THERE weren’t too many more that fed off of the energy of the Carlton crowd than Dennis Armfield.
The former cult hero of 145 games knew the importance of the two-way relationship between the players and fans.
Speaking to Carlton Media this week, Armfield said that it was the Bluebaggers who made the Club - which he called home for a decade - what it was.
“I was a big believer that without fans, without members, without coterie groups, without sponsorships, we don’t survive,” Armfield said.
“You learn so much about the Carlton history from those fans, those diehard Blue fans. You soon find out that once you wear Blue, there’s no turning back.
“I was very lucky to be in the position that I was as an AFL player.”
Now watching on as a fan himself of the Navy Blues, Armfield believed there was plenty to be optimistic about when games returned.
Of course, Armfield saw first-hand the development of players like Jacob Weitering, Sam Petrevski-Seton and cousins Zac Fisher, who arrived in the latter stages of his career.
He said their natural talent and room for growth had him excited about what they could offer — even if it was to his detriment.
“We’re very lucky that at the football club, we have a lot of good young talent and we’re starting to see that come together,” he said.
“It’s really exciting, but unfortunately they came on too quick and kicked me out of a role. So they can all get stuffed!
“Patrick Cripps has risen to one of the top players in the competition… [Weitering] can be a man mountain… my little cousin ‘Fish’ is doing amazing things.”
While there’s doubt over how football will look in 2020, the scenes in Round 1 were what Armfield described as “very weird”.
Having lived off the energy of the crowd, Armfield said he was sure that players would be feeling the lack of fan presence at the game.
“I live with passion and I live with the hype of the fans,” he said.
“I have a lot of internal hype and love thriving off of my teammates, but also letting my teammates thrive off me.”
