More than 500 Members and supporters – together with Captain Patrick Cripps and all Carlton current senior players – have gathered in Marvel Stadium’s Victory Room in celebration of the VFL/AFL club’s best and fairest players of years past.

Twenty-three winners across eight decades – from the only surviving best and fairest of the 1950s John Nicholls through to the reigning John Nicholls Medallist George Hewett – were in the house for the Spirit of Carlton’s much-anticipated annual luncheon under the ‘Club Champions’ banner.

Nicholls and Cripps are Carlton’s only five-time winners of the club’s most prized individual award, brought real gravitas to the event, as did three-time winners and former captains Stephen Kernahan and Chris Judd, and two-time winners Geoff Southby, Wayne Johnston, Anthony Koutoufides and Jacob Weitering,  

Also present was the 2003 best and fairest and former captain Andrew McKay, as well as the 2004 winner and former coach David Teague. McKay was the last recipient of what had been known as the Robert Reynolds Trophy since 1934, with Teague the inaugural beneficiary of the rebranded medal in Nicholls’ honour.

Nicholls himself participated in a Q and A with resident MC Jason Bennett at the luncheon – and guests later heard from Jacob Weitering, Hewett and Judd as speakers forming the first of two panels; with Peter Jones, Adrian Gallagher, Stephen Kernahan and Anthony Koutoufides forming the second.

Spirit of Carlton Manager Shane O’Sullivan said that the Luncheon importantly served as a fund-raiser for the well-being of all past players – a charter established when Geoff Southby, David Rhys-Jones and a core of others came together to form the Spirit in the early 2000s.

“From 2007-2018 the Spirit of Carlton mainly supported the club with gymnasium equipment for the current players at a time when it was in a difficult financial situation,” O’Sullivan said.

“Since 2018, particularly as a consequence of the issues around concussion, the Spirit of Carlton has been more attuned to past player welfare - anything and everything from meals and rental issues through to medical expenses and even funerals – which is why the Spirit sees the importance in looking after its own.”

Of the 40 players to have earned Carlton’s best and fairest award across the 67 seasons since Nicholls in ’59, only two are deceased – the 1955 winner John James who also took the honours in 1960 and ’61) and Sergio Silvagni (1962 and ’68).