien), whose three-times great grandfather Orlando ‘Lanty’ O’Brien was also inducted.

Jacquie, together with her husband Ron and son Roland, jetted in from Perth for the occasion, accepting the certificate in honour of O’Brien, who was named in the first known Carlton team to take to the field (against Melbourne Grammar on the Myall Ground where the Alfred Hospital now stands) on Saturday 27 May, 1865.

“To be here to receive this certificate fills me with a huge amount of pride,” Jacquie said following the ceremony.

“I am so very fortunate to be part of a legacy that I can also now pass on to my son. It’s incredible to think that there is this family link with a man who had such an incredible link with Carlton and football in its early infancy.”

In 1856, at the tender age of 11 years, the Irish-born O’Brien arrived with his family in the port of Melbourne, disembarking the sailing ship Saldanha after 103 days at sea.

While little is known of his early years it is clear ‘Lanty’ quickly embodied the Carlton motto Mens Sana In Corpore Sano – A Sound Mind in a Healthy Body. A member of the first Carlton Football Club Committee, O’Brien also turned out in 50 games for Carlton from 1865-76 – the Club’s first golden era which took in its Challenge Cup victory in 1871 and the premiership years of 1873, ’74 and ’75.

He is also accredited as the “inventor” of the punt kick and was considered the longest kick in the competition.

Immediately following the presentation, Jacquie completed a swift tour of the IKON Park facility, locating ‘Lanty’s’ name on the player wall and discovering him standing larger than life in a Carlton team photographed amongst the gum trees in Royal Park in 1874 – a picture that graces the corridor adjoining the gymnasium.

“When I saw that photo for the first time I thought I was looking at my dad,” Jacquie said. “That has really blown me away.”

Jacquie’s love for ‘Lanty’ has only intensified since Carlton made contact, and so it is that she, Ron and Roland are now true Blue diehards from afar. As she said: “Roland now knows the Carlton song off by heart, his teacher tells me he sings it all day long, which we believe will help indoctrinate all those ‘Freo’ supporters if he just keeps singing it”.

When asked what the connection to this football club through ‘Lanty’ means to her, Jacquie replied: “In watching Carlton play I’ve now started getting quite emotional - to think that I’ve got blue blood, that this is part of who I am and that ‘Lanty lives on”.

The nine Hall of Fame Inductees whose certificates were received by their descendants are as follows.

From the Challenge Cup and VFA years:
- Foundation Carlton footballer Orlando ‘Lanty’ O’Brien, whose certificate was accepted by Jacquie Moore (nee O’Brien) to whom ‘Lanty’ is a three-times great grandfather.
- Former Carlton captain and President John Gardiner, whose certificate was accepted by Carolin Liversidge to whom Gardiner is a two-times great grandfather; and
- Former Carlton player, President and Ground Management Chairman Robert Heatley, whose certificate was accepted by his great granddaughter Sue Coffey.

From the premierships years of 1906-’08:
- Dual Carlton Premiership captain and three-time Premiership player Jim Flynn, whose certificate was accepted by his grandson Pat Flynn;
- Three-time Carlton premiership captain George ‘Mallee’ Johnson, whose certificate was accepted by his great grandson Nick Johnson; and
- Three-time Carlton premiership player Alexander ‘Bongo’ Lang, whose certificate was accepted by Warren Lang, two whom Lang is a great uncle.

And from the premiership years 1914-’15 and 1938:
- Carlton premiership captain William Dick, whose certificate was accepted by his great grandson William Jason Dick;
- Carlton premiership captain and dual premiership player Alf Baud, whose certificate was accepted by his grandson Geoff Cayzer; and
- Carlton premiership Captain-Coach Brighton Diggins, whose certificate was accepted by his granddaughter Nerida Blanche.

The presentation of certificates to Carlton’s nine inductees puts an exclamation mark on the Carlton Heritage & Tradition Sub-Committee’s recommendation to the Board of Directors that in this the 160th year, the moment in time was appropriate to honour its giants of yesteryear.

Accordingly, 21 inductees were identified from the 75-year period between 1864 and 1939 - and their names were this week included on the Hall of Fame wall at IKON Park.

With the passing of time, kindred connections with 12 of the 21 inductees have seemingly been lost – but the descendants of the remaining nine were located and invited to the presentation that proved to be an incredibly stirring celebration of old Carlton.