Ken Sheldon on Open Mike

[SaintPav]

Think he meant that the other way look at his avatar,.

[realdeal]

Special treatment is one thing, but allowing a sportsman to miss training and to be putting strains on his body with the excessive driving etc. is not going to benefit the player or the club in the long term. I disagree that if the club was more professional that he would've left. He probably would have stayed and he wouldn't have been so spoilt. We spoilt him so much that he started forgetting why he was so well paid.

Was he going to throw away his career and stop earning a squillion because the club demanded discipline and professionalism? What a load of crap. I reckon Plugger understands that the move to Sydney is what helped him become a legend. The professionalism that they demanded helped prolong his career and ultimately helped him to become the highest goalkicker in VFL/AFL history.

He was more than on his way to the record when he left the Saints. His legend status was also assured. Plugger was never as dominate as he was for us.

[Con Gorozidis]

Nothing wrong with Dimmies. Little power packs of energy and nutrition. Plugger was storing them up on the drive and then releasing them during games.
Could have been his secret.

[kosifantutti]

Not the only Brownlow Medallist from the era to be associated with dimmies.

[Darth Vader]

Great stuff Kenny. Sheahan tried his hardest to get Ken to break down but Ken refused. Well done.

[bigcarl]

Confirms his football iq saying locketts the best he's seen.

No arguments here

[To the top]

There does not appear to be very much quoting of what Ken had to say.

There is no mention of the part played by Peter Hudson.

In regards the comments on here re Lockett my response is "What a load of absolute garbage!".

Ken and Peter put together a pretty reasonable side which, with a little luck could have gone much further particularly in the season where Geelong beat us in a Final at Waverley.

Yes there was undue attention on Tony, a, if not the, "Super Star" of the competition thru the media, with supporters and by the Administration particularly when his Contract was up for negotiation and other Clubs became involved but for someone to suggest that Tony saw himself as the "king" is an absolute nonsense - Tony detested the attention he received hence the greyhounds and I would suggest that this dislike of attention is why he does not live off his VFL/AFL persona today, which he could very, very easily do for very great reward.

He played with a condition and with injury.

And he did not appreciate the attention given to him by certain opponents. When you saw the lacerations and marks left on him you could understand the retaliation including particularly a match v Essendon when Loewe came to the rescue of an Essendon player who was in serious trouble.

In regards days past, it was a pleasure to bump into and speak with Molly after the game last weekend (after some 20 years or more!) and I trust we deliver the win over Fremantle he craves.

The social side of St Kilda was what it was back in those days (and bumping into Molly reminded me!) but that was almost exclusively among certain of the inner sanctum of supporters who could celebrate a win such as any win at Moorabbin, the first win at Princes Park in 200 years and a win at Victoria Park - not the players who would socialise after the games generally leaving when the Gold Pass Room opened their doors to the public.

And Moorabbin was no different to Princes Park, Victoria Park or elsewhere.

[magnifisaint]

Genuinely good bloke is Kenny.

[saintsRrising]

That's what the art of leadership is???

Not to bow down, or suck up to stars... Acknowledge they are important but they must adhere to standards like everyone else

It's about teaching.

If he came through Hawtjorn .... Holy hell! He'd have kicked well over 2000 and they'd have won another flag or 2.

As another already observed the Hawthorn of that era could not get Ablett to play for them. Most likely Lockett would have not lasted either.

LOL...you clearly know nothing about Lockett.

Why do you think he could kick so well with both feet? Because he worked at it like few others did at the time. Yes he trained at his kicking more and harder than any other player.

Do you know that Plugga suffered from asthma and so hence his reluctance to not push too hard at some aspects at training.

Did you know that Plugga suffered from chronic homesickness? He was brute of a man on the field, but really was a very shy "softie". A big country kid that missed his family deeply, and who did not relish the attention thata supestar like himin Melbourne generated and this is why the club allowed him to commute from Ballarat, to be with greyhounds etc.

Thank god you were not his coach at the time. He would not have had a career.

[jonesy]

Thought Kenny was excellent, terrific sensitive interviewing from Mike.

Jonesy, get back to the Essendope thread where your fabulous insights will be more greatly appreciated.

Thanks for that Trev . You didn't rate Lockett then?

[stevie]

Genuinely good bloke is Kenny.

Yeah loved him as coach in those revival years. I said hi to him at Metricon in 2011 when the Suns had their first home game. chatted about the Saints and he was genuinely interested in hearing about my passion. spoke to my kids too.

The two videos from 1991/2 when he takes us through each season are very good too

[spert]

Ken is a good bloke. For all the great play of Plugger, we did't get a flag, and the comparison to Hawthorn is valid- they built winning teams while we seemed more more interested in pandering to personalities and quick fixes for years.

[Moods]

Ken is a good bloke. For all the great play of Plugger, we did't get a flag, and the comparison to Hawthorn is valid- they built winning teams while we seemed more more interested in pandering to personalities and quick fixes for years.

Ge whiz - you don't reckon Derm in the 80's was given some special treatment by the coach. Allowed to do a few extras. Wear pink boots, carry on like a lair, do all sorts of media. As long as he got a kick and played his role I'm sure Jeansy didn't mind too much. Dippa the same. ALL coaches are the same - and the ones who carry this BS strict rigid philosophy don't survive - ie Alan Joyce.

[jonesy]

Genuinely good bloke is Kenny.

Yeah loved him as coach in those revival years. I said hi to him at Metricon in 2011 when the Suns had their first home game. chatted about the Saints and he was genuinely interested in hearing about my passion. spoke to my kids too.

The two videos from 1991/2 when he takes us through each season are very good too

Best videos ever. I seriously must of watched them 1000 times through the 90's instead of doing homework...

[BigMart]

So he was a hard trainer?
Lockett himself mocks his training standards, so do others of the time like Russell Morris.

Lockett like many, had asthma... Lockett, homesick? He lived an hour and a half away... FFS

He was one of the greatest ever.., could've been even better with application ... I think everyone, including Tony thinks that.

After his Brownlow at 21 he missed more than 60 games in the next 7 seasons... To say we saw the very best of him for a prolonged period is laughable.

And the way people are carrying on, it's like I'm suggesting Tony was not great ... Heaven forbid (when you lack team success, I suppose you must defend individual success)
I'm not

I'm suggesting we never had the leadership or support to deal with a superstar... And treated him like 'the goose that lays the golden egg' rather than the teams FF.

I didn't rate Ken Sheldon
And the fact that David Parkin was available at the time irks me. I spoke to Parko about this years ago when he was my Lecturer and he said he'd love to have had Lockett, Loewe, Harvey, Winmar, Burke and Co in his team. He loved Harvey in particular and said he was basically unstoppable.

[Darth Vader]

So he was a hard trainer?
Lockett himself mocks his training standards, so do others of the time like Russell Morris.

Lockett like many, had asthma... Lockett, homesick? He lived an hour and a half away... FFS

He was one of the greatest ever.., could've been even better with application ... I think everyone, including Tony thinks that.

After his Brownlow at 21 he missed more than 60 games in the next 7 seasons... To say we saw the very best of him for a prolonged period is laughable.

And the way people are carrying on, it's like I'm suggesting Tony was not great ... Heaven forbid (when you lack team success, I suppose you must defend individual success)
I'm not

I'm suggesting we never had the leadership or support to deal with a superstar... And treated him like 'the goose that lays the golden egg' rather than the teams FF.

I didn't rate Ken Sheldon
And the fact that David Parkin was available at the time irks me. I spoke to Parko about this years ago when he was my Lecturer and he said he'd love to have had Lockett, Loewe, Harvey, Winmar, Burke and Co in his team. He loved Harvey in particular and said he was basically unstoppable.

If I recall correctly, rumour at the time was that Parko helped Kenny put together his presentation pack that he used in applying for the job, and that this presentation is what got him over the line when they were also talking to Mick Malthouse. Not consistent with what Ken said last night so might not be true, but was definitely the story floating around.

[BigMart]

MM was already appointed late 88 as WCE senior coach

[magnifisaint]

Too many know it alls. The fact is Sheldon got us into our first final in about 20 yrs. Unfortunately the club hasn't won a 2nd premiership because we didn't have the money and needed an ounce more luck. That seems the common theme. Have a look at how many premierships Carlton bought. Lockett was legendary any way you cut it. So he didn't train as hard as others maybe aerobically, but he didn't need to.

[spert]

Ken is a good bloke. For all the great play of Plugger, we did't get a flag, and the comparison to Hawthorn is valid- they built winning teams while we seemed more more interested in pandering to personalities and quick fixes for years.

Ge whiz - you don't reckon Derm in the 80's was given some special treatment by the coach. Allowed to do a few extras. Wear pink boots, carry on like a lair, do all sorts of media. As long as he got a kick and played his role I'm sure Jeansy didn't mind too much. Dippa the same. ALL coaches are the same - and the ones who carry this BS strict rigid philosophy don't survive - ie Alan Joyce.

The difference being that the Hawks also built strong teams which included the Dermies of the football world and the competitive mindset that ensured Derm and co produced the goods when required- he and Dipper and co were fit strong top footballers above all else. We had Plugger, a bunch of less than fit party boys and endless controversy off field. Thanks goodness the club got behind Kenny for a while and we got into finals, but I think he, like Stan and Watters were always fighting the tail wagging the dog syndrome that has plagued us for decades.

[Bunk_Moreland]

The king of hindsight strikes again in this thread.

Fair Dinkum

[degruch]

Lockett, homesick? He lived an hour and a half away... FFS.

Obviously the move to Sydney fixed up his homesickness!

Ken was great, the most disappointed I've been in the club with his departure, and it set us back a few years.

[saintsRrising]

. Lockett, homesick? He lived an hour and a half away... FFS

.

Err and why did he live an hour and half away? Because he was homesick and so rather than live near Moorabinn he insisted on living at home as a young player. Oh sorry I should FFS! Penny drop now perhaps?

Later in his career at the Saints when a bit older he moved to acreage at Cranbourne for a grehounds training base, a move that the Club was happy about as he was closer to Moorabbin.


Lockett was a different cat. Of that there is no doubt.


Oh and at that time I used to play squash and watch training at the club. Did you actually watch Plugga train? I did.

[saynta]

Perhaps.

Or perhaps he would've walked away.

I would assume the latter.
Nevertheless, it was this type of thing which helped foster the bad culture that riddled our club for about thirty years.

That said, I liked Ken Sheldon in his time at St.Kilda. He was a handy veteran to have on the field. It was quite courageous of him to put his hand up for the coaching gig after Doc. He took us to the finals for the first time in almost two decades. I'll always be thankful for his contribution to St.Kilda FC. Probably the best thing for us to come out of Carlton.

The bad culture thing is a myth, perpetuated by scum journos.

Kenny was brilliant. The irony is Plugger was hounded out of Melbourne by pricks like Sheahan.

I met Tony on several occasions , even sat next to him at dinner.

A nicer more polite young man you are never likely to encounter

[saynta]

There does not appear to be very much quoting of what Ken had to say.

There is no mention of the part played by Peter Hudson.

In regards the comments on here re Lockett my response is "What a load of absolute garbage!".

Ken and Peter put together a pretty reasonable side which, with a little luck could have gone much further particularly in the season where Geelong beat us in a Final at Waverley.

Yes there was undue attention on Tony, a, if not the, "Super Star" of the competition thru the media, with supporters and by the Administration particularly when his Contract was up for negotiation and other Clubs became involved but for someone to suggest that Tony saw himself as the "king" is an absolute nonsense - Tony detested the attention he received hence the greyhounds and I would suggest that this dislike of attention is why he does not live off his VFL/AFL persona today, which he could very, very easily do for very great reward.

He played with a condition and with injury.

And he did not appreciate the attention given to him by certain opponents. When you saw the lacerations and marks left on him you could understand the retaliation including particularly a match v Essendon when Loewe came to the rescue of an Essendon player who was in serious trouble.

In regards days past, it was a pleasure to bump into and speak with Molly after the game last weekend (after some 20 years or more!) and I trust we deliver the win over Fremantle he craves.

The social side of St Kilda was what it was back in those days (and bumping into Molly reminded me!) but that was almost exclusively among certain of the inner sanctum of supporters who could celebrate a win such as any win at Moorabbin, the first win at Princes Park in 200 years and a win at Victoria Park - not the players who would socialise after the games generally leaving when the Gold Pass Room opened their doors to the public.

And Moorabbin was no different to Princes Park, Victoria Park or elsewhere.

Great post t t t

[Trev from the Bush]

Thought Kenny was excellent, terrific sensitive interviewing from Mike.

Jonesy, get back to the Essendope thread where your fabulous insights will be more greatly appreciated.

Thanks for that Trev . You didn't rate Lockett then?

Jonesy, please accept my humblest apology! I read your comment straight after reading more tripe opiion about Plugger and immediately reacted in the negative.

Rate him? The greatest. A couple of minutes of highlights on Open Mike was a timely reminder that he wasn't all lead / mark / kick goal. Always looked better in a Saints jumper even though no less a player or the Swans.

But the thread is about Kenny Sheldon. Our appalling record of sacking coaches, or coaches walking, got a mention. I admire Kenny so much ecause at no stage dd he fall into the trap of bagging the club.

If coaches are judged by finals success then our best coaches have been:

1. Jeans - the only Premiership, 3 Grand Finals
2. Lyon - 2 Grand Finals (replays don't count)
3. Alves - 1 Grand Final, 1 Night Premiership
4. Thomas - 2 Preliminary Finals, 1 Night Premiership
5. Sheldon - Finals in 1991, 1992 from only 4 seasons.

Don't know who was coach in 1913.