Alf Egan:
April 3, 1910 - January 1962
478th Carlton player
36 games, 20 goals 1931-1933
Hailing from the tiny town of Myamyn in Victoria’s south-west, the Gunditjmara man Alf Egan, in completing his senior debut in Round 3, 1931, is recognised as Carlton’s first known Indigenous footballer.
Cyril Mann:
548th Carlton player
42 games, 65 goals 1939-1942 & 1945
The maternal grandson of the Yorta Yorta’s Indigenous political activist William Cooper and a nephew of the 1928 Stawell Gift winner Lynch Cooper, Cyril’s on-field career was interrupted by wartime service for the 2/23 Battalion which helped to defend Tobruk.
Syd Jackson:
July 1, 1944 -
808th Carlton player
136 games, 165 goals 1969 - 1976
Premiership Player 1970, 1972
Carlton Hall of Fame 2006
Taken away by a formal arrest warrant as a “half-caste” when he was three years old, Syd was separated from his family for 20 years and would meet his parents only twice before they died. For a long time Syd thought he was a Noongar man having been raised in Roelands Mission near Bunbury, until he discovered he was born in Leonora and part of the Wongi people out of the Western Australian Goldfields region.
A member of Carlton’s famous Grand final conquests of 1970 and ’72, Syd’s contribution to the AFL and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples was recognised in 2020 when he was presented with a tribute boomerang made from Wathaurong Glass by AFL Commission Chairman Richard Goyder.
Rod Waddell:
May 23, 1957 -
898th Carlton player
Five games, two goals 1981-1982
Born in the Kimberleys in Western Australia, and raised on a cattle station between Derby and Kununurra, Rod was the son of an Indigenous mother Mavis Lacey and white father Steve Waddell.
Joining Carlton at a time when members of the club’s famed “Mosquito Fleet” were in full flight, Rod’s opportunities as an on-baller were somewhat limited – but he was within a whisker of taking his place in the Blues’ 1981 Grand Final 20 had Rod Ashman not managed to prove his fitness in Grand Final week.
Mark Naley:
March 11, 1961 – July 6, 2020
940th Carlton player
65 games, 74 goals 1987-1990
Premiership player 1987
Recruited to the club from South Adelaide on the cusp of the 1987 season, the late Mark Naley found himself in fair company with Craig Bradley, Peter Motley and Stephen Kernahan - all of whom had joined the club from over the border in the lead-in to season ’86.
In his maiden season at Princes Park, the blisteringly-paced player quite literally took time to find his feet. The turning point came in the mid-year Australian Football Championships when a series of stellar performances for South Australia against Victoria and Western Australia earned him the Tassie Medal for most outstanding player.
From then on, ’Nails’ starred in the No.17 - a guernsey made famous by Brent Crosswell and the Brownlow Medallist Gordon Collis - and his place in Carlton’s starting 20 for the 1987 Grand Final was assured.
Back in Adelaide, and having always been told as a child that his paternal grandfather was of Afghan descent, Mark discovered that Charles Gordon Naley - his Pop - was of Indigenous descent. This, couple with the fact that Charles served with the Australian Infantry Forces at Gallipoli, filled the Carlton Premiership player with a deep sense of personal pride.
Troy Bond:
July 14, 1973 -
992nd Carlton player
36 games, 26 goals 1994-1995
Originally hailing from Port Adelaide having taken out the club’s Best and Fairest honours in 1993, Troy managed 15 senior appearances through Carlton’s all-conquering Premiership season of 1995, but was cruelly overlooked for the ’95 Grand Final. Returning to the city of churches, he found his niche in the Adelaide team and under Malcolm Blight’s watch savoured Premiership success in 1997.
Sean Charles:
May 18, 1975 -
1022nd Carlton player
One game, 0 goals 1998
Originally hailing from Powelltown in the Yarra Ranges east of Melbourne, Charles forged a handsome reputation as an outstanding schoolboy footballer who was already chasing the leather at the elite level with the Eastern Ranges Under-18s when he was signed by Melbourne. Cruelly, Sean’s time at Princes Park ended before it even began when he suffered a broken leg in his maiden senior appearance.
Andrew Walker:
May 18, 1986 -
1079th Carlton player
202 games, 139 goals 2004 -2016
With an Indigenous Australian heritage and a tribal ancestry sourced to the Yorta Yorta, Andrew Walker was considered one of the country’s most promising football talents when Carlton called his name with a priority draft selection.
Wearing the famous No.1 and earning the nickname “Skywalker” for his incredible aerial capabilities, the kid from Echuca is forever remembered as Carlton’s first Indigenous member of the coveted 200 Club.
Cory McGrath:
February 4, 1979 -
1081st Carlton player
50 games, four goals 2004-2006
From Northam in Western Australia, Cory crossed the continent to follow his football dream. At Princes Park he earned the respect of the Carlton collective and in 2006 was elevated to the leadership group.
Cory’s 50th and last game for Carlton coincided with the team’s humiliating loss to Sydney at the SCG. It was said that his commitment and loyalty to the club deserved a better conclusion, but sport, as in life, is not always fair.
Eddie Betts:
November 26, 1986 -
1084th Carlton player
206 games, 314 goals 2005-2013 & 2020 -
Born in Port Lincoln, Eddie Betts spent most of his formative years in Kalgoorlie – but Princes Park was where his football legend was first forged.
Carlton called Eddie’s name at No.3 in the rookie draft. In doing so, it landed one of the game’s greatest small forwards.
Eddie Betts. The official giver of joy of the Carlton Football Club.
Joe Anderson:
December 24, 1988 -
1101st Carlton player
17 games, 0 goals 2007-2010
Joe’s father David, born in Darwin, is of the Warlpiri Warramunga tribe, his paternal grandfather Jimmy James having been part of the stolen generation.
“He got taken from Phillip Creek, just outside Tennant Creek and was put in the Retta Dixon Mission home in Darwin when he was five,” Anderson said recently. “Eventually he found out who his mother was, but not his father.”
After playing for Nightcliff and Katherine as a junior, Joe was taken by Carlton at the national draft of 2006. Though his on-field tenure lasted just 17 games, Joe’s love for the place is lifelong.
“It still gives me chills just thinking about Carlton today, because of the history, the past players and everything that’s happened there both on and off the field,” he said. “It was great to be part of that (and) I still go for Carlton.”
Jeff Garlett:
August 3, 1989 -
1116th Carlton player
103 games, 187 goals 2009-2014
In 2014, Jeff Garlett sought to learn more about Indigenous culture, and the story of his own tribal origins. Jeff’s people were of the Noongar – a kinship grouping occupying the area of the South West Agricultural Division of Western Australia - affected from 1827 onwards, and today represented by the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council.
Jeff’s football bloodline beggared belief. A cousin of Lance Franklin, Des Headland and Dale Kickett and a nephew to Leon Davis and Derek Kickett, it’s little wonder the fleet-footed goalsneak thrilled audiences as he went about his work with his fellow Amigos Chris Yarran and Eddie Betts.
Chris Yarran:
December 19, 1990 -
1122nd Carlton player
119 games, 90 goals 2009-2015
A Perth suburban boy, Chris first plied his craft at Midvale Junior Football Club where and when two of his closest friends Nick Natanui and Michael Walters were going around.
Nominated by Carlton with its first round selection (sixth overall) in the 2008 national draft, Chris’s role at the club was, according to then coach Brett Ratten, to assist fellow small forward Eddie Betts, and take some of the heat off the resident full-forward Brendan Fevola.
An impeccably skilled footballer who seemed to float across the top of the ground, Chris’s footballing brilliance turned many a game for the Blues – and his goal of the year on the ’G in the opening round of 2012 endures.
Liam Jones:
February 24, 1991 -
1158th Carlton player
14 games, 13 goals 2015 - 2022
In spending his formative years in Tasmania, Liam Jones pursued his junior career with North Hobart and ultimately represented Tasmania’s U18s outfit. An Indigenous Australian whose father Bob Jones was also a 20-gamer for St Kilda, Liam attended Melbourne’s Scotch College as part of the school’s Indigenous program.
Traded by Footscray to Carlton, Liam’s erratic form up front almost led to an untimely parting of the ways – but his relocation to the back half served as the catalyst for an on-field renaissance as an attacking, rebounding defender.
Clem Smith:
February 3, 1996 -
1159th Carlton player
7 games, 0 goals 2015
A former student at Perth’s Wesley College, Clem was recruited to Carlton with its third selection (60th overall) in the 2014 national draft. A former Perth rep, Clem completed his senior AFL debut against Richmond in the opening round of the 2015 season, fronting up as a sub in the first minute when Dale Thomas was forced out with injury.
Clem managed seven senior appearances in his maiden season with Carlton, only to be delisted after failing to break into the seniors the following year.
Nat Plane:
August 4, 1996 -
20th Carlton AFLW player
21 games, 5 goals 2017 -
One of the Inaugural Blues at IKON Park, Plane swapped her cricket whites for the Navy Blue when she was drafted by the Club in 2016. Showing promise as both an inside-midfielder and a reliable defender, Plane is a consistent feature in the Blues best team.
As a proud Kamilaroi woman, Plane has also had a crucial role in helping to educate and promote female Indigenous footballers, using her advocacy to influence the beginning of the first-ever AFLW Indigenous Round in 2021.
Sam Petrevski-Seton:
February 19, 1998 –
1180th Carlton player
88 games, 19 goals 2017 – 2022
‘Samo’ spent his first years on a cattle station near Fitzroy Crossing, where his father worked as a stockman. An Indigenous Australian, Samo also boasts Macedonian ancestry on his mother’s side, his maternal grandfather having migrated to Australia from Macedonia. Incredibly, Samo’s first language was Kriol, and he didn’t learn standard English until he boarded at Perth’s Clontarf Aboriginal College.
Drafted with Carlton’s first selection (sixth overall) in the 2016 national draft, Samo completed his debut in the opening round of the 2017 season, and in recording 21 disposals, four marks, three tackles and two goals in the 7th round match with Collingwood was nominated as an AFL Rising Star.
Jarrod Pickett:
August 18, 1996 -
1181st Carlton player
17 games, eight goals 2017
After two seasons with the Giants during which time he failed to play a senior match, Jarrod was secured by Carlton through the 2016 trade period. Regrettably injury cruelled the exceptionally-gifted midfielder/forward’s fortunes and the West Australian’s League career came to an untimely end in late 2018.
Jarrod Garlett:
May 3, 1996 -
1190th Carlton player
13 games, five goals 2018-2019
A second cousin of Jeff Garlett, Jarrod, the former South Fremantle footballer, was taken by Carlton with its final selection of the 2017 national draft, having represented Gold Coast in 17 senior appearances through two seasons.
Jarrod tallied 13 senior games for Carlton through two seasons to 2019 when he was delisted at season’s end.
Kirby Bentley:
May 9, 1986 -
41st Carlton AFLW player
3 games, 0 goals, 2019
Kirby Bentley joined the Blues as a free agent ahead of the 2019 season. The esteemed defender began her career at the Dockers, where she was taken as a priority pick in 2016. Bentley played all seven games of the inaugural AFLW season, averaging 10 disposals across half-back before a knee injury would see her miss the entire 2018 season.
Despite only playing three games in Navy Blue, Bentley’s impact and advocacy for Indigenous girls has been profound. In 2014, she began the Kirby Bentley Cup: a nine-a-side tournament for Aboriginal girls to help provide young Indigenous girls the opportunity to put their skills on display.
Maddy Prespakis:
November 15, 2000 -
45th Carlton AFLW player
24 games, 14 goals, 2019 - 2022
Madison Prespakis arrived at Carlton a ready-made AFLW star, quickly forging her way into the Blues’ best. A no-nonsense, combative midfielder, Prespakis has won awards wherever she’s played — including All-Australian selection and best-and-fairest honours in her under-18s career. Prespakis was awarded both the AFLPA 2019 AFLW Best First Year Player and the 2019 NAB AFLW Rising Star award for her breakout season, as well as being named All Australian.
In 2020, Prespakis took her game to the next level. Not dropping below 17 disposals in her seven games, Prespakis stamped herself as one of the best players in the competition, taking home the AFLW's Best and Fairest award - becoming only the third Indigenous player to win the league’s top award across the AFL and AFLW competitions. In 2021, Prespakis continued her dominant midfield performance, adding some impressive forward craft to her resume.
Jack Martin:
January 29, 1995 –
1210th Carlton player
18 games, 14 goals 2020 –
Hailing from Broome in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, having been born to an Indigenous Australian mother (Yawuru) and father (Yamatji), Jack, at 12 years of age, relocated with his family to the state’s mid-west coastal city of Geraldton.
Joining Carlton by way of the pre-season draft after a 97-game tenure with Gold Coast, Jack completed his senior debut in Dark Navy in a blaze of glory, booting four goals against the reigning premier in the opening round of 2020 - and the best is yet to come.
Zac Williams:
September 20, 1994 –
1221st Carlton player
22 games, 5 goals 2021 –
Born and raised in Narrandera, New South Wales to Steven Williams and Joy O’Hara, Zac is of Wiradjuri descent on his father’s side and of Irish descent on his mother’s. Though his father passed away when Zac was six, Steven remains a profound influence on Zac’s life.
Joining Carlton through free agency after a 113-game career for Greater Western Sydney, Zac, at 26, has committed long-term to an AFL outfit surely on the rise.
Jesse Motlop:
September 20, 1994 –
1230th Carlton player
1 games, 1 goals 2022 –
Selected by the Blues with pick No.27 in the 2021 NAB AFL Draft, the lively West Australian arrived at IKON Park after an impressive season playing in the WAFL.
Hailing from Larrakia country, the son of former North Melbourne and Port Adelaide player Daniel Motlop, the lively forward made his debut in Round 9 of 2022 kicking a goal in Carlton's win over the GWS Giants.
