| Malcolm Blight | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Statue of Malcolm Blight atAdelaide Oval | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Malcolm Jack Blight | ||
| Nickname | Blighty | ||
| Born | (1950-02-16)16 February 1950 (age 75) Adelaide, South Australia | ||
| Original team | Woodville (SANFL) | ||
| Height | 182 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Weight | 89 kg (196 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1968–73, 1983–85 | Woodville | 152 (342)[1] | |
| 1974–1982 | North Melbourne | 178 (444)[2] | |
| Total | 330 (786) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| South Australia | 7 (11) | ||
| Victoria | 7 (14) | ||
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1981 | North Melbourne | 16 (6–10–0) | |
| 1983–1987 | Woodville | 114 (41-73-0) | |
| 1989–1994 | Geelong | 145 (89–56–0) | |
| 1997–1999 | Adelaide | 74 (41–33–0) | |
| 2001 | St Kilda | 15 (3–12–0) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1986. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2001. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
Club
Representative
Coaching Honours
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Malcolm Jack BlightAM (born 16 February 1950) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who played for and coached theNorth Melbourne Football Club in theVictorian Football League (VFL) andWoodville Football Club in theSouth Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also coached theGeelong Football Club,Adelaide Football Club andSt Kilda Football Club.
Blight is the only player to have kicked 100 goals in a season in both the VFL and the SANFL. He is also one of three players to have won theBrownlow Medal and theMagarey Medal. He was an inaugural inducteeAustralian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and was elevated to Legend status in 2017.[3] In addition, he has captained the state representative sides of bothVictoria andSouth Australia.
In spite of his "failure" as a playing coach of North Melbourne, Blight cemented his reputation as one of the greatest coaches during his stints withGeelong andAdelaide, before finishing up in an acrimonious circumstances atSt Kilda. In 2012, Blight was appointed director of coaching at theGold Coast Football Club.
The surname "Blight" is ofCornish origin.[4]
Blight grew up living close toAlberton Oval and supportedPort Adelaide, with his favourite player at the time being forwardRex Johns.[5] However, when a new local teamWoodville began to play in the SANFL from 1964, and Blight was in their recruiting zone and made his debut for the Woodpeckers in 1969. He had a break-out year in 1972, kicking 45 goals while playing mainly as a ruck-rover.[6] He won Woodville'sbest and fairest award as well as the SANFL's highest individual honor, theMagarey Medal, bringing him to the attention of the VFL.
Blight was recruited by theNorth Melbourne Football Club and, although he was reluctant to join at first, he went on to play 178 games for the club between 1974 and 1982.[7] He was a member of the Kangaroos' premiership sides in1975 and1977, and in1978 won both theBrownlow Medal and theSyd Barker Medal for being thebest and fairest player in the VFL and for North Melbourne respectively.
Blight was consistently one of the most brilliant players in the VFL during the 1970s. Besides taking spectacularmarks, he was also a prolific goal kicker, renowned for his ability to use thetorpedo punt. In1982, Blight won theColeman Medal as the leading the VFL goal scorer, and led the Kangaroos' goal kicking four times during his career.
It's not over yet – not over yet! What drama here at Princes Park! Malcolm Blight – it's a big kick, it's a mammoth kick...(ball passes between goal posts) whoa, I have seen it all!
In a moment that has since passed into Australian rules football folklore, Blight kicked a famousgoal after the siren againstCarlton in Round 10, 1976, (5 June). Carlton led by 14 points going into added time in the final quarter, but Blight kicked two goals, and thenmarked the ball an estimated 80 metres from goal, just seconds before the final siren.North Melbourne, trailing by one point, needed a behind to draw and a goal to win. Many assumed Blight's effort would be futile and spectators were already exiting the arena. However, Blight kicked one of the longest-evertorpedo punts, with the ball going through the goal at the height of the posts, achieving an improbable victory for the Kangaroos: 11.15 (81) to Carlton's 11.10 (76). (YouTube video)
This moment was the focus of a television commercial in the Toyota Legendary Moments series which featured Blight. (YouTube video)
During the1977 VFL season, which happened to be played during the wettest Melbourne winter in 40 years,North Melbourne hostedHawthorn atArden Street. The ground conditions were atrocious, and the match for the most part resembled something more akin to mud wrestling.[citation needed] Hawthorn led by one point when Blight was given a free kick and a set shot for goal. He scored a behind, which would have levelled the scores, but was given a second attempt after the umpire penalised Hawthorn for an infringement. Unfortunately for Blight and North Melbourne, the ball slewed off the side of his boot and went out of bounds on the full, giving the Hawks victory. In the drawn Grand Final, he was benched by Barassi after three quarters, but kept his place in the team for the replay and was one of the best players in their win.
Blight won the1978 Brownlow Medal, but suffered a groin injury in the early minutes of the1978 VFL Grand Final against Hawthorn.
In1981, while still serving as playing coach, Blight made one of the most bizarre blunders ever seen in a football match. In North Melbourne's Round 14 clash againstRichmond at theMCG, Blight was on the end of a chain of handpasses deep in the forward zone. He seemed certain to score a goal as he ran into the goal square, only to run past the goal posts and kick the ball through the behinds. As he said after the match when he realised his mistake: "I've never done that before. I'm probably going barmy."[10] Richmond won the match by 43 points and, less than a month later, after six consecutive losses, Blight was sacked as playing coach. Freed of the coaching burden, he then kicked 11 goals againstFootscray.[11]
Blight was indirectly involved in another infamous football incident during the1980 Escort Cup grand final againstCollingwood, held atVFL Park, Waverley. Blight kicked the ball toKerry Good as the siren sounded. However, the umpire did not hear the siren and awarded the mark to Good, who kicked the winning goal to win in controversial circumstances.
After his stint in the VFL, Blight returned to Woodville, serving as captain-coach from 1983 to 1985 before continuing as non-playing coach in 1986 and 1987. He was club best and fairest in 1983 and in his last season of playing football (1985) topped the league goalkicking list with 126 goals.[12]
Blight also played 14 interstate/State of Origin football matches (seven for South Australia and seven for Victoria), kicking 25 goals, as well as 11 pre-season/night series matches for Woodville, kicking 17 goals, and 17 pre-season/night series matches for North Melbourne, kicking 37 goals (these are counted as senior by the SANFL but not the VFL/AFL).
If these are included, Blight played a total of 372 senior career games and kicked a senior career total of 865 goals.
Blight later became a successful coach famous for employing unorthodox, and at times controversial, coaching methods as attempts to motivate his players.[13]
Appointedplayer-coach in 1981 afterRon Barassi departed, Blight was sacked as coach after six consecutive losses.[14] The following week he rebounded with a club-record 11 goal haul againstFootscray, at the Western Oval. Once again, Blight's inaccurate kicking for goal may have prevented him from kicking a club record of a possible 16 to 17 goals. Blight's total as playing coach (Wayne Schimmelbusch was captain) was 16 games (6 wins, 10 losses) and the last of the playing coaches in the VFL.
Playing coach 1983 to 1985, continued as non-playing coach to 1987. His tenure as coach coincided with the club's most successful season (1986) in the entire history of the Woodville Football Club, when they reached the Preliminary Final.[15] During the season the Warriors (who had changed from being known as the Woodpeckers to the Warriors in 1983) had defeated their hated "big brother" Port Adelaide once during the minor round atWoodville Oval (drawing the oval's ground record attendance of 11,026 to their Round 18 clash), and also in the First Semi-final atFootball Park, before going down to eventual premiersGlenelg in the Preliminary Final.
Blight was appointed successor toJohn Devine atGeelong as senior coach for the1989 VFL season. In Blight's first year at Geelong, he guided them to the1989 Grand Final but fell short toHawthorn by six points. In the1990 season, Geelong under Blight finished tenth on the ladder with eight wins and fourteen losses, missing out of the finals. In the1991 season, Blight guided Geelong to finish third on the ladder, but were eliminated in the Preliminary Final byWest Coast Eagles. Blight guided Geelong again to theGrand Final in 1992 but fell short again toWest Coast Eagles by twenty-eight points. In the1993 season, Blight guided Geelong to finish seventh on the ladder with twelve wins and eight losses, just missing out of the finals.
The Cats players warmed to his all-out attack philosophy, to such an extent that they broke the record for aggregate points in a home-and-away season (2916), which would again be broken in 1992 when they became the first (and so far only) team to score an aggregate of 3000 points in a home-and-away season. In the semi-final againstMelbourne, aware that the Demons intended to put a hard tag on their classy midfieldersPaul Couch andMark Bairstow, Blight started them on the interchange bench, and Geelong ended up winning by 63 points.
In an interview withGerard Whateley in 2019, Blight opened up about the day he knew his time as Geelong coach was finished. In Round 12 of the1994 AFL season, Geelong were hostingSt Kilda atKardinia Park, and at last break the unfancied Saints held a 26-point lead after kicking seven goals to none in the third quarter. The frustrated home fans directed their displeasure at Blight, booing and heckling him as he made his way down to the huddle.[16] Although he made light of this to his assistant coach and soon-to-be successorGary Ayres by remarking "I told you, the Geelong people don't like you Hawthorn people", Blight was stung inwardly by the negative reception.[17][18] Fortunately for the home side, star forwardGary Ablett kicked four of his seven goals as Geelong came from behind to win by three points. The Cats ended up making the Grand Final in 1994 for the third time under Blight, but after a difficult finals series, they were no match forWest Coast, where Geelong fell short to West Coast by eighty points in the1994 Grand Final and Blight confirmed his decision after the game to hand the coaching reins to assistant coachGary Ayres, who replaced Blight as Geelong Football Club senior coach.
One of the strangest incidents as a coach of Geelong was his extroverted decision to stand on a metal box to watch the game against the West Coast Eagles in Perth. His excitement of "seeing the game at ground level", was an attempt to get back to basics and some nostalgia.[citation needed]
Blight coached Geelong Football Club from 1989 to 1994 to a total of 145 games with 89 wins and 56 losses with a winning percentage of 61 percent.
Blight's then made his arrival at the Crows at the end of the1996 season, when he replacedRobert Shaw as senior coach of Adelaide Football Club.[19] This was marked with dramatic effect, with the delisting of four ageing club stalwartsTony McGuinness,Chris McDermott,Andrew Jarman andGreg Anderson.[20] This attracted great criticism at the time, but Blight was vindicated, when Adelaide Football Club under Blight won theAFL premiership in1997, and again in1998 for the second consecutive year. Blight resigned as Adelaide Football Club senior coach at the end of the1999 season after an unsuccessful year finishing 13th.[21] In 74 games under Blight, Adelaide won 41 games and 33 losses bringing a winning percentage to 55 percent.[22] But he will always be remembered for his finals record with seven wins from eight games for two premierships To commemorate his legacy as Adelaide's first premiership coach, the club named their annual best and fairest award theMalcolm Blight Medal. Blight was once again replaced byGary Ayres, this time as Adelaide Football Club senior coach.
After finishing at Adelaide, Blight decided to retire from football and moved to Queensland. St Kilda officials visited him there during 2000 and overcame his reluctance to coach St Kilda in 2001 with a $1 million offer.[23] Blight then replacedTim Watson as the St Kilda Football Club senior coach. Blight was however sacked after Round 15 during the2001 season with three wins and twelve losses sitting at fourteenth (third-last) on the ladder. Blight was then replaced byGrant Thomas as caretaker senior coach for the rest of the 2001 season, who was eventually appointed as full-time senior coach.[24][25] Blight's famous humiliation of the players by making them stay on Colonial Stadium after a Round 10 loss to Melbourne and again after a Round 15 loss to Adelaide in his final game as coach, highlighted the worsening relation between the coach, players and club supporters. Some years later the former president of St Kilda,Rod Butterss, questioned Blight's commitment to the club during his tenure. Blight responded memorably from his position as media commentator with Channel Ten, saying:
I couldn't give a rat's tossbag whether he thought I could coach or whether anyone thinks I can coach or can play. But when he talked about commitment for St Kilda, for the time I was there, it was absolute garbage made by a very naive person.
— Malcolm Blight,Out of left-field, Blight's passion burns furiously
However, as early as February 2003, Butterss had admitted that his appointment of Blight as coach was "an error."[26] In August 2017, Butterss further admitted that he'd made crucial decisions (including the Blight saga) while under the influence of drugs and alcohol during his tenure at the club.[27]
In 2009, Blight joined theBoard of directors at the 17th AFL team,Gold Coast Suns.[28]
In July 2012, Gold Coast Suns announced that Blight had stepped down from the board to take up a part-time advisory role as director of coaching under Gold Coast Suns senior coachGuy McKenna, following a similar growing trend where former coaches (among themMark Williams,Dean Laidley andMark Harvey) have been employed as advisors to other senior coaches.[29] Blight left the Gold Coast Suns at the end of the 2015 season, after he was relieved of his duties as director of coaching position at Gold Coast. Blight and the club came to a mutual agreement that the position had become redundant after the appointment ofRodney Eade as senior coach of the Gold Coast Suns at the start of the year and season.[30]
Looking back over his coaching career, Blight nominated in June 2012 a team of the greatest 22 players that he had coached, plus four emergencies.[31] This was how the team looked:
| B: | Ben Hart (Adelaide) | David Dench (North Melbourne) | Mark Bickley (Adelaide) |
| HB: | Andrew McLeod (Adelaide) | Ross Glendinning (North Melbourne) | Nigel Smart (Adelaide) |
| C: | Keith Greig (North Melbourne) | Paul Couch (Geelong) | Mark Bairstow (Geelong) |
| HF: | Wayne Schimmelbusch (North Melbourne) | Barry Stoneham (Geelong) | Ralph Sewer (Woodville) |
| F: | Darren Jarman (Adelaide) | Gary Ablett Sr. (Geelong) | Robert Harvey (St Kilda) |
| Foll: | Shaun Rehn (Adelaide) | Mark Ricciuto (Adelaide) | Garry Hocking (Geelong) |
| Int: | Ken Hinkley (Geelong) | David Pittman (Adelaide) | Simon Goodwin (Adelaide) |
| Tyson Edwards (Adelaide) | |||
| Coach: | Malcolm Blight | ||
The four emergencies named were:Peter Caven (Adelaide),Kane Johnson (Adelaide),Peter Riccardi (Geelong) andTony Modra (Adelaide).
Blight continued his football involvement through the media. He commentated for theSeven Network during his hiatus from coaching in 1988, 1995–1996 and 2000, and also co-hostedTalking Footy with fellow commentatorBruce McAvaney and journalistMike Sheahan. He was one of the commentators atWaverley Park during the famous "Lights Out Incident" during a night match betweenEssendon andSt Kilda in1996. After finishing up as a coach, Blight commentated forNetwork Ten's television coverage.
In 2006, Blight appeared in a Toyota Legendary Moment ad recreating his goal after the siren against Carlton.
He also wrote football-related articles for theSunday Mail.
Blight is known for his dislike of the practice of players usinggrubber kicks when attempting to score a goal, due to the lack of control and unpredictability of the bounce.[32] With David Wildy, he is currently the co-host of Sportsday SA onFIVEaa in Adelaide.[33]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Led the league after season and finals |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 1974 | North Melbourne | 15 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 200 | 60 | 260 | 91 | — | 1.1 | 1.2 | 13.3 | 4.0 | 17.3 | 6.1 | — |
| 1975† | North Melbourne | 15 | 18 | 14 | 18 | 187 | 63 | 250 | 69 | — | 0.8 | 1.1 | 11.0 | 3.7 | 14.7 | 4.1 | — |
| 1976 | North Melbourne | 15 | 23 | 35 | 29 | 378 | 102 | 480 | 159 | — | 1.5 | 1.3 | 16.4 | 4.4 | 20.9 | 6.9 | — |
| 1977† | North Melbourne | 15 | 24 | 24 | 33 | 415 | 115 | 530 | 127 | — | 1.0 | 1.4 | 17.3 | 4.8 | 22.1 | 5.3 | — |
| 1978 | North Melbourne | 15 | 24 | 77 | 51 | 361 | 69 | 430 | 136 | — | 3.2 | 2.1 | 15.0 | 2.9 | 17.9 | 5.7 | — |
| 1979 | North Melbourne | 15 | 19 | 60 | 27 | 275 | 67 | 342 | 102 | — | 3.2 | 1.4 | 14.5 | 3.5 | 18.0 | 5.4 | — |
| 1980 | North Melbourne | 15 | 20 | 44 | 29 | 282 | 90 | 372 | 87 | — | 2.2 | 1.5 | 14.1 | 4.5 | 18.6 | 4.4 | — |
| 1981 | North Melbourne | 15 | 15 | 70 | 45 | 206 | 31 | 237 | 79 | — | 4.7 | 3.0 | 13.7 | 2.1 | 15.8 | 5.3 | — |
| 1982 | North Melbourne | 15 | 20 | 103 | 66 | 233 | 43 | 276 | 112 | — | 5.2 | 3.3 | 11.7 | 2.2 | 13.8 | 5.6 | — |
| Career | 178 | 444 | 316 | 2537 | 640 | 3177 | 962 | — | 2.5 | 1.8 | 14.3 | 3.6 | 17.8 | 5.4 | — | ||
| Team | Year | Home and Away Season | Finals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Drew | Win % | Position | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| NTH | 1981 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 8th out of 12 | — | — | — | — |
| NTH Total | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
| GEE | 1989 | 16 | 6 | 0 | .727 | 3rd out of 14 | 2 | 2 | .500 | Lost toHawthorn inGrand Final |
| GEE | 1990 | 8 | 14 | 0 | .364 | 10th out of 14 | — | — | — | — |
| GEE | 1991 | 16 | 6 | 0 | .727 | 3rd out of 15 | 1 | 2 | .333 | Lost toWest Coast inPreliminary Final |
| GEE | 1992 | 16 | 6 | 0 | .727 | 1st out of 15 | 2 | 2 | .500 | Lost toWest Coast inGrand Final |
| GEE | 1993 | 12 | 8 | 0 | .600 | 7th out of 15 | — | — | — | — |
| GEE | 1994 | 13 | 9 | 0 | .591 | 4th out of 15 | 3 | 1 | .750 | Lost toWest Coast inGrand Final |
| GEE Total | 81 | 49 | 0 | .623 | 8 | 7 | .533 | |||
| ADE | 1997 | 13 | 9 | 0 | .591 | 4th out of 16 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | DefeatedSt Kilda inGrand Final |
| ADE | 1998 | 13 | 9 | 0 | .591 | 5th out of 16 | 3 | 1 | .750 | DefeatedNorth Melbourne inGrand Final |
| ADE | 1999 | 8 | 14 | 0 | .364 | 13th out of 16 | — | — | — | — |
| ADE Total | 34 | 32 | 0 | .515 | 7 | 1 | .875 | |||
| STK | 2001 | 3 | 12 | 0 | .200 | (resigned after R15) | — | — | — | — |
| STK Total | 3 | 12 | 0 | .200 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
| Total | 124 | 103 | 0 | .546 | 15 | 8 | .652 | |||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |