John Bonney RIP

[kosifantutti]

https://www.saints.com.au/news/1063776/ ... toed-saint

[saynta]

Another saint in heaven, Rest in peace mate. A really talented footballer.

[shanegrambeau]

RIP

Another Tassie man

The name ‘rings a bell’ only as he didn’t play much in the 70s.

Sounds like natural super-talent. Broke his right leg so badly as a teen just played as a one sided left footer!! And was still good enough!!

Juggled his ok man’s trucking business back in Tassie with footy here, which meant taking entire seasons off. And was still good enough.

Last season in ‘76, a very strange season for a St Kilda a fan to comprehend!

[magnifisaint]

No 1
RIP

[asiu]

Vale That Man

[mr six o'clock]

Sad day
Not that old
Knew him though work
Whenever I'd see him we'd talk about the saints or whatever he could get me at a discount rate
Always made me laugh especially telling stories of the off field stuff that used to happen .
Condolences to his family
RIP

[Wayne42]

RIP John Bonney.

A great player from when i was a kid.

[bigcarl]

Very good player. No.1

[saynta]

Very good player. No.1

Saw him towel Ian Stewart up whilst playing in the centre for Tasmania against Victoria.

And that was at a time Stewie was in his prime.

That's how good he was. Think we had his son on the list at one stage.

[bigcarl]

Very good player. No.1

Saw him towel Ian Stewart up whilst playing in the centre for Tasmania against Victoria.

And that was at a time Stewie was in his prime.

That's how good he was. Think we had his son on the list at one stage.

You've probably got a few years on me Saynta. I just have vague memories that he was a gun and of him dominating on the outer wing at Moorabbin.

[Trev from the Bush]

A very, very good Saint from the time he pulled on our jumper. We've covered how the losses of the likes of top-line players like John McIntosh and Barry Pascoe diminished our chances of winning another premiership in the Jeans era, you can add John Bonney's stop-start career to our list of what ifs.

He was lightning quick and skilful over the ground, could jump, mark, kick and handball with the best of them. And tough as bricks. Does anybody remember him running through Geelong's "Bluey" Hampshire at Moorabbin? His only downside were the games he missed through years away from St Kilda.

Another great Saint gone. R.I.P. John Bonney.

[B.M]

From my neck of the woods, in NW Tassie

He was a great footballer, who had a shorter career at
VFL level than he should’ve due to various reasons, injury mostly.
Easily good enough to play at the highest level

Dominant in The NWFU for Cooee who were a powerhouse

RIP

[damienc]

https://www.saints.com.au/news/1063776/ ... toed-saint

One of the very best to wear the red, white and black.

[George27]

I endorse all the positive comments about John. Terrific player. Also for a time during one of his stints with the Saints he ran a milk bar in Were St , Brighton Always had time for a chat about the footy. A real gentleman. Vale .

[silverhalo]

I endorse all the positive comments about John. Terrific player. Also for a time during one of his stints with the Saints he ran a milk bar in Were St , Brighton Always had time for a chat about the footy. A real gentleman. Vale .

Was that milk bar in the group of shops where Brighton Grocer is?

[samuraisaint]

From my neck of the woods, in NW Tassie

He was a great footballer, who had a shorter career at
VFL level than he should’ve due to various reasons, injury mostly.
Easily good enough to play at the highest level

Dominant in The NWFU for Cooee who were a powerhouse

RIP

I remember Cooee being one of the better sides in Tasmania in the late 1980s. I went to Tasmania twice - in 1983 with school and then in 1986, and stayed in Burnie actually.

[samuraisaint]

I endorse all the positive comments about John. Terrific player. Also for a time during one of his stints with the Saints he ran a milk bar in Were St , Brighton Always had time for a chat about the footy. A real gentleman. Vale .

Was that milk bar in the group of shops where Brighton Grocer is?

Are you thinking of Oxley's?

[George27]

I endorse all the positive comments about John. Terrific player. Also for a time during one of his stints with the Saints he ran a milk bar in Were St , Brighton Always had time for a chat about the footy. A real gentleman. Vale .

Was that milk bar in the group of shops where Brighton Grocer is?

Looking at Google maps and reaching back into my memory ( I have not lived in that area for decades) it was on the corner of Whyte St . The other side of Were St from the supermarket , and a couple of blocks closer to the beach than the row of 5 or 6 shops that seem to still be there today .

[perfectionist]

Kicked 3 goals in the '71 GF, I think two in the last quarter. At three quarter time, we were 20 points in front but managed to lose by 7 pts. But, with a couple of minutes to go in the third, things could have been much different. We were on a roll, and Barry Breen (who also kicked 3 goals) had a shot on the run from thirty out directly in front. It looked like it was going straight through but wobbled in the air and just clipped the post. From the kick in, with almost no players in the Hawthorn forward line, Leon Rice fluked a rolling goal from the boundary. What might have been a 31 point lead became 20.

At three quarter time, the ledger read:
St Kilda - 1 Premiership
Hawthorn - 1 Premiership
St Kilda 20 points in front.

Today, the only part of the ledger that has changed is that Hawthorn now has 13 Premierships.

[saynta]

Kicked 3 goals in the '71 GF, I think two in the last quarter. At three quarter time, we were 20 points in front but managed to lose by 7 pts. But, with a couple of minutes to go in the third, things could have been much different. We were on a roll, and Barry Breen (who also kicked 3 goals) had a shot on the run from thirty out directly in front. It looked like it was going straight through but wobbled in the air and just clipped the post. From the kick in, with almost no players in the Hawthorn forward line, Leon Rice fluked a rolling goal from the boundary. What might have been a 31 point lead became 20.

At three quarter time, the ledger read:
St Kilda - 1 Premiership
Hawthorn - 1 Premiership
St Kilda 20 points in front.

Today, the only part of the ledger that has changed is that Hawthorn now has 13 Premierships.

[kosifantutti]

Kicked 3 goals in the '71 GF, I think two in the last quarter. At three quarter time, we were 20 points in front but managed to lose by 7 pts. But, with a couple of minutes to go in the third, things could have been much different. We were on a roll, and Barry Breen (who also kicked 3 goals) had a shot on the run from thirty out directly in front. It looked like it was going straight through but wobbled in the air and just clipped the post. From the kick in, with almost no players in the Hawthorn forward line, Leon Rice fluked a rolling goal from the boundary. What might have been a 31 point lead became 20.

At three quarter time, the ledger read:
St Kilda - 1 Premiership
Hawthorn - 1 Premiership
St Kilda 20 points in front.

Today, the only part of the ledger that has changed is that Hawthorn now has 13 Premierships.

So we’re still 20 points up?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[magnifisaint]

Kicked 3 goals in the '71 GF, I think two in the last quarter. At three quarter time, we were 20 points in front but managed to lose by 7 pts. But, with a couple of minutes to go in the third, things could have been much different. We were on a roll, and Barry Breen (who also kicked 3 goals) had a shot on the run from thirty out directly in front. It looked like it was going straight through but wobbled in the air and just clipped the post. From the kick in, with almost no players in the Hawthorn forward line, Leon Rice fluked a rolling goal from the boundary. What might have been a 31 point lead became 20.

At three quarter time, the ledger read:
St Kilda - 1 Premiership
Hawthorn - 1 Premiership
St Kilda 20 points in front.

Today, the only part of the ledger that has changed is that Hawthorn now has 13 Premierships.

Unbelievable!!

[DownAtTheJunction]

Broke his right leg so badly as a teen just played as a one sided left footer!! And was still good enough!!

I have very fond memories of John Bonney and especially his foot skills. Memory can play tricks but my recollection is that he was a beautiful kick on either side; in fact he was the best (both side of the body) kick that I can remember. This was the era of drop kicks and stab passes. His action was 'mirror image' and undetectable. It seemed he had no preference. By contrast Ian Stewart, who was the absolute master of a weighted stab kick, had a distinct preference for his left foot. He was also a skilled right foot kick, but it was not as sublime.
John Bonney - a genuine 'great' of the era.