The pair were pictured at last Friday evening’s event at The Ballroom, Bell City, convened by the Old Paradians’ Association.
Benetti, who for some years has had to battle with the after-effects of a stroke, is still a regular at Carlton home matches in Melbourne, as is Silvagni.
For the record, Silvagni and dual Carlton premiership defender Edward “Vin” Brown were named in the coveted Parade team as ruck-rover and full-back respectively. Peter Bedford (rover), Daniel Harford (interchange) and Peter McKenna (full-forward), who all completed their senior league careers with Carlton, also made the cut, as did Robert Hyde, the recently-appointed Senior Coach of the Northern Blues, named alongside Brown in a back pocket.
John Benetti
Benetti represented Carlton in 88 senior matches over eight seasons from 1958-1965, and together with Silvagni turned out for the Blues in the 1962 Grand Final. Such was his feerless attack on the football, Benetti was once dubbed “Carlton’s atom bomb of the half-back flank”.
Sergio Silvagni
Silvagni represented Carlton in 239 senior matches from 1958-1971, which included the victorious Grand Finals of 1968 and ’70. A dual club best and fairest, he captained Carlton in 1964, was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1989, and is a member of its Team of the 20th Century.
