April 23rd: Brendan Hartney
Career: 1981-1985
Debut: Round 11, 1981 vs North Melbourne
Carlton Player No.: 895
Games: 32
Goals: Nil
Last Game: Round 18, 1985 vs Sydney
Guernsey No. 24
Height: 179cm
Weight: 81kg
DOB: 23 April, 1958
Recruited from Sandhurst in 1981 after playing more than 100 games with the Bendigo club. Won the reserves best and fairest award in 1983 by 16 votes despite playing 8 games in the seniors and only 14 reserves games. A very underated footballer who battled hard to maintain a spot in the Blues line-up due to an abundance of quality defenders of the same ilk.
April 26th: Simon Minton-Connell
Career: 1989 – 1991
Debut : Round 15, 1989 vs Collingwood, aged 20 years, 80 days
Carlton Player No. 962
Games : 19
Goals : 50
Last Game: Round 24, 1991 vs Richmond, aged 22 years, 126 days
Guernsey Nos. 53 (1989) and 29 (1990-91)
Height: 190 cm (6 ft. 2 in.)
Weight: 83 kg (13 stone, 1 lb.)
DOB : 26 April, 1969
Tasmanian-born Simon Minton-Connell spent time on the lists of four AFL clubs – Carlton, Sydney, Hawthorn and Footscray – in a ten-season career from 1989 to 1998. A capable, accurate full-forward, he was the nephew of Hawthorn’s legendary Peter Hudson, and to date, the only player in Carlton’s history to have worn guernsey number 53 in a senior appearance for the Blues.
Nicknamed ‘SMC’, Minton-Connell first attracted Carlton’s attention as a dashing defender for North Hobart and Tasmania in the elite Teal Cup competition. He was drafted by the Blues at number 38 in the 1986 National Draft, and spent two seasons with Carlton’s Under 19 and Reserve teams. During that time, he was trialled as a key forward, where he discovered an aptitude (and a considerable hunger) for scoring goals… to read more click here.
April 27th: Jon Dorotich
Career : 1986 – 1993
Debut : Round 1, 1986 vs Hawthorn, aged 23 years, 338 days
Carlton Player No. 932
Games : 132
Goals : 103
Last Game: Round 15, 1993 vs Brisbane, aged 31 years, 74 days
Guernsey No. 6
Height : 193 cm (6 ft. 4 in.)
Weight: 97 kg (15 stone, 4 lbs.)
DOB : 27 April, 1962
Premiership Player: 1987
Jon Dorotich was a big, rugged, key defender from South Fremantle who enjoyed a notable football career on both sides of the continent for 17 seasons between 1981 and 1997. Blessed with vice-like hands and a raking left foot, he played in successive Grand Finals for Carlton against Hawthorn in 1986 and 1987; suffering a loss in the first, then taking sweet revenge in the second. After finishing at Carlton, he returned to WA and claimed more glory; as both a 100-goal full-forward, and captain of South Fremantle’s 1997 Premiership team.
Better known as “Dorra” throughout his career, Dorotich came under notice by the Blues when represented WA against Victoria at Subiaco Oval in 1984. Starting on the bench, he came on to take some telling pack marks as WA held out the Big V by four points in a clinker of a game. The Carlton recruiting machine swung into action, and Dorotich joined the Blues in time to make his debut at centre half-back against Hawthorn in round 1, 1986 on an auspicious day for the Carlton Football Club…for more click here.
April 27th: David Glascott
Career : 1981 – 1991
Debut: Round 3, 1981 vs Fitzroy, aged 19 years, 349 days
Carlton Player No. 891
Games : 173
Goals : 81
Last Game: Round 24, 1991 vs Richmond, aged 30 years, 125 days
Guernsey No. 32
Height : 183 cm (6’1″)
Weight : 71.3 kg (11.3)
DOB: April 27, 1961
Premiership Player: 1981, 1982, 1987
Carlton Hall of Fame (2001)
Best Clubman 1989
For most of his career, David Glascott might have been mistaken for a young public schoolboy. With his slender build, his longish blonde hair and his baby face, he seemed anything but a star VFL footballer. But looks are often deceiving, and in Glascott’s case, the fresh face and spindly legs belonged to a determined and skilful midfielder who was a valuable member of three Carlton Premiership teams.
Originally from Thomastown in Melbourne’s north, Glascott starred on a wing in Carlton’s 1979 Under 19 flag side, then worked his way through the Reserves team to make his senior debut in 1981. Standing 183 cm and just 71 kg, the wirey youngster in guernsey number 32 quickly became a crowd favourite. It wasn’t just his ability to get the ball and use it well that was admired; it was the courage he showed in chasing hard and tackling hard, whatever the opposition.
Playing on a wing, Glascott was a fine contributor in the 1981 and ’82 Premiership teams in a dream start to his career. Then as he matured into an elite player he became a handy all-rounder at both ends of the ground. In the 1986 Grand Final loss to Hawthorn he shared the roving duties with Bernie Evans, and when the Blues took their revenge on the Hawks in ’87, he controlled one back pocket in a dominant Carlton defence……for more read here.
28th April: Ken Hunter
Career : 1981 – 1989
Debut : Round 1, 1981 vs Richmond, aged 23 years, 334 days
Carlton Player No. 889
Games : 147
Goals : 160
Last Game : Round 5, 1989 vs Hawthorn, aged 32 years, 1 day
Guernsey No. 9
Height : 183 cm (6 ft. 0 in.)
Weight : 76 kg (12 stone, 0 lbs.)
DOB : 28 April, 1957
Premiership Player 1981, 1982, 1987
All Australian 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983
Best and Fairest 1981
Leading Goalkicker 1983 (43 goals)
Carlton Hall of Fame Inducted 1998
Carlton Team of the Century
Ken Hunter was already 23 years old when he was recruited to Carlton from Claremont, WA in 1981. A seasoned, two-time All Australian defender, he had finished runner-up to champion ruckman Graham Moss three years in succession as Claremont’s Best and Fairest. Over the same period, he had suffered a broken jaw on three separate occasions, while earning widespread acclaim for his aerial ability and his outstanding bravery in marking contests.
Two other VFL clubs in North Melbourne and Richmond had previously shown interest in Hunter, but both clubs ultimately decided that at 183 cm and only 76 kg, he was just too lightly-framed for the rigours of VFL football. Indeed, Richmond’s President at that time, Ian Wilson – when he heard that Carlton had signed Hunter – was even quoted as saying that Richmond “doesn’t recruit half-back flankers.” That comment was to haunt Wilson for a decade, as Ken went on to forge a magnificent career in Navy Blue……..for more read here.
30th April: Adrian Gleeson
Career : 1986 – 1996
Debut : Round 7, 1986 vs Collingwood, aged 19 years, 10 days
Carlton Player No. 938
Games : 176
Goals : 174
Last Game : Round 18, 1996 vs Fremantle, aged 29 years, 95 days
Guernsey No. 12
Height : 178 cm (5 ft. 10 in.)
Weight : 78 kg (12 stone, 4 lbs.)
DOB : 30 April, 1967
Premiership Player: 1987
Victorian Representative 1990, 1991
Adrian ‘Bear’ Gleeson joined Carlton from Koroit – near Warrnambool, in Western Victoria – in 1986, and carved out a fine career of 176 games, including two Grand Finals and the 1987 Premiership. A cheeky, hard-running rover-forward with great endurance and an eye for the goals, he was also a loyal clubman who happily contributed his skills and experience to the Blues’ Reserves team for an extra season after his days as a senior player were curtailed by injury.
Gleeson was the youngest in a family of seven sons who all played senior football. As a toddler he was nicknamed ‘Humphrey’ which later became ‘Humphrey Bear’ when he was given a Humphrey B. Bear suit as a gift and couldn’t be parted from it. On the football field however, his team-mates just called him ‘Bear’, a moniker that was to become his trademark at Princes Park……..for more read here.