Wayne Carey retirement/tribute thread

[CoastBhoy]

Originally posted by RooBunny
Right... so my opinion isn't valid because I do "hate" Wayne Carey? I don't recall the title of this thread having anything to do with making warm fuzzy statements... I thank him openly for what he did as a footballer for North Melbourne, as I said in my original post...it doesn't mean I have to like him...

...that said - if he comes "home", I'm shallow enough to welcome him back....

We have had countless threads about Carey , and peoples dislike for him , surely the day he announes his retirement we treat him like the champion he was, that is if u can bring yourself to say something nice about him champ.

 

[thumping]

I would like to say Thank's for the memories Big Fella!!
Even though you tore our hearts out with what you did(But who am I to judge!) I will always be thankful for what you not only gave to me, But for what you gave to us all.

I hope one day we can all look back at W.Carey as the champion footballer and not W.Carey the scandal.

 

[Roobunny]

I apologise if I angered/upset people with what I've said in previous posts - that I've now deleted, as they were obviously causing some tension. I shouldn't post when I'm tired...but I also do feel a certain way that I do stand by.

I thank him sincerely for what he did as a footballer for North Melbourne and I mean that genuinely, I'm not stupid enough to not realise what a crucial player he was to our success in the 90s, and that he clearly was arguably the best player ever. He was a "champion".

Hopefully with time, he'll return to our club.

 

[Wrath]

Carey may have announced his retirement today, but for me he retired a year and half ago. The guy that has been playing for the Crows is obviously a shadow of his former self. Everyone says he made us, but l believe we also made him, the good and the bad.

Enjoy retirement and hope you enjoy all the memories you help create.

Wrath

 

[Carlos]

Funny how things change.

I was one of the most angry on this board when it happened.

But time really does heal. Now i wish him nothing but the best and thank him for all the wonderful memories. I genuinly look forward to the day when he officially returns, in whatever capacity.

At the risk of being self indulgent, in THIS THREAD BACK ON JUNE OF 2002 i wrote the following post in response to a younger poster (Neoblaze) telling us older ones to "get over" what at that stage was a still very difficult thing to deal with (Carey's departure from North). I wanted to try and explain to him and the other youngsters on the board what this bloke meant to us.

Originally posted by Carlos (18-06-2002)
You're 16 or so aren't ya Neo? Now i dont ask this with any rhetoric or jest. The reason is, i remember in one of your posts recently saying how you started really following the Kangas seriously around 95ish? Correct me if i'm wrong mate.

The reason i bring this up might help explain why this whole terrible scenario is so hard for some but not for others.

May i take you back to the year 1988? You would have been around 2. Kangas supporters didnt really have a heap to be thrilled about back then. Sure, names like Schimmelbusch, Krakouer, McDonald, Larkin, German and gun youngsters like Crocker, Smith and Sholl occupied our team sheet, but wins were hard to come by.

In fact, we only managed 7 from 22 games that year. And this was coming off the back of a shattering finals series the year before, where in spite of being very hopeful, we managed a total of 5 goals in our only game in that series to be humiliated by Melbourne by 118 points. Not great times for the Shinboners.

Then in 89, a strapping young lad, sporting a mullet and a swagger like superman played his first game for North. He came from Wagga via South Australia. Had something... um... i guess "special" could one of a billion adjectives one could use to describe him. Played a few games, took some nice grabs, moved like a Rolls Royce and looked to have "it".

Then in 1990, he, how could you say "took the next step"?, playing pretty much the whole season and coming second in our B&F to our other great hope, a young gun named John Longmire who together, filled North supporters' hearts with a hope we'd not fealt since our parents and us spent early September Saturday afternoons in the early 80's in hope that the likes of Blight, Dench, Briedis, Glendinning and Dempsey might possibly help deliver that elusive 3rd flag to North.

But at this stage, no one in their wildest imaginations could predict what this confident young kid with the country drawl and his fellow young hopefuls might be capable of. For a start, we couldn't even make the finals, although we did come very close at times. It was always a case of "next year those young Kangas might be a bit of a bolter you know! They've got some great kids.." similar to the way people like yourself talk about the St Kilda's and Fremantle's of today.

1992 saw another "next step" for this kid with the seemingly limitless potential. A state game, where he donned the red, yellow and blue of South Australia against Victoria, saw him arrive to a place North supporters hadn't seen from one of our players in years. Later that year, he would receive his first very well earned Sid Barker medal.

While these were exciting times to wear the colours of blue and white in the stands, they were bitter sweet. While we cheered for youngsters the likes of Schwass, Allison, Martyn, Rock, Mann, Stevens and Archer, September action was something the players or supporters wearing royal blue and white stripes hadn't seen for 5 years.

1993 shaped as a season filled with uncertainty after our wonderfully courageous captain, Matty Larkin, gave up his position and our major sponsor pulled the pin. But on the park we anticipated that this wonderful bunch of kids with the huge potential might hopefully end this finals drought.

That was until the preseason competition got underway. We watched our TV sets in horror as our beloved young Rooboys got absolutely destroyed to the tune of 147 points on a February night in Adelaide. It was aweful. It was also the last game that one of the most popular Shinboners of all, not to mention our games record holder, Schimma, would coach at this or any other club.

Just to paint the picture as vivedly as possible for you, our club, which had always been under the hammer financially (some things never change do they?) was in crisis. Perhaps our worst ever. No coach, no captain, no sponsor. And seemingly no hope. Not great times to be a North supporter.

Shortly after, the board at that time, lead by new Chairman Ron Casey made the most significant decision in our club's history IMO, giving rookie coach, Denis Pagan, his first senior coaching job. Fast forward to round 5, and Pagan's side, against all the odds (sound familiar?) were sitting on top of the AFL ladder. Fast forward again to round 22, and after having been perched remarkably on top of the ladder for 12 of 22 rounds, including the penaltimate one, we sat 3rd with 13 wins. This was beyond comprehension for North supporters like me who had only the faintest memories of being taken by our parents to see Robbie Flower and co. demolish my beloved team the last time we had seen a game in September.

As much as we all hailed this masterful, super-positive coach with the curley hair and funny mouth, this didn't tell the full story of how this spell-binding revival occured. Why were we now able to beat the power clubs like West Coast, Geelong, Essendon and Carlton? What was the key factor? Who lead this tremendous rise from the doom and gloom that engulfed us all in Feb of that year to the euphoria and pride we experienced from April to September of watching this terrific bunch of young guns march proudly through the season as the brash new breed of Kanga and scare this living bejesus out of the rest of the competition, signalling that this indeed was heading to much bigger and better things?

He was magnificent. He was inspirational. He did the impossible and when we most needed it.

He brought us all to our feet and the rest of the competition to their knees.

He was like nothing we, or anyone else who was not too one-eyed to admit it had ever seen.

He was the most powerful.

He was the most skilled.

He was the complete package.

Arrogant, c*cky. He was brillaint in every way.

He was our magnificent young captain who wore number 18 who would lead us to 2 premierships and 8 consecutive finals series that as a 14 year old kid who watched this extraordinary player's first games in 1989, i could never have dreamed of.

He was, and still is the best. EVER.

He is Wayne Carey.

Thanks Wayne, and all the very best in retirement.

 

[utility]

Greatest player I've seen, I hope people remember him more for his amazing deeds in the number 18 guernsey.

 

[Twinkletoes]

That's a magnificent post Carlos...

Being 36 myself, and a Roos lover since '72ish, your old post there summed up my thoughts in a nutshell. Well done mate.

T'toes

 

[kangafruity]

Wrath, I couldn't agree more.
He provided magical moments for us all.
And your right we did make him, just as he and all the others of the 90's made the Kangaroos the powerhouse we were.
Lets hope the bridges can be mended and all parties meet to enjoy the spoils of what they did achieve.

 

[kangafruity]

Carlos, that is the best post I have ever read on here.
I was almost in tears, you summed up Wayne Carey to a tee.
I even heard Judy Francis call him an arrogant bastard this morning on SEN.
His arrogance is what made him and also bought him undone but
HE IS THE KING.

 

[Back Seat Of A Taxi]

Now drop the LSL claim Duck & come on home.

 

[Carlos]

Pretty sure that he has already mate. Mick's is still in the works though.

 

[windsock]

Where did you hear that Carlos. That's the only thing sticking in my craw about the Duck. Hope you're right.

 

[Carlos]

Pretty sure i remember hearing or reading Geoff Walsh say words to that effect recently.

 

[Pablo Forlàn]

Regardless of his off field antics, I am privleged to have had the King in our colours during the best parts of his career.

Long live the King.

 

[windsock]

Have just gone back over the earlier parts of this thread and seen the post Carlos dropped in from way back in 2002. Thanks for re-posting that Carlos. I was actually trying to find it myself and drop it on here. One of the greatest posts in BF history...

 

[Woodson]

That's WHY he is the KING !

For someone who really felt angry like you say you did Carlos, it was one helluva post to express your admiration.
funny how things change indeed
When the news broke on that fatal day (March 13th 2002), I was more shellshocked than upset at the time...when I felt my BLOOD BOIL was that game vs Adel at TD....I was more emotionally seething that evening seeing him run around against us that really touched me than any bad umpiring game that I can ever care to remember that only leaves you completely upset for a short while....that's what footy does to you I guess...it's called passion and it's my chosen addiction of following the NMFC and it proves WC is a hearty chunk of that passion.

These days, you have to understand it wasn't as BIG as it was made out (heck, I can't recall a RAPE charge filed) but jeez, the media went OVER THE TOP (uh duh!) and does that prove anything now...I say yep, coz as if Gary Ablett snr was such a sensational/ best player ever player as many make out, he got bugger all coverage with a 'DEATH !!! & DRUGS !!!' which IMHO is far more a serious situation than infedelity which is has been happening & continues to happen...re: USA president ! and he's making a killing on his latest memiors. I'd seriously doubt Golden Boy would ever get that much exposure if he did something as bad.

 

[Roobunny]

Originally posted by Carlos
Pretty sure i remember hearing or reading Geoff Walsh say words to that effect recently.

I've heard the same (somewhere, no idea where) that Carey had settled the LSL issue

 

[Michele]

Originally posted by Carlos
Funny how things change.

I was one of the most angry on this board when it happened.

But time really does heal. Now i wish him nothing but the best and thank him for all the wonderful memories. I genuinly look forward to the day when he officially returns, in whatever capacity.

At the risk of being self indulgent, in THIS THREAD BACK ON JUNE OF 2002 i wrote the following post in response to a younger poster (Neoblaze) telling us older ones to "get over" what at that stage was a still very difficult thing to deal with (Carey's departure from North). I wanted to try and explain to him and the other youngsters on the board what this bloke meant to us.

Thanks Wayne, and all the very best in retirement.

Good post

Tears rolled down my face as I recalled a brilliant career.

Can't wait for him to come 'home' to my beloved North

 

[Tasroo]

The moment he quit the Crows he became a Roos again in my books. Anger is too consuming to hold onto forever, especially when you are not directly effected, so it is time to welcome a shinboner of the highest grade back to the fold.

 

[Cove Cobra]

Originally posted by crows98
We have had only a handful of game where "the king" has shown what he can do, You lot had him for ten or so years. I for one feel privileged to have been able to seem him play 28 games, Well done duck you will always be the king.


Long live the king.

Ditto

 

[hilly]

What a legend.

Thanks Wayne.

 

[HappyDays]

Thanks Carlos. You bought a tear to my eye with that post...they were great games, watching Carey come on. I won't try to say it all again because Carlos said it all perfectly.

I am tired of being angry. It has been such a waste of time. I want him home but it isn't my decision, or anyone's here.

Stevo says he's just one person at the club and the club is bigger than the individual and Carey deserves to come back. But I adore Stevo and he has had enough pain and if he wants to play out his career without dealing with a Carey homecoming then I respect that.

The anger towards Carey at two Adelaide games I have attended was real...I could almost touch it. I don't believe in my heart that the current playing group is truly ready to welcome him home.

I hope it isn't long.

 

[Woodson]

Originally posted by HappyDays
I don't believe in my heart that the current playing group is truly ready to welcome him home.

A very reliable source informs me that one of our senior 22 (think fwd line) definately HATES / CAn't STAND WC and it's not Stevo or Arch either.

 

[apollo_creed]

Originally posted by Woodson
A very reliable source informs me that one of our senior 22 (think fwd line) definately HATES / CAn't STAND WC and it's not Stevo or Arch either.

Wayne's number @ the Kangaroos 18

Wayne's number @ the Crows 2

18+2=20

Would my calculations be correct?

 

[Ghostwriter]

Thanks for the memories Wayne and hope you write another chapter in the book, titled 'Carey leads the Roos to premiership success again - this time as coach'.