Blake Caracella

Blake Caracella (born 15 March 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.

Early career

Selected by Essendon in the 1995 National Draft at pick 10, Caracella finally debuted with the Bombers in 1997. What had held him back was his lack of bulk - he came to the club weighing only 74 kg - however he rectified this by pushing his playing weight up to 83 kg prior to his AFL debut. Caracella quickly established himself in the side as a skilful small forward/goalsneak, who had patience and poise. He earned himself an AFL Rising Star nomination for his work.

Premierships

He was a vital part of Essendon's premiership win in 2000, contributing 35 goals for the season. At the end of 2002 he was traded to the Brisbane Lions, where he played in the club's 2003 premiership side.

Collingwood career

He was again traded to Collingwood at the end of 2004, the team that he used to follow as a child. Reasons cited for his trade from both Essendon and Brisbane was to ease the strain of salary cap restrictions at both clubs.

In 2005 Caracella had a solid year at Collingwood (apart from a lean patch in the final 7 rounds where he only managed 3 goals, as well as missing Round 20), booting 34 goals in total. In fairness to Caracella, he attracted the second best defender often since Josh Fraser, Anthony Rocca, Nathan Buckley and Alan Didak missed most of the season with injuries. Along with this handy contribution, Caracella also managed to be a mentor to some of the younger players at the club and went close to leading the Magpies goalkicking.

Retirement

In 2006, Caracella suffered a career-ending neck injury. Whilst contesting a loose ball against the Lions, Caracella slipped and former teammate Tim Notting's hip accidentally collected his head - although according to field umpire Brett Allen at the time, not sufficient enough for a free kick for too high - fracturing several vertebrae and bruising his spinal cord. The injury horrified the football community, drawing comparisons to the quadriplegia suffered by Footscray's Neil Sachse in the 1970s.

On Wednesday, August 2, Caracella announced his retirement. At the press conference, Caracella revealed that scans had shown his spinal column was naturally narrower than average. This condition would have ruled out a career in any professional contact sport had it been diagnosed earlier, and added to the sense of relief that the injury was not considerably more serious. However, he claims that he now suffers virtually no ill-effects resulting from the collision.