Playing Career
Originally from Yarra Glen, Ratten made his debut for Carlton in the fifteenth round of the 1990 season.
In a career lasting 14 years, Ratten played mainly as an in-and-under midfielder. His unobtrusive style often escaped the attention of media and umpires early in his career. Famously, he won Carlton's Best and Fairest award in the record-breaking premiership season of 1995, including a game in round 17 against Fitzroy when he amassed 44 disposals, but failed to poll a single Brownlow vote from the umpires for the entire season. In the 1999 season, Ratten was credited with 265 clearances, which is the highest on record.
Ratten won the Robert Reynolds Trophy (Carlton Best and Fairest) on three occasions: 1995, 1997, and in a tie with Scott Camporeale in 2000. Ratten was a part of Carlton's premiership team in 1995. He played for Victoria in the State of Origin in 1996 and 1997. He was awarded All-Australian selection in 1997, 2000 and 2001, firmly cementing his skill in the centre. Ratten was inducted into the Carlton Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2009, statistical analysis company Champion Data announced that Ratten averaged 126.1 ranking points per game during the 2000–2009 decade, the highest of any player in the league.
Ratten's career was plagued by injury. During his time in football, he had eight arthroscopes on his right knee, three arthroscopes on his left knee and a medial ligament. His shoulder was also badly damaged in 2003, which ultimately led to Ratten announcing his retirement in the middle of the 2003 season.
After the retirement of Craig Bradley, Ratten was awarded the club's captaincy in 2002, a position he held until his own retirement. After Ratten's retirement in the middle of the 2003 season, the captaincy was passed to Andrew McKay for the rest of the 2003 season.
Read more about this topic: Brett Ratten
Famous quotes containing the words playing and/or career:
“The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery....Child’s play is the infantile form of the human ability to deal with experience by creating model situations and to master reality by experiment and planning.”
—Erik H. Erikson (20th century)
“Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)