Everything was BIG about Anthony Koutoufides; his ability, his list of career achievements, his hands – and also his Guernsey number.  It may not surprise you to learn that Kouta holds the Carlton record for games played in this jumper, over fellow Blue Legend David McKay heading a field of only 5 Blues in history to wear it in a senior match.  It also may not surprise readers to know that ‘Kouta’ holds the VFL / AFL record for games played in the Number #43 guernsey, proudly wearing our much loved Navy Blue jumper in 278 games.  But it might surprise you to know that a number of Carlton players have worn a higher number for the Blues, some right up in to the 50’s.  We decided to embark on a tour of the BIG Numbers in the Blueseum Locker Room.

“That’s Easy!” I hear you think.  Guernsey #44 not only had Big Harry Madden for eons (1983 – 1997), but young Andrew Carrazzo has also been wearing it with pride since 2004.  And of course you would be right - Carrazzo has become the third 50-gamer in Guernsey #44, behind Ron Stone and Big Harry, and is well on his way to seeing his name emblazoned in history on the rattling lockers at MC Labour Oval.   Interestingly, 7 Blues have worn the #44, with Maurie Sankey, Peter Fyffe, Eric Pascoe and Damian Lang also donning the jumper.

But after #44 it gets a bit harder.   How many wearers of the #45 can you name off the top of your head?  Sure, there was Anthony Franchina who became the first Blue to play 100 games in the jumper, before handing it over to Aisake, who will become the 8th Blue to wear the #45 in battle in 2008, barring a late number change.  But here are some other names for you – Darren Tarczon in 1991-1992, Warren McKenzie for a number of games including the successful 1987 Grand Final team, and Gil Lockhart and John Leatham in the 1960’s.  Tarczon is a favourite of many who followed the Blues in the early 1990’s, famously splitting Guy McKenna in two with a shirtfront in Round 14, 1991 (in just Tarczon’s third game), only to be bettered by Earl Spalding some 4 years later who actually split McKenna in three with a similar bump.

The 2 remaining #45’s may surprise you, for they wore this jumper on their way to bigger and better things.  Firstly, Trevor Keogh wore this jumper before moving on to Guernsey #8 and 2 Premierships, and secondly, Rod Austin who would wear #21 in the 1979 Premiership.

After Guernsey #45, it gets much harder.  Recent devotees of the Club may remember Laurence Angwin in #47, Jordan Doering in #48 and Heath Culpitt for a season in #52.  But who else have worn these jumpers?

Below we have listed the Games Record holders for Guernseys 46 and above, with the added information of how many Carlton players have worn that jumper at senior level.  Perhaps, before moving on through this article, you can see how many of the wearers of each Guernsey number you can remember, if any?

Guernsey No.	Carlton Games Record Holder	Number of Games in that Guernsey	Number of wearers
46	John Warden	9	6
47	Peter Francis	47	9
48	Jordan Doering	18	5
49	Andy Lukimitis	11	4
50	John O’Connell	11	3
51	Dean Strauch	2	2
52	Heath Culpitt	6	2
53	Simon Minton-Connell	1	1
54	Wayne Harmes	1	1
55	Mark Buckley	4	3
56	Ang Christou	1	1

As with Keogh and Austin, some of the above list wore the BIG numbers on their way to lower numbers and longer careers, whilst others only managed a few games overall at the Club.  The only wearer of the #56 guernsey in Carlton history, Ang Christou, is oddly enough the only Carlton player to possess Games Records for 2 jumpers, the #56 and the #39 he was famous for.

Mark Buckley began in #55, before moving to number 10 for a couple of years, and then becoming the answer to that perennial Carlton trivia question – ‘Who wore #4 in between Bosustow and Kernahan?’ – by wearing #4 for 1 game in 1985, incidentally his last.

Wayne Harmes would be the only wearer of #54 in Carlton’s history, wearing it for his debut match before moving to his customary #37 shortly after, whilst Simon Minton-Connell was also the only #53 before moving to #29 on his way to 3 other Clubs.

Heath Culpitt and Neil Gaghan have shared the number #52, perhaps made famous by Crows Legend Shaun Rehn, whilst Gerard Butts and Dean Strauch played the only 3 games ever played in #51.  John O’Connell heads the list of #50’s from Peter Gilbert in 1966 and Ben Robertson in 1992 (each with 3 games), whilst Lukimitis (and subsequently Lukas), Kourkoumelis, Ogier and Poursanidis have worn #49, in what from a distance would appear to be a number reserved for those with Greek heritage (for this to hold true, perhaps Ogier was short for Ogieropolous!).

5 Blues have worn #48, including Geoff Hocking, Ricky Nixon, Mark Majerczak, Ashley Matthews and Carlton #48 Games Record holder Doering with just under half of the 37 games played in total. 

#47 is a special high number, with premiership success aplenty, both through the Guernsey itself and as a stepping stone for other Carlton favourites.  Neil Chandler wore it in the 1968 premiership before moving on to 22 and playing in 2 more premierships, while Peter Francis played all 47 of his Carlton games in the jumper, including the 1979 Premiership, providing a nice little mystical twist to the Guernsey.  #47 has also proven to be a great springboard to some careers, with Lofts, Hulme and Hanna all moving to lower numbers and longer careers.

#46 was the springboard for Mark Porter only, with Bob Lane, John Warden, Andrew Graham, Peter White and Andrew Pickering also wearing the Guernsey.  Although Pickering would be successful in picking up a lower number – the number 6 – he would only be able to wear it for an additional year in 2002 before leaving Carlton for Richmond.

There’s no doubting the historical link between high numbers and short careers, although as we have seen a good number of players in the BIG numbers just used those numbers as a stepping stone down to a more ‘normal’ number, such as Lofts, Austin, Hanna, Harmes and Christou.  Others, such as Madden, Koutoufides and Carrazzo, remained happy in becoming trailblazers for their Club in the high Guernseys.