Tony Lockett is taking up a new role, that of part-time footy coach with the Sydney Swans. He will work with the forwards and pass along some tips to improve their goal kicking.
Lockett kicked the last of his 1360 career VFL/AFL goals for the Swans in 2002. He played only three games in his final season, but as recently as 1998, he put up 109 in going over 100 for the sixth time in his 18-year career. His all-time high came in 1992, when he booted 132 for the St. Kilda Saints, which came on the heels of 1991, when he had 127. His exploits place him well up the all-time list for accuracy, at 69.74 percent and none of the players above him in terms of percentage is within distant shouting distance of his total.
Lockett is taking on his first role in the game since retiring.
It is anticipated that Lockett’s contribution toward kicking through the sticks will benefit the rising Swan’s forwards, but stars Buddy Franklin and Kirk Tippett would be guilty of egregious deafness if they were to tune out Lockett completely.
The decision to give a consultant’s role to Lockett is a true no-brainer; something akin to enlisting the services of Albert Einstein to help scientists better understand the Theory of Relativity.
