WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.459 Imagine a professional athlete who tips the scales 00:00:04.459 --> 00:00:07.559 at around 112 kilograms. Right. and they battle 00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:10.560 chronic asthma. Plus, they routinely require 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:12.759 painkillers just to take the field because of 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:15.019 a severely torn groin muscle. It sounds like 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:16.940 someone who should be recovering, not playing. 00:00:17.140 --> 00:00:19.980 Exactly. And throw in a temperament so volatile 00:00:19.980 --> 00:00:22.320 that they've literally hurled their own medical 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:24.719 crutches at sports reporters. Oh, wow. Yeah. 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:27.679 But now, I want you to imagine that this exact 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:30.640 person isn't some sort of sideshow or just a 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:33.340 physical enforcer. They are the greatest goal 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:35.820 kicker in the history of their sport. It's just, 00:00:35.859 --> 00:00:37.960 it paints... It's a picture that directly contradicts 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:40.380 literally everything we associate with elite 00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:42.759 performance today. I mean, you look at modern 00:00:42.759 --> 00:00:44.600 athletes and it's all about hyper -optimized 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:47.679 diets, wearable sports science, carefully curated 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:51.060 media training. This individual defies every 00:00:51.060 --> 00:00:53.780 single one of those modern expectations. Which 00:00:53.780 --> 00:00:56.359 brings us to our topic today. Welcome to this 00:00:56.359 --> 00:00:58.579 deep dive. Today we're pulling from a really 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:01.500 comprehensive Wikipedia biography profiling the 00:01:01.500 --> 00:01:04.200 legendary Australian rules footballer Tony Plugger 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:06.879 Lockett. It's an incredible story. It really 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.719 is. Our mission for you today is to explore how 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:13.879 this this media shy, incredibly homesick kid 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:17.040 from a country town just ignored every conventional 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:19.760 athletic stereotype. We're going to examine how 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:22.939 he shattered a 62 year old scoring record, managed 00:01:22.939 --> 00:01:26.040 to literally save a struggling sports franchise 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:29.359 and cemented himself as an absolute immortal 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:31.819 figure in Australian sports history. And the 00:01:31.819 --> 00:01:34.439 narrative of his career is built on these profound 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.379 contradictions. You have a man who reached the 00:01:37.379 --> 00:01:40.359 absolute pinnacle of individual success within 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:42.799 a team environment, yet he seemed to actively 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.079 resent the spotlight that his own talent generated. 00:01:45.219 --> 00:01:46.760 Okay, let's unpack this from the very beginning 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:48.519 because we need to look at his origins. He didn't 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:51.439 just stumble into football. No, he really inherited 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:53.879 a local dynasty. Right. He was born in the western 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:56.900 Victorian town of Ballarat, and his father, Howard, 00:01:57.200 --> 00:01:59.700 was a local champion. He's actually in the North 00:01:59.700 --> 00:02:02.120 Ballarat Football Club Hall of Fame. So naturally, 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.659 young Tony just followed his father's path. Yeah, 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:07.819 he played 120 junior games for North Ballarat. 00:02:08.419 --> 00:02:10.780 But the detail that really stands out to me is 00:02:10.780 --> 00:02:14.050 his iconic nickname, Plugger. because when you 00:02:14.050 --> 00:02:17.210 see a full forward who stands 6 '3 and weighs 00:02:17.210 --> 00:02:20.990 112 kilos, the immediate assumption is that plugger 00:02:20.990 --> 00:02:23.610 refers to his playing style. Like he just plugs 00:02:23.610 --> 00:02:25.949 the hole in the forward line. Exactly. You assume 00:02:25.949 --> 00:02:28.389 it's about his size. It is a totally logical 00:02:28.389 --> 00:02:31.849 assumption, but the reality is entirely serendipitous. 00:02:32.009 --> 00:02:35.009 The nickname originally had zero connection to 00:02:35.009 --> 00:02:38.300 his physical dimensions. His father... Howard 00:02:38.300 --> 00:02:41.219 actually inherited the moniker from Tony's grandfather. 00:02:41.500 --> 00:02:43.740 Oh, really? Yeah. And the grandfather earned 00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:46.099 the name Plugger simply because he used to plug 00:02:46.099 --> 00:02:48.699 around in his garden. That's amazing. So Howard 00:02:48.699 --> 00:02:50.699 passed the name down to Tony, and it just happened 00:02:50.699 --> 00:02:52.819 to become the perfect descriptor for his portly 00:02:52.819 --> 00:02:55.620 build once he fully matured. It's like the name 00:02:55.620 --> 00:02:57.800 was just waiting for him to grow into it. Pretty 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:00.360 much. And we really do need to examine that build 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:02.419 and his physical condition because it goes against 00:03:02.419 --> 00:03:04.840 all conventional wisdom. What's fascinating here 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.300 is the medical reality he played through. Over 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:09.199 his career, his weight fluctuated from about 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:12.819 95 kilograms up to 112 kilograms. Which is huge 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:15.560 for a running sport. Right. Add his chronic asthma 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:19.039 to that frame. Then factor in a severely torn 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.039 groin muscle that required ongoing painkillers 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:25.479 just to manage the discomfort. Despite all those 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:30.560 hurdles, his final tally is 1 ,360 goals in 281 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:32.949 games. Wait, I have to jump in there. How does 00:03:32.949 --> 00:03:36.030 a 112 kilogram player with asthma and a torn 00:03:36.030 --> 00:03:39.069 groin manage to outmaneuver elite defenders to 00:03:39.069 --> 00:03:42.169 score 3 ,360 goals? I mean, shouldn't defenders 00:03:42.169 --> 00:03:44.430 theoretically just run off him? Well, that is 00:03:44.430 --> 00:03:46.409 exactly where his football IQ came into play. 00:03:46.550 --> 00:03:48.530 He didn't play like a typical endurance athlete. 00:03:48.629 --> 00:03:51.270 He utilized his low center of gravity and relied 00:03:51.270 --> 00:03:54.210 on incredibly explosive short bursts of speed 00:03:54.210 --> 00:03:55.849 on a lead. Oh, so he was beating them in the 00:03:55.849 --> 00:03:58.280 first few steps. Exactly. He made his way to 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:00.840 an unstoppable biomechanical force before the 00:04:00.840 --> 00:04:03.379 ball even arrived. He turned what most coaches 00:04:03.379 --> 00:04:05.280 would consider glaring athletic disadvantages 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:08.800 into an unshakable armor, completely unsettling 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:11.060 his opponents with sheer strength. He weaponized 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:13.199 his frame. He really did. But getting to that 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:15.280 point of dominance wasn't a smooth trajectory, 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:17.819 especially in his early years with the St. Kilda 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:20.120 Football Club. No, it was pretty rocky. Yeah, 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:23.100 he was recruited at just 16 years old. Coming 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:25.379 out of a country town like Ballarat for the first 00:04:25.379 --> 00:04:28.899 time, he was terribly homesick. It was so severe 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:31.220 that St. Kilda actually allowed him to commute 00:04:31.220 --> 00:04:33.620 from Ballarat just to keep him engaged with the 00:04:33.620 --> 00:04:36.079 team. Letting a 16 -year -old commute from the 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:38.839 country rather than demanding he relocate is 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:41.379 a significant concession for a professional club. 00:04:41.699 --> 00:04:44.240 It highlights exactly how much raw potential 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.199 they saw in him, even back then. And his debut 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:49.819 in 1983 was surrounded by institutional tension. 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:53.259 The Saints played Guilong at VFL Park. The game 00:04:53.259 --> 00:04:55.459 was controversial from the opening bounce because 00:04:55.459 --> 00:04:57.699 St. Kilda decided to play Paul Morwood without 00:04:57.699 --> 00:05:00.120 a clearance or a league permit. Which is a massive 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:02.600 risk. Huge risk. They sought legal advice and 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:04.660 essentially dared the league to strip them of 00:05:04.660 --> 00:05:07.259 their premiership points if they won. They ultimately 00:05:07.259 --> 00:05:09.699 lost the match, but amidst all that off -field 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:12.740 legal drama, Lockett stepped up and joined a 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:15.420 really rare group of players. He scored a goal 00:05:15.420 --> 00:05:17.839 with his very first kick in the league. To walk 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.360 into a stadium filled with that kind of administrative 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.459 tension. And immediately convert your first kick 00:05:23.459 --> 00:05:26.220 speaks volumes about his focus. It was a quiet 00:05:26.220 --> 00:05:28.980 debut statistically, but that single kick basically 00:05:28.980 --> 00:05:32.100 telegraphed his entire career purpose. It definitely 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:35.779 did. By 1987, under coach Daryl Baldick, his 00:05:35.779 --> 00:05:38.759 career hit a remarkable peak. Lockett became 00:05:38.759 --> 00:05:40.699 the first full forward in the history of the 00:05:40.699 --> 00:05:43.420 sport to win the Brownlow medal, tying with John 00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:45.579 Platton. We really need to pause on that achievement. 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:48.480 For a full forward to win the Brown Low, an award 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:50.779 that almost exclusively rewards high -possession 00:05:50.779 --> 00:05:53.379 running midfielders, it proves how utterly he 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:56.060 was dominating the game. The umpire simply could 00:05:56.060 --> 00:05:58.699 not ignore his impact. His scoring volume was 00:05:58.699 --> 00:06:01.459 staggering. He kicked over 100 goals in a season 00:06:01.459 --> 00:06:03.939 for St. Kilda three separate times. He put up 00:06:03.939 --> 00:06:09.000 117 goals in 1987, 127 in 1991, and an incredible 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:12.879 132 in 1992. But there is a dark side to this 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:15.500 dominance. There is. You cannot discuss his scoring 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:17.519 records without addressing his disciplinary record. 00:06:17.660 --> 00:06:19.620 The exact same physical aggression that made 00:06:19.620 --> 00:06:21.759 him unstoppable routinely crossed the line. Over 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.639 his career, he faced the AFL tribunal 16 times. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.060 16 times? Yes. And he was suspended for a total 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:31.800 of 23 matches. Which brings us to round seven, 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.279 1994, against the Sydney Swans at the Sydney 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:38.379 Cricket Ground. It is a game that perfectly captures 00:06:38.379 --> 00:06:41.129 the terrifying duality of his career. It really 00:06:41.129 --> 00:06:43.949 does. In the first quarter, Sydney defender Peter 00:06:43.949 --> 00:06:46.089 Kaven is sprinting back with the flight of the 00:06:46.089 --> 00:06:48.870 ball to take a mark. Lockett is charging towards 00:06:48.870 --> 00:06:50.569 the ball from the opposite direction. It's a 00:06:50.569 --> 00:06:53.670 classic collision setup. Exactly. but Lockett 00:06:53.670 --> 00:06:56.550 raises an elbow and collects Kaven flush in the 00:06:56.550 --> 00:07:00.550 face. It is a devastating, sickening hit. Kaven 00:07:00.550 --> 00:07:02.889 is knocked completely unconscious. He suffers 00:07:02.889 --> 00:07:05.470 a compound fracture of the nose, requires immediate 00:07:05.470 --> 00:07:07.970 surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital, and is ruled 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:10.189 out of football for 12 weeks. That's brutal. 00:07:10.389 --> 00:07:12.550 Lockett later pleaded not guilty at the tribunal. 00:07:12.670 --> 00:07:15.430 He claimed self -defense, stating he only saw 00:07:15.430 --> 00:07:18.209 Kaven a split second before impact, but he was 00:07:18.209 --> 00:07:20.500 ultimately suspended for eight weeks. I want 00:07:20.500 --> 00:07:22.259 to push back on the legend of this game for a 00:07:22.259 --> 00:07:25.660 second. The story often highlights his resilience 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:28.019 for playing through the rest of the match. But 00:07:28.019 --> 00:07:30.339 you have to wonder if breaking a player's nose 00:07:30.339 --> 00:07:32.459 and sending them to the hospital is a sign of 00:07:32.459 --> 00:07:35.420 competitive fire or just a complete lack of emotional 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:38.480 control. That is the pivotal question surrounding 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:42.180 his legacy. Was it calculated intimidation or 00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:44.639 a reckless inability to temper his own aggression? 00:07:44.939 --> 00:07:47.560 The crowd certainly had their opinion. For the 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:49.680 remainder of that match, Lockett was subjected 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:52.740 to relentless, hostile abuse from the Sydney 00:07:52.740 --> 00:07:55.040 supporters. And the Swans were dominating the 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:57.519 scoreboard. By the third quarter, Sydney had 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:00.980 built a 51 -point lead. It was a blowout. The 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:03.720 game looked entirely out of reach, yet... Lockett 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:05.980 just methodically kept kicking goals amid this 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:09.339 chorus of boos. He had seven goals by three -quarter 00:08:09.339 --> 00:08:12.019 time. Then in the final term, St. Kilda mounted 00:08:12.019 --> 00:08:15.939 an improbable comeback. They kicked seven unanswered 00:08:15.939 --> 00:08:18.160 goals. And Lockett kicked the last three of those 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:20.259 in the final three minutes of the match. Right. 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:23.259 He finished with 11 goals, orchestrating a one 00:08:23.259 --> 00:08:25.819 -point victory. And after kicking the go -ahead 00:08:25.819 --> 00:08:28.160 goal, he turned to the Sydney Cheers squad and 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:30.879 gave them an up -yours gesture. Think about that 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:34.259 sequence. He essentially ends a man's season 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:37.259 in the first quarter, endures thousands of people 00:08:37.259 --> 00:08:40.860 screaming at him, erases a 51 -point deficit 00:08:40.860 --> 00:08:44.480 single -handedly, wins the game, and then openly 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.120 taunts the opposing fans. The psychological armor 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:50.740 required to compartmentalize that level of hostility 00:08:50.740 --> 00:08:53.899 and still perform with such precision is incredibly 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:56.799 rare. We actually saw the flip side of that physical 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:00.019 reality back in 1991, when his own body nearly 00:09:00.019 --> 00:09:02.470 came out. During the preseason, he collided with 00:09:02.470 --> 00:09:05.470 West Coast's Steve Malaxos. Lockett limped off, 00:09:05.590 --> 00:09:07.809 and the initial medical diagnosis was just a 00:09:07.809 --> 00:09:09.950 badly bruised back. Which is painful, but you'd 00:09:09.950 --> 00:09:12.649 expect a quick recovery. Right. Management assumed 00:09:12.649 --> 00:09:14.490 he would play the next week, but it wasn't a 00:09:14.490 --> 00:09:17.009 bruise. He had actually cracked a vertebra. A 00:09:17.009 --> 00:09:19.350 fractured spine. For a player who absorbs impact 00:09:19.350 --> 00:09:21.289 from defenders every single time the ball comes 00:09:21.289 --> 00:09:23.730 his way, a cracked vertebra is the kind of injury 00:09:23.730 --> 00:09:26.100 that alters careers. Wait, how do you even get 00:09:26.100 --> 00:09:28.639 medically cleared to play a high impact contact 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:31.779 sport just weeks after fracturing a vertebra? 00:09:32.299 --> 00:09:34.480 Because he missed the first six rounds and then 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:37.059 returned in round seven against Adelaide. And 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:39.620 he didn't just return. No. In his first game 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:42.419 back, he kicked 12 goals. The following week 00:09:42.419 --> 00:09:45.259 against Brisbane, he kicked 10 goals. The week 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:47.419 after that against Sydney, he kicked another 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:51.029 12 goals. That is 34 goals in three consecutive 00:09:51.029 --> 00:09:54.269 games, immediately returning from a broken back. 00:09:54.529 --> 00:09:57.649 It literally defies medical logic. It requires 00:09:57.649 --> 00:09:59.769 you to truly consider the psychology of stepping 00:09:59.769 --> 00:10:02.250 back onto the grass, knowing your spine was just 00:10:02.250 --> 00:10:04.269 compromised, knowing every defender wants to 00:10:04.269 --> 00:10:06.309 test your physical limits, and then responding 00:10:06.309 --> 00:10:08.529 by playing the most dominant three weeks of football 00:10:08.529 --> 00:10:11.179 imaginable. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:14.740 By 1995, his time at St. Kilda is coming to an 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:17.340 end. Those final years were heavily interrupted 00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:20.320 by injuries and tribunal suspensions, so he transfers 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.399 to the Sydney Swans. You have to understand the 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:24.500 context of the Swans at this time. They had finished 00:10:24.500 --> 00:10:27.240 at the very bottom of the ladder in 1994. They 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:29.419 were in terrible shape. They were bleeding money. 00:10:29.820 --> 00:10:32.100 But more importantly, they were struggling for 00:10:32.100 --> 00:10:34.340 oxygen in Sydney, a city that has historically 00:10:34.340 --> 00:10:37.389 been fiercely loyal to rugby league. The Swans 00:10:37.389 --> 00:10:40.169 were fighting for their very existence. They 00:10:40.169 --> 00:10:42.210 desperately needed someone who could command 00:10:42.210 --> 00:10:44.549 attention, both athletically and commercially. 00:10:44.809 --> 00:10:47.590 If we connect this to the bigger picture, his 00:10:47.590 --> 00:10:50.129 arrival in Sydney didn't just alter a win -loss 00:10:50.129 --> 00:10:52.570 record. It fundamentally shifted the cultural 00:10:52.570 --> 00:10:55.029 landscape of New South Wales. He kicked over 00:10:55.029 --> 00:10:57.450 100 goals in three of his four seasons there. 00:10:58.269 --> 00:11:00.929 Do you think his presence actually changed the 00:11:00.929 --> 00:11:04.070 business of the sport in that state? Unquestionably. 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:06.840 You saw TV ratings spike when the Swans played. 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:09.460 You saw an increase in youth participation in 00:11:09.460 --> 00:11:12.000 Australian rules football across a rugby dominated 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.639 state. People who didn't understand the intricacies 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:16.840 of the sport understood the spectacle of Tony 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.340 Lockett. And he delivered on the field, too. 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:23.080 The 1996 preliminary final against Essendon is 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:25.539 etched into the minds of every Swans fan. The 00:11:25.539 --> 00:11:27.600 scores are deadlocked, the siren sounds, and 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:29.539 Lockett has a set shot. The pressure in that 00:11:29.539 --> 00:11:31.740 stadium was suffocating. He doesn't even need 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:34.120 a goal. He kicks a behind a single point after 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:37.159 the siren to secure a one -point victory. It 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:39.519 sent Sidney to their only grand final appearance 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.440 of his entire career. Which brings us to 1999 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:45.200 at the Sidney Cricket Ground and the pursuit 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:48.539 of history. Gordon Coventry had set the all -time 00:11:48.539 --> 00:11:53.100 goal -kicking record of 12 ,299 goals. That record 00:11:53.100 --> 00:11:56.779 had stood for 62 years. Many considered it mathematically 00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:59.299 unbreakable in the modern era. Until Lockett 00:11:59.299 --> 00:12:02.279 kicked his 1 ,300th goal. The moment that ball 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:04.440 sailed through the posts, it triggered one of 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:06.600 the most remarkable pitch invasions in Australian 00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:09.700 sports. Thousands of delirious fans stormed the 00:12:09.700 --> 00:12:12.279 field, completely swallowing him up. Imagine 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:14.919 the sensory overload for a man who famously despised 00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:17.279 crowds and attention suddenly trapped in a sea 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:20.259 of screaming people on the SCG grass. It is a 00:12:20.259 --> 00:12:22.980 striking visual paradox. The ultimate introvert 00:12:22.980 --> 00:12:24.879 trapped at the center of the loudest party in 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:27.399 the city. Yet the move to Sydney seemed to offer 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:30.159 him a strange kind of sanctuary. He enjoyed relative 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:32.240 anonymity walking the streets there compared 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.120 to the suffocating fishbowl of the Melbourne 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:36.700 football media. He genuinely became a cult figure. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:40.639 The pop culture crossover was surreal. Musician 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:43.620 James Freud released a song titled One Tony Lockett 00:12:43.620 --> 00:12:46.659 set to the tune of Guantanamera. The commercial 00:12:46.659 --> 00:12:49.379 appeal was undeniable. He began appearing in 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:51.879 television campaigns, doing spots for Advanced 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:55.580 Hair and, quite famously, for Lowe's Menswear. 00:12:55.980 --> 00:12:58.279 The behind -the -scenes details from those shoots 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:00.460 really highlight how his competitive nature was 00:13:00.460 --> 00:13:02.659 always simmering just below the surface. The 00:13:02.659 --> 00:13:05.220 Krav Maga story is perfect for this. Lockett 00:13:05.220 --> 00:13:07.679 is on set for a Lowe's commercial. As part of 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:09.960 the shoot, he gets into a supposedly friendly 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.779 wrestling match with a man named Adrian Mueller. 00:13:13.139 --> 00:13:15.080 Mueller worked for Lowe's corporate division, 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:17.539 but he was also a former amateur rugby player 00:13:17.539 --> 00:13:20.779 and expert in Krav Maga, the Israeli martial 00:13:20.779 --> 00:13:23.120 art. A pretty formable opponent for a joke wrestle. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:26.159 Exactly. What starts as a lighthearted grapple 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:28.639 suddenly escalates, Lockett's competitive instincts 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:30.960 take over, and he aggressively pins the Krav 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:34.059 Maga expert to the floor. Even in a staged retail 00:13:34.059 --> 00:13:36.580 commercial, the physical enforcer simply could 00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:39.480 not be switched off. It underscores the tension 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:42.259 of his entire public life. He was a franchise 00:13:42.259 --> 00:13:44.799 savior and a commercial icon, but he harbored 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:47.559 a deep, abiding disdain for the media apparatus 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:50.419 that built his mythology. To understand that 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:52.440 disdain, we need to look at how the media treated 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:54.899 him, grouping a few key incidents that really 00:13:54.899 --> 00:13:57.139 define his relationship with public scrutiny. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:01.539 Let's go to 1988. Lockett is at the Mercy Private 00:14:01.539 --> 00:14:03.860 Hospital, accompanied by his father, seeking 00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:06.440 treatment for a severe ankle injury. A vulnerable 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:09.519 moment. Very. And St. Kilda officials failed 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.019 to inform him that a massive media scrum was 00:14:12.019 --> 00:14:14.500 waiting outside. One of the reporters in that 00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:17.799 pack was a young Eddie McGuire. Lockett is ambushed. 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:20.340 He feels so cornered and enraged by the cameras 00:14:20.340 --> 00:14:22.799 that he violently hurls his heavy medical crutches 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:25.059 directly at the cameraman. Throwing immobility 00:14:25.059 --> 00:14:27.720 aids at a reporter is a shocking reaction, but 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:31.000 it vividly illustrates how invaded he felt. He 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:33.059 viewed the media not as a conduit to the fans, 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:35.600 but as an intrusive force demanding access he 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:38.139 never agreed to provide. Which makes the bizarre 00:14:38.139 --> 00:14:41.159 events that followed him even more ironic. He 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:42.960 wanted to be invisible off the field, but he 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:46.259 was a magnet for the absurd. The most fair example 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:49.500 is the piglet incident of 1983. This is one of 00:14:49.500 --> 00:14:51.740 the wildest moments in sports history. Round 00:14:51.740 --> 00:14:55.840 18, St. Kilda is playing Sydney at the SCG. Lockett 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:57.759 isn't even on the field. He is sidelined with 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:00.820 an injury. Suddenly, a live piglet is running 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:03.980 loose on the pristine grass. A fan named Mark, 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:06.639 who kept his identity secret for 24 years, by 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:09.139 the way, had smuggled the piglet in and spray 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:11.600 -painted Pluga, spelled incorrectly without the 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:14.539 E and the number 4 on its side. It is hard to 00:15:14.539 --> 00:15:16.960 overstate the absurdity of a painted farm animal 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.440 loose on a professional sports ground, but the 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.659 television commentary cemented it in the cultural 00:15:21.659 --> 00:15:23.820 memory. Sandy Roberts is calling the game for 00:15:23.820 --> 00:15:26.779 Channel 7. He sees this piglet trotting around 00:15:26.779 --> 00:15:29.360 and delivers the legendary line, there's a pig 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:32.590 at full forward. It is a prank specifically targeting 00:15:32.590 --> 00:15:35.070 Lockett's portly physique during a game he wasn't 00:15:35.070 --> 00:15:37.590 even participating in. It proves how heavily 00:15:37.590 --> 00:15:40.350 his presence loomed over the entire league. He 00:15:40.350 --> 00:15:42.049 was the center of attention even when he was 00:15:42.049 --> 00:15:43.929 sitting in the stands. So what does this all 00:15:43.929 --> 00:15:46.629 mean? When you synthesize the records, the physical 00:15:46.629 --> 00:15:49.210 violence, the pop culture songs, and the deep 00:15:49.210 --> 00:15:52.230 hatred for the press, you have to ask, where 00:15:52.230 --> 00:15:54.950 does a man subjected to that level of scrutiny 00:15:54.950 --> 00:15:58.769 go to find quiet when his career ends? He heads 00:15:58.769 --> 00:16:02.129 for the country. Lockett retired with 1 ,360 00:16:02.129 --> 00:16:05.669 goals, excluding a very brief three -game comeback 00:16:05.669 --> 00:16:09.169 attempt in 2002. He purchased a rural property 00:16:09.169 --> 00:16:11.250 near Boweral in the southern highlands of New 00:16:11.250 --> 00:16:13.509 South Wales, settling there with his wife, Vicky, 00:16:13.649 --> 00:16:15.909 and their four daughters. He often rejected the 00:16:15.909 --> 00:16:18.110 label of a recluse. He maintained that he simply 00:16:18.110 --> 00:16:20.230 preferred the quiet life over the noise of the 00:16:20.230 --> 00:16:22.070 city. And if you look at his retirement hobbies, 00:16:22.230 --> 00:16:24.529 they perfectly mirror the two warring sides of 00:16:24.529 --> 00:16:27.389 his personality. On one side, you have his involvement 00:16:27.389 --> 00:16:30.289 in greyhound racing. This was a methodical, quiet 00:16:30.289 --> 00:16:32.370 pursuit directly linked to his family history. 00:16:32.710 --> 00:16:35.149 His grandfather, Charlie, used to supply the 00:16:35.149 --> 00:16:37.049 pacemakers for the local Greyhound Club back 00:16:37.049 --> 00:16:39.149 in Ballarat. It was a way to connect with his 00:16:39.149 --> 00:16:41.169 roots away from the cameras. But the other side 00:16:41.169 --> 00:16:43.899 of his retirement was pure adrenaline. He didn't 00:16:43.899 --> 00:16:46.019 take up golf. He decided to compete in the Fink 00:16:46.019 --> 00:16:48.860 Desert Race, which is a brutally punishing off 00:16:48.860 --> 00:16:51.779 -road race across the Australian outback. He 00:16:51.779 --> 00:16:53.860 raced in the open motorcycle class on a high 00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:57.419 -powered KTM 500 EXC dirt bike, competing multiple 00:16:57.419 --> 00:17:00.659 times over a decade. It is fascinating that he 00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:02.860 replaced the physical trauma of absorbing hits 00:17:02.860 --> 00:17:05.500 from fullbacks with the physical trauma of navigating 00:17:05.500 --> 00:17:08.319 desert terrain on a motorcycle. The drive to 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:10.220 test his physical boundaries never disappeared. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:12.960 He simply found an arena where the danger was 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:15.400 environmental rather than human, and crucially, 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:17.799 an arena entirely devoid of sports journalists. 00:17:18.180 --> 00:17:21.180 His legacy within the sport is secure. He was 00:17:21.180 --> 00:17:23.039 inducted into the Australian Football Hall of 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:25.799 Fame in 2006 and officially elevated to legend 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:28.920 status in 2015. He won the Coleman Medal four 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:31.769 times as the league's leading goal kicker. If 00:17:31.769 --> 00:17:33.869 you visit Dockland Stadium today, the Southern 00:17:33.869 --> 00:17:36.450 Goal end is named the Lockett end, situated perfectly 00:17:36.450 --> 00:17:39.069 opposite the Coventry end, honoring the man whose 00:17:39.069 --> 00:17:41.809 unbreakable record he finally broke. The statistics 00:17:41.809 --> 00:17:44.529 will last forever. But looking closely at the 00:17:44.529 --> 00:17:46.730 human being behind those numbers raises an important 00:17:46.730 --> 00:17:49.670 question. I want you to consider the immense 00:17:49.670 --> 00:17:52.849 psychological toll of his journey. Think about 00:17:52.849 --> 00:17:54.849 the burden of carrying a struggling franchise 00:17:54.849 --> 00:17:57.609 on your back while managing chronic conditions 00:17:57.609 --> 00:17:59.950 and navigating a deep resentment for the public 00:17:59.950 --> 00:18:03.339 eye. What does Tony Lockett's career reveal about 00:18:03.339 --> 00:18:05.460 the hidden emotional costs required to become 00:18:05.460 --> 00:18:08.240 a sporting legend? That's a profound thought 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.220 to end on. And beyond that, it leaves you to 00:18:10.220 --> 00:18:12.740 wonder about the present day. How would a player 00:18:12.740 --> 00:18:14.779 with his volatile temper, his unconventional 00:18:14.779 --> 00:18:17.000 physique, and his refusal to play the media games 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:20.559 survive in today's highly sanitized, 24 -7 sports 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:23.500 landscape? With social media scrutinizing every 00:18:23.500 --> 00:18:25.480 angle, could a player like Plugger even exist 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:25.779 today?