Ken Sheldon reminisces

[saintbrat]

JYB with Ken Sheldon

[Enrico_Misso]

Thanks Bratty.
Kenny was a great coach and might have got us a flag if we had got past Geelong in that ridiculous top 4 elimination final.

Shame they didn't get him to open up more on the off field distractions in the first half of his last season.

[BigMart]

Hard to judge Ken as a coach

Had a lot of stars in their prime and never made a prelim...

[gringo]

Hard to judge Ken as a coach

Had a lot of stars in their prime and never made a prelim...

As a little kid following the Saints we were always a laughing stock, I will always love Sheldon for turning us into something other than a joke to other supporters. It was his era that ignited my passion for my club. I didn't think finals were something I would see at that point. The sense of hope that he, Plugger, Harvey, Frawley etc sparked was amazing. I was absolutely devastated when he went. Before sheldon I'm not sure I'd seen us outside the bottom 4 positions on the ladder.

[BigMart]

lockett, loewe, winmar, frawley, burke, harvey

then

grant, rice, fletcher, morris, pekin, mccadam

then

bowey, grieg, shanahan, davenport, kickett


hard not to make the finals really....

[BackFromUSA]

we have had more talented line ups that have done less ... late 70s as an example

[gringo]

lockett, loewe, winmar, frawley, burke, harvey

then

grant, rice, fletcher, morris, pekin, mccadam

then

bowey, grieg, shanahan, davenport, kickett


hard not to make the finals really....

I was too young at the time to know what he inherited and what he built but I think he said he was the second longest serving coach after Jeans when he left at 4 years. It hasn't been a full cupboard down at the Saints but he managed to take a basket case club financially and on the playing field and turn them into something to have pride in. Before Sheldon following us was more an act of stubborn fortitude than an expectation of success. I grew up in the 1980s getting laughed at for following the Saints. We weren't even anybodies second team then we were a joke. We got the plucky battlers thing going at that time and won over opposition fans. We were actually getting people gush over our players rather than getting some alcoholic rejects finishing their career at the disco.