Malcolm Blight

Malcolm Jack Blight AM (born 16 February 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL), and Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) during the 1970s and 1980s. He is currently serving as a coaching advisor at the Gold Coast Football Club.[3]

Malcolm Blight
Personal information
Full name Malcolm Jack Blight
Nickname(s) Blighty
Date of birth (1950-02-16) 16 February 1950
Place of birth Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s) 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

One of few players to have won the Brownlow Medal and the Magarey Medal, and so far the only player to have kicked 100 goals in a season in both the VFL and the SANFL, Blight is rightly regarded as one of Australian football's greatest-ever players. In addition, he has captained the state representative sides of both Victoria and South Australia.

In spite of his "failure" as a playing coach of North Melbourne, Blight would cement his reputation as one of the greatest coaches during his stints with Geelong and Adelaide, before finishing up in an acrimonious circumstances at St Kilda. The name Blight is of Cornish origin.[4] In 2012, Blight was appointed director of coaching at the Gold Coast Football Club.

Blight was made a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and was elevated to Legend status (the highest honour which can be bestowed onto an Australian footballer) in 2017.[5]

Football career

Woodville Football Club, SANFL

Blight grew up supporting Port Adelaide living close to Alberton Oval with his favourite player at the time being forward Rex Johns.[6] However, when a new local team Woodville began to play in the SANFL from 1964, and Blight was now in their recruiting zone and he would make his debut for the Woodpeckers in 1969. Blight had a break-out year in 1972 when he won Woodville's best and fairest award as well as the SANFL's highest individual honor, the Magarey Medal, bringing him to the attention of the VFL.

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.[7]

North Melbourne Football Club, VFL

Blight was recruited by the Kangaroos and, although he was reluctant to join at first, he went on to play 178 games for the club between 1974 and 1982.[8] He was a member of the Kangaroos' premiership sides in 1975 and 1977, and in 1978 won both the Brownlow Medal and the Syd Barker Medal for being the best 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 spectacular marks, he was also a prolific goalkicker, renowned for his ability to kick the torpedo punt. In 1982, Blight won the Coleman Medal for leading the VFL in goalkicking, and led the Kangaroos' goalkicking four times during his career.

Eighty metre goal after the siren
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!

Mike Williamson's call of Blight's 70- to 80-metre after-the-siren goal against Carlton on HSV-7[9][10]

In a moment that has since passed into Australian rules football folklore, in 1976, Blight kicked a famous goal after the siren against Carlton in Round 10 (5 June). The Blues led by 14 points going into added time in the final quarter, but Blight kicked two goals and then marked an estimated 80 metres from the goals just seconds before the final siren. North Melbourne were still trailing by one point, needing a behind to draw and a goal to win. Many assumed Blight's effort would be futile and spectators were already exiting the playing arena. However, Blight kicked one of the biggest-ever torpedo punts, with the ball going over the goals but between the posts to an improbable victory for the Kangaroos by 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)

Infamous moments

During the 1977 VFL season, which happened to be played during the wettest Melbourne winter in 40 years, North Melbourne hosted Hawthorn at Arden Street. The ground conditions were atrocious, and the match for the most part resembled something more akin to mud wrestling. 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 penalized Hawthorn for an infringement. Unfortunately for Blight and North Melbourne, the ball slew off the side of his boot and went out of bounds on the full, giving the Hawks victory.

In 1981, 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 against Richmond at the MCG, 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."[11] Richmond won that match by 43 points, and Blight was sacked as playing coach less than a month later.

Blight was indirectly involved in another infamous football incident during the 1980 Escort Cup grand final against Collingwood, held at VFL Park, Waverley. Blight kicked the ball to Kerry 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.

Statistics

Playing statistics
[12]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
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 151517182006026091N/A1.11.213.34.017.36.1N/A
1975† North Melbourne 151814181876325069N/A0.81.111.03.714.74.1N/A
1976 North Melbourne 15233529378102480159N/A1.51.316.44.420.96.9N/A
1977† North Melbourne 15242433415115530127N/A1.01.417.34.822.15.3N/A
1978 North Melbourne 1524775136169430136N/A3.22.115.02.917.95.7N/A
1979 North Melbourne 1519602727567342102N/A3.21.414.53.518.05.4N/A
1980 North Melbourne 152044292829037287N/A2.21.514.14.518.64.4N/A
1981 North Melbourne 151570452063123779N/A4.73.013.72.115.85.3N/A
1982 North Melbourne 15201036623343276112N/A5.23.311.72.213.85.6N/A
Career 178 444 316 2537 640 3177 962 N/A 2.5 1.8 14.3 3.6 17.8 5.4 N/A

Coaching statistics
[13]
Legend
 W  Wins  L  Losses  D  Draws  W%  Winning percentage  LP  Ladder position  LT  League teams
Season Team Games W L D W % LP LT
1981 North Melbourne 16610037.5%812
1989 Geelong 26188069.2%314
1990 Geelong 22814036.4%1014
1991 Geelong 25178068.0%315
1992 Geelong 26188069.2%115
1993 Geelong 20128060.0%715
1994 Geelong 261610061.5%415
1997† Adelaide 26179065.4%416
1998† Adelaide 261610061.5%516
1999 Adelaide 22814036.4%1316
2001 St Kilda 15312020.0%1516
Career totals 250 139 111 0 55.6%

Coaching and after coaching

Blight later became a successful coach famous for employing unorthodox, and at times controversial, coaching methods as attempts to motivate his players.[14]

Playing coach at North Melbourne

Appointed playing coach in 1981 after Ron Barassi departed, Blight was sacked as coach after six consecutive losses.[15] The following week he rebounded with a club-record 11 goal haul against Footscray, 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.

Back at Woodville

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.[16] 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 at Woodville Oval (drawing the oval's ground record attendance of 11,026 to their Round 18 clash), and also in the First Semi-final at Football Park, before going down to eventual premiers Glenelg in the Preliminary Final.

Geelong and Adelaide: A reputation is forged

Senior coach from 1989 to 1994, highlighted by Grand Final appearances in 1989, 1992 and 1994. Total of 145 games, 89 wins, 56 losses. 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.

Blight's arrival at the Crows at the end of the 1996 season was marked with dramatic effect, with the delisting of four ageing club stalwarts Tony McGuinness, Chris McDermott, Andrew Jarman, and Greg Anderson.[17] This attracted great criticism at the time, but Blight was vindicated by winning the AFL premiership in 1997, and again in 1998. He retired as coach at the end of the 1999 season after an unsuccessful year finishing 13th. To commemorate his legacy as Adelaide's first premiership coach, the club named their annual best and fairest award the Malcolm Blight Medal.

St Kilda: Promising start, disappointing end

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.[18] Blight was sacked after Round 15 (3 wins, 12 losses). His 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 (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."[19] 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.[20]

Involvement at Gold Coast

Blight joined the 17th AFL team, Gold Coast, as a board member.

In July 2012, Gold Coast announced that Blight had stepped down from the board to take up a part-time advisory role to Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna, following a similar growing trend where former coaches (among them Mark Williams, Dean Laidley and Mark Harvey) have been employed as advisors to other head coaches.[21]

Blight's Squad of Champions

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.[22] This was how the team looked:

Malcolm Blight's Squad of Champions
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) and Tony Modra (Adelaide).

Media career

Blight continued his football involvement through the media. He commentated for the Seven Network during his hiatus from coaching in 1995 and 1996 and also co-hosted Talking Footy with fellow commentator Bruce McAvaney and journalist Mike Sheahan. He was one of the commentators at Waverley Park during the famous "Lights Out Incident" during a night match between Essendon and St Kilda in 1996. After finishing up as a coach, Blight commentated for Network 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 the Sunday Mail.

Blight is known for his dislike of the practice of players using grubber kicks when attempting to score a goal, due to the lack of control and unpredictability of the bounce.[23] He is currently the cohost of Sportsday SA on FIVEaa in Adelaide with Kane Cornes.

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See also
  • After the siren kicks in Australian rules football
  • Robert Walls

References
  1. These totals refer to premiership matches (home-and-away and finals matches) only.
  2. "Malcolm Blight (Player Bio)". Australian Football. 1 January 2017.
  3. "Football Staff". goldcoastfc.com.au. Gold Coast Football Club. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Australian Football Hall of Fame: Malcolm Blight becomes a legend while Simon Goodwin, Barry Hall honoured". ABC News. 19 June 2017.
  6. "Subscribe | adelaidenow". www.adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  7. SA Team of the Century: Left Half Forward Flank – Malcolm Blight
  8. North Melbourne Football Club: Hall of Fame Archived 10 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Footy's Most Thrilling Finishes The Herald-Sun
  10. Malcolm Blight's long-range after-the-siren winner (North Melbourne vs. Carlton, Round 5, 1976) YouTube
  11. McClure, Geoff, ed. (20 July 2001). "Going Balmy – SPORTING LIFE". The Age.
  12. Malcolm Blight's player profile at AFL Tables
  13. "AFL Tables - Malcolm Blight - Coaching Record". Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  14. "Stopping the rot". The Age. 27 May 2003. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  15. Australianrules.com: The 10 biggest mid-season coaching upheavals Archived 17 June 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Fullpointsfooty.net: Woodville Football Club
  17. "Head rules heart". The Advertiser.
  18. "Andrew Thompson on how the Saints wooed Malcolm Blight as coach". Herald Sun. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  19. "Butterss admits: We haven't delivered". The Age. 25 February 2003. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  20. "Rod Butterss made decisions as St Kilda president while high, drunk". Sporting News Media. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  21. "Blight: Borrow wisdom of elders". Sunday Mail. 7 July 2012.
  22. Blight, Malcolm (9 June 2012). "Selecting my squad of champions". Sunday Mail.
  23. Milbank, Zac (29 June 2012). "AFL legend Malcolm Blight urges coaches to ban players from performing the 'grubber' kick for goal". The Advertiser.
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