Rating players for their contribution in one match, the grand final, in some ways has a level of cruelty to it, as one isn’t taking into consideration their contribution over a whole year. Players such as Paul Meldrum had a great early portion of the 1987 season, yet had a limited role (by his standards) in the grand final. Therefore, one must remind oneself of the overall achievements of these players.

One can question is it better to have played just 50 games & to have played in a premiership team or to have played 200 games without the ultimate reward? In my estimation, the premiership players win out. So although some players may have received low ratings in terms of their output in the 1987 Grand Final it doesn’t override their significant place in the club’s history.

We are told defences win premierships and you will notice that the majority of the players with high ratings in this match had defensive or tagging roles. Johnston & Bradley were the only attacking player to get a rating out of 8 out of 10 or more. Glascott’s main role was to nullify Platten, Rhys-Jones’s role was to stop Brereton, whilst Alvin and Kennedy had negating roles. Also, all of the key defenders in Aitken, Silvagni & Dean dominated their opponents. In this match, Carlton’s superior defensive capabilities ensured the Blues’ victory.

9 out of 10 players- Glascott & Rhys-Jones

David Glascott
Rating: 9 out of 10
Possessions: 24 possessions, 7 marks

In my opinion, Glascott was the best player for Carlton in this Grand Final. One could look at raw statistics and note that Glascott obtained the most marks and possessions for his team, yet that is only the beginning of the Glascott story.

Consider his opponent John Platten and his record in 1987- Brownlow Medal winner, leading possession winner in the league by a significant margin & Hawthorn best and fairest winner. This match-up, as a result, was the pivotal duel for the grand final, even more so than the Rhys-Jones vs Brereton duel.

The Glascott battle with Platten was unexpected, as Glascott hadn’t matched up against Platten in any of the three previous Carlton vs Hawthorn encounters of that season. Putting a specialist tagger such as Mick Kennedy up against Platten would have been the expected option from Hawthorn, but in the previous matches this had been no real impediment for Platten obtaining many possessions.

Glascott didn't just nullify Platten in the grand final by applying intense tackling pressure he also obtained more possessions than the highly fancied Hawthorn player. This higher possession tally from Glascott was a significant feat that has rarely been acknowledged in the media. Glascott obtained 24 possessions, whilst Platten was limited to his second lowest possession tally for the whole season with just 15 possessions.


The 1987 Grand Final was Glascott's most important moment for the Carlton Football Club and for this contribution he should be given far more kudos, yet in media discussions Glascott’s 1987 Grand Final contribution is rarely even mentioned. It is a great shame that Glascott’s name isn’t mentioned alongside Harmes, Doull, Walls, Rhys-Jones and others as one of the club’s great grand final players.



David Rhys-Jones
Rating: 9 out of 10
Possessions: 17 possessions. Rhys-Jones kept Brereton to 6 kicks, 8 handballs, 4 marks & no goals.

The fact that Rhys-Jones kept Brereton goalless for this match has been well documented in reports on this match. What hasn’t been reported in as much detail is the unintentionally amusing television commentary regarding the Rhys-Jones/Brereton duel from Bob Skilton and Peter McKenna, who were, let’s put it mildly, Brereton fans. This fandom of Brereton was clearly reflected in their commentary.


In the 2nd quarter when Brereton didn’t get a mark commentator Bob Skilton searching for a reward for his favoured player in Dermott Brereton stated, “was it a free kick?”, then when he saw the replay and realised that Brereton had elbowed Rhys-Jones in the back of the head stated, “no, no free kick.” Yet despite Skilton seeing the footage of Brereton elbowing Rhys-Jones in the head he still stated that, “Rhys-Jones ran straight into him”. That was an odd comment as Rhys-Jones was in front of Brereton and had an elbow applied to the back of his head.

Again in the 2nd quarter, the commentary referred to the bad deal Brereton was getting from the umpires. When Rhys-Jones beat Brereton in a one on one contest and the Hawks’ forward wasn’t rewarded with a free kick Skilton said with raised intensity, “That’s a free kick!”, “That is murder!” said McKenna in response. The only commentator who wasn’t sold on Brereton receiving a free kick was Dennis Cometti who stated, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Brereton had hold of Rhys-Jones by the arm out there”.

During another contest, Brereton fell over. Rhys-Jones, aware that it looked like Brereton was playing for a free kick for an in the back decision, immediately raised his arms up in the air as if to say he had no influence in Brereton’s falling to the ground. “In the back, it has to be...oh I don’t know maybe I am looking at it a little bit differently” said Peter McKenna. “There’s no doubt in my mind that it was a free kick to Dermott Brereton,” said Skilton. “The no 23 for Hawthorn, he is not going to get a free kick at the moment,” said McKenna.

Moments later when Brereton shoved Alvin to the ground and pushed him in the back (And he didn’t raise his arms up in the air to release the tackle as Rhys-Jones did moments earlier) McKenna said it was, “A beautiful tackle from Dermott Brereton.” All in all, there seemed to be some inconsistency in the way the commentators approached the Rhys-Jones-Brereton duel.

It should be noted that I am not seeking to downgrade the McKenna & Skilton commentary, as both provided excellent commentary. It is just that in the case of star players one can inadvertently have a different outlook to umpiring. We are all guilty of it. It is a grey area, and one must be thankful for their colourful commentary, which was as a general rule far better than the safe & bland commentary one gets with present day commentary.

Probably the best way to look at the impact of Rhys-Jones was to look at the goal scoring record of his opponent Brereton in some of the grand finals preceding and following this match:
1985 – 8 goals, 1986 – 3 goals, 1987- no goals, 1988 – 5 goals, 1989- 3 goals, 1991- 4 goals.

Even if one allows the impact of umpiring, Rhys-Jones did his job. He kept Brereton goalless, and that was a fine achievement.


__8 out of 10 players- Johnston, Kennedy, Alvin, Madden and Bradley
__
Wayne Johnston
Rating: 8 out of 10
There were only three players in this team with previous VFL premiership success (from the 1981-82 teams) when the game began, and with all due respect to the other two in Glascott and Hunter, neither of these fine players were able to provide the brutal physical intensity that Johnston could provide for the team.


After the debacle of the 1986 Grand Final, the Carlton team of 1987 needed a confident start. And Johnston provided it with his two early goals in the 1st quarter. This was similar to the 1982 Grand Final when Johnston kicked the first goal, and set up the 2nd for Harmes with his vice like tackle on his Richmond opponent. It should also be noted that between Johnston’s first and his second goal in the 1987 Grand Final his teammates missed a series of relatively easy shots at goal, so his second goal settled the team in terms of ensuring their level of confidence was maintained.


When Johnston ironed out Dipper with a swinging elbow to the head during the 2nd quarter one of the first questions I asked myself was what other Carlton player would have the standing in the game to do this and get away with it. I ran through the list of players and I concluded that no one could have done it other than Johnston. Johnston was the Blues’ physical steel. Ironically, when Carlton next met Hawthorn in a final (1988) Johnston, Carlton’s enforcer, had his ribs broken by Gary Ayres. Carlton lost the match.


Johnston was the Blues’ 2nd highest possession gatherer with 23 possessions in the 1987 Grand Final, but stats are irrelevant when compared to Johnston’s real value to the team-which was providing that tough, physical presence. So in selecting a rating for Johnston, someone else could look just at raw statistics and give him a lower game rating of a 7, as injury did limit his impact in the 2nd half, but in doing so one would overlook the raw intensity and devotion to the navy Blue of this finals warrior.

Michael Kennedy
Rating: 8 out of 10
Kennedy had one of the most important defensive jobs in the game- tagging the league MVP of 1984 Russell Greene. The job was well done, as Kennedy kept Greene to inconsequential status. Considering Greene’s earlier roles in the home and away matches and previous finals against Carlton, this was a big job. Greene was the link player who provided the final damaging pass into the forward line. As the commentator Peter McKenna stated Greene’s, “a great finals performer for Hawthorn over the years and always plays well against Carlton”

Carlton’s Mick Kennedy had just 13 possessions, yet he kept Greene to 16 possessions-many of them under pressure. Some pundits may consider that 13 possessions is not enough to get a match rating of 8, but if they mark him down they overlook the important job that Kennedy had for his team. If one considers that Hawthorn’s Russell Greene obtained in the Round 14 match 22 possessions, 2 goals, and a hand in many others, one can see evidence of how damaging this player could be against Carlton. To keep Greene to 16 largely hurried and unimportant possessions & no goals was a vast improvement from Carlton’s perspective. Therefore Kennedy’s match rating was elevated as he completed his task to a high standard.

Kennedy piled the pressure on in the last quarter, and when he bombed the ball to full-forward it resulted in the goal that settled the result of the match (this goal was kicked by Gleeson). “Gee, I like his game” said Dennis Cometti in regards to Kennedy. “Michael Kennedy has played a superb game for his side,” said Bob Skilton.


Tom Alvin
Rating: 8 out of 10
Alvin had one of the key jobs of the match, and that was to nullify Hawthorn’s dangerous forward Buckenara. When the disaster of the 1986 Grand Final loss to Hawthorn is revisited, the name Gary Buckenara is front and centre. Buckenara had an exceptional game in the 1986 Grand Final & kicked as many as four goals in that belting of the Blues.

Buckenara was also BOG in the 1987 preliminary final against Melbourne, as his five goals was the difference between the sides. On top of this, it was his after the siren goal that sealed the victory for Hawthorn. No other Hawthorn player, including Brereton, kicked more than one goal in this match.


In the Grand Final, it was expected that Rhys-Jones would be Buckenara’s opponent yet once again Walls got the match-up correct, as he assigned the task to Tom Alvin. It was Alvin's ability to outmark and outcompete against Buckenara in the air that was most noticeable. Buckenara’s output in the preliminary final was 21 possessions & 5 goals, yet in the grand final he was reduced by Alvin to 8 possessions and no goals. Safe to say, Alvin was invaluable to the Blues.


Justin Madden
Rating: 8 out of 10
Alan Jeans, Hawthorn’s coach, stated that in every grand final that Hawthorn lost in the 1980s they lost in large part because they were destroyed in the ruck. In the 1984 and 1985 Grand Finals it was largely due to Essendon’s Simon Madden that Hawthorn lost out in the ruck. In 1987, it was due to his little-big or big-little brother Justin Madden.

“Up goes Madden, dominating the ruck,” said Cometti during the 2nd quarter. Seconds after this Cometti call, Madden cleared the ball and Aitken obtained an easy possession. Throughout this match Madden’s ruckwork had a direct result in Carlton’s goal scoring. No clearer evidence of this was than from Carlton’s 8th goal as he palmed it out of traffic and into the arms of Alvin, who passed onto the goal scorer Bradley.

Yet it was in the last quarter where he had his greatest influence, clearing the ball to his rovers during the centre square contests who then in turn pummelled the ball forward over and over again. This dominance contributed to the runaway goals scored by the Blues in this quarter. Madden had just eight possessions and only three marks, yet his ruck work was pivotal. The Herald writers voted Madden Carlton’s 3rd best player on the ground.


Craig Bradley
Rating: 8 out of 10
It is a debatable decision to allocate a rating of 8 out of 10 for Bradley in this match. One could argue that he only had 17 possessions, and that he had a poor 1st quarter, but to counter that argument one can reference his three vital goals and how they were scored at pivotal moments in the match.

Bradley’s first goal was scored 1:53 into the 2nd quarter and it was significant moment as it put Carlton back in front on the scoreboard. It was the 1st goal not scored by one of the 1981-82 premiership veterans as well. (The previous three goals were scored by Johnston & Hunter.)

Bradley’s next two goals maintained Carlton’s momentum when the Hawks took the battle to the Blues in the pivotal 3rd quarter, otherwise known as the premiership quarter. It was how quickly he kicked these goals after a potentially morale-boosting Hawthorn goal that should be noted.

Hawthorn was only five points down 11:25 into the 3rd quarter as a result of scoring a goal. Then at the 12:38 mark on the clock, just over a minute later, Bradley was on the run and scored truly, giving the Blues breathing space in terms of scoreboard pressure. This was arguably the goal of the match, as Bradley cleverly knocked the ball in front of him so that Pritchard couldn’t tackle him, and then kicked a classy goal on the run.

Then at the 19:02 mark, Hawthorn scored again. Was Carlton’s confidence going to wane as Hawthorn’s form improved? No, as Bradley responded on the run with a goal at the 21:18 mark. This time Bradley responded just over two minutes after the Hawthorn goal. Again, it was a memorable goal as he showed the ball to an opponent then baulked around him to score truly.

The Herald newspaper writers collectively rated Bradley Carlton’s 4th best player after Rhys-Jones, Johnston and Madden.


__7 out of 10 players- Aitken, Dennis, Silvagni and Kernahan
__
Ian Aitken
Rating 7 out of 10
Ian Aitken’s best period in the match was the 2nd quarter. In this period he had seven kicks in a match in which he obtained a total of 14 possessions. He will be remembered for his positive runs out of defence during this quarter. “Ian Aitken dashing out of defence” was how commentator McKenna put it. For part of this match, Aitken was matched up against Hawthorn’s key forward in Peter Curran and he did the job well. It was an all-round disciplined defensive game from Aitken.

Richard Dennis
Rating 7 out of 10
Forwards know when they are having a good game if the opposing coach moves their defender off you, and this happened to Dennis as early as the first quarter. Dennis obtained five kicks in this quarter, and many of them were impactful. Carlton’s 3rd goal (Hunter’s 1st goal) was set up when Dennis kicked a long left footer across to Hunter from the wing. For the rest of the quarter Dennis took a series of beautifully contested marks in the midfield. He had a, “sensational first quarter when he cut the Hawks defence to pieces. (He) was superb in the air and really caused major problems”, was how the Herald writers described his game.

Dennis’ moment of the match occurred in the third quarter when he barged through a pack and smashed the ball towards goal along the ground. The ball travelled at least 15 metres, and was hit with so much power it cleared past at least four players. Meldrum ran onto collect the ball and Carlton’s 9th goal came as a result.

Dennis was relatively quiet in the 2nd half, but by then he had already caused structural damage to Hawthorn’s backline so in some ways the job was done. The Hawks required Gary Ayres to mark him for portions of this match. Ayres would win two Norm Smith medals in his career, so no doubt Dennis did well considering the standard of his opposition.


Stephen Silvagni
Rating: 7 out of 10
Silvagni was simply too good for his opponents, which included at different stages of the match Paul Dear and Peter Curran. Silvagni’s impact reminds one of the principle that strong defences wins premierships, as the Blues had winners all across the defensive zone. Silvagni didn’t just beat his direct opponent, he also provided invaluable assistance to other defenders, such as when he often came in over the top of Rhys-Jones vs Brereton duels and punched the ball clear.

In the 2nd quarter, the ball was about to be marked by Buckenara near the goal square but “the big fist from Silvagni” as McKenna put it stopped his mark. “There’s Silvagni fisting away beautifully” said McKenna in regards to another aerial contest that Silvagni nullified in the 2nd quarter. Then in the last quarter Silvagni stopped a potential goal when he smothered Kennedy’s shot at goal. Silvagni had just eight possessions in this match, but he kept Dear to eight possessions & no goals and kept Curran (when matched up on him as well) to inconsequential status.


Stephen Kernahan
Rating: 7 out of 10
If Kernahan’s match was rated by a neutral observer, he may well have been given a rating of 5 or 6 out of 10. Some critics marked Kernahan down in this way as he was beaten in most duels against Chris Langford, but by doing this you overlook his impact on the scoreboard. Kernahan’s contribution of three goals & no behinds was significant in terms of the overall result.

Yes, Langford technically won their overall duel, but it should be remembered that Kernahan was still the equal leading goal scorer in this match. Yet detractors will argue Kernahan’s game was built on marking, and “Sticks” took just three marks in this match. This was a clear drop-off in output in terms of what was expected. Langford, his opponent, secured as many as 17 possessions whilst Kernahan was limited to just 8 possessions. Should Kernahan’s lack of marks, the real strength of his game, override his vital three goals? I don’t think so. Other than his three majors, Kernahan also set up Bradley’s 1st goal. It was Kernahan’s quick shuffle kick that fell to Hunter and that resulted in this Bradley score. Sticks never waived from being a team contributor.

One aspect of the 1987 team that has been overlooked is that their forward line was the only one of Carlton’s 8 premiership teams from 1968 to 1995 (1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987 and 1995) that didn’t achieve a vital metric. This was the only team of the eight where the team had just one goal kicker in the season who scored more than 30 goals. In 1987, that player was Kernahan. Therefore, a lot rested on his shoulders.

Even in 1968, a year in which the weak link for the team was the forward line, they had more than two players who reached the 30 goal milestone with Kekovich and Gallagher. This gets back to the point that a lot rested on Kernahan in terms of goal kicking in 1987. Three goals in a grand final and a hand in another was a good output when the pressure was on.

__6 out of 10 players: Hunter, Dean, Robertson, Meldrum & Naley
Ken Hunter __
Rating: 6 out of 10
Hunter provided leadership in the 1st quarter to ensure that the Blues weren’t jumped by the Hawks like they were in the previous year’s grand final. Confident starts are important with young sides. And Hunter was so influential in the 1st quarter that his opponent John Kennedy was moved off him, and Mew onto him. (Mew for the most part from that point got the better of the duel.) In the first quarter, Hunter kicked Carlton’s 3rd goal so that at that point the score was three goals to Hawthorn’s nil.

Hunter, besides his one goal, also gave off the handpass to Bradley that resulted in his first goal. This was important as Bradley ended up kicking three for his team. Another aspect of Hunter’s game overlooked is that he had a goal assist for Kernahan’s 1st goal of the match in the 2nd quarter. It was Hunter’s scrub kick that ended up in Kernahan’s hands.

In terms of the less fruitful aspects to Hunter’s game one could refer to his 2nd half output, where he had no kicks at all for that period of the match. Perhaps this was partly due to him being shaken up after a powerful hip and shoulder caused him to crumble to the ground in a heap. Following this hit, Hunter didn’t have much influence in the match. Another negative aspect was that like Dorotich he missed a few relatively easy shots at goal. Hunter finished the match with 1 goal and 3 behinds.

Nevertheless, Hunter along with the other elder statesman in Wayne Johnston provided leadership for his teammates during the 1st quarter. After all, much of this team lacked bona fide finals experience to match the seasoned Hawks team. Hunter should be viewed as an influential player for the Blues if only for his goal and his two goal-assists.



Peter Dean
Rating: 6 out of 10
Carlton players in 1987 were characterised by a game style of applying physical pressure on their opponent. Peter Dean was one of the most ardent adherents to this game style. Dean started well with five kicks in the 1st quarter and he also beat his opponent Russell Morris in a series of one-on-one contests in this quarter.

After Morris left the ground with an injury he was given the job on Kennedy, who kicked some goals in the 1st quarter. One of these goals was kicked with the assistance of dubious umpiring, as the umpire paid a mark to Kennedy despite Aitken having a bigger claim on the pack mark than Kennedy. Dean worked well for his team for the rest of match, and did what was required without being spectacular (as he would be in the 1995 Grand Final).


Shane Robertson
Rating: 6 out of 10
Robertson was given the job of taking on Dipierdomenico. It was arguably the hardest job on the oval besides the Platten job. No Carlton player had beaten Dipper in any of the four Carlton vs Hawthorn matches of the year. Dipierdomenico was a dominant player in these matches despite the Blues trying many options on him, all in a fruitless attempt to unlock his impact. Tactically, Dipper was the biggest headache for the Blues’ brains-trust.

Dipper, it should be noted, did not hold back in terms of physical intimidation. An example of this was when he elbowed Robertson in the face in the 1st quarter, then slyly lowered his arm in one action and went in for the tackle immediately after this so as to make it look like the elbow to the face just happened in the process of the tackle. Robertson, for his part, paid no attention to it and got on with the job. Nevertheless, Dipierdomenico was once again dominant, and as a result Robertson was taken from the ground in the 2nd quarter. It seemed as if the Blues’ coaching hierarchy had a plan of double teaming Dipierdomenico, with Gleeson getting a run with role for some of the match.

The admirable quality of Robertson is that he still contributed and bullocked the match out. He had a great 3rd quarter with seven kicks & a role in Bradley’s third goal, as it was his clearing kick that reached Bradley. All in all, it was an admirable game considering the task before him. Dipierdomenico was a finals destroyer & Robertson held his own for some of this match.


Paul Meldrum
Rating: 6 out of 10
Many may overlook the fact that Meldrum represented Carlton way back in the premiership year of 1982. He was only one of four players in this grand final team of 1987 that had played senior matches for the Blues in 1982. Meldrum, Johnston, Hunter and Glascott were the survivors from 1982, yet Meldrum was the only one of the four who didn’t represent the club on that grand final day of 1982.

For someone who had five matches with best on ground performances & 15 Brownlow votes in 1987, it is startling to think that Meldrum just managed to squeeze into the grand final team. Meldrum had missed the 2nd semi-final in part due to falling form. Perhaps without the suspension to Bernie Evans he may not have even made the team. Nevertheless, Meldrum played 20 out of a possible 24 games in the season so it would have been a travesty if he missed out.

Meldrum was on interchange for portions of the match and had just nine possessions, yet he had a good 3rd quarter. His best moment in the match was when he contested with Greene for a rolling ball on the wing. Meldrum, with greater speed and balance, knocked Greene off the ball with a hip and shoulder. This allowed Meldrum to run on, collect the ball and pass to Kernahan for the club’s 1st goal of the 2nd half. “That was top play from Paul Meldrum” said commentator McKenna. On top of this Meldrum also kicked a goal in the 3rd quarter, so all in all he had a solid impact in the 3rd quarter.

Mark Naley
Rating: 6 out of 10
Naley was well tagged in the 1st half, but he had a good 2nd half to the match. He kicked the goal in the last quarter which was arguably the most exhilarating goal of the match. “Naley just runs away from three Hawthorn players” was how Dennis Cometti described it. Naley’s goal was as good as any goal scored in grand final history, as he put the after-burners on with fast running that left the Hawks players grasping at thin air. Naley weaved a path between them all. Exhilarating play!

Naley wasn’t prolific in terms of possessions (17 possessions), so this match was a step down from his best on ground performance in the 2nd semi-final performance & his significant contribution throughout the year. Nevertheless, Naley made some good contributions in the 2nd half of this match.


__5 out of 10 player- Gleeson
Adrian Gleeson __
Rating: 5 out of 10
Gleeson had a party in the last quarter with his tally of eight kicks. Yet he only obtained two kicks for the rest of the match. The pressure was still on at the beginning of the last quarter, yet when Gleeson roved the pack to score the first goal of the last quarter the release valve was obtained. “That was the goal that really counted” said commentator Bob Skilton after Gleeson’s goal. It effectively put the match out of Hawthorn’s reach (78 to 55).

__4 out of 10 players – Dorotich, Murphy and McKenzie
Jon Dorotich __
Rating: 4 out of 10
It is difficult to give any Carlton player in a winning grand final a rating of less than 5 out of 10, as it goes against my belief that all these players are stars for the football club. Yet although it is done here it isn’t an indication of Dorotich, Murphy and McKenzie’s capabilities. It is just a fact that in every match, whether it’s a grand final or not, players contributions can be limited by circumstances such as the time they spend on the bench or just purely from bad luck or poor output.

Dorotich was structurally important to the Blues in terms of being a marking forward who could take the role of Peter Sartori, who was injured for this match. Dorotich also provided relief ruck work for the times when Madden rested on the bench. Nevertheless, Dorotich missed shots at goal and obtained just three kicks. It wasn’t enough for him to be considered an influential player in this match.


Fraser Murphy
Rating: 4 out of 10

Along with Meldrum, Murphy was one of the two lucky players who squeezed into the grand final team as a result of the suspension of Evans and the injury to Sartori. Murphy was on the ground in the 1st quarter of the grand final, but obtained few quality possessions. He had a good amount of time on the field in the 2nd quarter and although he displayed plenty of frenetic enthusiasm, he was generally a bit off his game. This was exemplified by late tackles & being caught tripping a player.

The suspended Bernie Evans would have probably been a better option than Fraser Murphy for the grand final squad, but Evans was unluckily suspended for a questionable incident in the 2nd semi-final. Evans had form on his side leading into the grand final as he kicked two vital goals in the second semi-final that swung a close match Carlton’s way and he also kicked three in Round 22, so it is likely he would have held his spot.

Then again, one could argue that Fraser Murphy had played 15 games in the season proper (prior to the grand final) to Evans’ 13, so to play that many games and miss out would have been difficult to accept on Murphy’s behalf. In the grand final, Murphy obtained six possessions and kicked one late goal. At the end of the day, Murphy will be remembered as the premiership player & Evans as the player who missed out.


Warren McKenzie
Rating: 4 out of 10

Structurally McKenzie was a good player for Carlton, as he could play in the ruck, & he could also provide an option at full-forward. This wasn’t his best match, even though he did spend a large amount of time on the bench. McKenzie had no kicks in the 1st three quarters & four kicks in the last quarter with one goal. For Carlton players in a winning grand final, I refuse to give a rating lower than 4, so 4 it is.