Memories of the first ten years of the Carlton Football Club-Northern Blues (formerly Preston Bullants) alliance have been rekindled at a pre-match luncheon celebrating the milestone at Visy Park.

Northern Blues President Stephen Papal held court in the George Harris Function Room, as guests gathered to reminisce prior to the team’s match with North Ballarat at the weekend.

In the house was Director of Coaching and Development Robert Wiley, Assistant Coach John Barker and Football Administration Manager Shane O’Sullivan, as well as Michelle Webster, wife of the Northern Blues VFL Coach Luke.

Members of the Northern Blues executive Darren Bassett, Gene Gatto, James Kerrigan and David Zonta were also there, together with the club’s General Manager Garry O’Sullivan and Marketing and sponsorship Manager Morten Webb.

Papal told the audience that the Northern Blues and the team had come a long way since the fledgling days of 2003 under the then coach Mark Williams.

“We’ve had a fantastic journey,” Papal said.

“Our ten-year alignment has seen the development of many staff and players . . . and 40 of the 44 current-listed Carlton players have represented us in the VFL.

“We understand our role with the Carlton Football Club as an aligned partner. We are the hub of football in the north and we are very proud to represent the north in the VFL. In conjunction with the Carlton Football Club, we have formed a fantastic relationship in the north with the local council, community, the NFL and the Northern Knights.”

Shane O’Sullivan, in reflecting on the Carlton-Northern Blues alliance, told the audience that the timing was always right for it to happen.

“I know that at Carlton at the time things were pretty tough. We’d been fined and lost draft picks, so it was good timing that Preston needed to look at alignment because we needed to look at it as well,” O’Sullivan said.

“We were fortunate enough to get together and over the ten years I don’t believe we’ve had any real issues at any time.”