With Ray Carroll
A GIANT of the community was celebrated on Saturday night as Ray Carroll’s immense contribution to Assumption College and the wider community was celebrated with a testimonial dinner in front of 600 guests at the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s Olympic Room.
The capacity crowd included former students who travelled from London and New York and every Australian state.
It was not just an assembly of star footballers and cricketers but many from all walks of life-medicine, law, teaching, captains of industry, the arts and agriculture.
Also, quite a number were girls’ students Mr Carroll had taught in the classroom or who had assisted him with sport.
The gala occasion honoured Mr Carroll’s five decades of service to Assumption in the classrooms, dormitories and sporting fields. Also, it paid tribute to the 48 football and cricket premierships he had coached on Australian record.
Mr Carroll had previously been honoured by the AFL, Cricket Australia, federal and state governments and Mitchell Shire. A moving tribute was also paid to Australian of the Year Neale Daniher.
Twenty-five of his 1978 First XVIII and First XI premiership players were present.
Nearly all of the 82 VFL/AFL footballers who played in Mr Carroll’s teams were present along with nearly 40 cricketers who had progressed to test, state, UK county and Australian premier clubs.
The night saw multiple guest speakers provide their insights on Ray’s impact within the Assumption community, as well as their later success in life.
Hosted by Simon Costa OAM, the speakers on the night were Brother Doug Walsh, Fred Le Deux and Dion Prestia, Brian Forrest, Francis Bourke, Simon O’Donnell via video, Neville Clark OAM via video, 1999 Brownlow Medallist Shane Crawford, Neale Daniher, Tony Ottobre, Ken Fletcher via video and Hayley Casboult via video.
Mr Crawford provided a stirring speech which documented his journey from Finley in country New South Wales to Assumption under Mr Carroll’s watch, while Mr Bourke read AFL chief executive officer Andrew Dillon’s personal message to Mr Carroll.
Mr Daniher spoke about Mr Carroll’s impact on his life, while Mr Fletcher and Mr Clark spoke as respected figures from other schools who competed against Assumption in both football and cricket.
A panel session soon followed, with Damian Drum hosting the first contingent from the 1970s to the 1990s, with Gary O’Brien, Michael Connor, Peter Tossol, David Brooks, Ray Power, Jon Henry and David King on the first panel, before the second panel, hosted by Mr Costa, brought in Jason Smith, Dan Kavanagh, Adam Pickering, Eric Kuret, Michael Barlow, Jamie Sheahan and Tallan Wright.
Former Geelong player and modern-day Triple M radio host Billy Brownless provided support to Mr Costa, before a horse-race hosted by racecaller Gareth Hall and Fox Footy’s Ben Dixon determined who Ray’s favourite student was, won by Mr Power.
To finish the night, Mr Carroll spoke on stage, greeted and finishing the speech to a rousing standing ovation, speaking about his memories at Assumption College.
“To all of you here, I’m greatly in debt. You made my life so good, and it was a great privilege to know you and so many of your families. Without exception, you are all here with success in life and various forms, whether it be medicine, law, school teaching, agriculture, farming, it’s wonderful that you all made a success of your life and families and in nearly all cases, contributing to your community,” he said in his speech.
“I wish I could mention all your names to say how you impacted on my life across the decades, but that would take hours.”
