‘DEANO’ in the Navy Blue No.35.

The last week has been the realisation of a dream for Harry Dean, with the father-son prospect given one final surprise upon his first day at IKON Park on Friday.

Arriving at the football club for the first time as a Carlton player, Dean learned of his jumper number in Navy Blue, finding out that he would indeed wear the No.35 jumper which his dad wore with such distinction at Carlton.

Previously worn by Billy Wilson (who has changed numbers for 2026), Dean’s immediate reaction when unveiling his number was “how good… that’s unreal”.

In the weeks leading up to the draft, Dean said that it would be an honour to some day wear the No.35 worn by his dad - but would’ve been happy with anything as his time with the Blues fast approached.

But he’ll now get to forge his own career in a number of great significance to the family, ever since Peter debuted against Footscray in Round 11, 1984 and wore the number for 15 straight seasons.

While Peter holds the Club record for games played in the number, it’d be remiss not to mention Ed Curnow, who featured in 221 games in the No.35 before his retirement two years ago.