There mightn’t have been as much riding on it as the ’99 Prelim, but Andrejs Everitt’s match-winning tackle on Adelaide’s Rory Sloane at the MCG on Sunday night took Carlton supporters back to Fraser Brown’s barreling of Essendon’s Dean Wallis in the frenetic last moments of THAT game 15 years ago.

Everitt himself was suitably diplomatic about it in the winner’s circle afterwards.

“I was just happy to wrap Rory up at the finish . . . and relieved, because he was running hard late,” Everitt said.

Of more satisfaction to Everitt however was the run-with role itself. This was a first for the former Western Bulldogs and Sydney utility and he was well and truly up for the challenge. 

“I’d never been given this sort of job before, and I had a bit of time to prepare . . . I even had a word with Ed Curnow about it,” Everitt said. “What I found about this experience is that I was involved in the game for longer, and that was a real learning curve for me.”

Hopefully Everitt’s 21-possession game in this his ninth senior appearance for his third club will be remembered as a watershed moment in a long and distinguished career for the 24 year-old secured by the Blues in the dying minutes of the last AFL trade period.