Plugger - Sheer Joy

[jaxons]

Did any of you go to the game at the G early in 1987 when Plugger kicked 12 out of 14 and we lost to the Dees? Have never seen any footage of that game. It was the most goals kicked in a losing side until Ablett broke it with 14

The Doc said afterwards it was one of the greatest performances he had seen by any player ever.

54 minutes in this video.

[bigred]

At 18, he was monstering more mature opponents and was our first special player since Balldock.

He was 17! It didn't take the opposition long to put two on him... and it didn't take Plugger long to beat both of them.

I watched all of this video tonight instead of the match on tonight, so much better.

I started following the Saints in 1994, so a couple of questions for those of the 80s...

How good were Grant and Cunningham?

What was Docs influence in bringing in the gun youth, Loewe, Winmar, Burke?

Was Winmar a star from the start?

And what the hell was with the 25m line in Perth??


The debate on the GOAT is ridiculous. Plugger was beating gun defenders 2 on 1 and bagging 5 goals when he was 17... playing for Victoria at 19, MVP, Coleman medal, and the only full forward to win a Brownlow medal... all by 21. Cruelled in many ways after that, yet still went on the be the greatest goal scorer of all time.

David Grant was a good player. Though he wasn’t that tall, he was an excellent high mark. Played mostly as a half back, but I remember him being switched forward on occasion and kicking a bag.

I assume you are asking about Joffa Cunningham (his brother Daryl also played for us). Well Joffa was a Moorabbin cult hero, a favourite in some very poor 1980s teams. A real goer who used to get a lot of the ball. Kicking was a bit hit or miss.

Winmar was a star from his very first game. Lined up at half forward and it was apparent very early that he was a special player. His understanding with Lockett was something to behold.

David Grant was one of my favorite players back in the day. Very underrated and dependable. Excellent in the air and solid player all round really. He had a very good career.

Joffa was a goer. Indeed. Went hard and made no apologies. Heaps of mongrel. Greg Burns very similar. Both very good players but lacked a bit of pace and disposal could be hit and miss. I would like to say that these guys played for the guernsey through an era where we really had some terrible sides.

The Winmar/Locket symmetry was a real thing. Nicky was a very, very good kick to a lead, and would kick it to where he thought plugger should be. Plugger would generally be there. Nicky could do it from any distance though. They did have a very good understanding. I wonder if there is a stat somewhere of how many lockett goals came from Winmar passes.

Doc was what the club really needed at the time. Desperately. We had been shyte for so long and we had some decent young guys coming through. I think that this may have been the time when Carlton actually wanted to merge with us so they could pretty much absorb our list. Doc played guys early like Lockett, Burke, Harvey etc. The Carlton crew were at the club at the time, with Sheldon, McConville, Jones, Marcou, Kourkamelis etc and there was definitely a shift in onfield performance at the time. Sheldon took it to the next level but a lot of that was build on the foundation put in place by Doc. I was pretty young at the time. Some of the old boys on here might be able to shed more light on it.

[Munga]

The forward craft is what's missing these days, the kids don't know how and when and where to lead, and the rest don't know how to deliver the ball there.

Winx should watch this, and the mids learn where to kick it.

[bergsone]

Saw a lot of those games.Feel sorry for the people who didnt see games at moorabbin .Baldock,Ditterich,Barker and of course Plugger amongst others really lit the place up

[saynta]

Saw a lot of those games.Feel sorry for the people who didnt see games at moorabbin .Baldock,Ditterich,Barker and of course Plugger amongst others really lit the place up

Yeah, others include Burns and Robbie Muir. Those two were real footballing talent.

[st.byron]

My old man said many supporters would swap from one goal side of the ground to the other side every quarter at Linton Street so they could be as close to him as possible, such was the brilliance of Lockett. Reckons footy was so much more fun to watch then.

Yes indeed. I used to swap end to end to watch Plugger.

[Vazelos]

At 18, he was monstering more mature opponents and was our first special player since Balldock.

He was 17! It didn't take the opposition long to put two on him... and it didn't take Plugger long to beat both of them.

I watched all of this video tonight instead of the match on tonight, so much better.

I started following the Saints in 1994, so a couple of questions for those of the 80s...

How good were Grant and Cunningham?

What was Docs influence in bringing in the gun youth, Loewe, Winmar, Burke?

Was Winmar a star from the start?

And what the hell was with the 25m line in Perth??


The debate on the GOAT is ridiculous. Plugger was beating gun defenders 2 on 1 and bagging 5 goals when he was 17... playing for Victoria at 19, MVP, Coleman medal, and the only full forward to win a Brownlow medal... all by 21. Cruelled in many ways after that, yet still went on the be the greatest goal scorer of all time.

David Grant was a good player. Though he wasn’t that tall, he was an excellent high mark. Played mostly as a half back, but I remember him being switched forward on occasion and kicking a bag.

I assume you are asking about Joffa Cunningham (his brother Daryl also played for us). Well Joffa was a Moorabbin cult hero, a favourite in some very poor 1980s teams. A real goer who used to get a lot of the ball. Kicking was a bit hit or miss.

Winmar was a star from his very first game. Lined up at half forward and it was apparent very early that he was a special player. His understanding with Lockett was something to behold.

Agree on everything that has been said I would just tweak the comment on David Grant- he was a very good player.
In 1991 he made All Australian.

[Munga]

At 18, he was monstering more mature opponents and was our first special player since Balldock.

He was 17! It didn't take the opposition long to put two on him... and it didn't take Plugger long to beat both of them.

I watched all of this video tonight instead of the match on tonight, so much better.

I started following the Saints in 1994, so a couple of questions for those of the 80s...

How good were Grant and Cunningham?

What was Docs influence in bringing in the gun youth, Loewe, Winmar, Burke?

Was Winmar a star from the start?

And what the hell was with the 25m line in Perth??


The debate on the GOAT is ridiculous. Plugger was beating gun defenders 2 on 1 and bagging 5 goals when he was 17... playing for Victoria at 19, MVP, Coleman medal, and the only full forward to win a Brownlow medal... all by 21. Cruelled in many ways after that, yet still went on the be the greatest goal scorer of all time.

David Grant was a good player. Though he wasn’t that tall, he was an excellent high mark. Played mostly as a half back, but I remember him being switched forward on occasion and kicking a bag.

I assume you are asking about Joffa Cunningham (his brother Daryl also played for us). Well Joffa was a Moorabbin cult hero, a favourite in some very poor 1980s teams. A real goer who used to get a lot of the ball. Kicking was a bit hit or miss.

Winmar was a star from his very first game. Lined up at half forward and it was apparent very early that he was a special player. His understanding with Lockett was something to behold.

Agree on everything that has been said I would just tweak the comment on David Grant- he was a very good player.
In 1991 he made All Australian.

Yeah that makes sense. I asked because many of those early highlights Grant looked quite electric

[bigcarl]

At 18, he was monstering more mature opponents and was our first special player since Balldock.

He was 17! It didn't take the opposition long to put two on him... and it didn't take Plugger long to beat both of them.

I watched all of this video tonight instead of the match on tonight, so much better.

I started following the Saints in 1994, so a couple of questions for those of the 80s...

How good were Grant and Cunningham?

What was Docs influence in bringing in the gun youth, Loewe, Winmar, Burke?

Was Winmar a star from the start?

And what the hell was with the 25m line in Perth??


The debate on the GOAT is ridiculous. Plugger was beating gun defenders 2 on 1 and bagging 5 goals when he was 17... playing for Victoria at 19, MVP, Coleman medal, and the only full forward to win a Brownlow medal... all by 21. Cruelled in many ways after that, yet still went on the be the greatest goal scorer of all time.

David Grant was a good player. Though he wasn’t that tall, he was an excellent high mark. Played mostly as a half back, but I remember him being switched forward on occasion and kicking a bag.

I assume you are asking about Joffa Cunningham (his brother Daryl also played for us). Well Joffa was a Moorabbin cult hero, a favourite in some very poor 1980s teams. A real goer who used to get a lot of the ball. Kicking was a bit hit or miss.

Winmar was a star from his very first game. Lined up at half forward and it was apparent very early that he was a special player. His understanding with Lockett was something to behold.

Agree on everything that has been said I would just tweak the comment on David Grant- he was a very good player.
In 1991 he made All Australian.

Yes, you are right, and we didn't have too many of those at the time. It’s a long time ago, but I seem to remember him coming across from Tassie, I think, as a 16-year-old. Part of the junior development squad.

He was a terrific player. Perhaps I undersold him.

[saynta]

At 18, he was monstering more mature opponents and was our first special player since Balldock.

He was 17! It didn't take the opposition long to put two on him... and it didn't take Plugger long to beat both of them.

I watched all of this video tonight instead of the match on tonight, so much better.

I started following the Saints in 1994, so a couple of questions for those of the 80s...

How good were Grant and Cunningham?

What was Docs influence in bringing in the gun youth, Loewe, Winmar, Burke?

Was Winmar a star from the start?

And what the hell was with the 25m line in Perth??


The debate on the GOAT is ridiculous. Plugger was beating gun defenders 2 on 1 and bagging 5 goals when he was 17... playing for Victoria at 19, MVP, Coleman medal, and the only full forward to win a Brownlow medal... all by 21. Cruelled in many ways after that, yet still went on the be the greatest goal scorer of all time.

David Grant was a good player. Though he wasn’t that tall, he was an excellent high mark. Played mostly as a half back, but I remember him being switched forward on occasion and kicking a bag.

I assume you are asking about Joffa Cunningham (his brother Daryl also played for us). Well Joffa was a Moorabbin cult hero, a favourite in some very poor 1980s teams. A real goer who used to get a lot of the ball. Kicking was a bit hit or miss.

Winmar was a star from his very first game. Lined up at half forward and it was apparent very early that he was a special player. His understanding with Lockett was something to behold.

Agree on everything that has been said I would just tweak the comment on David Grant- he was a very good player.
In 1991 he made All Australian.

Yes, you are right, and we didn't have too many of those at the time. It’s a long time ago, but I seem to remember him coming across from Tassie, I think, as a 16-year-old. Part of the junior development squad.

He was a terrific player. Perhaps I undersold him.

Correct. He was drafted by the saints as a 15 year old from City South in Launceston. The shitty saints administration at the time tried to swap him to the Swine for Barry Mitchell. Both refused to budge and Grant eventually ended up at the Dees.

[Vazelos]

David Grant “ played tall” is the footy expression he marked better than his height normally allows great hands and leap he was an excellent footballer. He took that HB position for years and was solid and reliable and at times brilliant and exciting.
His best season was 1991 when he made All Australian and we made finals for the first time since 1973 & it was a missed opportunity we matched up well with Hawthorn and Eagles but not as well against Geelong .There was a stupid finals system that year where 3rd and 4 th played in an elimination final with Ablett senior carried on like a thug hitting Burke and Grant off the ball rendering them useless for rest of the game cost us a stronger run that year.
He was deeply hurt over those dealings with the Swans he stayed on but was never the same level as 1991 and ended up at the Demons.
Our defenders back then other than Frawley and Morris had a couple of good seasons and Russell Jeffries made Victoria one year were a bit of a lottery. Grant was definitely one of the stars of that backline back then.

[Vazelos]

At 18, he was monstering more mature opponents and was our first special player since Balldock.

He was 17! It didn't take the opposition long to put two on him... and it didn't take Plugger long to beat both of them.

I watched all of this video tonight instead of the match on tonight, so much better.

I started following the Saints in 1994, so a couple of questions for those of the 80s...

How good were Grant and Cunningham?

What was Docs influence in bringing in the gun youth, Loewe, Winmar, Burke?

Was Winmar a star from the start?

And what the hell was with the 25m line in Perth??


The debate on the GOAT is ridiculous. Plugger was beating gun defenders 2 on 1 and bagging 5 goals when he was 17... playing for Victoria at 19, MVP, Coleman medal, and the only full forward to win a Brownlow medal... all by 21. Cruelled in many ways after that, yet still went on the be the greatest goal scorer of all time.

David Grant was a good player. Though he wasn’t that tall, he was an excellent high mark. Played mostly as a half back, but I remember him being switched forward on occasion and kicking a bag.

I assume you are asking about Joffa Cunningham (his brother Daryl also played for us). Well Joffa was a Moorabbin cult hero, a favourite in some very poor 1980s teams. A real goer who used to get a lot of the ball. Kicking was a bit hit or miss.

Winmar was a star from his very first game. Lined up at half forward and it was apparent very early that he was a special player. His understanding with Lockett was something to behold.

David Grant was one of my favorite players back in the day. Very underrated and dependable. Excellent in the air and solid player all round really. He had a very good career.

Joffa was a goer. Indeed. Went hard and made no apologies. Heaps of mongrel. Greg Burns very similar. Both very good players but lacked a bit of pace and disposal could be hit and miss. I would like to say that these guys played for the guernsey through an era where we really had some terrible sides.

The Winmar/Locket symmetry was a real thing. Nicky was a very, very good kick to a lead, and would kick it to where he thought plugger should be. Plugger would generally be there. Nicky could do it from any distance though. They did have a very good understanding. I wonder if there is a stat somewhere of how many lockett goals came from Winmar passes.

Doc was what the club really needed at the time. Desperately. We had been shyte for so long and we had some decent young guys coming through. I think that this may have been the time when Carlton actually wanted to merge with us so they could pretty much absorb our list. Doc played guys early like Lockett, Burke, Harvey etc. The Carlton crew were at the club at the time, with Sheldon, McConville, Jones, Marcou, Kourkamelis etc and there was definitely a shift in onfield performance at the time. Sheldon took it to the next level but a lot of that was build on the foundation put in place by Doc. I was pretty young at the time. Some of the old boys on here might be able to shed more light on it.

Perfectly assessed “big red” you nailed pretty much every detail... bravo!!
Winmar was a star the day he came over I was pinching myself when I realised what had just fallen on our lap... a genius... he could do everything.... the complete player.....
How West Coast overlooked him is beyond me!!
His delivery to Lockett was exquisite from any range as you said....
He could hit Plugger on the run at full pace 40-50 m away and it was always laces up perfectly weighted for the great man to take it was uncanny and obscene when you think of the skill levels required.
Winmar had all the skills that we marvel in footy but the other stuff like tackling, chasing down opponents ( the defensive part of his game)& his field kicking was unbelievable...
Kicking to a lead is a real art form some players just know how to weight a ball to a leading forward....
This is a skill not talked about enough...
Dal Santo had that skill... so did Harvey...
Winmar had it as well they just knew how hard to kick the ball half the time it was their kick that enabled the forward to mark the ball by the perfect weighting of the pass....

[spert]

My old man said many supporters would swap from one goal side of the ground to the other side every quarter at Linton Street so they could be as close to him as possible, such was the brilliance of Lockett. Reckons footy was so much more fun to watch then.

Being an old fart myself I can remember that, and it was great to watch- even some opposition supporters changed ends. Moorabbin was a horrible place to watch footy in the middle of winter, cold pies and a few beers, but Plugger just drew people to the ground.

[Enrico_Misso]

We should have got organised in the 80s and set up a ground breaking program involving a bevvy of the blonde bimbos from the Saints Disco, Plugger, and a turkey baster.

By now we could have had a whole forward line of Pluggers.

[roskilde]

We should have got organised in the 80s and set up a ground breaking program involving a bevvy of the blonde bimbos from the Saints Disco, Plugger, and a turkey baster.

By now we could have had a whole forward line of Pluggers.

Saints Lebensborn.

[SaintPav]

I will always remember a goal he kicked against the filth at Moorabbin in 1987. It was the same game when he broke the point post.

Plugger gathered the ball 60 metres out and off one step kicked it through. The ball sailed over my head and I think the ball hit the old doughnut van parked in Linton St.

[oboe]

I was there at the MCG in 1987 when he kicked 12 out of 14, and we got flogged. In the last quarter Lockett did the ruck work in the forward pocket, tapped it down, and because our mids were getting beaten he crumbed his own tap work, and kicked an unbelievable goal. It was the first time he kicked double figures in a game, and definitely not his last.

[George27]

My old man said many supporters would swap from one goal side of the ground to the other side every quarter at Linton Street so they could be as close to him as possible, such was the brilliance of Lockett. Reckons footy was so much more fun to watch then.

Being an old fart myself I can remember that, and it was great to watch- even some opposition supporters changed ends. Moorabbin was a horrible place to watch footy in the middle of winter, cold pies and a few beers, but Plugger just drew people to the ground.

In his first year with Swans , they played Fitzroy on a Sunday afternoon at the Whitten Oval. A mate ( another Saints fan) and I went down to watch him, moving from end to end each quarter
.

By halfway through second quarter he had kicked 10 straight. He then got upset ( Tony ? Upset ? ) with an opponent , so Barassi dragged him to cool him down. He was off for 10 minutes , the momentum was lost, and he finished with “only” 16 straight. Should have been 17 - another shot was going through, and his teammate Stuart Maxfield marked it on the line ( prick).

What a joy it was to see Plugger play - especially the 183 games and 898 goals for us.