Colin Carter retires as chairman of Geelong Cats with a lasting legacy

He’s never drawn attention like Eddie McGuire or Jeff Kennett, but Colin Carter has been a powerful persuasive influence in the AFL for 35 years, and will leave Geelong in strong shape.

COLIN Carter doesn't make noise or attract headlines like Eddie McGuire, Jeff Kennett or even Frank Costa, but his influence on Australian rules football for the past 35 years has been profound.

To some, the retiring Geelong Cats chairman is a quiet achiever.

But he doesn’t see it that way.

He’s forthright about expressing his views, but does it privately, and would never waste energy arguing with someone when he could persuade them to see things differently.

“That’s the way I’ve always worked, so to me the effectiveness is encouraging people to change rather than having the microphone all the time,” he explains.

“There are different ways to succeed. That’s just the way I’ve found works best for me.”

And it has worked.

As Carter’s 10-year tenure as Cats chairman comes to a close, he can reflect on a stunning record on and off the field.

Geelong Football Club chairman Colin Carter. Picture: Peter Ristevski

For years, Carter has told Cats fans the club is on a quest to “beat the handicapper” — to defy the AFL’s equalisation policies by staying at or near the top of the ladder.

Ironically, Carter was a chief architect of those policies.

In the mid-1980s the VFL commission employed his powers of persuasion to convince reluctant club chieftains the sport needed to go national.

He then joined Geelong’s board for five years before a 15-year stint as an AFL commissioner (1993-2008) as the game grew exponentially.

Raised in Western Australia, Carter adopted the Cats in his late teens after migrating to Victoria about the same time that Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer also ventured east.

When his stint at the AFL ended, he returned to club’s board, taking the chairman’s role amid what looked like turmoil at the end of 2010.

The Cook-Costa regime had delivered two premierships, but coach Mark Thompson and star midfielder Gary Ablett had left.

The rebuild of Kardinia Park Stadium had started but was still a long way from completion.

Like rookie coach Chris Scott, Carter did not panic.

With Cook in charge, he recognised Geelong was in strong shape, and that his role was to continue and build upon it position.

A premiership in Scott and Carter’s maiden year (2011) exceeded expectations.

And, over the next nine years, the Cats only missed the finals once, proving the handicapper was not omnipotent.

Carter speaks humbly about his role in Geelong’s success, but is immensely proud of what the club has achieved on field without access to top-end draft talent, and fierce in defending Scott’s “remarkable record”.

At a glance, Geelong is a different club than it was when Carter took over.

It has women’s teams in national and state competitions.

It is financially stable — almost debt free — without making any money from the gambling industry, and projects its values through community programs that genuinely strive to better Geelong the town.

The stadium rebuild will soon be completed.

But Carter does not claim credit for any of this.

“Sometimes when people say they’re leaving the club in good shape they might be claiming they’re the reason it’s in good shape. But I’m not claiming that in the slightest,” he says.

“I think the strength of Geelong is that there are a lot of very good people here.

“There’s no doubt the club is in good nick.”

Originally published as Colin Carter retires as chairman of Geelong Cats with a lasting legacy