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Carlton legend Stephen Kernahan leaves with no regrets
By Jon Pierik
As his six-year term as Carlton president comes to a close, Stephen Kernahan says has no regrets, declaring “premierships aren’t just given out”.
The Blues legend officially steps aside this weekend, not only from the presidency but 29 years with the club as a player and premiership skipper, assistant coach, board director and president.
Blues legend: Stephen Kernahan.Credit: Ken Irwin
As an authoritative captain, Kernahan was instrumental in the Blues’ last grand era on the field, playing in four grand finals and securing flags in 1987 and 1995.
But while he and chief executive Greg Swann have played a key role in rebuilding the finances and facilities in the wake of Carlton's darkest era, when powerbroker Bruce Mathieson even suggested the club “throw in the keys”, the Blues have yet to re-emerge as a consistent force on the field.
They begin Friday night’s clash against Hawthorn with just four wins this season, and face more major list management and football department decisions at the end of the season.
The club will not achieve its aim of two flags, as stated in its 2011-15 strategic plan, but Kernahan said the Blues would continue to fight to again be a feared unit.
“I am not going to bag strategic plans, because I know how important it is to have a vision at a football club," he said in an interview with Fairfax Media. "I will state that on the record. Premierships aren’t just given out. That is something that I do know about – how hard they are to win. No matter how good a side you have got, you may not get one.
“You can put that [strategic plan] in writing and it sounds good but there are a lot of things you have to get right, quite clearly. Coming from our ordinary years between 2002 and ’07 to ’08, we have built the club up. We had a good crack at it. We got to fifth in 2011. We have levelled out and couldn’t get better. We have to face those facts.
“We got Mick [Malthouse] on last year and he has cleaned the list out, 10 people last year, and we will be regenerating this year. We just have to get those decisions right.
“The footy department has to get that right.”
Kernahan’s last official function will be Saturday night’s 150th anniversary celebrations, where the club’s top five players of all time – set to include John Nicholls, Steve Silvagni, Bruce Doull, Alex Jesaulenko and Kernahan – will be confirmed.
Mark LoGiudice will take charge as president from Monday week’s board meeting, with Swann moving on next Friday. The Blues are searching for a new CEO.
“The only thing that I am flat about is we are 4-7 at the moment," Kernahan said. "As I am winding down, our team hasn’t been at its best. But we are better than what we have been serving up this year.
“Certainly after a 0-4 start, we had to cop our whack, we were poor in a couple of those games and we deserved our whack. Then we strung four out of five, then lost to Brisbane.”
Kernahan said winning premierships was “what it is all about”, and he still ponders what might have been in 2011, when the Blues narrowly lost a semi-final to the West Coast Eagles in Perth.
“In 2011 we challenged, we were three points away from a preliminary final. I was so proud of our blokes that night,” he said.
“No one had beaten West Coast all year in Perth that year. We had five blokes out, lost two during the game, and they were at full strength. We would have played Geelong the next week, who we had beaten three out of four leading in.”
Kernahan will not miss the media scrutiny that comes his way when the Blues endure losing streaks or trouble at a board level, and he says businessman LoGiudice will be more than capable of handling himself publicly and on a board that is expected to be cut from an unwieldly 12.
“He is doing it for the right reasons, which is absolutely vitally important," Kernahan said. "He will do it his way and I have already given him plenty of licence to do what he needs to do.
“We have been working closely on everything, what we do with our home games next year [the Blues want at least seven at the MCG] and other things.
“The board will get behind him. There is a lot of talk about our board … I know the board needs to be stable at the top, don’t get me wrong, but clubs are so big now, clubs run themselves to a certain extent.”
That may be the case, but LoGiudice has already raised eyebrows by pursuing Hawthorn list manager Graham Wright without the backing of Swann and Kernahan.