Famous faces and ‘amazing’ family moments: Inside stuffy, humming Blues rooms after finals epic

It’s so loud you can barely hear yourself think.

It’s so hot and stuffy, you feel like you’re in a large sauna.

There are so many people crammed in you can barely move.

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As one fellow reporter bluntly said after emerging from Carlton’s rooms for air: “It’s f***ing Bedlam in there.”

Yet for Blues players, officials, fans, family and friends, there’s nowhere else you’d rather be after the team’s two-point win over Melbourne in one of the most epic semi-finals in recent times.

Da da da da da has surely never been sung with so much gusto by players — and fans.

Few fans are more pumped than No. 1 ticketholder and 15-time Grand Slam champion Dylan Alcott, who’s high-fiving players who didn’t take part in Friday night’s match. Jack Martin, who missed the game due to suspension, is part of that group – and expected to come straight back into the side for the preliminary final against Brisbane.

Yes Carlton – Carlton! – is into a prelim.

Club greats Anthony Koutoufides and Greg Williams would be close to the podium for the widest smile in the rooms. They were part of Carlton’s most recent premiership in 1995. Now the 2023 Blues are two wins away from another one …

Former Victorian Sports Minister Martin Pakula is in a cap and lurking among the seemingly hundreds of fans at the back of the rooms, while former president Mark LoGiudice and current chief executive Brian Cook are also present.

But central to the celebrations is current Carlton president Luke Sayers – the man who put lofty expectations on his side when David Teague was sacked in August 2021. “Winning games, playing ourselves into the finals and giving ourselves the greatest chance of winning premierships — that is the clear outcome that we are pursuing and we will follow that passionately,” he said.

On Friday night, Sayers was as red as a beetroot, overcome with emotion, pride and passion after his club’s unlikely late-season surge went to a whole new level.

Sayers gives Blues football boss Brad Lloyd – the man who survived the Blues’ external review in 2021 – a massive hug before making a beeline for list boss Nick Austin, who’s played an integral role in recent years to set up this dramatic rise.

Then Sayers finds Ollie Hollands – the youngest and least experienced player on the field on Friday night. He came on in the fourth quarter after starting as Carlton’s – and his run and defensive efforts in the frantic final few minutes were a big reason why the Blues hung on to win.

Sayers passionately embraces Hollands, shakes his hand and says to him: “F***ing fantastic, mate.”

Sayers did well to find Hollands, for trying to locate players, as one Carlton staffer said, was like “trying to find a needle in a haystack”, such was the number of people in the rooms.

Defender Alex Cincotta, who’d just played his 18th AFL game, had just come from an “amazing moment” with his mum, dad, sister and sister’s boyfriend before speaking with foxfooty.com.au.

“I’m speechless, mate,” he tells foxfooty.com.au before laughing in disbelief.

“Just an unbelievable game. Two teams going at it right to the end, death by 1000 carts. We had another close one …

“Looking around, I mean when we started winning, I felt like the support started to build. The 96,000 today – and a lot of those were Carlton supporters – we really, really need that and appreciate the support, their energy. We get a lot from their noise.”

Carlton coach Michael Voss has been involved in three premierships as a player. But even the experience on Friday night left him gobsmacked and had him declaring it was one of the biggest wins he’d been part of.

Voss said the Blues had not only learnt how to win this season, but were now also “learning to just enjoy your wins”.

“The atmosphere in the changerooms was quite incredible,” Voss told reporters.

“You sort of see the journey that we’ve been on to get to this point in time and you just sort of see the smiles on people’s faces and just how excited everyone is. I think we’re all in a little bit of disbelief how it all unfolded.

“That was just a cracking game … somehow found a way through some will and some grit and some courage and able to hit the scoreboard at the end.”

Remember, three months ago the Blues sat 15th on the ladder with a 4-1-8 record after a poor loss to Essendon. Now they’re in a preliminary final after 11 wins in 12 games – including two nailbiting victories over Melbourne.

“Just for the boys to be able to grind it out and get over the line, it’s amazing,” Cincotta said.

“It says a lot about our resilience as a team and it probably shows how much we’ve been through, the whole year. When the chips are down and you’re able to get on top, it’s amazing. It’s amazing.”

“It’s pretty clear now: We know how to win and hopefully we can continue it.”

Voss added: “It’s taken some time to get to here. To be able to walk into a prelim, that’s pretty incredible to be able to get to there, based on where we were and the climb we’ve had to have this year, let alone last year.”

“We’ll just sort of absorb it for now. I think we’ll have a couple of days rest and then we’ll somehow turn ourselves back into next week.”

Imagine what the Blues rooms would be like at The Gabba if they win next week …