WHEN Jacob Weitering chests the banner for game No.200 at the MCG on Thursday night, tuning in from Perth will be the man’s predecessor as Carlton’s resident full-back Michael Jamison.

As he watches on, Jamison will doubtless cast his mind back to that season of 2016 when his and Weitering’s on-field careers all-too-briefly overlapped.

Jamison was somewhat taken aback that Weitering was on the cusp of game No.200 and with it automatic Life Membership of the Carlton Football Club.

“As an old backman you tend to follow the backs and he (Weitering) has carried the Carlton backline all these years,” Jamison said.

“I’m amazed that he’s got to 200 so quickly, what with the bumps and bruises from playing on the big blokes. That’s a measure of his professionalism, his resilience and his durability.”

Jamison recalled how respectful Weitering was of his peers who then formed the back six – Kade Simpson, Sam Rowe, Zach Tuohy, Jamison himself and Sam Docherty, who this Thursday night calls time on his on-field career having truly wrung the cloth dry. 

“When he (Weitering) came to Carlton I offered to help him, but in truth I had nothing to offer. He was so ready. He was physically prepared, mature and composed, and he read the play well,” Jamison said.

“At that time he also had leaders like ‘Simmo’ and ‘Doc’ to take the game on, and he hasn’t looked back.”   

Jamison and Weitering formed part of Carlton’s back six just three times – the first of them for the match with Richmond at the MCG in the opening Round of 2016 when Weitering completed his senior debut; the second against Sydney at Marvel Stadium; and the third on the Gold Coast against the Suns.

Regrettably, Weitering and Jamison never got to belt out the song together. Jamison was named emergency for the losing Round 4 contest with the Western Bulldogs at the Docklands and the winning Round 5 affair with Fremantle – which finally brought on Weitering’s Gatorade shower in the visitor’s rooms at Subiaco Oval.

He was again declared emergency when Carlton met Essendon in Round 6, and watched on as his young protégé suffered a partial shoulder dislocation that put him out for the next two matches.

Jamison then won a recall for the Round 7 Collingwood contest match at the MCG, and in Round 8 was part of Carlton’s memorable two-point victory over Port Adelaide in what was also his 150th and final senior game and Kade Simpson’s 250th.

“When I finished up as a player I was comfortable that Carlton was in ‘Weiters'’ hands. I remember saying to someone before he’d played his first game that he’d be a multiple All-Australian... and he should have earned more,” Jamison said.

“And he hasn’t looked back either. In his first year he was very serious about ‘head down, bum up’ to earn his spot, and he was able to self-navigate.

“But the change I’ve noticed most since is that he seems to have embraced his leadership role at the Club and he was always going to be a leader.”

Jamison was honoured with Carlton Life Membership in 2015 – and when Weitering is similarly recognised expect a couple of old full-backs to relive past glories when the next Life Members Luncheon is convened.