mmg.com.au

Kyabram was swept up in Carlton fever yesterday, with the squad arriving in the district for Australia Post’s Community Camps program.

Fans of all ages flocked to the Kyabram Post Office for a chance to meet dual-Brownlow medallist winner and captain Chris Judd, Jarrad Waite and Kade Simpson.

Five-week-old Liam Fleming will not remember being cradled by the Carlton superstar and his teammates.

Lifelong supporter Jeff Day, 85, has held on to the Carlton Annual Report and Balance Sheet from 1987 and said the newly signed document would be safely passed to the next generation, joking they never had a choice but to support the Blues.

One little supporter will be thanking his mum in years to come — he was devastated his new Carlton jumper had been ‘‘wrecked’’ after she got the players to sign it.

It is a jam-packed trip for the squad, which was busy yesterday and today doing school visits, clinics and other appearances.

Waite, who turned 29 on Saturday, played his junior football in Benalla and was recruited from Murray Bushrangers.

‘‘It is always good to get a bit of country air, it’s nicer up here,’’ he said.

‘‘It is good to get back to the communities who don’t get as exposed to football as much as the city kids.’’

He said the players were keen for the NAB Cup to get under way later this month after a solid pre-season.

‘‘It has been pretty solid — it always is this time of year, but it’s getting towards the end and games are starting to come in, so everyone is looking forward to games,’’ he said.

‘‘When you start, pre-season games feel like a long way away, but now it feels like it was just yesterday we started training, so we’re looking forward to it.

‘‘Once the games start, the boys get really excited.’’

His advice to the young supporters hoping to follow in his footsteps was to practice and simply enjoy the game.

‘‘If it is no longer fun then it’s not enjoyable, so just enjoy your football. I guarantee everyone who plays at our club just loves playing footy,’’ he said.