TONY LOCKETT

'Anthony Howard "Tony" Lockett' (born in Ballarat on March 9, 1966) is a former Australian rules football player. Lockett is the highest goal scorer in the history of the VFL/AFL with 1,360 goals in a career of 281 games that commenced in 1983 with St Kilda Football Club. Lockett is the only full-forward ever to win the coveted Brownlow Medal, in 1987, a season in which he was decorated with several honours. He is a 4 times Coleman Medallist and a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame having kicked more than 100 goals in a season on six occasions.

Contents

VFL/AFL career

Famous nickname

St Kilda

Sydney Swans

Controversy

One Tony Lockett

Retirement

Post-football

See also

References

External links

VFL/AFL career

Locket was originally recruited from the North Ballarat Football Club.
At 191 cm tall and weighing in at 104 kg, Lockett was a large footballer. His strong hands, acceleration, ability to leap and accurate kicking Made him a formidable player.

Famous nickname

Tony's father inherited the nickname "Plugger" form his own father because he used to "plug around" in the garden. Tony's father then saw it fit to pass down the nickname once more to Tony. The name became synonymous with the man's large size.
In Round 18, 1993, in a match at the Sydney Cricket Ground between St Kilda (Lockett's club) and Sydney, a piglet (being a reference to Tony's size) was released by a member of the Sydney crowd onto the ground (with the wrongly spelled word "Pluga" and Lockett's playing number "#4" spray painted onto it) before being tackled to the ground and removed by an opposition player. [1] The famous Channel Seven commentary of the incident had the exclamation of "There's a pig at full-forward!". Lockett was absent from the match due to injury.

St Kilda

For several reasons, Lockett's best season was probably 1991, when he kicked 127 goals in 17 games, at an average of 7.47 goals per game, the highest average ever achieved in VFL/AFL history. He was also the spearhead for St Kilda's first finals appearance since 1973. In the Qualifying Final against Geelong, Lockett kicked nine goals, five behinds, although the Saints were beaten by seven points.

Sydney Swans

In 1995, Lockett transferred to the Sydney Swans, where he played for another five seasons. Lockett was an instant success with the Swans, helping the team into the finals, and drawing huge crowds.
Lockett's career-best goal-scoring performance came in Round 19, 1995, against Fitzroy at the Western Oval, when he scored 16 goals straight.
Lockett became a cult figure in Sydney. At the height of his popularity the song "There's only one Tony Lockett" was released (sung to the tune of guantanamera). A groin injury threatened his appearance in the 1995 AFL Grand Final in which his team lost to the Kangaroos Football Club.
In 1996, Lockett was the subject of much hype in the clash between Geelong and Sydney in which Gary Ablett was playing at the other end of the ground. The match was billed by the media as ''Plugger'' vs ''God'' and set a ground record attendance at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He broke the record of 1299 career goals (set by Gordon Coventry) at the SCG in 1999, hitting an Australian dancer with his goal, and sparking one of the biggest pitch invasions seen in Aussie Rules.
Tony Lockett is perhaps remembered most famously for his role in taking the Sydney Swans into their first Grand Final in over 50 years. With the scores tied and only seconds left on the clock, Tony Lockett marked 50 metres out from goal. Taking his kick after the final siren Lockett missed the goal, but the resulting behind was still enough to see the Swans win. Since then this score has been called 'That Point' and is seen as the second most important point of all time, second only to Barry Breen's 1966 Grand Final-winning point.

Controversy

Lockett's spectacular career was marred by several high profile tribunal appearances. The most famous was in an 11 goal match for St Kilda against his future club Sydney in 1994, when he broke Peter Caven's nose with a huge forearm. The incident resulted in a nine week suspension.

One Tony Lockett

The song titled 'There's Only One Tony Lockett' was released to the tune of 'Guantanamera'.
Lyrics:
In Ballarat in '66

A football legend was born

He was raised out there in the country

A cold and frosty morn


He heard the game a callin'

But nobody ever guessed

That this young man was destined

To become the very best


Yeeeah


There's only one Tony Lockett

There's only one Tony Lockett

One Tony Lockett

There's only one Tony Lockett


His first kick for St Kilda

He kicked a mighty goal

Then season after season

He made the game his own


The harbour lights on Sydney

Took him in and called him son

Only great men stand against him

As he counts them by the tonne


Yeeeah


There's only one Tony Lockett (One Tony Lockett)

There's only one Tony Lockett

One Tony Lockett

There's only one Tony Lockett


One Tony Lockett (One Tony Lockett)

There's only one Tony Lockett

One Tony Lockett

There's only one Tony Lockett


(Football commentary)

He's taken the mark

He can kick it from here

HE'S KICKED IT

IT'S 3 DEGREES

HE's DONE IT

TONY LOCKETT IS THE GREATEST GOAL KICKER OF ALL TIME


There's only one Tony Lockett

There's only one Tony Lockett (One Tony Lockett)

One Tony Lockett

There's only one Tony Lockett


One Tony Lockett (One Tony Lockett)

There's only one Tony Lockett (One Tony Lockett)

One Tony Lockett

There's only one Tony Lockett


(There's only) One Tony Lockett

(There's only) One Tony Lockett

One Tony Lockett

There's only one Tony Lockett

Retirement

Lockett announced his retirement at the end of the 1999 at 33 years of age, the season in which he broke the career goal-kicking record.
Many were disappointed with his decision, and called for his return. Lockett made an ill-fated comeback in 2002, when he was unable to recapture his best form, due to a calf injury that forced him to miss six games. He retired mid season, round 10.

Post-football

Lockett was inducted to both the St Kilda and Sydney Swans respective Teams of the Century in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
Lockett's aversion of the media has been well documented. Since his retirement he has been elusive and has had little involvement in the game.
He has appeared in various television commercials, including Advanced Hair and Lowes menswear (in Sydney). While at a taping session for a Lowes commercial, Lockett engaged in a friendly wrestling match with former amateur rugby player Ace (Adrian) Mueller, who was at the time working for Lowes corporate division. According to some reports, the friendly wrestle developed into something quite competitive, with Mueller (an exponent of the Israeli self defence system, Krav Maga) pinning Lockett.^[1]
More Recently Tony starred along with Stephen Curry and Dave Lawson in a Toyota Memorable Moments advertisement which takes a lighthearted look at many moments in his career including: the piglet 'Pluga', 'One Tony Lockett', 'That Point' and his 1,300th goal (including the pitch invasion). Some felt that this ad overlooked his greatest moments during his playing career at St. Kilda.
Tony is also well known for his main interest outside of football, greyhound racing and is the trainer of famous dog Brett Lee (which is believed to be worth upwards of A$1million) among others.
On May 13, 2006, Lockett gave a rare interview to Triple M's AFL pre-match coverage. In it he revealed that he currently lives near Bowral, New South Wales and has little interest in the AFL. He said he felt ashamed of his playing career, describing it as a "thug who could play a bit" and cited outside interests as the reason for his non-involvement in the game.
On June 22, 2006, Lockett was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
He has had one goal end at Telstra Dome named after him (the ''Lockett End'' of the Telstra Dome), the other end being named after the man who's record he broke, Gordon Coventry.
Lockett has since appeared in numerous advertisements, including a Toyota ad recreating his 1300th goal.

See also

★ After the siren kicks in Australian rules football

References

1. Inside-Rugby magazine February 1999

External links

★

★ St Kilda Hall of fame profile

★ Tribute site