. . . and so it ends as it began for Brett Ratten, against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium at the weekend.
 
For it was 119 games ago - in the 17th round of 2007 in the home match against the Saints at that same venue (Telstra Dome) - that Ratten assumed duties as caretaker coach from Denis Pagan, in what also doubled as Anthony Koutoufides’ 278th and final on-field appearance.
 
Carlton’s current senior-listed players Eddie Betts, Paul Bower, Andrew Carrazzo, Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy, Jordan Russell, Heath Scotland, Kade Simpson and Bret Thornton were all part of that match.
 
In Lance Whitnall’s absence, “Simmo” led the players out as acting-captain, on a day in which Matthew Lappin also turned out for his 250th career game.
 
Regrettably, the Blues went under by ten points - 16.15 (111) to 15.15 (105).
 
As a much-respected midfielder, Ratten achieved virtually all that the great game could afford, as a three-time club champion and Premiership player.
 
But he can also stand by record as coach of his beloved club - 60 victories, 58 losses and a draw for the winning ratio of 50.8.
 
And he also finds himself in an elite club of precisely three to have represented Carlton in 100 senior matches as both player and coach in 116 seasons of League competition.
 
It’s an extraordinary stat, considering 48 years have lapsed since coach Ken Hands got there.

Before that you have to go back a further 53 years, to Norman “Hackenschmidt” Clark, who completed the coaching leg of the double in 1911.
 
On the eve of completing that double back in April, Ratten took brief time out to ponder the significance of it all.
 
“Now it’s here and I’ll probably look back on it in later years and realize that’s a great achievement from a personal point of view,” he said at the time. “But really, at the end of the day, there’s been some great coaches who didn’t play 100 games and (Robert) Walls, (John) Nicholls and (Alex Jesaulenko) who didn’t coach 100 games, all coached premiership teams.”
 
When quizzed as to whether the first 100 games as a coach posed greater challenges than the first 100 as a player, Ratten said: “They’re all hard... you’ve just got to work hard at what you do and you need a little bit of luck along the way”.