Round 24 – Carlton v St Kilda: Happy Days!

 

 

 

Carlton v St Kilda might not be viewed as a traditional big game – and it’s not even a Grand Final replay – however, this fixture holds special significance for me. Not because I’m a lifelong Carlton supporter or that my hometown team of Koroit in South West Victoria proudly wears the Saints colours, but for a reason I’ll get to shortly.

 

The Blues and the Saints have a long tradition of trading players, mostly as I would see it either when the Carlton players were no longer required at Princes Park (including reigning premiership player-coaches!) or when they would swoop on a player from Moorabbin who could bolster their line-up. This theory basically held true up until Aaron Hamill left Carlton in his prime – a prescient move, as the Blues were about to enter their darkest years while the Saints entered one of their best decades, ultimately leading to them being one errant bounce and one dainty kick away from a second, even third, premiership.

 

However, none of these factors are what make Carlton-St Kilda games meaningful for me, rather it’s that at one of the Monday night games between these two – a short-lived ‘tradition’ that didn’t really catch on – was the last time I ever saw Gary, an old workmate, friend, and avid Saints man.

 

For about 18 months, Gary and I shared an office at the HQ of a large mining company in Melbourne, along with my Italian mate Tony from Coburg and Gary’s old mate David, a Hawthorn supporter from memory. Tony remains as far as I know the only Collingwood supporter who had to shift his allegiance to Carlton following his marriage – but that’s another story!

 

In that office there was endless banter around all sorts of topics but usually it came back to the footy and the fluctuating fortunes of the Blues and the Saints. After my contract ended, I moved on, however Tony and Gary remained. One early morning after a bike ride into work Gary collapsed on the floor of our shared office. To his great good fortune there happened to be a colleague from one of the mines in early that morning who was able not only to ring an ambulance, but also to perform CPR and consequently Gary survived.

 

A little while later I caught up with Gary at that Monday night game and we again had a great chat around the footy and life in general. He was by that time working as a FIFO at one of the company’s international mines and it was only a short time later, when back working overseas, that he collapsed after a workout and was unable to be revived. Gary was certainly no shrinking violet, always ready with an opinion, a controversial comment, a funny line and his usual conversation sign off ‘Happy Days’. So it is that the Blues v Saints games now provide an opportunity to remember Gary and to reminisce on the relationship the four of us shared in that small office and beyond.

 

Carlton’s fortunes over the last two seasons seem to have fluctuated wildly after one particular first quarter each year. In Round 14 2023 against Gold Coast, the Blues were lamentable in the first quarter before an 8-goal second quarter provided the spark that ignited their late season run all the way to the preliminary final, a game in which they kicked the first five goals against Brisbane before fading away. As it happened, I was watching the game live on my mobile on a bus travelling through rural Turkey into Greece having bittersweet thoughts that we’re going to play Collingwood in the Granny and I’m in Europe! (A first world problem, admittedly!)

 

2024 saw the opposite in the Round 17 game against GWS, in which Carlton led 8 goals to 3 at quarter time, before GWS kicked 7 goals in each of the next 2 quarters and inflicted on the Blues the first of what would become 6 losses from their final 8 games. This run, fuelled by a mounting injury toll, saw them go from being a lock to finish in the top four to struggling to stay in the eight! Following a solid win in Perth over the execrable Eagles in Round 23, the stage was set for a showdown with the Saints in the last home and away round of the season. Win it and the Blues would be safely in the 8! St Kilda had finished the season strongly and were looking for another win to cap off their year. Keeping the old tradition alive, they also had 2 ex-Blues in their lineup: Paddy Dow, the #3 draft pick from 2017 who, despite a strong finish to 2023, never quite lived up to expectations at Princes Park, and Liam Stocker, the young defender who famously was the first ever live draft pick trade when Carlton picked him up at #19 in the 2018 draft. Balancing that was ex-Saint and Docker Blake Acres, who is now a consistent performer in the navy blue.

 

The Saints had looked the most likely winners for most of the game, however another Cripps-inspired last half comeback saw the Blues take the lead for the first time deep into time on in the last quarter. They were, however, unable to hold onto the lead with Jack Higgins’ snapped goal, one of the best of the season, giving the Saints their match winning lead with only 12 seconds left on the clock. Despite this shattering loss, the injury ravaged Blues were elated just a few hours later when Port Adelaide’s defeat of Fremantle in Perth cemented them in eighth spot and set up an upcoming finals date with Brisbane.

 

Winning from eighth may be too much to ask of Carlton this year, however after having come close in recent years, and with such a strong list, perhaps a 30^th anniversary flag in 2025 is not out of the question. The Saints positive finish provides momentum to carry them into next year, and if they can attract some midfield support to complement their talented young players, they should also be finals bound. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a Grand Final between these two in the near future – now that really would be ‘Happy Days’!

 

 

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