Brett Ratten

Brett Ratten (born 11 July 1971) is an Australian rules football coach and former player in the Australian Football League (AFL).

He played 255 games for the Carlton Football Club between 1990 and 2003, including the club's 1995 premiership.

Originally from Yarra Glen, Ratten made his debut for Carlton Football Club 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.

Ratten played a total of 255 games and kicked 117 goals for Carlton from 1990 to 2003.

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.

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 was also a member of Carlton's 1995 premiership team.

He played for Victoria in the State of Origin games in 1996 and 1997.

He was awarded All-Australian selection in 1997, 2000 and 2001, firmly cementing his skill in the centre.

In the 1999 season, Ratten was credited with 265 clearances, which (as of 2021) remains the highest on record by a considerable margin – the next-highest is only 192.

Ratten was inducted into the Carlton Hall of Fame in 1999.

After Craig Bradley chose to step-down as captain at the end of 2001, Ratten was awarded the club's captaincy in 2002, a position he held until his own retirement.

His shoulder was also badly damaged in 2003, which ultimately led to Ratten announcing his retirement from his playing career in the middle of the 2003 season.

After his retirement, in the middle of the 2003 season, the captaincy was passed to Andrew McKay for the rest of the season.

After retiring from playing, Ratten spent one year as an assistant coach at the Melbourne Football Club under senior coach Neale Daniher for the 2004 AFL season, before leaving to take a head coaching role at the Norwood Football Club in the Eastern Football League's second division for two seasons.

He then served as Carlton's senior coach from 2007 to 2012.

Ratten returned to the Carlton Football Club as an assistant coach under senior coach Denis Pagan for the 2007 AFL season.

On 24 July 2007, Pagan was sacked during the middle of the season.

Ratten was then appointed as caretaker senior coach of Carlton for the remainder of the 2007 season.

Carlton under Ratten lost the remaining six games of the 2007 season to finish in 15th place on the ladder.

On 20 August 2007, Ratten was re-appointed as full-time Carlton Football Club senior coach, when he signed a contract until the end of 2009.

In the 2008 AFL season, Carlton under Ratten finished in 11th place on the ladder with 10 wins and 12 losses, missing out on the finals.

Under Ratten's coaching, Carlton returned to the finals after a long period of poor performances under Pagan.

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.

During his time in football, he had eight arthroscopes on his right knee, three arthroscopes on his left knee and a medial ligament.

Carlton reached the finals in the 2009 season, Ratten's second season, finishing seventh and ending a seven-year finals drought, the longest in the club's history.

However, Carlton were eliminated by the Brisbane Lions in their elimination final in the 2009 AFL finals series.

Late in the 2010 season, Ratten came under scrutiny as senior coach when Carlton had several big losses, but the club nevertheless reached the finals again, finishing eighth.

Ratten began coaching from the boundary line rather than the coaches' box during the season.

Carlton were however eliminated by the Sydney Swans in the elimination final in the 2010 finals series.

His contract was extended until the end of 2011 as a result of this improved performance.

In the 2011 season, he took the team to fifth and an elimination final victory against Essendon, the club's first finals win for 10 years.

However, Carlton were eliminated by the West Coast Eagles in the semi-finals in the 2011 finals series.

There had been speculation that renewal of Ratten's contract beyond 2011 was contingent on the club winning a final and his contract was extended to the end of 2013 after the season.

Carlton's on-field performance under Ratten in the 2012 season was inconsistent and the club missed the finals, finishing in tenth position on the ladder with eleven wins and eleven losses, after setting pre-season expectations of a top four finish.

After a seven-year stint as an assistant coach with and, in 2019 he was appointed as St Kilda's senior coach, a role he held until his sacking at the end of the 2022 AFL season.

Ratten was also the caretaker senior coach at during Alastair Clarkson's leave of absence.