“Together we must grow this club and we cannot afford to have any passengers - on or off the field,” Kernahan said to the 1,400 Carlton people in attendance at the 2010 John Nicholls Medal.
Kernahan said the evening signified the end of the 2010 season for Carlton and as from now the club’s focus was clearly on 2011 and the future. In looking at the season Kernahan said it was another very important year in the continuing progress of the club and believes some real progress was made during 2010.
The President mentioned the tough decisions that were made in late 2009, together with the retirement of a senior player and the subsequent loss of experience had put added pressure on the playing group to step up with a new game plan.
“The loss of Matthew Kreuzer mid-season added to the challenge our playing group faced in 2010,” Kernahan added.
While disappointed with the loss in the Elimination Final in Sydney he said it was a credit to the playing group and the coaches to have once again been involved in finals football.
“We were very disappointed with the loss to Sydney in the Elimination Final but the performance, in an interstate final, was one that should give everyone real confidence going forward. It was a loss but in playing finals we have been able to re-establish a finals culture in the last two seasons and it is now time we took the next step. We are now ready to achieve.”
Some of the off-field highlights from 2010 included:
• Visy Park - the opening of the magnificent facilities in February, a wonderful legacy to former President and Patron Richard Pratt.
• Match attendances - More than one million attended Carlton home and away matches in 2010
• Television Audiences - Carlton’s television audiences increased again in 2010 with the Blues being the second most watched team during the home and away season.
• Membership - while slightly down on 2009, Carlton had over 40,000 members for only the third time in the club’s history.
A special mention was made of Chris Judd who became a dual Brownlow Medallist in 2010 and in doing so became only the 5th Carlton winner of the AFL’s most prestigious individual award as well as his All Australian selection.
“The Carlton Football Club is about success and for this club to enjoy a successful future we all have an important role to play, we cannot afford to have any passengers - on or off the field,” was Kernahan’s final message.
