The 90's Era

[Franc de Borges]

Any premiership and making 3
Grannies and playing most years in the final series is a success … could it have been better Ofcourse but between 93-95 were probably the only years we could have won another . 99 was a fluke and 2000 Essendon reminded me of Carlton 95. Us losing 94 the way we did was like Essendon losing prelim 1999

We made the finals five times and missed five times in the 90s. That's not successful. Finished 11th three times, which was our equal worst ever finish at the time.

Compare that with 11 finals series in a row from 1978-88 (which is still the second longest streak in history behind Hawthorn from 1982-94). I was born at the wrong time.

We also had a habit of terrible last rounds in the 90s. 1991 was a 98 point loss to Hawthorn, '92 we needed to beat the Eagles in Perth to make the finals and lost, '93 we only needed to beat a shocking Sydney team by five goals at home to finish top, yet only scraped home by 1 point (which was lucky), '94 lost to Essendon to miss top spot again, '97 lost to Richmond at home after having a 42 point lead to miss the finals, and '99 lost to a poor Richmond side to limp into the finals.

Take out one standout year, and the 90s were pretty poor.

 

[gbatman]

1994 really does seem like the one that got away. Had a great season, had good records against the other finals teams that season but when we got to finals for whatever reason things fell apart. Was always such a shame that the 2000 grand final wasn't full strength Essendon V Full strength Carlton. As good as Essendon were I'm still adamant we would have given them a really good shake. Koutoufides played one of the most dominant seasons a player ever has, he was worth about 5 solid players to us and to lose him that season, it's something we will never know. Still felt we should have beaten Melbourne in the qualifier but they ran over the top of us that day.

We had a consistent core of players through that era, a lot of All Australians, we kept being able to top up and rebuild quickly because of that.

 

[RAPPA]

On 2000, injuries to key players at the wrong time was disastrous, but the Melbourne game was simply an example of poor kicking keeping the opposition in the hunt. 12.15 to 15.6. The game should've been iced in the 3rd when we kicked 2.6 but alas, we cooked it. That said, we would've played North in the prelim and fairly confident Essendon would've had our measure in the GF, inspired certainly by us destroying their '99 hopes.

 

[Blues177]

The end to 94 was a disaster. Thumped the Eagles by ten goals, went to the top of the ladder.

Then lost to the bombers in the last round and beaten by an undermanned Geelong, if I recall correctly.

Lost complete form in 2 weeks. It was strange.

It was certainly very strange as in addition to this we destroyed 5th placed Richmond by 19 goals at Princes Park in between our big win against West Coast and the loss to Essendon. I went to this game with a Richmond supporting mate who told me after the game that no team would beat Carlton in the finals.
I don’t think we had any injuries to vital players when we lost form in those 2 weeks.

 

[Blues177]

We made the finals five times and missed five times in the 90s. That's not successful. Finished 11th three times, which was our equal worst ever finish at the time.

Compare that with 11 finals series in a row from 1978-88 (which is still the second longest streak in history behind Hawthorn from 1982-94). I was born at the wrong time.

We also had a remarkable run from 1965- 1988 when we won more games than we lost in each season except 1974 when we went 10-11-1.
7 premierships during that period.

 

[Bell Ringer]

Yep. One of those teams went on to win 3 flags in the next 4 years and the other won a wooden spoon in that time. You'd never guess which was which on that day.

Smashed them 12 mths later at PP as well;

AFL Match Statistics : Carlton defeats Brisbane at Princes Park Round 8 Saturday, 19th May 2001

Carlton defeats Brisbane at Princes Park Round 8 Saturday, 19th May 2001 AFL match statistics

www.footywire.com

As you say, the next 60-odd games produced widely different results for either team!

 

[gab213]

We made the finals five times and missed five times in the 90s. That's not successful. Finished 11th three times, which was our equal worst ever finish at the time.

Compare that with 11 finals series in a row from 1978-88 (which is still the second longest streak in history behind Hawthorn from 1982-94). I was born at the wrong time.

We also had a habit of terrible last rounds in the 90s. 1991 was a 98 point loss to Hawthorn, '92 we needed to beat the Eagles in Perth to make the finals and lost, '93 we only needed to beat a shocking Sydney team by five goals at home to finish top, yet only scraped home by 1 point (which was lucky), '94 lost to Essendon to miss top spot again, '97 lost to Richmond at home after having a 42 point lead to miss the finals, and '99 lost to a poor Richmond side to limp into the finals.

Take out one standout year, and the 90s were pretty poor.

The 90s was a long way from being our best decade, compared to the 70s and 80s;

70s 3 premierships, 1 runners up Finalists 8/10 seasons
80s 3 premierships, 1 runners up Finalists 9/10 seasons
90s 1 premiership, 2 runners up Finalists 5/10 seasons

If it wasn't for such a dominant display in 95 and the 99 preliminary I doubt that we'd be recalling the 90s with too much fondness. What elevates it in people's minds is that we have been so unsuccessful since.

 

[Wickzki]

One of my first vivid memories of going to the football was a kid came in the 1991 or 1992 season though I'd gone to plenty of games before then

We were playing Richmond (IIRC) out st Waverley needing a win to keep our charge for finals alive. I remember Jon having a s**t at goal that he should've smashed through. But as jr was capable of doing completely ****ed the kick snd we lost by a few points.

That game really epitomised that mini era of Carlton and reminded me of where we're at now. A really strong top end with some players who should have been better who made really poor mistakes. A bottom end of our lineup that was a ghost town of talent.

I remember going from Walls to Jezza and back to Parkin in quick succession in the late 80s to early 90s. Then it wasn't until we traded in Diesel and.Earl Spalding and had some return from the kids developing from within the club (Brown then Ratten, Sexton, Ang Christou and Kouta). Lots of players didn't make it and our list makeup featured s lot of cast offs from other clubs.

Disappointment in 93 and 94. Jubilation in 95. Injuries decimated our premiership defense. Then we had a mini rebuild headlined with Whitnall and Hamill among others
.
I remember years of wanting to get excited by the draft but we hadn't entered that era of professionalism and walking away from a number of drafts not really having much to show for it. But the media would tell us that that was okay as that's not how we built success. Until it suddenly did matter after all

We failrd spectacularly. We shoved it up em when they'd written us off after 94.. it was a frustrating period to be a Carlton supporter but we were a chance for a number of years. We'd take that now if it was offered to us.

I don't think we're all that far off having a similar era to be honest. Lots - perhaps too much - would have to go right to win W flag let alone match the succeed of 95 but the rest of the decade is not too far off.
.
Aside from the premiership and the '99 prelim my favorite mkennt may have been the way we infuriated West Coast and changed footy forever by a) finishing below them, b) losing in the first week of the finals, C) them winning in the first week of finals and d) earning gone field advantage in our week 2 finals matchup because the old MCG contract that guaranteed an MCG final every week of the finals be zus Brisbans hosted the Dogs.

 

[ctwenty1]

Yep. One of those teams went on to win 3 flags in the next 4 years and the other won a wooden spoon in that time. You'd never guess which was which on that day.

Akermanis talks about that game turning things around for them.

Forced them to confront what exactly they were about as a footy team.

 

[Bell Ringer]

Akermanis talks about that game turning things around for them.

Forced them to confront what exactly they were about as a footy team.

Alastair Lynch said it was the loss to us in 2001 @ OO/PP:

How Blues loss sparked the Lions to greatness

It was the loss the Lions needed as a wake-up call, against a Blues outfit that probably shouldn’t have even come close ... and it all happened in 2001. Read Alastair Lynch’s column here.

thewest.com.au

" It was Round 8, 2001 and the Blues belted us by 74 points at Princess Park. That game remains firmly entrenched in my mind as the turning point"

 

[ctwenty1]

Alastair Lynch said it was the loss to us in 2001 @ OO/PP:

How Blues loss sparked the Lions to greatness

It was the loss the Lions needed as a wake-up call, against a Blues outfit that probably shouldn’t have even come close ... and it all happened in 2001. Read Alastair Lynch’s column here.

thewest.com.au

" It was Round 8, 2001 and the Blues belted us by 74 points at Princess Park. That game remains firmly entrenched in my mind as the turning point"

right you are.