WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.919 You ever look at an elite professional athlete 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:05.599 and just think, there is absolutely no way that 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:07.940 guy plays sports for a living? Oh, all the time. 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:10.550 You see these guys. Right. Today we are looking 00:00:10.550 --> 00:00:13.289 at someone who proves that looks can be incredibly 00:00:13.289 --> 00:00:15.789 deceiving. We are exploring the life of a man 00:00:15.789 --> 00:00:18.949 who completely defied, you know, every conventional 00:00:18.949 --> 00:00:21.469 expectation of what a superstar should look like, 00:00:21.530 --> 00:00:23.550 how they should act, and what they could actually 00:00:23.550 --> 00:00:25.949 achieve. That's a truly unique profile. Yeah, 00:00:26.010 --> 00:00:29.210 so welcome to another deep dive. Today we are 00:00:29.210 --> 00:00:31.730 jumping into the life of Tony Lockett, widely 00:00:31.730 --> 00:00:34.780 known to everyone as Plugger. He is the most 00:00:34.780 --> 00:00:37.820 prolific goal kicker in the entire history of 00:00:37.820 --> 00:00:39.979 Australian rules football. The absolute greatest. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:43.479 Exactly. And our mission today is to uncover 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:47.200 exactly how this naturally media shy asthmatic 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:49.460 kid with wildly fluctuating weight became the 00:00:49.460 --> 00:00:51.920 absolute savior of two completely different struggling 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.579 football clubs and how he literally changed the 00:00:54.579 --> 00:00:58.539 sporting landscape of an entire major city. So 00:00:58.539 --> 00:01:00.299 before we get into the wild stats and all the 00:01:00.299 --> 00:01:02.820 controversies, set the stage for us. What are 00:01:02.820 --> 00:01:04.900 we really looking at with this deep dive? Well, 00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:07.640 we're looking at a story that goes way beyond 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:11.099 your standard sports trivia. This is a fascinating 00:01:11.099 --> 00:01:14.579 look at the intersection of individual brilliance, 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:18.700 sheer physical intimidation and just extreme 00:01:18.700 --> 00:01:21.859 pressure. Right. Because Tony Lockett is an incredibly 00:01:21.859 --> 00:01:24.920 enigmatic figure. I mean, his entire career is 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:28.019 a study in contradictions. On one hand. You have 00:01:28.019 --> 00:01:30.299 someone who possessed unparalleled, delicate 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:33.000 skill and finesse. Beautiful to watch. Exactly. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.000 Right. But on the other hand, he played with 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:37.200 a brand of physical aggression that made him 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:39.659 one of the most genuinely feared men to ever 00:01:39.659 --> 00:01:42.180 step onto a field. Yeah. So to really understand 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:44.959 his impact, we have to examine the immense weight 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:47.500 of expectation he carried, both literally and 00:01:47.500 --> 00:01:50.219 figuratively, and how he navigated a sports culture 00:01:50.219 --> 00:01:53.099 that was rapidly transforming into this massive 00:01:53.099 --> 00:01:55.269 corporate machine all around him. Okay, let's 00:01:55.269 --> 00:01:57.530 unpack this because Lockett's origin story doesn't 00:01:57.530 --> 00:01:59.849 exactly scream future highly polished national 00:01:59.849 --> 00:02:02.269 superstar. No, not at all. He grew up in Ballarat, 00:02:02.349 --> 00:02:04.349 which is a regional city in Victoria, Australia, 00:02:04.569 --> 00:02:07.370 and his roots were just deeply embedded in local, 00:02:07.510 --> 00:02:10.250 really gritty sports. His family ties are actually 00:02:10.250 --> 00:02:12.069 legendary in their own right. They really are. 00:02:12.409 --> 00:02:15.129 Like his grandfather, Charlie, was heavily involved 00:02:15.129 --> 00:02:17.849 in the local greyhound racing scene. He even 00:02:17.849 --> 00:02:20.250 supplied the pacemakers for the local club. Yeah, 00:02:20.270 --> 00:02:22.509 he's a fixture there. And his father, Howard 00:02:22.509 --> 00:02:25.870 Lockett, was a local football champion. He played 00:02:25.870 --> 00:02:29.110 an astonishing 500 games of country football. 00:02:29.870 --> 00:02:34.129 500. He was even inducted into the North Ballarat 00:02:34.129 --> 00:02:36.969 Football Club Hall of Fame. And that lineage 00:02:36.969 --> 00:02:40.189 is crucial for you to understand. His mindset. 00:02:40.569 --> 00:02:43.229 Tony Lockett didn't just stumble into professional 00:02:43.229 --> 00:02:46.250 sports from a vacuum. He was steeped in a culture 00:02:46.250 --> 00:02:49.250 of local, grassroots, uncompromising competition 00:02:49.250 --> 00:02:51.289 from the day he was born. Oh, he was in his blood. 00:02:51.550 --> 00:02:53.250 Literally. Yeah. He actually started playing 00:02:53.250 --> 00:02:55.409 Australian football with the under -12s team 00:02:55.409 --> 00:02:57.569 of his father's club, North Ballarat, back in 00:02:57.569 --> 00:03:00.629 1974. He played 120 junior games right there. 00:03:00.729 --> 00:03:03.050 Wow. So he was fully immersed in that regional 00:03:03.050 --> 00:03:05.159 sporting environment. And regional Australian 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:07.439 football is often characterized by a very raw, 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:11.520 unpolished, and intensely physical style of play. 00:03:12.120 --> 00:03:14.300 It is absolutely not for the faint of heart. 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:16.479 And since we are talking about his family, we 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.039 absolutely have to talk about the nickname, Plugger. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:23.560 Oh, it's iconic. It is one of the most iconic 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:27.039 monikers in all of Australian sports. Now, looking 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:29.219 at pictures of him, you know, this massive guy, 00:03:29.419 --> 00:03:32.419 most people probably assume he got the name because 00:03:32.419 --> 00:03:34.580 he was this heavy set player who just sort of 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:36.759 plugged away at the goal face. Just this immovable 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:38.599 object. That's what everyone assumes. Yeah. But 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:41.120 the origin is actually so much better. It wasn't 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:43.219 originally about his physical size at all, was 00:03:43.219 --> 00:03:46.360 it? Not at all. He actually inherited the nickname 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:49.539 from his father, Howard. And Howard got it from 00:03:49.539 --> 00:03:51.740 his father, Tony's grandfather. Right. And why 00:03:51.740 --> 00:03:53.919 was the grandfather called Plugger? Because he 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:56.210 used to just plug around in the garden. It's 00:03:56.210 --> 00:03:59.270 basically a family heirloom. Exactly. A nickname 00:03:59.270 --> 00:04:01.849 about gardening that serendipitously ended up 00:04:01.849 --> 00:04:04.849 being the absolute perfect descriptor for a colossal 00:04:04.849 --> 00:04:07.830 full forward. It is a wonderful piece of sporting 00:04:07.830 --> 00:04:11.389 trivia. But it also highlights the central paradox 00:04:11.389 --> 00:04:14.669 of Lockett's physical presence. Because when 00:04:14.669 --> 00:04:17.550 we talk about his physique, we are talking about 00:04:17.550 --> 00:04:21.089 a player who, throughout his career, fluctuated 00:04:21.089 --> 00:04:26.230 between 95 and 112. man for those of you more 00:04:26.230 --> 00:04:29.470 familiar with pounds that is over 240 pounds 00:04:29.470 --> 00:04:32.000 at his heaviest And we should probably pause 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.959 right here to explain what that actually means 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:36.360 in the context of this specific sport. Because 00:04:36.360 --> 00:04:38.680 Australian rules football is not like American 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:41.259 football, where the play stops every 10 seconds. 00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:43.279 Right. There's no offensive and defensive line 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.379 swaps. Exactly. It is a grueling, continuous, 00:04:46.660 --> 00:04:49.660 highly aerobic game played on a massive oval 00:04:49.660 --> 00:04:52.540 field that is actually much larger than a traditional 00:04:52.540 --> 00:04:55.860 soccer or NFL pitch. Players are essentially 00:04:55.860 --> 00:04:58.620 running half marathons every single game. They 00:04:58.620 --> 00:05:01.129 are constantly moving. And the position he played 00:05:01.129 --> 00:05:03.910 full forward is traditionally the primary goal 00:05:03.910 --> 00:05:06.110 score. They stay closer to the opponent's goal, 00:05:06.230 --> 00:05:08.509 sure, but they still have to constantly sprint 00:05:08.509 --> 00:05:10.310 out to catch the ball. Right, you can't just 00:05:10.310 --> 00:05:12.790 stand there. No, you have to work for it. So 00:05:12.790 --> 00:05:16.750 add to that massive 112 -kilogram frame the fact 00:05:16.750 --> 00:05:18.750 that he suffered from severe chronic asthma. 00:05:19.129 --> 00:05:22.310 Which is just crazy to think about. It is. He 00:05:22.310 --> 00:05:26.410 even missed a crucial final match in 1991. Because 00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:28.930 the club's medical staff warned him that playing 00:05:28.930 --> 00:05:31.589 with influenza could trigger a severe, potentially 00:05:31.589 --> 00:05:34.810 life -threatening asthma attack. Jeez. And later 00:05:34.810 --> 00:05:37.490 in his career, he required constant painkillers 00:05:37.490 --> 00:05:39.850 just to manage the ongoing effects of a completely 00:05:39.850 --> 00:05:42.610 torn groin muscle. So I want you to just imagine 00:05:42.610 --> 00:05:45.009 that for a second. Picture yourself trying to 00:05:45.009 --> 00:05:48.040 sprint. jump and take high flying marks, which 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:49.779 for those who don't follow the sport, a mark 00:05:49.779 --> 00:05:52.240 is when you catch a kickball cleanly out of the 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:54.699 air, often while jumping right over other players 00:05:54.699 --> 00:05:56.699 just to earn a free kick. It takes incredible 00:05:56.699 --> 00:05:59.040 athleticism. Imagine trying to do that and then 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.519 kick a ball through goalposts with pinpoint accuracy 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:04.660 while battling chronic asthma, dealing with a 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:07.480 torn groin and carrying 240 pounds of weight. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:10.839 It completely defies logic. What's fascinating 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:13.879 here is how Lockett succeeded despite these immense 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:16.660 physical hurdles. It proves that his success 00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:18.980 wasn't just a product of brute force, even though 00:06:18.980 --> 00:06:21.220 he clearly had plenty of that. It points to an 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:24.639 incredibly high footy IQ. Yeah, his spatial awareness. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:27.759 Exactly. He had an innate, almost genius level 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:31.019 understanding of the game's geometry, its timing 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:33.639 and positioning. Walk us through what that actually 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:35.759 looks like on the field. Like how does geometry 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:39.430 beat fitness? Well, he couldn't outrun the lighter, 00:06:39.509 --> 00:06:42.389 fitter defenders over a long distance. So his 00:06:42.389 --> 00:06:45.029 leading patterns, those short, explosive sprints 00:06:45.029 --> 00:06:47.069 he'd make to get open to catch the ball, were 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:49.589 elite. He knew exactly where to go. He knew exactly 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:52.290 when to push off a defender at the exact millisecond 00:06:52.290 --> 00:06:54.709 the ball was kicked. He used his massive body 00:06:54.709 --> 00:06:56.810 to protect the drop zone of the ball so literally 00:06:56.810 --> 00:06:58.970 no one else could reach it. Like a basketball 00:06:58.970 --> 00:07:01.269 player boxing out for a rebound. Very much like 00:07:01.269 --> 00:07:04.220 that. And his hands were incredibly safe. He 00:07:04.220 --> 00:07:06.379 rarely dropped a catch, and his kicking technique 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:10.079 was just flawless. So he used his size to create 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:13.540 the space, but the execution of the mark and 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:17.000 the goal, that was pure, unadulterated skill. 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:20.540 And that sheer will and skill were desperately 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:22.720 needed when he arrived at the St. Kilda Football 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:26.660 Club in 1983, because this was a franchise that 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:28.939 was truly in the doldrums. They were struggling. 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:31.860 Big time. St. Kilda finished at the absolute 00:07:31.860 --> 00:07:34.560 bottom of the ladder, which just means dead last 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:36.860 in the league standings for Lockett's first four 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:40.519 years. And here comes this teenager from Ballarat, 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:43.439 constantly homesick, suddenly thrust into the 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:46.060 spotlight in Melbourne. But he made an immediate 00:07:46.060 --> 00:07:49.120 splash. He did. He made his senior debut in round 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:52.100 four against Geelong. The Saints lost the game, 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:54.920 but Lockett joined a very special, exclusive 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.959 club. He kicked a goal with his very first kick 00:07:57.959 --> 00:07:59.879 in elite professional football. Which is just 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:02.120 an incredible way to start a career, but he wasn't 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:04.379 even supposed to be the main guy initially. Right. 00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:06.879 The context of his early years at St. Kilda is 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:09.459 vital here. He was originally supposed to be 00:08:09.459 --> 00:08:11.839 the understudy to a player named Mark Jackson. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.139 Oh, Jack. Yes, who was an incredibly enigmatic 00:08:15.139 --> 00:08:18.740 and eccentric full four himself. But when Jackson 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:21.379 was sacked midseason, The teenage Lockett was 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:23.139 suddenly handed the keys to the forward line. 00:08:23.319 --> 00:08:25.939 He finished that first season with 19 goals in 00:08:25.939 --> 00:08:28.639 12 games. Not bad for a rookie. From that point 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:31.600 on, he essentially became the man on whose shoulders 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:34.899 the entire club's fortunes depended. The psychology 00:08:34.899 --> 00:08:37.759 of that is staggering. If Lockett played well, 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:40.919 St. Kilda had a chance. If he didn't, they were 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:43.000 almost guaranteed to lose. The pressure must 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:45.470 have been immense. But he absolutely delivered. 00:08:45.529 --> 00:08:47.409 I was reading through the stats and I kept getting 00:08:47.409 --> 00:08:50.490 stuck on the 1991 season. Can you explain what 00:08:50.490 --> 00:08:52.029 happened there? Because the numbers seriously 00:08:52.029 --> 00:08:55.610 look like a typo. The 1991 season is arguably 00:08:55.610 --> 00:08:57.929 one of the greatest individual stretches in the 00:08:57.929 --> 00:09:00.950 sports history. Early in the year, during a preseason 00:09:00.950 --> 00:09:03.590 match, Lockett gets kneed in the lower back in 00:09:03.590 --> 00:09:06.289 a severe collision. Ouch. He's sent to the hospital 00:09:06.289 --> 00:09:08.970 and the medical staff initially misdiagnosed 00:09:08.970 --> 00:09:11.450 it as a badly bruised back. But it wasn't just 00:09:11.450 --> 00:09:14.460 a bruise. No. It turns out to be a cracked vertebra, 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:18.340 a fractured spine. That is insane. He misses 00:09:18.340 --> 00:09:20.879 the first six rounds of the season. The team 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:23.580 is predictably struggling without him. Then, 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:25.980 in round seven against a team called Adelaide, 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:29.279 Lockett returns. Keep in mind, he is coming off 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:32.179 a cracked vertebra. Right. He kicks a goal from 00:09:32.179 --> 00:09:34.840 the opening bounds. He has nine goals by halftime. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:38.559 He finishes the game with 12 goals, and St. Kilda 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:42.299 wins by 131 points, which broke their club record. 00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:44.799 For the greatest winning margin. That alone is 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:47.879 unbelievable. A dozen goals on a bad back. But 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:50.740 he didn't stop there. Not at all. He backed up 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:53.299 that spectacular return with 10 goals the following 00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:56.340 week against the Brisbane Bears. Then the week 00:09:56.340 --> 00:09:58.940 after that, another massive haul of 12 goals 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:01.039 against Sydney. So let's just do the math on 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:04.059 that. That is 34 goals in just three games. Coming 00:10:04.059 --> 00:10:05.940 off a cracked vertebrae. It's like someone playing 00:10:05.940 --> 00:10:07.840 a video game on the easiest setting. It really 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:10.720 is. But as incredible as those highs were, I 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:12.159 want to make sure we are looking at the whole 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:14.440 picture here, because the history is very clear 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:17.360 that Lockett played a deeply aggressive, intensely 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:20.419 physical brand of football, and it got him into 00:10:20.419 --> 00:10:22.879 a lot of trouble. It absolutely did. And we need 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:25.399 to report on this aspect of his career impartially, 00:10:25.460 --> 00:10:28.220 looking strictly at the record. Lockett was not 00:10:28.220 --> 00:10:30.940 afraid. to use his massive size and strength 00:10:30.940 --> 00:10:34.539 to completely unsettle opponents. However, that 00:10:34.539 --> 00:10:36.919 sheer aggression frequently crossed the line 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:40.379 of the rules, resulting in him being reported 00:10:40.379 --> 00:10:43.120 for striking and rough conduct time and time 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.220 again. Over the course of his career, Lockett 00:10:46.220 --> 00:10:49.080 appeared before the AFL Tribunal, which is the 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.200 league's disciplinary sports court, 16 times. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:56.419 He was suspended for a total of 23 matches. Hold 00:10:56.419 --> 00:10:59.740 on. 23 suspended matches. That is more than a 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:02.179 full season of football just sitting on the sidelines 00:11:02.179 --> 00:11:04.539 in street clothes. It makes you wonder, with 00:11:04.539 --> 00:11:06.679 stats like that, was he just a brilliant player? 00:11:06.899 --> 00:11:09.559 Or was he also somewhat of a bully who used his 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:12.450 size to hurt smaller people? Well, that is the 00:11:12.450 --> 00:11:14.830 central debate of his legacy. His defenders argue 00:11:14.830 --> 00:11:17.549 that as a massive forward, defenders were constantly 00:11:17.549 --> 00:11:19.549 grabbing, scratching, and illegally blocking 00:11:19.549 --> 00:11:22.029 him all game, and he just had to fight back just 00:11:22.029 --> 00:11:24.049 to play the sport. Which makes sense. But his 00:11:24.049 --> 00:11:26.549 detractors point to the sheer damage he inflicted. 00:11:26.570 --> 00:11:29.350 And there is one incident from 1994 that really 00:11:29.350 --> 00:11:31.990 stands out regarding that damage. It involved 00:11:31.990 --> 00:11:35.169 a player named Peter Kaven. Yes, this is a highly 00:11:35.169 --> 00:11:37.590 controversial moment. Yeah. St. Kilda was playing 00:11:37.590 --> 00:11:40.980 Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Kaven, who 00:11:40.980 --> 00:11:43.840 was a Swans defender, was sprinting backward 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:47.059 with the flight of the ball to take a mark. Lockett 00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:48.940 was charging toward the ball from the opposite 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:51.539 direction. And the collision was absolutely brutal. 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:55.440 It was. The footage shows Lockett appearing to 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:57.899 hit Kaven directly in the face with a raised 00:11:57.899 --> 00:12:01.320 elbow as they met. The impact knocked Kaven completely 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:04.059 unconscious. He suffered a compound fracture 00:12:04.059 --> 00:12:06.379 of his nose and had to be immediately taken to 00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:08.759 the hospital for surgery. And he missed 12 weeks 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:11.570 of football. Wow. Lockett pleaded not guilty 00:12:11.570 --> 00:12:14.769 at the tribunal. He stated that he only saw Kaven 00:12:14.769 --> 00:12:18.129 a split second before impact and raised his elbow 00:12:18.129 --> 00:12:20.750 instinctively in self -defense to protect himself 00:12:20.750 --> 00:12:22.490 from the crash. Because they were both running 00:12:22.490 --> 00:12:24.850 full speed. Exactly. But regardless of intent, 00:12:25.149 --> 00:12:27.169 the tribunal found him guilty of striking and 00:12:27.169 --> 00:12:29.450 suspended him for eight weeks. It is a stark 00:12:29.450 --> 00:12:32.669 reminder of the duality of his career. He was 00:12:32.669 --> 00:12:35.409 undeniably a hero to his supporters, but the 00:12:35.409 --> 00:12:38.090 sheer force he brought to the game had very real, 00:12:38.190 --> 00:12:41.029 sometimes devastating consequences. And that 00:12:41.029 --> 00:12:43.669 duality, that tension, extended off the field 00:12:43.669 --> 00:12:46.009 as well. Very much so. Particularly with the 00:12:46.009 --> 00:12:49.570 media, he was fiercely private. He hated the 00:12:49.570 --> 00:12:51.870 intense fishbowl attention that came with being 00:12:51.870 --> 00:12:54.350 a superstar in Victoria, which is essentially 00:12:54.350 --> 00:12:56.330 the epicenter of the Australian rules football 00:12:56.330 --> 00:12:59.730 universe. And this brings us to a famously bizarre 00:12:59.730 --> 00:13:03.379 incident in 1988. that perfectly encapsulates 00:13:03.379 --> 00:13:06.059 that tension. Lockett was at the Mercy Private 00:13:06.059 --> 00:13:08.440 Hospital with his father, getting treatment for 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:11.480 a serious ankle injury. Right. What he didn't 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:13.320 know is that the St. Kilda Club officials had 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:15.419 actually tipped off the media, but they hadn't 00:13:15.419 --> 00:13:16.899 bothered to tell Lockett they were going to be 00:13:16.899 --> 00:13:19.120 there. Unbelievable. So Lockett walks out of 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.419 the hospital, he is in pain, he is on crutches, 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:24.399 and suddenly he is ambushed by flashing cameras 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:28.179 and microphones. Just a wall of press. And one 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:30.799 of the reporters shoving a mic in his face happens 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.759 to be a young Eddie McGuire, who would go on 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:35.980 to become one of the biggest media moguls in 00:13:35.980 --> 00:13:38.940 Australia. Lockett, caught totally by surprise 00:13:38.940 --> 00:13:41.860 and just furious at the intrusion, literally 00:13:41.860 --> 00:13:45.360 hurls both of his heavy metal crutches. Both 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:47.620 of them. Directly at the cameraman. He just wanted 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:50.740 to play football and be left alone. Which, of 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:53.039 course, was an impossible request for someone 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.679 kicking that many goals in Melbourne. The media 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.120 mocked his weight. They analyzed his temperament 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:00.600 and they stalked his private life. It had to 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:03.220 be exhausting. This immense psychological toll 00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:06.059 makes his eventual departure from Victoria all 00:14:06.059 --> 00:14:08.259 the more significant. Right. And that takes us 00:14:08.259 --> 00:14:13.220 to 1995, the big move. After 183 games and 898 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:16.379 goals for St. Kilda, Lockett transfers to the 00:14:16.379 --> 00:14:19.240 Sydney Swans. If we connect this to the bitter 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:21.980 picture, the historical context of this transfer 00:14:21.980 --> 00:14:25.299 is monumental. To understand the Sydney Swans 00:14:25.299 --> 00:14:27.360 situation at the time, you have to understand 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:29.740 the cultural divide in Australian sports. It's 00:14:29.740 --> 00:14:32.620 totally different up there. Melbourne is obsessed 00:14:32.620 --> 00:14:36.039 with Australian rules football. Sydney is the 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:38.419 absolute heartland of a completely different 00:14:38.419 --> 00:14:40.559 sport, rugby league. To put that into perspective 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:43.519 for a global audience, trying to sell Australian 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:46.120 rules football in Sydney in the early 90s was 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:48.120 a bit like trying to sell ice hockey in rural 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:50.039 Texas. That's a great comparison. The locals 00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:52.500 just didn't care. It wasn't their game. Exactly. 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:56.100 The Swans were in dire straits. They had finished 00:14:56.100 --> 00:14:59.259 at the absolute bottom of the ladder in 1994, 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:03.480 winning only one game. One game all year. But 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:05.419 more importantly, they were financially struggling 00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:08.350 to survive. Lockett wasn't just brought in to 00:15:08.350 --> 00:15:11.149 score goals. He was brought in to save the franchise's 00:15:11.149 --> 00:15:14.129 relevance. He had to be so exceptionally entertaining 00:15:14.129 --> 00:15:17.769 that he forced a hostile, indifferent city to 00:15:17.769 --> 00:15:19.909 actually look at him. They needed a spectacle. 00:15:20.190 --> 00:15:21.990 Here's where it gets really interesting because 00:15:21.990 --> 00:15:24.289 he delivered immediately. I mean, he forced them 00:15:24.289 --> 00:15:27.330 to pay attention. In 1995, he played a game against 00:15:27.330 --> 00:15:30.870 Fitzroy and kicked 16 straight goals. No misses, 00:15:30.990 --> 00:15:35.570 no minor scores, just 16 direct goals. But the 00:15:35.570 --> 00:15:37.909 ultimate Hollywood script moment happened the 00:15:37.909 --> 00:15:41.350 following year in the 1996 preliminary final 00:15:41.350 --> 00:15:44.690 against Essendon. This is the moment that cemented 00:15:44.690 --> 00:15:47.929 his legend in Sydney forever. So paint the picture. 00:15:48.070 --> 00:15:51.090 The scores are dead tied. The final siren sounds 00:15:51.090 --> 00:15:53.669 to end the game. Lockett has the ball. He has 00:15:53.669 --> 00:15:57.009 a set shot, a free kick after the siren. If he 00:15:57.009 --> 00:15:59.190 scores, the Sydney Swans go to their first grand 00:15:59.190 --> 00:16:01.289 final since they relocated to the city decades 00:16:01.289 --> 00:16:04.330 earlier. If he misses, they go into extra time. 00:16:04.450 --> 00:16:06.470 And everyone is watching. Now, for those who 00:16:06.470 --> 00:16:08.690 don't know the scoring system, if you kick the 00:16:08.690 --> 00:16:11.309 ball cleanly between the two massive center posts, 00:16:11.649 --> 00:16:13.830 you get six points. If you miss slightly and 00:16:13.830 --> 00:16:15.889 it goes between the outer posts, you get one 00:16:15.889 --> 00:16:17.889 point. And he was dealing with a severe groin 00:16:17.889 --> 00:16:20.210 injury at the time. He could barely walk, let 00:16:20.210 --> 00:16:22.669 alone kick from a distance. He limps up, kicks 00:16:22.669 --> 00:16:24.570 the ball, and he misses the main goals. He kicks 00:16:24.570 --> 00:16:26.909 a point. But that single point is all they needed. 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:30.129 They win by one point after the siren. It's one 00:16:30.129 --> 00:16:32.570 of the most famous tension -filled moments in 00:16:32.570 --> 00:16:35.409 sports history. That single kick essentially 00:16:35.409 --> 00:16:39.110 justified his entire massive contract. It galvanized 00:16:39.110 --> 00:16:41.509 the city of Sydney behind the team. And with 00:16:41.509 --> 00:16:43.909 that success came a level of popularity that 00:16:43.909 --> 00:16:47.139 bordered on the surreal. The intensely private, 00:16:47.419 --> 00:16:50.720 media -hating kid from Ballarat became an absolute 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:53.720 cult figure in a city of millions. The plugger 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.039 cult was unbelievable. You had the release of 00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:58.299 a hit song called One Tony Lockett, performed 00:16:58.299 --> 00:17:01.139 by James Freud, sung to the tune of Guantanamera. 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.000 You had tens of thousands of Sydneysiders who 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.079 barely knew the rules of the game a year prior 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.819 singing this in the stands. But the most bizarre 00:17:08.819 --> 00:17:10.740 artifact of this cult status actually happened 00:17:10.740 --> 00:17:13.960 a bit earlier, in 1993, before he even officially 00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:16.650 joined Sydney. he was still playing for St. Kilda. 00:17:16.789 --> 00:17:19.309 Yes, the pig. You have to tell this story. So 00:17:19.309 --> 00:17:21.130 St. Kilda was playing the Swans at the Sydney 00:17:21.130 --> 00:17:24.220 Cricket Ground out of nowhere. A fan somehow 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:27.039 manages to smuggle a live piglet into the stadium 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:29.539 and releases it right onto the field during the 00:17:29.539 --> 00:17:31.920 game. A live piglet. The piglet has the word 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.359 pliga spelled out in spray paint on its side, 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:37.259 along with Lockett's playing number four. The 00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:39.359 television commentator Sandy Roberts famously 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:42.259 yells on the broadcast, there's a pig at full 00:17:42.259 --> 00:17:45.519 forward. The sheer absurdity of sneaking livestock 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:48.059 into a professional sporting event is funny enough, 00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:50.900 but the irony makes it legendary. The irony is 00:17:50.900 --> 00:17:52.900 that Tony Lockett wasn't even playing that. He 00:17:52.900 --> 00:17:55.000 wasn't there. He was back in Melbourne, out with 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:57.660 an injury. The fan who planned the prank apparently 00:17:57.660 --> 00:18:00.460 just decided, well, I brought the pig, I might 00:18:00.460 --> 00:18:03.000 as well release it anyway. It perfectly demonstrates 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:06.460 how large his mythos had grown. He was a massive, 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:08.980 chaotic presence even when he wasn't physically 00:18:08.980 --> 00:18:11.420 in the stadium. But the crowning achievement 00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:13.880 of his time in Sydney and his career as a whole 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:17.700 came in 1999. The record. Yes. The all -time 00:18:17.700 --> 00:18:21.140 goal -kicking record of 1 ,299 goals had been 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:24.079 set by a player named Gordon Coventry 62 years 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.019 prior. It was a record many experts thought would 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:29.549 literally never be broken. because modern defenses 00:18:29.549 --> 00:18:32.930 were just too sophisticated. But at the SCG in 00:18:32.930 --> 00:18:37.049 1999, Lockett kicked his 1300th goal. And the 00:18:37.049 --> 00:18:40.509 crowd absolutely lost their minds. It sparked 00:18:40.509 --> 00:18:42.710 one of the biggest pitch invasions in the history 00:18:42.710 --> 00:18:45.690 of Australian rules football. Thousands upon 00:18:45.690 --> 00:18:48.450 thousands of fans stormed the field, halting 00:18:48.450 --> 00:18:50.970 the game just to surround him and touch him. 00:18:51.109 --> 00:18:53.390 An incredible scene. He eventually finished his 00:18:53.390 --> 00:18:58.920 career with 1360 goals from 281 games. That is 00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:01.839 an average of almost five goals every single 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.619 time he stepped onto a football field over a 00:19:04.619 --> 00:19:08.319 16 -year career. It's staggering. But following 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:10.680 that absolute pinnacle, the way he transitioned 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:13.480 into retirement is just as telling as his playing 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:15.789 career. The man who had been the center of the 00:19:15.789 --> 00:19:18.829 Australian sporting universe immediately retreated 00:19:18.829 --> 00:19:21.930 back to total anonymity. Exactly. He moved to 00:19:21.930 --> 00:19:24.049 a rural property near Barrow in the southern 00:19:24.049 --> 00:19:26.190 highlands of New South Wales with his wife and 00:19:26.190 --> 00:19:29.089 four daughters. He explicitly said in interviews 00:19:29.089 --> 00:19:31.650 later that he hadn't become a recluse. He was 00:19:31.650 --> 00:19:34.150 just genuinely enjoying the quiet rural life 00:19:34.150 --> 00:19:36.349 away from the Victorian media circus that had 00:19:36.349 --> 00:19:38.890 tormented his early years. He finally got some 00:19:38.890 --> 00:19:40.869 peace. But getting out of the spotlight seemed 00:19:40.869 --> 00:19:43.819 to finally let him relax. It really did. The 00:19:43.819 --> 00:19:46.779 fiercely guarded, crutch -throwing player gave 00:19:46.779 --> 00:19:49.819 way to a much more relaxed, almost jovial public 00:19:49.819 --> 00:19:52.720 figure, though he still only engaged on his own, 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:55.380 very strict terms. And we started seeing him 00:19:55.380 --> 00:19:57.819 pop up in places you'd never expect, embracing 00:19:57.819 --> 00:20:01.039 some incredibly surprising hobbies. We mentioned 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:03.900 his grandfather, Charlie, earlier, and Tony clearly 00:20:03.900 --> 00:20:06.299 kept that family passion alive because he became 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:09.160 a massive Greyhound racing fan and owner. That 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:11.660 makes sense. But even wilder than that, he started 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:14.279 competing in the Finco Desert Race. Which is 00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:16.720 insane. For those who don't know, this is a notoriously 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:19.720 grueling, high -speed, multi -day off -road race 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:22.559 through the harsh Australian outback. Lockett 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:24.410 competed in the Open... in motorcycle class, 00:20:24.549 --> 00:20:28.349 riding a KTM 500 EXC dirt bike well into his 00:20:28.349 --> 00:20:30.950 late 40s and early 50s. Which is a remarkable 00:20:30.950 --> 00:20:33.829 physical feat in itself. When you consider the 00:20:33.829 --> 00:20:35.930 immense toll his football career took on his 00:20:35.930 --> 00:20:38.529 joints and his back, to then willingly subject 00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:40.430 yourself to the punishment of a desert rally 00:20:40.430 --> 00:20:43.029 race shows a truly unique competitive drive. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:45.640 He just couldn't sit still. Yeah. And then there 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:48.319 were his rare television appearances. He did 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.240 ads for advanced hair and memorably for Lowe's 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:53.359 menswear in Sydney. Oh, the Lowe's commercial. 00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:56.200 There is this hilarious anecdote from a teeping 00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:57.940 session for one of those Lowe's commercials. 00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:01.680 Lockett gets into a friendly wrestle on set with 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:04.380 a guy named Adrian Mueller, who was a former 00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:07.059 rugby player working for Lowe's. Now, Mueller 00:21:07.059 --> 00:21:10.140 happened to be a highly trained expert in Krav 00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:14.319 Maga, the Israeli military. defense system that's 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:16.599 the one you want to mess with exactly but according 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:18.779 to the reports this friendly wrestle got a little 00:21:18.779 --> 00:21:21.700 competitive and locket the retired heavy set 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:24.859 ex -footballer with bad joints ended up easily 00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:27.700 pinning the krav maga expert directly to the 00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:30.000 ground you just can't teach that kind of natural 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.980 leverage you really can't so what does this all 00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:36.059 mean we have a man who deeply hated the spotlight 00:21:36.059 --> 00:21:38.259 but somehow commanded the biggest stage in the 00:21:38.259 --> 00:21:41.339 country a player with chronic asthma bad joints 00:21:41.339 --> 00:21:48.920 and constant To synthesize everything we've looked 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:51.740 at today, Tony Lockett was the ultimate walking 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:55.599 contradiction. He was an intensely private, media 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:58.440 -shy man who inadvertently became the biggest 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:00.920 sporting spectacle in the nation. Totally. He 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:03.799 was a physically compromised athlete who dominated 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:06.400 not just through brute force and presence, but 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:09.359 through unmatched, delicate, geometrical skill. 00:22:10.190 --> 00:22:12.789 And perhaps most importantly, he was the literal 00:22:12.789 --> 00:22:15.549 savior of two completely separate football clubs. 00:22:15.710 --> 00:22:17.990 And that is the big takeaway for you as a listener 00:22:17.990 --> 00:22:20.609 today. Lockett's story isn't just about compiling 00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:23.650 big statistics. It is a testament to how singular, 00:22:23.829 --> 00:22:27.009 raw talent, when it is deployed in exactly the 00:22:27.009 --> 00:22:29.750 right environment, can entirely shift a cultural 00:22:29.750 --> 00:22:32.250 landscape. He changed the game. He made Australian 00:22:32.250 --> 00:22:34.410 rules football viable and profitable in Sydney, 00:22:34.549 --> 00:22:36.430 a city that previously could not have cared less. 00:22:36.549 --> 00:22:38.690 That is a legacy that goes far beyond a trophy 00:22:38.690 --> 00:22:42.500 cabinet. It outlasts even his 1 ,360 goals. He 00:22:42.500 --> 00:22:44.880 literally expanded the geographic and cultural 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:47.599 map of his sport. This raises an important question 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:49.599 for you to think about long after we sign off 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:52.460 today. When you look at today's era of highly 00:22:52.460 --> 00:22:55.660 sanitized, media -trained, hyper -optimized athletes 00:22:55.660 --> 00:22:59.140 with their teams of sports scientists, dietitians, 00:22:59.140 --> 00:23:01.839 and carefully curated social media presences. 00:23:02.039 --> 00:23:05.039 The modern machine. Exactly. Could a figure like 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:08.400 Tony Lockett a heavy -set, aggressively physical, 00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:11.579 media -hating player with chronic asthma ever 00:23:11.579 --> 00:23:14.680 exist, let alone dominate, in modern professional 00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:17.619 sports? That is a brilliant question to ponder, 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:19.900 because athletes like him really do break the 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:21.519 mold, and I'm not sure we'll ever see anyone 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:23.980 like him again. A massive thank you for joining 00:23:23.980 --> 00:23:26.640 us on this deep dive into the life, the stats, 00:23:26.740 --> 00:23:29.000 and the legend of Plugger. Keep asking questions, 00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:31.799 keep looking past the box scores, and above all, 00:23:31.900 --> 00:23:34.480 stay insanely curious. We will catch you next 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:34.779 time.