Alex Jesaulenko’s mark was ‘very good’, but so are the many taken by SA players since – despite what Victorians might tell you
It’s been the Cornes family versus Victoria this week, and Graham has hit back at Eddie McGuire’s claims that he and his sons have been “denigrating anything good about the VFL or AFL” by debating Alex Jesaulenko’s mark.
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The Twittersphere went into meltdown this week after Kane Cornes had the temerity to suggest that Alex Jesaulenko’s famous mark in the 1970 grand final was “overrated”.
It was in a panel discussion that might otherwise have gone unnoticed, except the segment was tweeted out and the comments highlighted. Then all hell broke loose.
He might just as well have shot Bambi.
Jezza’s daughter was particularly upset, but her emotional response suggested maybe she didn’t hear the actual comments or took them completely out of context.
But Eddie McGuire can’t use that excuse.
He fired back, as Eddie is wont to do: “I’m sick of the South Australians, and particularly the Cornes family denigrating anything good that’s from the VFL and the AFL,” he ranted.
Huh?
I was puzzled as Chad and I and the other members of the family, particularly the brothers down in Barwon Heads, seemed to have been unfairly maligned.
But I wasn’t offended. Eddie and I are mates (I think). We go way back. I didn’t take it personally, although I’m not sure about Chad.
However, this puerile little spat does lead us to a discussion about what does constitute a “great mark”, as distinct from a “very good” mark or a “good” mark.
Marking, with its varying degrees of difficulty, is by far the most outstanding feature of our great game, although in the modern game of possession football there are lots of simple, easy marks.
But a “great mark” is one that lifts the crowd to its feet and evokes an involuntary gasp that builds to a spontaneous roar, which can be heard for kilometres around the stadium.
We appreciate the “good” and “very good” marks but they don’t have quite the same impact. When we talk of the “great” AFL/VFL marks that have been either frozen in time by a black and white photograph or preserved by modern television footage, half a dozen names come immediately to mind.
Pratt, Coleman, Barker, Smith, Moorcroft and Capper. There are others, of course, but then it becomes too subjective.
But there is also another category.
Some moments in football (and sport) become “iconic”.
They can be simple little gestures like Nicky Winmar raising his jumper and proudly pointing to his Aboriginal heritage.
In rugby league the sporting gesture of two fierce opponents, Norm Provan and Arthur Summons, both caked in the SCG mud, embracing after the 1963 grand final is rugby league’s most famous photo.
The NRL grand final trophy is named in their honour.
There is no more iconic Olympic Games photo than that of John Carlos and Tommie Smith standing on the dais with heads lowered and fists raised in the black power salute.
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A poster of Cassius Clay, who would late become Muhammad Ali, standing over his fallen opponent, Sonny Liston sold in its millions. You get the picture.
Alex Jesaulenko’s mark in the 1970 grand final is a “very good mark” that has become an iconic moment.
It is far from the “mark of the century” as it has occasionally been described, but the occasion and Mike Williams’ “Jesaulenko, you beauty!” commentary has ensured the immortality of the moment.
Similarly, Leo Barry’s famous mark in the closing seconds of the 2005 grand final is a “very good” mark that has become one of football’s iconic moments.
We have our own South Australian moments such as Ian McKay’s mark over Pat Hall in the 1952 grand final, which is another example of a “very good” mark that has become an iconic moment.
McKay’s grace and athleticism is captured by the simple symmetry and balance of the black and white photo.
Tony Modra and Brett Burton took many better marks but it’s nearly 70 years later and we still talk about Ian McKay.
And that’s what annoys me about Victorians.
They would never have heard of Ian McKay, who in four state games held the immortal John Coleman to just 10 goals (Coleman’s average in his 98 games for Essendon was 5.47 goals per game).
They would never have seen a Ken Whelan mark.
Never would they appreciate or admit the genius of Barrie Robran or that Jack Oatey might have changed the way Australian football was coached and played.
There is a collective narcissism ingrained in Victorians that prevent them from recognising football in the other states could actually be quite good – that football in our communities is just as important as football is in theirs.
The sacrifices that other traditional football states have had to make go completely unnoticed and unappreciated by Victorians.
The suggestion that Collingwood or Richmond should actually play a few more games interstate, or maybe even go down to Tasmania, is met with expressions of stupefied bewilderment.
Try suggesting the grand final should be played at a venue other than the MCG. Horror!
Victoria is a great football state and there is much to like about grassroots Victorian footy but they need constant reminding that the game is Australian football not Victorian football.
And – Alex Jesaulenko was a “great” footballer who took just a “very good” mark in the 1970 VFL grand final.