“THEY sacrificed everything they had.”

Caleb Marchbank always knew he had a historical Carlton link.

A decade ago, he knew had an Anzac link. He just didn’t know how directly intertwined it was — until recently.

Caleb knew that his great-granduncle Jim was one of Carlton’s earliest stars: he was a two-time premiership player in 1906 and 1908, and remains the oldest Carlton player to reach the 100-game milestone.

It wasn’t the be-all-and-end-all of Caleb’s decision to come to Carlton at the end of 2016, but “it definitely did play a part”.

On this Anzac Day, 104 years after the first commemoration, attention rightly turns to continuing to honour the country’s great fallen in these most unique times.

Marchbank’s Anzac-Carlton connection doesn’t come through his great-granduncle Jim, but rather Jim's brother Bill.

While Jim played 115 games for Carlton, Bill played three for Carlton in the year of 1908 before moving on to North Melbourne and Fitzroy. As a 28-year-old, he would then enlist in the AIF.

“I knew that he was there in World War I, but that was about it,” Caleb said.

“I remember when I was 12, when Dad took me to the Anzac Museum. We were looking at the names and I saw the Marchbank name — I didn’t know a whole lot about him.

“It’s a pretty special thing, to see and say that someone with my ancestry has gone to war. For them to sacrifice their jobs and lives, to get up and leave for their country, it’s pretty amazing.”

In October 1917, while fighting on the front lines of France’s Western Front, Bill - who was promoted to Company Quartermaster Sergeant - was shot in the chest.

Surviving the bullet wound, his recovery took eight months: he would ultimately graduate as a Second Lieutenant in the war’s final weeks. (Source: Blueseum)

The importance of the sacrifice wasn’t lost on Caleb.

“You look at it now and you take it for granted, how good we’ve got it. It’s thanks to them,” he said.

“The courage of it all. They sacrificed everything they had.”

Initially, Caleb wasn’t aware of Bill’s link to Carlton: it was something he only found out while researching Jim a few years ago.

Bill and Jim are the brothers of Caleb’s great-grandfather, Albert.

Keen to find out his familial links with his impending club, Marchbank found that the two brothers both featured in the Old Dark Navy Blue in 1908 — but never as teammates.

“I knew about Jim and his history. When I was making my decision, I knew that Jim played here, played 100 games and in a couple of flags so his name would’ve been on the locker,” he said.

“When I was looking up to see how many games he had played and where he was from, I found out that Bill was there as well.

“The Marchbanks — there’s heaps of us.”

One of those Marchbanks who he did meet while at Carlton was his great-aunt Ellie Rosier: the daughter of Jim.

Residing on the Gold Coast, she still heads to games to watch Caleb when the Blues play at Metricon Stadium, while a post-training catch-up is something which sticks in his memory.

“In my first year at the club, we had just had just had a big session and after training, aunty Ellie, her daughter and her kids were there,” he said.

“I met them for the first time and that was pretty cool — it was a surreal experience. I sat back with them for half an hour to talk about Jim and they were quite passionate and proud: he was Ellie’s dad.

“She came to me and said she had one of Jim’s premiership medals and she sent me a photo. To see the name continue through the Carlton Football Club, that would’ve been a very exciting feeling for her.”

Of course, Marchbank would run out for his first game in Navy Blue in 2017 — 114 years after Jim’s first, and 109 years after Bill’s three.

The opportunity to add to that history over a century later is something which Marchbank would clearly love to achieve once football returns.

“The name goes so far back, there are always plenty of things to learn,” he said.

“To know that your last name is entrenched with the Carlton Football Club is pretty amazing and quite surreal.

“It wasn’t the major factor or the major point of difference in my decision, but it did play a part. It was pretty cool going into the locker room and seeing your surname on the locker.

“As a player, you always want to reach that goal of playing 100 games and having my name up there with Jim: if that was the case, it’d be pretty bloody amazing.”

With thanks to the Blueseum.