it's a pity Kouta got injured late in the season (playing Essendon - and he was never the same after that) because Carlton won 13 straight that season - until that game, and lost narrowly. Arguably Blues midfield eclipsed the Bombers but they lost to a young Demons outfit in the prelim final, would have been a cracking GF if Blues had made it with Kouta fully fit (remember what he did to the Bombers in the 1999 finals!)
PS How Kouta missed the Brownlow is one of the great travesties, he dominated about 10 matches straight in a way I haven't seen since
