LAST night saw many Blues take home awards for their stellar contributions on and off the field in 2021. 

As well as the Best and Fairest count, there were seven additional awards given to the players who best embodied the Club values. 

Here's what they had to say. 

The Carltonians William A. Cook Trophy, Bill Lanyon Inner Blue Ruthless Award and John Nicholls Medal winner: Sam Walsh

"I think since I’ve come into the Club, I’ve tried to work as hard as I can and earn the respect of my teammates. From there I’ve just tried to be the best person and train as hard as I can and try and get the best out of my teammates.

"I think we’d all agree that we’ve got a good group who wants to work hard and I think there will be plenty more people who will step up in that leadership area and take us places.

"I’ve always had a massive love for the game and a passion and I love the way footy is able to challenge you each week and I always want to be known as a consistent player and that’s something that I strive for. 

Most Valuable Bluebagger Award, Coaches Award and John Nicholls Medal runner up: Jacob Weitering 

"For me, it’s just trying to do a consistent job for the team. I’m very happy that I play in the backline, I consider it a very selfless position and line, and naturally you just want to get your job done for the team and that’s what I try and do each week. If I can do that for another five, six or seven years, however long Carlton will have me, I’d be a very happy man.

"It’s going to be very exciting and there’s certainly a freshness to what's going on with all the new coaches, the guys we got in, the game plan, it’s very exciting times at the club."

John Nicholls Medal third place: Harry McKay 

"I felt like over the last couple of years I had opportunities to play football but I let myself down at times. I had a really good summer and put a lot of hard work in and I felt at times I was a bit more consistent this year, still plenty to work on and still just getting started. 

"I’m really looking forward to playing with Charlie (Curnow), 'Gov' (McGovern) and Jack (Silvagni) and sharing the load around and looking to get some one-on-one opportunities and playing good footy together."

Spirit of Carlton Award: Jack Silvagni 

"I’m obviously very proud, the Spirit of Carlton do a lot for the Club and having that connection and to be voted upon by past players is something I cherish."

Best Young Player Award: Liam Stocker 

"I think it was really special. I think the year went really well for me, probably not as well as we would’ve liked as a Club but compared to the years prior, I was really happy with how I went and how I fit in.

"I was really enjoying the role I had down the back and got back to enjoying footy which was sort of what this year was all about, I couldn’t have asked for much more to be honest."

Best Clubman Award: Marc Pittonet 

"Unfortunately, I missed the last nine games of the year, so I didn’t really want to wallow in that back half of the year so I tried to invest as much energy and time into the other boys as I could.

"I found out what the boys were working on and then tried to help them out in games and training and really bouncing off the walls day to day during the week. I didn't have to get up for every game so I had a bit more energy than the rest of the boys. I like to think I created a bit of spark."