Let's talk about Jason Heatley

[saynta]

He was left on the bench too long in the second half of the 1997 Grand Final. Should have had more ground time.

Here's where my footy knowledge is exposed.

Keogh looked like a 'goer' to me.
Obviously, in relative terms, he must have been limited. He did play 100 games in the reserves, mostly at Melbourne, when Melbourne were having a purple patch before sliding again, just as they offloaded him. I didn't watch a lot of footy then, but I got the impression he was a 'hard nut'.

And a bloody good footballer to boot.

[spert]

Heatley was an a good forward whose kicking for goal was incredibly accurate. I remember his defensive game being pretty ordinary, and used to get pushed off the ball in contests pretty easily. Probably could have played more games for us.

[saynta]

Jason kicked 73 goals in his first season with the Saints and according to Winmar was a major help in the saints finishing on top of the ladder in 1997.

[B.M]

Liked to hit the piss and have a punt

Probably the reason for his short AFL career

[older saint]

Met Heatley at a mutual friends party a few years ago now. Cracking bloke happy to talk about footy and time at the saints. Best kick for goal I have seen.
Was a real barometer for the team in 1997 and I can't recall a game where he got taken off and we won.
I think may have been Alves whipping boy sometimes but he only spoke glowingly of Stan.

Actually offered to help with goal kicking at Stkilda in the Richo era but got a thanks but no thanks response.

Coaching Heidelberg North (I believe ) and was quite successful. Liked a beer and not sure Watson was a fan

[saynta]

Met Heatley at a mutual friends party a few years ago now. Cracking bloke happy to talk about footy and time at the saints. Best kick for goal I have seen.
Was a real barometer for the team in 1997 and I can't recall a game where he got taken off and we won.
I think may have been Alves whipping boy sometimes but he only spoke glowingly of Stan.

Actually offered to help with goal kicking at Stkilda in the Richo era but got a thanks but no thanks response.

Coaching Heidelberg North (I believe ) and was quite successful. Liked a beer and not sure Watson was a fan

According to Cuz in his book, Alves really paid out on David Grant one year and it was the reason grant took off to the Dees the next year and also one of the reasons Alves lost the players

[older saint]

Met Heatley at a mutual friends party a few years ago now. Cracking bloke happy to talk about footy and time at the saints. Best kick for goal I have seen.
Was a real barometer for the team in 1997 and I can't recall a game where he got taken off and we won.
I think may have been Alves whipping boy sometimes but he only spoke glowingly of Stan.

Actually offered to help with goal kicking at Stkilda in the Richo era but got a thanks but no thanks response.

Coaching Heidelberg North (I believe ) and was quite successful. Liked a beer and not sure Watson was a fan

According to Cuz in his book, Alves really paid out on David Grant one year and it was the reason grant took off to the Dees the next year and also one of the reasons Alves lost the players

Interesting.
Also heard at the time (not from Heatley) a shove in the chest of a fringe player caused him to stumble back on a step and break his ankle. That didn't help either

[shanegrambeau]

Shane Grambeau’s brilliant morning poem

When the blood is a boiling,
The thoughts are a whirling’
And possibilities are curling
Their way out of town

From the safety of the streets
To the great wild open
No thinking or hopin
Of consequences that might be


Brilliant


I’m sure Stan regretted that he poked that guy (not to mention that he ended up with a broken ankle)
That he howled down Grant (I always wondered why he left and faded away)

And Heaters himself, seems so affable…
But as a coach, he also got abusive with an ump and was suspended
Forced to stay in his car

I think he can forgive Stan
If he ‘lost it’ in a moment

It’s a fine line between pleasure and pain
A drink to ease the tension, to loosen the reigns (oh is this a poem again, no)
Might be a one way ticket too.

[saynta]

Met Heatley at a mutual friends party a few years ago now. Cracking bloke happy to talk about footy and time at the saints. Best kick for goal I have seen.
Was a real barometer for the team in 1997 and I can't recall a game where he got taken off and we won.
I think may have been Alves whipping boy sometimes but he only spoke glowingly of Stan.

Actually offered to help with goal kicking at Stkilda in the Richo era but got a thanks but no thanks response.

Coaching Heidelberg North (I believe ) and was quite successful. Liked a beer and not sure Watson was a fan

According to Cuz in his book, Alves really paid out on David Grant one year and it was the reason grant took off to the Dees the next year and also one of the reasons Alves lost the players

Interesting.
Also heard at the time (not from Heatley) a shove in the chest of a fringe player caused him to stumble back on a step and break his ankle. That didn't help either

That is true.

[skeptic]

In his book, Alves talks about how the end of season couldn’t come soon enough in 1998 and how he felt they all really needed a break for a few months.

My recollection of 98 is that we were far away the best side in the first half of the year and had quite a miserable capitulation in the second half of the season.

Seems like the wheels were falling off badly.

Obviously Alves lost the players there and it must have been quite a big deal because we sacked a coach that took a lowly list to 2nd and 6th.

I always thought they should have tried to work through whatever was going on. Alves suggested that the management at the time disliked and wanted him gone from the get go but I wonder if the club’s subsequent implosion was a sign that the players needed to be reigned in

[SaintPav]

Met Heatley at a mutual friends party a few years ago now. Cracking bloke happy to talk about footy and time at the saints. Best kick for goal I have seen.
Was a real barometer for the team in 1997 and I can't recall a game where he got taken off and we won.
I think may have been Alves whipping boy sometimes but he only spoke glowingly of Stan.

Actually offered to help with goal kicking at Stkilda in the Richo era but got a thanks but no thanks response.

Coaching Heidelberg North (I believe ) and was quite successful. Liked a beer and not sure Watson was a fan

According to Cuz in his book, Alves really paid out on David Grant one year and it was the reason grant took off to the Dees the next year and also one of the reasons Alves lost the players

Interesting.
Also heard at the time (not from Heatley) a shove in the chest of a fringe player caused him to stumble back on a step and break his ankle. That didn't help either

That is true.

Wasn’t that Joe McLaren?

[older saint]

Met Heatley at a mutual friends party a few years ago now. Cracking bloke happy to talk about footy and time at the saints. Best kick for goal I have seen.
Was a real barometer for the team in 1997 and I can't recall a game where he got taken off and we won.
I think may have been Alves whipping boy sometimes but he only spoke glowingly of Stan.

Actually offered to help with goal kicking at Stkilda in the Richo era but got a thanks but no thanks response.

Coaching Heidelberg North (I believe ) and was quite successful. Liked a beer and not sure Watson was a fan

According to Cuz in his book, Alves really paid out on David Grant one year and it was the reason grant took off to the Dees the next year and also one of the reasons Alves lost the players

Interesting.
Also heard at the time (not from Heatley) a shove in the chest of a fringe player caused him to stumble back on a step and break his ankle. That didn't help either

That is true.

Wasn’t that Joe McLaren?

l believe so

[Sainternist]

He was terrific in 1997 and 98. Went downhill after Tim Watson was appointed coach. Coincidence?