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6621104 wrote:Saynta hit it in one, if plugger played today with the rules as they are he would easily kick 150! Much as everyone here, and it is easy to say and harder to back up, except for plugger , whose stats and career speak ! He is the best I have ever seen, and the only full forward ever to win the Brownlow, and in a struggling team. Comparison to any of the other greats is laughable, given he was always double and triple teamed- not just tagged mind you, but with guys hanging off him like kids on a Hills Hoist.
He would actually get no where near 150 and unless he changed his shape he wouldn't even play AFL footy unfortunately. He was the best I have ever seen but back then. I don't want to think how he would struggle now. Just upsets me.
plugger66 wrote:And if Plugger played today he would be a FF in the VFL at best unless he played completely different. Times and footy have changed so much.
Bollocks Plugger, wash your mouth out. He would thrive on pure football ability and would kick over 150. And he's 49 years old!
The only thing he'd have to temper is his aggression, otherwise he'd never play two weeks in a row.
Sometimes plugger you say some silly things- just look at Tom Hawkins performance last week, he kept Geelong in the game despite limited opportunities but clearly showed what a dominant and strong forward can do- AND HE IS NO LOCKETT
the invisible and the non existent look very much alike
6621104 wrote:Sometimes plugger you say some silly things- just look at Tom Hawkins performance last week, he kept Geelong in the game despite limited opportunities but clearly showed what a dominant and strong forward can do- AND HE IS NO LOCKETT
Correct. How many goals has he got in a year or any year? And he still runs about triple the amount Plugger did. I really wonder about peoples knowledge of the AFL.
heard on radio this evening that even 2 days prior to last night Spud had was convincing Tony to allow/ organise/ invite his family-
was prepared to be in and out and off on his Bike asap/
Lockett would be a superstar in any era.
You can build your gameplan around him rather than mould him into some generic gameplan.
Best footballer I ever saw.
No doubt in those years when he was in his prime if he had just had a clear run with injuries and suspensions he would have smashed the 150 barrier and threatened 200.
There's only one Tony Lockett and that's the superstar who kicked 898 goals for StKilda as opposed to the Lockett the filthy AFL connived to head north to prop up their bastard love-child parasites.
The rest of Australia can wander mask-free, socialise, eat out, no curfews, no zoning, no police rings of steel, no illogical inconsistent rules.
They can even WATCH LIVE FOOTY!
Enrico_Misso wrote:Lockett would be a superstar in any era.
You can build your gameplan around him rather than mould him into some generic gameplan.
Best footballer I ever saw.
No doubt in those years when he was in his prime if he had just had a clear run with injuries and suspensions he would have smashed the 150 barrier and threatened 200.
There's only one Tony Lockett and that's the superstar who kicked 898 goals for StKilda as opposed to the Lockett the filthy AFL connived to head north to prop up their bastard love-child parasites.
You really are childish with your posts but expected from you. Plugger was going to the pies if the board wanted him. He was always leaving us. And unfortunately he wouldn't be a champion in this era unless he completely changed his game. Its sad but speak to any current player and they will say that. because he was a champion he may have been able to change how he played but his body would have been against him. I would rather remember how great he was.
Enrico_Misso wrote:Lockett would be a superstar in any era.
You can build your gameplan around him rather than mould him into some generic gameplan.
Best footballer I ever saw.
No doubt in those years when he was in his prime if he had just had a clear run with injuries and suspensions he would have smashed the 150 barrier and threatened 200.
There's only one Tony Lockett and that's the superstar who kicked 898 goals for StKilda as opposed to the Lockett the filthy AFL connived to head north to prop up their bastard love-child parasites.
You really are childish with your posts but expected from you. Plugger was going to the pies if the board wanted him. He was always leaving us. And unfortunately he wouldn't be a champion in this era unless he completely changed his game. Its sad but speak to any current player and they will say that. because he was a champion he may have been able to change how he played but his body would have been against him. I would rather remember how great he was.
Plugger (the real one) is a smart man. In the current era if he played, he would've lost plenty of weight and been more athletic. He was brilliant over the first 20 metres and still would've raked in plenty of contested marks.
i am Melbourne Skies - sometimes Blue Skies, Grey Skies, even Partly Cloudy Skies.
Tony Lockett is one of the three most skilful players I have seen play the game (the other two being Bobby Skilton and Ian Stewart). But he was lazy, fat and undisciplined for much of his career. Imagine how many goals he would have kicked if he had the work ethic of (say) Nick. But, we are what we are, and for him, it meant stuff everyone else and the club. He chose to leave the Saints for money - nothing new these days. But some players in some clubs stick - think Geelong (except Ablett), Hawthorn and Sydney.
The whole saga with Lockett leaving the club made me sick. The BS about him wanting to stay and being 99% certain of staying was pathetic to say the least. We all knew he was going. At the end of the day, whilst it might have been his manager's words, it was his decision to play it that way. Both the Saints, and him, finished up without a flag in that era. Perhaps flags meant nothing to him. He has escaped any real scrutiny about his conduct at that time or his view on winning a flag. The impression is that he was more concerned about one of his dogs winning a race at Sandown (or wherever).
The sheer number of goals he kicked make him a legend of the game. But he could have been so much more - and with us.
What made Lockett virtually unstoppable? Power, strength, burst speed, great hands and an unerringly accurate right foot. So accurate it would prove ironic that Lockett’s most important kick – the long range shot after the siren that put Sydney into the 1996 grand final – was a point.
Lockett’s sheer size and talent defied the increasing professionalism of the game. Something noted by the St Kilda dietitian who pulled up beside a sheepish Plugger in the car park and, despite his frantic attempts at concealment, noticed he had been through the McDonalds drive-through on his way to training.
The not-so secret ingredient that enhanced Lockett’s abundant talent was his sense of menace – softened only by one customary act of grace toward unfortunate full-backs.
Lockett would give opponents who held him or unfairly impeded his run at the ball one warning about what would happen if they persisted. Most complied. A few, such as Essendon’s Brad Fox, took their chances. The choker-hold that caused Fox to briefly black out would not have been out of place in the professional wrestling ring.
Even at his heaviest Plugger would have been quicker than Tippett or Charlie Dixon or any number of today's forwards.
His sublime kicking skills especially his short passes ( possibly not many used in his career lol) were unreal,too. Remember Paul Kelly being amazed at Plugger's first training nite with Sydney. He couldn't believe the exquisite passing in drills. Right foot, left foot...
stevie wrote:Even at his heaviest Plugger would have been quicker than Tippett or Charlie Dixon or any number of today's forwards.
His sublime kicking skills especially his short passes ( possibly not many used in his career lol) were unreal,too. Remember Paul Kelly being amazed at Plugger's first training nite with Sydney. He couldn't believe the exquisite passing in drills. Right foot, left foot...
He certainly would but he is also much shorter and wouldn't chase. That's the problem with today. There is no room for forwards which makes it hard to kick goals especially on the lead but secondly they also have to chase down to at least the wing which then means they aren't a stay at home forward. There were some fairly ordinary forwards who got 100 goals or at least very close back in the 80's and there are some very good forwards these days who don't get close to 100 goals. Unfortunately times have changed for forwards and it hasn't helped them at all.
And his skills were as good as Gary Ablett who was a smaller player. For his size he had the best skills I have seen.
I reckon Plugger would do very well, he could bust packs and that would be handy in any era, he was quick off the start with a beautiful kick and mark. Simply kick the ball in his direction and have a Milne type to mop up or chase if needed.Players were scared to fill the hole in front of him. But we will never know unless another player like him comes along and I wouldn't hold my breath.We were lucky to see a player like that.
He may find himself suspended more often but he did settle down near the end.
Plugger with the set programs, diet etc. of today's game would probably look huge like Shane Mumford if he ran around today. Mind you, he'd spend his career suspended because he'd KO all of the defenders zoning off in front of him every week.
But then again, if you put him 20m out in front of goal and tell him not to run and zone up the ground would the opposition coach have the balls to leave him on his own? I'm thinking not.
jonesy wrote:If he played today heaven forbid a player might have to kick to a 50/50 contest inside 50,imagine that!
Wouldn't it be great to watch a side back there power forward in again in 50/50 situations,instead of chipping it sideways. Footy is the poorer
Haha yeah.. Genuine one on one are few and far between and usually end up a free kick these days because defenders completely freak out and umpires just don't see much of them.
perfectionist wrote:Tony Lockett is one of the three most skilful players I have seen play the game (the other two being Bobby Skilton and Ian Stewart). But he was lazy, fat and undisciplined for much of his career. Imagine how many goals he would have kicked if he had the work ethic of (say) Nick. But, we are what we are, and for him, it meant stuff everyone else and the club. He chose to leave the Saints for money - nothing new these days. But some players in some clubs stick - think Geelong (except Ablett), Hawthorn and Sydney.
The whole saga with Lockett leaving the club made me sick. The BS about him wanting to stay and being 99% certain of staying was pathetic to say the least. We all knew he was going. At the end of the day, whilst it might have been his manager's words, it was his decision to play it that way. Both the Saints, and him, finished up without a flag in that era. Perhaps flags meant nothing to him. He has escaped any real scrutiny about his conduct at that time or his view on winning a flag. The impression is that he was more concerned about one of his dogs winning a race at Sandown (or wherever).
The sheer number of goals he kicked make him a legend of the game. But he could have been so much more - and with us.
Are you sure you aren't getting Plugger and Rupie Murdoch confused? Surely you can't despise our greatest ever player so much??
i am Melbourne Skies - sometimes Blue Skies, Grey Skies, even Partly Cloudy Skies.
I never saw a player influence more games singlehandedly than Plugger. People who were too young to have seen him live really missed out because it's too hard to describe in words.
In the 1989 game against Carlton (and I agree with some others that it was the best game I saw live) he kicked 10 goals out of 13 on Steven Silvagni. He also kicked about 7 behinds that day as well. Say what you like about SOS but he was one of the better full backs of his time. He was helpless, even though he knew we'd look for him every time we went forward.
In the Peter Caven game (v Swans 1994) we got smashed in every position on the ground except one. That day he kicked our first seven goals. We came back from 51 points down. We were still 17 points down with 2 mintues playing time remaining. The Swans had a spare man in defence standing directly in front of the great man. We kicked 3 goals in the last two minutes to win that game - all kicked by Lockett.
Another great game for me was our last game in 1992. We had to beat Melbourne to have any chance of making the finals (we had a bye in the last round). Down 5 goals to 4 at three quarter time in ordinary conditions we kicked 4 goals in the last to win the game - all courtesy of Lockett.
This guy is every bit a legend. Without doubt the best Saint I've ever seen. And, although I was gutted when he left, I watched every Swans game on TV from that point on just to see him play.
I remember watching Plugger giving token chases through the centre after his opponent, was hilarious! The crowd used to erupt with laughter! No one would sheppard for their team mate though!
Plugger would dominate in any era..he simply would be training different, be full time at the club every day and have the sports science etc to work in today's football.
His weight would be 10 kg less in today's game.
Imagine him playing at Etihad- perfect condition, no Mud, no wind & the ball breaking so fast with him patrolling in the 50 meters.
He was agile, could burst out on the lead & only needed 8 to 10 chances to score 5 to 6 goals.
Whats frustrating from 1988 to 1994 he missed 50% of his games almost when he was averaging 7 goals a game.
Extraordinary what he would have done in that time with a little more luck, discipline & preparation.
Thankfully the week was saved by the naming of Tony Lockett as the latest football legend. Like the great Giotto several centuries before him, the Sphinx-like Lockett's historic career was only enhanced by the dignified silence that followed.
