The 1994 AFL Draft could’ve been even more successful for the Old Dark Navy Blues, if not for one pick.

Those who viewed the Thursday 4 July edition of the The Front Bar would’ve seen O’Loughlin express just how close he came to being drafted to his boyhood club.

Now, the man who just missed out on selected the eventual 303-gamer has spoken.

Speaking on The Two Tones, Shane O’Sullivan was quick to bring up the star’s when asked which player he regretted missing out on the most.

“Michael O’Loughlin was the one that haunts me,” O’Sullivan said.

“He brought it up again the other day on ‘The Front Bar’ and I got lots of text messages, [asking] ‘what were you thinking?’”

The potential was there for all to see, especially with the benefit of hindsight.

Camporeale was the standout first-year player in the competition in 1995, while the arrival of O’Loughlin and Hamill - prior to his departure - would have set Carlton up for the retirement of Stephen Kernahan.

Throw Lance Whitnall in two years later, and O’Sullivan’s regret is more than justified.

It’s particular poignant given Sydney - the team O’Loughlin won a premiership with in 2005 - and Carlton will do battle tomorrow afternoon at the SCG.

“You make these judgments sometimes, and I know that particular year I was really confident that - just the talk around all the clubs, no-one was talking much about Micky,” he said.

“If he was going to get picked, it would be late.

“I thought we’d be able to get him at pick No.41 and that sort of thing. Unfortunately, the Swans had the pick before us and got him.”

As fate would have it, the Swans swooped with pick No.40 as the Blues waited with pick No.41.

The rest is footballing history.

With 2019 marking 40 years since O’Sullivan arrived at the Club, it’s safe to say he’s got credits in the bank.

In his first year, O’Sullivan was challenged by Wes Lofts to find “another Royce Hart”. The man who he found that would ultimately end up at Carlton seven years years later? Stephen Kernahan.