Here I am again, this time to tell you about the Carlton pre-match function we went to on Sunday before the game against Port Power. My Mum had been very excited about it because her very first hero, Wayne Johnston, was going to be there! She thought he was fantastic back when she went to school. Before the weekend, just so I could see why he was called The Dominator, she got me to watch the DVD we have of the 1982 Grand Final - when she reckons he should've won the Norm Smith Medal.......
 
The function was at The Lakes Resort Hotel, right near AAMI Stadium. Wayne was there right from the start, and Mum got him to sign his autobiography called THE DOMINATOR that she's had for many years. He seemed quite thrilled she had his book, & pointed out a photo of himself as a baby near the start of it, then showed her a photo of his two-year-old son on his phone - they look identical, just like me as a baby looking like my Mummy when she was a baby. He also signed the gold footy that Jon Dorotich bought me in the same venue at last year's pre-match function here. I keep that gold footy on a special shelf in my toy room. Daddy then took a photo of Mummy with her hero, and me.



We also saw Mark Naley early on who said "hello Jesse" as soon as he saw me, and noticed too that Shirley MacCuspie was there again, a footy fan from Melbourne who we met at the Sydney function. She loves Nick Duigan, and so do we. Peter Motley came in with his wife and new baby, and signed my autograph book for me. Craig Bradley was there too, and he signed my gold footy and had his photo taken with me. He told me to be sure we gave the big "thumbs up" for the photo. Current player Jeremy Laidler arrived then, and he too had his photo taken with me. He also signed my autograph book.





Mark Naley was the MC for the day, and as he officially welcomed us all he talked of the player training session held the day before at West Adelaide, and how the boys stayed around for an extra 45 minutes signing autographs & getting their photos taken. The players are all really upbeat this year & enjoying their footy, which is fantastic for us supporters to know. Mark said what the club, in particular the players, did yesterday was a fantastic exercise and one that would ensure Carlton continues to build supporters in South Australia.

He then invited Craig Bradley to join him on the stage, where he asked a few questions. Braddles told us that Kreuzer is coming along nicely with his rehabilitation after his knee reconstruction (the same kind of reco that my Mummy had when I was a baby), but that because the team's been winning there is no need to hurry him back into side as he's so very important to our team in the long run.

He also spoke of the Irishman who was to debut for us that day, Zach Tuohy - he is stocky, has massive calf muscles on him, being "Luke O'Sullivan-ish"! (Mum told me Luke is a past player from Carlton they used to call the Rhino). He said Tuohy is a fantastic kick and his parents are visiting from Ireland at the moment.

Mark Naley then asked Braddles about Port Adelaide, and whether he still feels anything for them. Braddles told us that YES for sure, as he grew up at Port Adelaide, playing there since he was 16. "It's my home - I played for many years there, and loved it, and have a close bond to them. Same goes for Carlton, where I also played for many years."
 
Jeremy Laidler then took the stage, and told us how his knee injury was coming along. He had a rehab session here in Adelaide the day before, and had no pain at all. He's feeling really good, and hopes to be back in 2-3 weeks. That will be good, because along with Duigan he has been ever so good for us this year as a defender.

Mark asked Jeremy to compare Carlton to Geelong, and he said we are going through a similar phase now to what they went through a few years ago, being down for a while and now on the up. He loves it at Carlton. He was also asked about Zach Tuohy, and he said that when Zach & our other Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin get together, they talk really fast to each other & it's very hard to understand them! Of new rookie Ed Curnow, he said he's a hard worker who has worked hard on his game, an inside player, very important to the side.
 
Next up on stage was our President, Stephen Kernahan (before this he signed my gold footy). The first thing Mark asked him was about the light blue clash guernsey we were to be wearing that day - Mark said that when Peter Motley arrived he didn't know whether he was cheering for his old team Sturt or Carlton!

Sticks joked, "I'm going to sue the AFL, we are the Navy Blues and we should be able to wear navy blue!  Seriously I don’t like Carlton in white or light blue but the AFL insists all clubs have a clash guernsey and we have to have a light colour". He then asked the 250 of us in the room what we preferred out of the white or blue clash guernseys, and most of us shouted out "White!", to which he said "The People Have Spoken".

Mark Naley then asked him why on earth he chose the specific song 'Stand By Your Man' after the 1987 grand final. Sticks said that earlier that season the players (including Johnno, "one of the greatest Blues of all time") had had a Player Review to raise funds for the club, & Sticks sang 'Stand By Your Man'.  Sticks also spoke of Carlton's finances, that GWS are trying to sign up Marc Murphy but Carlton is doing its best to keep him with us. We have great sponsors, a great training venue and administration centre, lots of members and supporters attending games - we'll be able to keep our good players.  



Peter Motley then decided it was time for him to tell his obligatory joke or two. He is a funny man and always makes me laugh.



 And then it was time for our guest of honour, Wayne Johnston, to talk to us. Mark Naley introduced him as having played 209 games for Carlton, starting at the age of 22. He has four premierships, two best & fairests, and was captain for two years. No wonder he was one of Mum's heroes.

He was asked which of the four premierships he liked the best. He said the last one in 1987 was "easier to remember as it wasn't so long ago"! Then he said the first of them in 1979 was special because the theme song 'Up There Cazaly' was the national anthem at the time, Carlton's Under 19 team played the curtain raiser & won, and the main team beat Collingwood by only a few points. But his favourite of all was the one that Mum had showed me on DVD, in 1982, because "we belted the Tigers, who'd bashed us in 1980, and obliterated us in the second semi final, so as underdogs it was great to win".

He was asked why he was called The Dominator. Mark Naley, who used to play with Wayne Johnston back in the day, believed it was because he had the ability to win games himself, that he was the X factor. But Johnno said it actually came about in 1979 in a nightclub! He said that "no one calls me Wayne - it's either Dom, Dominator, Johnno - and I like them all as they are affectionate terms".

Mark then asked him who the best player he's ever seen - Kernahan? Fitzpatrick? Johnston? Silvagni? to which Johnno promptly replied "Johnston!!". Then he went on to say that Bruce Doull always took the very best CHF every week & was never beaten, and Craig Bradley always had an amazing amount of possessions, winning three best & fairests, runner up in four - he believed those two players were fantastic.
 
To end the function, every person in the room stood up and belted out the Carlton theme song really loudly. Then it was time to go over to AAMI Stadium and watch the big match. I knew we'd hear that song at the start of the game when the players came out onto the oval to run through their banner, and I was really hoping we'd also hear it at the end, when the final siren sounded. And sure enough, we did! You can read about the match in my previous story on this website.
 
Go Blues,
Jesse (Jezza) Hanel