Five members of Carlton’s drought-breaking 1968 Premiership team were amongst the Blues luminaries in attendance for the recent annual Life Members Luncheon at Kew Golf Club.

In the house were Bill Bennett, Adrian Gallagher, John Nicholls, Bryan Quirk and Peter Jones – the latter recently elevated to legend status in the Carlton Football Club Hall of Fame.

Also in attendance were six members of the Robert Walls-coached 1987 Premiership team – Ian Aitken, Wayne Johnston, Warren McKenzie, Mick Kennedy, David Rhys-Jones and Shane Robertson. 

The recently-elected Carlton President Rob Priestley and his wife Alex were also present, as was former President Mark LoGiudice - on an afternoon in which past players, officials and staff members gathered in an informal setting to reminisce, and later pose for a team photograph.

First-time attendees also included Carlton cult figure Vin Catoggio, a guest of Life Member Vince Loccisano.

The contributions to Carlton of recently-deceased Life Members Berkley Cox, John Goold and Harold Mitchell were also acknowledged at the Luncheon.

The Carlton Life Members Luncheon was first convened in 2019 – an initiative driven by a committee comprising the club’s former Chief Executive Officer Stephen Gough, Frank Brosnan, Sharon McColl and Shane O’Sullivan.

Gough noted that 100 Carlton Life Members – around half of the Life Members still living – were present at the Luncheon.

“The spread of Life Members covered the past 60 years, from John Nicholls in 1964 to Andrew Mansour in 2023,” Gough said.

“So many Life Members regard the luncheon as one of the great days on the Carlton social calendar, everyone enjoys eachother’s company and the spirit is exceptional.”