It is a well known truth that the wonderful history of the Carlton Football Club is filled with the deeds of many great midfielders and defenders, and of course the odd Champion Ruckman. But on the flip side the Blues have not had a long list of long-standing forwards to our name, with just the 2 Coleman Medallists in Tom ‘Turkey’ Carroll and Brendan Fevola.
Of course there are the amazing feats of Harry ‘Soapy’ Vallence in the 1920’s and 1930’s, Alex Jesaulenko in the 1960’s and 1970’s and Stephen Kernahan from 1986 to 1997. But Brendan Fevola has been moving up the chart and entered the top 10 performances with a month of 2008 still to go. Beyond these ‘Big 4’the Top 10 comprises fellow greats Horrie Clover, Rod Ashman, Robert Walls, Ken Baxter, Vin Gardiner and the recently retired Lance Whitnall.
With Fevola’s 7 on the weekend, and 99 overall, he surpassed many of these greats by moving into second place.
Each of the other top 10 performances have been created by the ‘Big 4’ of Vallence, Kernahan, Jesaulenko and Fevola, with Fevola’s 2008 his second entry after 84 goals in 2006.
| Goals (incl. finals) | Player | Year | Games Played (Total) | Goals per Game | Goals (H&A only) | Games (H&A only) |
| 115 | Alex Jesaulenko* | 1970 | 25 | 4.6 | 100 | 22 |
| 99 | Brendan Fevola | 2008 | 22 | 4.5 | 99 | 22 |
| 97 | Harry Vallence | 1932 | 19 | 5.1 | 77 | 16 |
| 86 | Harry Vallence | 1936 | 19 | 4.5 | 83 | 17 |
| 86 | Harry Vallence | 1931 | 18 | 4.8 | 72 | 16 |
| 84 | Brendan Fevola | 2006 | 21 | 4 | 84 | 21 |
| 84 | Harry Vallence | 1933 | 18 | 4.7 | 82 | 17 |
| 83 | Stephen Kernahan | 1992 | 22 | 3.8 | 83 | 22 |
| 82 | Stephen Kernahan | 1994 | 23 | 3.6 | 77 | 21 |
| 81 | Harry Vallence | 1938 | 19 | 4.3 | 78 | 17 |
| 81* | Brendan Fevola | 2009 | 21 | 3.9 | N/A | N/A) |
NB * Jezza is the only Blue to kick a century of goals in a single season
Jezza’s 1970 stands proudly atop this list, with 100 goals in the Home & Away season and 115 in our 1970 premiership year including the finals. Secondly, and only one of two occasions where a Blue managed 90 or more goals, stands Soapy Vallence’s 1932, a year in which we lost the Grand Final but Soapy’s 20 goal finals campaign almost made the difference. Vallence sits in third and fourth spots for 1936 and 1931 respectively, to be followed by Fevola’s 2006 and 2008. Sticks Kernahan’s 1992 and 1994 sit in 8th and 9th position, whilst already Fevola still has 3 matches to come.
Interestingly, only two of these Top 10 performances were Premiership years; Jesaulenko’s 1970 and Vallence’s 1938.
With 99 goals, Fevola has climbed that Carlton ladded and sits only 1 off Jezza's Home & Away record and 16 off his overall record in a fantastic achievement.