By Mark Ray
First published in The Age on June 7, 1999
Plugger locks up record, sinks Pies
At last Tony Lockett has climbed football’s highest peak and can contemplate the view down the other side.
Retirement might be in sight, but last night Lockett was struggling to fully appreciate the fact that now he stands alone as the greatest goal-kicker in Australian football history.
Tony Lockett kicking his 1300 goal.Credit: Steve Christo
With seconds to go in the first quarter of yesterday’s game against Collingwood, Lockett‘s captain and close mate, Paul Kelly, hit the full-forward’s chest with a pass from the left half-forward boundary line. Lockett marked ahead of yet another two opponents left helpless in his wake, like hundreds before them, and began lining up his shot for goal.
Following that familiar kicking ritual, Lockett put through his third goal of the quarter to break Gordon Coventry’s 62-year-old record of 1299 career goals. That was not the end of Lockett‘s contribution and he went on to kick nine goals in the game to finish very comfortably out on his own on 1306 from his 265 games.
The crowd invasion that engulfed Lockett and most of his teammates as soon as the ball sailed through caused no problems and, to top off a perfect day for Lockett and his fans, the Swans ran away from Collingwood in the last quarter to win by 51 points, 22.13 (145) to 14.10 (94).
All in all, not a bad way to spend a lazy, slightly hazy Sunday afternoon.
The Swans in recent times have rarely played well in first quarters. Yesterday, perhaps sparked by anticipation of the impending Lockett record, the Swans began sharply and were already 31 points ahead when Kelly spotted Lockett leading out from the forward pocket.
Tony Lockett kicked 9 goals to give him the all time goal kicking record.Credit: Pat Scala
As Lockett lined up his shot 35 metres out from goal in front of the Members Stand, the siren sounded. With his usual precision and concentration he kicked truly, turned towards the middle of the ground, blew out a puff of air in relief and promptly disappeared as first teammates and then 2500 spectators surrounded him.
After the game Lockett described the shot for that goal as “a shocking kick. Absolutely terrible”.
But, as he said, “If you’re going to duff it, you may as well duff it straight.”
Lockett struggled after the game to express his feelings about what in any terms is a huge sporting achievement.
“It’s a bit too early to say much,” he told a large media conference. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. But I’m very honored and very privileged. I’m overawed at the situation at the moment.”
Lockett‘s emotions were obvious when he explained what it felt like to receive from Kelly the pass that led to the record. Earlier he had failed to hold on to a Kelly pass, one of at least four chances to mark near goal that he failed to hold on to in a hectic opening quarter.
“To get it off Kell, who I hold in probably the highest regard of anyone I’ve come across in my time in footy, was fantastic,“ Lockett said. “I’d dropped that one from him early and felt pretty weak so it was a storybook way to do it. When it came from him again I thought it was going to fall short but somehow it hit me on the chest.”
Kelly was just as delighted at the outcome of another Kelly-to-Lockett play.
“I’d always thought I’d like to be the one to pass it to him,” he said. “It (Lockett‘s shot) didn’t look good off the boot, but I heard the crowd’s reaction and knew it was a goal.”
Like his teammates, Kelly’s emotions got the better of him and he ignored instructions to gather in the centre of the ground surrounded by security guards. Instead he charged into the huddle already forming around Lockett and eventually thrust his fist in the air for Lockett to grab.
Sydney led by 37 points at quarter-time. Given that scoreline and the fact that the long-awaited drama of the day had finally happened, there was every chance that the rest of the game was going to be an awful anti-climax.
Fortunately, Collingwood rallied well to save the day and its reputation with a strong second quarter. In that term the Pies kicked 6.3 to Sydney‘s 3.1 to cut the lead to 19 points. But as hard as it tried Collingwood was never really able to peg the Swans back far enough to offer a genuine threat.
The Magpies did get to within 13 points half-way through the third quarter but from then on the Swans pulled safely away, with Lockett kicking three goals late in that term and the Swans going on to add 7.5 to Collingwood‘s 2.3 in the last quarter.
As dominant as the Lockett presence was yesterday, the excellent crowd of 41,264 saw several other Swans play their part in Lockett‘s day. Matthew Nicks was excellent throughout; Wayne Schwass, Kelly and Daryn Cresswell (in his 150th game) were productive in the midfield and Michael O’Loughlin and Adam Goodes contributed strongly in patches. Brad Seymour did well in his first game for the season.
For Collingwood, Nathan Buckley, Scott Burns and Gavin Brown had decent days and Saverio Rocca finished with four goals, but overall the Magpies lacked the pace and finesse of the Swans. Mal Michael, who played on Lockett throughout, battled hard and certainly was not disgraced.
Still, Lockett was very much the star of the day.
Before the game, the ball Lockett kicked for that goal had been valued at $75,000. Yesterday it was caught (not marked, as it had bounced off a woman’s head first) by a man in the crowd who was quickly approached by Swans officials and given a letter from Lockett asking for the ball. The man gladly obliged before ringing his disbelieving wife on his mobile.
Lockett said he would not be making any decision about his future until the end of the season and said that there was a chance he might play again next year.
But if Lockett was vague about his future, he was adamant about the relative value of playing in a premiership or holding the goal-kicking record. Asked whether he would swap the 1300 for a premiership medallion, he said: “Yep. For sure.”
And with that, the rest of the football season can begin.
TIME ON
SYDNEY
7.4 10.5 15.8 22.13 (145)
COLLINGWOOD
1.3 7.6 12.7 14.10 (94)
GOALS
Sydney: Lockett 9, Maxfield 2, Fosdike 2, O’Loughlin 2, Cresswell, Kelly, Barry, Saddington, Nicks, Goodes, Campbell. Collingwood: SRocca 4, Brown 3, Lane 2, Patterson, Burns, Wild, Jacotine, Betheras.
BEST
Sydney: Kelly, Lockett, Barry, Maxfield, Cresswell, Nicks. Collingwood: Buckley, Burns, Williams, Betheras, Wild, Brown.
INJURIES
Sydney: Dunkley (ankle). Collingwood: Licuria (hamstring).
UMPIRES
Dore, Goldspink, Sercia.
CROWD
41,264 at SCG.
PLAY OF THE DAY
Tony Lockett‘s 1300th goal, his third of the day, undoubtedly took the honors. He kicked it from the left forward pocket after a pass from captain Paul Kelly that hit him on the chest. And although the big man said his shot at goal was a shocker, he and the crowd were ecstatic to see it at least go straight and sail through.
KEY DUELS
Lockett (Sydney) v Michael (Collingwood): Michael was given the AFL’s least-wanted job and tried his utmost not to go into the history books as the man who let Plugger reach the record, but he was overwhelmed by the delivery from the Swans’ running brigade and the size of the occasion. Michael stuck to his guns and was not disgraced, despite Lockett bagging nine.
Kelly/Schwass (Sydney) v Buckley/Burns (Collingwood: The Swans’ midfield, perhaps charged up in expectation of Plugger’s feat, jumped out of the blocks, but lapsed in the second quarter when the Magpies rallied to put themselves back in the game. Sydney‘s finesse and pace proved decisive in the end.
FROM THE ROOMS
Rodney Eade (Sydney): “Our focus had been pretty good but having said that, it’s really good to get it (Lockett’s record) out of the way. At times we can get a bit complacent. We were six goals up and subconsciously maybe the guys thought it’s just going to happen out there and they didn’t have to work as hard.”
Tony Shaw (Collingwood): “They just wanted it a bit more for the occasion, but no excuse, it just wasn’t good enough. At three-quarter-time we were a chance, but you had to get people to work hard. They did it better than us and that’s why we capitulated in the end.”