SOMEWHAT lost in the lead-up to Thursday night’s season-opening blockbuster between Carlton and Richmond is the fact that Brendon Bolton also readies for his 50^th game as senior coach.

It’s been 938 days since Bolton’s appointment was formalised following an exhaustive interview process - the Tasmanian then nearing the end of a seven-year tenure as an assistant at Hawthorn, which included five games as interim coach in 2014.

Confirmation came on August 25, 2015, and Bolton was seen as representative of the change required to oversee the build of Carlton’s football program.

Brendon Bolton will coach his 50th AFL game on Thursday night. (Photo: AFL Media)

He was also assured of the time and resources required to return the team and the Club to pre-eminent status. 

Three weeks later, on the evening of Thursday, September 17, 2015 prior to the counting of votes for the John Nicholls Medal, Bolton delivered his first keynote address to Carlton members and broadly outlined his blueprint. 

In part, this is what he told them:

“To be bestowed this honor of leading this great club rich in tradition is an enormous privilege and one that I guarantee to approach with every inch of passion and enthusiasm that I have. 

“Together, whole of club, we are on a journey. A big journey. A journey to creating sustained success. This is our destination – and right now, at this very moment, it’s where it begins.

“The secret to change is not to focus all the energy on the past, but on the future. New journeys, they’re full of anticipation – highs, lows, twists and turns – and we need to get ready to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

“The one thing about journeys though, they’re memorable. Why? Because they’re shared experiences. They’re truly whole of club . .

“We are bound by Blue and that’s why I know we’ll reach our destination no matter how long it takes. Let’s stick together.”