The six new Life Members included three players from Carlton’s 2010 playing list - Brad Fisher, Kade Simpson and Jarrad Waite. Other recipients were long-time servants of the Carlton Football Club - former Director Simon Wilson QC, Rohan Bromley and Don Mathieson.
Fisher, Simpson and Waite were eligible for Life Membership after having represented Carlton in eight AFL seasons. The three have formed a close relationship since joining Carlton and were delighted to be receiving their Life Membership at the same time.
Fisher was recruited from East Burwood via Easter Under 18s with Carlton’s 6th selection, number 72 overall, in the 2001 National Draft. He made his debut in Round 2, 2003 against Collingwood at the MCG and he played a total of 99 games for the Blues, including one game in 2010, his final season with Carlton.
Simpson was recruited from Emerald, also via Eastern Under 18s where he and Fisher were team-mates, with Carlton’s first selection, number 45 overall in the 2002 National Draft. He made his debut in Round 11, 2003 against Geelong at Etihad Stadium and has played a total of 133 games.
Jarrad Waite was recruited from Benalla via Murray Under 18s with selection 46, Father-Son selection, in the 2001 National Draft. He made his debut in Round 1, 2003 against Sydney at Stadium Australian and has now played 131 games. Jarrad’s late father, Vin Waite, was also a Life Member of the Carlton Football Club.
Brad Fisher, Kade Simpson, Stephen Kernahan and Jarrad Waite
Simon Wilson QC was appointed a director of the Club in November 2002 and resigned after eight years in November this year. Prior to joining the Board Simon was a financial sponsor of the Club and has also provided legal advice over a number of years.
Rohan Bromley has been involved with the Club on match days for over 25 years. He started helping his father, Ron, also a Life Member, with statistics in 1981 before working as a trainer for the Under 19s, Reserves and then senior teams, including the 1995 Grand Final. Since 2005 Rohan has been a match day assistant in the Carlton rooms.
Don Mathieson has been a member of the Carlton Football Club since the late 1950s. His ‘extra’ involvement with the Club commenced in the 1960s when he would attend training and help out serving food and drinks to players and staff on Thursday nights when the team was announced. He then assisted through scouting the opposition training sessions, providing training notes and injury reports. In the 198s he was responsible for the training rooms and food for the Sunday ‘recovery sessions’ and was involved in filming videos of all the reserve matches. Other duties included match day assisted in the Carlton rooms and he has also been a long serving Coterie Member with the Carltonians since 1988, having previously been a member of the President’s Men. Don is still involved with the Club as a member of the Inner Blue Group.
Carlton President Stephen Kernahan congratulated the recipients and presented each of them with their Life Membership at the Annual General Meeting.
