Story by Chris Cavanagh
HE HAS been the heart and soul of Coburg for the past seven years, but the Lion King’s reign is coming to an end.
Courageous captain Nick Carnell, 28, last week broke the news to teammates that this season would be his last at the Lions, the club he has called home since 2006.
It might not be the end of Carnell’s football journey because he is considering playing at suburban level down the track.
But the former Greensborough junior’s decorated VFL career is about to come to a close.
“The time you need to invest in VFL footy now is massive,” Carnell said.
“I guess trying to build a career and a family outside of that makes it very difficult.
“You’ve just got to weigh up what’s important and, unfortunately, I feel I’ve given everything I can to footy and the footy club.
“There’s not much more value I can add.”
Carnell’s retirement from the VFL has been in the pipeline for a couple of years, but he was not prepared to walk away during the club’s toughest battle.
Some said the Lions would not survive their first year as a stand-alone club after splitting from AFL outfit Richmond at the end of 2013.
Carnell had other ideas.
Before Coburg had announced a coach for 2014, the captain confirmed he would lead the charge by being the first player to sign on.
He was not about to let a club with 120 years of history fold without a fight.
“A couple of years ago it (retirement) crossed my mind but I guess I decided to stay because I wasn’t content with where the club was at,” Carnell said.
“If I had left, then I would have left the club in a worse position than I found it and I didn’t want to do that.”
Now Carnell can see a bright future. He believes emerging leaders such as Ben Clifton, Daniel Venditti, Daniel Younan and Lech Featherstone are capable of taking over his throne.
He sees general manager Craig Lees and senior coach Peter German pouring all their efforts into building a strong, thriving club.
And he is adamant a resilient playing group will only get better with age.
“Even though they are really young, they’re definitely on the way to some exciting times I think,” Carnell said.
“What we have been able to do is build a footy club that can stay in this competition for a long time.
“I guess I’ve done my bit now and it’s time for someone else to step into the role as captain and take that mantle of trying to take the club in the right direction and there’s a handful of guys that can do that.”
