A self-confessed control freak, David Parkin had to let go for Carlton to achieve greatness in 1995.
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It had been eight years since the Blues' last flag.
Nowhere near a premiership drought for most clubs, but this was Carlton under ruthless president John Elliott.
After an upset AFL grand-final loss to Essendon's 'Baby Bombers' in 1993 and a straight-sets finals exit the following season, something had to change.
Parkin's job depended on it.
"On the back of a very stringent review (in 1994), which condemned me in lots of ways, we appointed a psychologist," the four-time premiership coach told AAP.
"One thing that came out of it (the review), I said 'this is not a technical or tactical problem, it's a psychological problem and we need to deal with it'."
Recruiting sports psychologist Anthony Stewart and the overhaul which followed resulted in one of the most dominant seasons in VFL/AFL history.
A 17-player leadership group relished the added responsibility in a way that would be inconceivable in the 21st century.
"(The players) actually picked the team each week ... they decided how we would play against that particular opposition, sat down and mapped out the method," Parkin said.
"For two years, 1995 and 1996, that is how the Carlton Football Club ran.
"Some of those elements have been adopted since, that is a unique football experience that very few people understand could have happened."
Twenty-five years after the Blues destroyed Geelong by 61 points in the grand final, the foundation club is still searching for its 17th premiership.
Only Essendon's 2000 side (21-1) have won more home-and-away games in a season and held the premiership cup aloft.
St Kilda (2009) and Collingwood (2011) matched the 1995 Blues' 20 wins, while Geelong went 21-1 in 2008, but those teams fell short on grand-final day.
Apart from inexplicable heavy defeats in consecutive weeks, Carlton were an unstoppable force in 1995.
Things went terribly wrong in round eight and nine, losing by 72 and 56 points against Sydney and St Kilda, teams that failed to qualify for finals.
But those uncompetitive performances were an aberration, with the Blues then embarking on a 16-game winning run.
"We were thinking about almost engineering a loss before the end of the season on the basis that it's a good thing to go through," Parkin said.
"(The losses) did bring the group tighter from that point on."
While other senior players were having more input than ever, Stephen Kernahan's influence was as strong as ever.
Captain since the Blues' previous premiership in 1987 under Robert Walls, the brilliant forward was setting standards on and off the field.
"I think his great strength as a captain was that he cared for blokes who were talented and leading the way but also the guys around the edges and in and out of the team," Parkin said.
"I've had some of the greatest leaders the game has ever known.
"But Stephen Kernahan, in his own way, was different to the others but very special because he had this sincere and caring attitude to people."
Kernahan kicked 63 of his 738 career goals in 1995, but he was upstaged up forward on grand-final day by a midfielder.
Greg Williams showed no effects from the brutal hit North Melbourne's Darren Crocker delivered on him a week earlier.
The two-time Brownlow medallist was taken off on a stretcher in the last quarter of the Blues' comfortable preliminary final victory.
Williams appeared in such a bad way, Channel Seven commentators started contemplating him missing the decider.
But with Williams leaving the field almost motionless, the champion onballer suddenly jumped up before trainers could get him into the rooms.
While similar scenes would be unacceptable in 2020 due to concussion protocols, Williams wasn't missing a shot at a premiership.
He punished the Cats with five goals and 31 possessions in one of the more commanding grand-final displays of all-time.
"That's the single-mindedness of the man; he can't remember a lot of the (preliminary final)," Parkin said.
"He's just a unique individual in VFL/AFL history.
"He would've been the last person at that time (when he first trained at Carlton in 1982) that I would've chosen to spend time with one-on-one.
"But he's developed into a beautiful man, it's hard to believe the change that Greg's been able to bring about in himself."
It was easy to think Carlton was on the verge of another golden era post-1995, but in reality more flags should have come in the years prior.
The Blues started 1996 in typical fashion, winning nine of their first 10 games, before injuries and ageing players caught up with them.
Australian Associated Press
