DUAL Carlton premiership player Brent Crosswell and former skipper Lance Whitnall have been inducted into the Blues' Hall of Fame at a function at Etihad Stadium on Friday.
Crosswell, who could not attend as he is unable to travel from his home state of Tasmania due to continuing health issues, was a versatile and brilliant big-game performer.
After being spotted by former Carlton wingman Berkley Cox, the teenager from Campbell Town was lured across Bass Strait by Ron Barassi.
Crosswell, 68, was the ultimate entertainer and the complete package as a player – exceptional speed, a great spring that enabled him to take spectacular marks and exquisite skills by hand and foot.
In his first season in 1968, he played 19 of a possible 22 games, was named the club's best first-year player and capped it off as the centreman in Carlton's Grand Final victory against Essendon, the Blues' first premiership for 21 years.
Two years later he helped inspire Barassi's men to pull off the greatest comeback in Grand Final history over Collingwood.
His goal in time-on in the last quarter put the Blues in front for the first time in the game and they went on to win by 10 points.
The man nicknamed 'Tiger' fell two short of 100 games before leaving Carlton in 1975. He went on to play in another two premierships under Barassi at North Melbourne and finished his career under the legendary coach at Melbourne.
Below: Brent 'Tiger' Crosswell was one of football's great entertainers
Many of Crosswell's teammates attended Friday's event, which also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the '68 flag.
The bulky Whitnall was blessed with an astute football brain.
Drafted under the father-son rule in 1996 – his dad Graeme played 66 games for the Blues in the 1970s and early '80s – the key forward won the Blues' best first-year player award in 1997 and was the club's leading goalkicker in the following three years.
The 1999 and 2000 seasons were the most memorable in Whitnall's career.
In 1999 he played in all 26 games including the Grand Final against North Melbourne and booted 55 goals. He kicked three majors in the stunning upset of Essendon in an unforgettable preliminary final.
The following season Whitnall kicked 70 goals and earned a spot in the All Australian team. His purple patch late in the year peaked with a nine-goal haul against Brisbane at the Gabba.
'Big Red' was All Australian in 2000, won the John Nicholls Medal in 2006 and captained Carlton the following season, his last at AFL level.
Whitnall, who turns 39 next Thursday, retired after 216 games and 348 goals, which puts him ninth on Carlton's all-time list of goalkickers.
