Scott Watters and his Sydney teammates orchestrated the Tony Lockett pig stunt at the SCG

Scott Watters can recall it vividly. As the Swan and teammates prepared for Tony Lockett and the Saints, they needed inspiration. So they headed to the pub. Listen to Scott Watters on Sacked.

Plugga the Pig was hard to catch at the SCG. Pic: Steve Cooper

Former Sydney player Scott Watters has revealed his hilarious role in the infamous Tony Lockett pig episode, admitting players helped orchestrate the plan.

The pig was released onto the SCG in Round 18, 1993 with Lockett’s No. 4 and “Plugga” daubed in paint on its side, with the AFL goals record-holder livid at the stunt.

He did not play that day but channelled his rage with 11 goals the next time the teams met in 1994.

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Watters told the Herald Sun ’s Sacked Podcast the stunt was only kickstarted through sheer desperation and was initially knocked back until too many beers impaired their judgment.

“Sydney at that time, we were struggling and bottom of the ladder. We played a game … post-game Simon Minton-Connell, Daryn Cresswell, Paul Kelly and myself were drowning our sorrows over a beer but already thinking about St Kilda the next week and the enormity of Tony Lockett, who literally was phenomenal at that time.

“I remember looking at Paul Kelly and saying, ‘You are the most courageous player I have ever played with, great captain, you need to stand in the hole 20 metres in front of Plugger all day and sacrifice yourself for the betterment of the side’ and he said, ‘No mate, that's not happening’.”

Plugga the Pig ran into footy folklore in 1993. Pic: Steve Cooper

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“While we were having this conversation a guy sort of sidles up alongside us and says, ‘Guys I am a pig farmer, I have got a plan’, and he said, ‘We are going to release a pig on the ground with No. 4 on the side of it, I reckon this can put Plugger off his game’.

“We straight away thought the guy was not mentally stable, so we moved him away from the group, but about an hour later there was a fair degree of strategic planning going on, (we were wondering) ‘Well how do you get a pig down? etc etc’

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“It started sounding like a really good plan. My next major recollection is being on the ground, in the centre of the ground, with Daryn Cresswell about 50m away and the game gets stopped.

“I am looking around. Is there any injury, what's happened? And then you look down to the forward pocket and Darren Holmes, (who) was a really tenacious back pocket, is corralling the pig trying to lay a tackle, and he makes a great tackle and it was probably the best tackle any Sydney player made on the day. (He) nails the pig and the rest is folklore.”

"There's a pig at full forward!"

Sandy Roberts has retired from television commentary, so it's only fitting to bring back one of his most famous calls. pic.twitter.com/8QqZu3vqRH

— AFL (@AFL) February 9, 2019

Watters believes the pig was smuggled into the ground under several blankets, with the pig farmer later calling a radio station to confess the elaborate plan.

Lockett later moved to Sydney, with Watters becoming a Fremantle player in 1995, but there are mixed opinions on how the AFL goals record holder handled the pig incident.

“I actually went to Fremantle in his first year (1995), went back home ultimately,” Watters said.

“Sydney were playing a game at Subiaco and I went to catch up with my Sydney teammates from the previous year and I walked into the change room and I think it was Daryn Cresswell I saw first, and Plugger was actually playing there now at Sydney. I remember saying to Daryn, ‘Mate is he all right with the pig?’.

“There are a few players in the AFL you don't want to upset and Plugger was one. Daryn said he loved it, so I walked up to Tony and said ‘Plugger, how are you going?’

“He said ‘Mate, that was fantastic’.”

Tony Lockett celebrates his 11-goal haul against the Swans in 1994.

Lockett wrote in his autobiography he was “livid when I saw that (pig)”, and kicked 11 goals in his next meeting with St Kilda.

But he told the Herald Sun ’s Mark Robinson recently he was more sanguine about the incident as time had passed.

“Aaah, the pig. It has stood the test of time, the pig. The pig’s had a hell of a run. It’s 25 years old, the pig. It’s the longest living pig in history. “People get a laugh out of it and that’s what we’re here for. I get a laugh about it.”