Just who is Carlton’s greatest player? It’s a question that has forever and a day provoked heated discussion amongst any Blue believers blessed with an opinion.

And in this the 150^th anniversary of its hallowed existence, the Carlton Football Club has seen fit to settle the debate by naming Numero Uno and the cream de la crème of its senior playing ranks – the top 12 Carlton players of all time – in order of merit.

Number 1: John Nicholls

Of all the famous old dark Blues ever to have laced a boot these past 150 winters, he is truly without peer.

His was a 328-game career over 18 seasons with the Carlton Football Club, which encompassed the Grand Final triumphs of 1968, 1970 and 1972 – the first two as captain, the third as Captain-Coach – and the seasons of 1959, ’63, 65, ’66 and ’67, each of which earned him a Best and Fairest medal that now bears his name.

For Victoria, his career was also peerless – a record 31 appearances for his state – and for both the big V and the big C he made his prodigious mark on the game with one of its greatest on-field attributes.

Presence.

He is of course the man widely regarded as one of the finest, if not THE finest ruckmen ever to play the game. A member of Carlton’s and the AFL’s coveted Teams of the Century, and a Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, he is forever remembered in football lore as “Big Nick” - the great John Nicholls.