A HEALTHY gathering of some of the greatest Carlton players ever to lace a boot happened at the old ground on Sunday, for what was a touching farewell to the Blues’ 1968 Premiership player Dennis Munari.

Munari, the 41-game rover who died recently at the age of 74, was remembered as a great Carlton person who cared for the welfare of all former players, particularly in his capacity as the club’s Players’ Association President as a successor to the late Chris Pavlou more than 20 years ago.

In attendance at the farewell were six of Munari’s ’68 Premiership teammates - Adrian Gallagher, Peter Jones, John Nicholls, Ian Robertson, Bryan Quirk and Robert Walls, together with David McKay, Phil Pinnell, Andy Lukas, Geoff Southby, Rod Austin, Jim Buckley, Wayne Johnston, Alex Marcou and Warren Jones - Carlton Premiership players one and all in the years that followed.

Brownlow Medallists Gordon Collis and Peter Bedford also attended; as did former Carlton footballer Peter Fyffe, former Collingwood players Rene Kink and Des Tuddenham, North Melbourne Premiership player John Burns; former Carlton Football club directors Marcus Rose and George Varlamos; former Carlton football operations managers Geoff Walsh and Col Kinnear; Carlton Life Member David Nettlefold; former Australian Test batsman Keith Stackpole; and John Wrout, the son of the former Carlton Premiership player and Chairman of Selectors Jack Wrout.

Together they supported Dennis’ wife Sue, daughters Renee and Lauren, brother Adrian and all members of the Munari family in celebrating a wonderful life. A nice moment occurred when a football carrying the signatures of the 1968 Premiership players, Munari included, was availed to family members to photograph for posterity. The football was donated to the club some years ago by Paul Stewart, whose late father Lindsay had kept the item safely in storage for more than 50 years.

Nicholls, Walls and Southby, each introduced by Spirit of Carlton Manager Shane O’Sullivan, offered touching tributes to the man they knew.

After thanking Munari’s old matchday opponents for showing their respects to the Munari family in attending the service, Nicholls acknowledged Munari’s commitment to the welfare of his fellow former players - in keeping with the club’s time-honoured tradition of looking after its own.

“I only spoke to John Goold this morning, and ‘Gooldy’ told me Dennis always rang him to make sure he was okay – and that was the case with many other players with Dennis,” Nicholls said.

“I loved him, we all loved him and it is sad . . . but it’s important now to move forward and celebrate all the good things about Dennis, who was a great Carlton man.”

Walls acknowledge the presence in the room of so many Carlton people, as well as those from outside the club who shared companionships with Munari and respected the man. He then shareD his own reminiscences, which included an explanation as to why Munari had long been nicknamed ‘Shark’.

“It’s 56 years ago can you believe that Dennis and I made our debuts for Carlton in 1967,” Walls said, “and I’ve got fond memories of Dennis because he was 18 and I was 16, and he had two things I didn’t have – he had a car and he had a licence.

“The car that he had was a Holden from the ’50s and it’s front grill had been in a few crashes and smashes, so there was metal and steel going at all angles and it actually looked like a shark was coming at you – hence the nickname ‘Shark’ Munari.

“I got in that car for two years because Dennis drove me home to Brunswick after every training session. Many a time I’d say ‘let me out here. It’s just a walk down to my place’, but he’d insist on dropping me off at the front door … these are the things that you never forget.”

Of those halcyon years with Munari at Princes Park, Walls said “I guess you could say we were living the dream”.

“How good was it to be playing for Carlton? We had had the biggest name in football as our coach in Ron Barassi, and we had the best captain in the game in John Nicholls, and we had older players like ‘Serg’ (Sergio Silvagni), ‘Loftsy’ (Wes Lofts), Johnny Goold, Barry Gill, and so on. All of a sudden we were playing in the best team in the competition and that was pretty special.”

Beyond the playing arena, and in his summation of Munari’s character, Walls alluded to the kindness.

“I remember Dennis for his gentle nature,” Walls said.

“I remember him for being caring, considerate and respectful . . . he was a pretty special person. Everyone in this room will miss him, none of us will forget him and we’ve all been enriched for the experiences with him.”  

Apologies were accepted from a number of former Carlton Premiership players unable to attend the farewell, including Bill Bennett (1968) and Bert Thornley (1970), who from afar acknowledged all that Munari had done for them as past players – and Adrian Munari, on behalf of the Munari family, offered his sincere thanks to the Carlton Football Club and the Spirit of Carlton thanked.

As he said: “Dennis adored his family and he adored the Carlton Football Club just as much”.