55 Facts About Tony Lockett

Anthony Howard Lockett was born on 9 March 1966 and is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League.

Tony Lockett became the first full-forward to be awarded the Brownlow Medal in 1987, won the Coleman Medal four times, and kicked more than 100 goals in a season on six occasions.

Tony Lockett arrived at St Kilda when the club was in the doldrums and became the man on whose shoulders the club's fortunes depended.

Tony Lockett's achievements are all the more remarkable given the significant chunks of time he missed through injury and suspension.

Tony Lockett was not afraid to use his size and strength to unsettle opponents, but his aggression resulted in him being frequently reported for striking and rough conduct.

Tony Lockett appeared before the AFL Tribunal 16 times over his career and was suspended for 23 matches.

Tony Lockett's passion for greyhound racing can be traced to his grandfather Charlie, who supplied pacemakers for the local greyhound racing club and was a club committeeman at North Ballarat.

Tony Lockett was educated at Ballarat Secondary College and Ballarat Grammar School, and began playing Australian football with the Under-12s team of his father's club, North Ballarat Football Club, in 1974.

Tony Lockett played a total of 120 junior games with the club.

Tony Lockett had played just five senior games as a 16-year-old in 1982 with North Ballarat before he was recruited by St Kilda, since Ballarat was part of the club's recruiting zone.

When Tony Lockett arrived at St Kilda in 1983, the club was going through a period of decline on and off the field; in his first four seasons at Moorabbin, the Saints would finish at the bottom of the ladder.

Tony Lockett made his senior VFL debut in Round 4 against Geelong at VFL Park.

Tony Lockett was supposed to be understudy to the enigmatic Mark Jackson, whom the Saints had brought in from Melbourne on a three-year contract.

Tony Lockett showed a glimpse of his explosive best in the third quarter when he kicked three goals in a four-minute spell, and beat a succession of opponents to be considered the Saints' best player.

Tony Lockett was now recognised as one of the VFL's star forwards, and teams were trying to find players who could physically match him.

In St Kilda's opening game of the 1986 VFL season against Footscray at Western Oval, Tony Lockett was reported by four umpires for striking Bulldogs captain Rick Kennedy during the third quarter.

Tony Lockett pleaded guilty to the charge, claiming he had been provoked, and was suspended for two matches.

Tony Lockett appointed Danny Frawley captain, having identified leadership qualities in the then 23-year-old full back, gave regular game time to newcomers Nathan Burke and Nicky Winmar, who would become club stalwarts for the following decade, and set about improving the general skill level of the playing group.

Under Baldock's guidance, Tony Lockett had a career-best season, tying for the Brownlow Medal with John Platten.

Tony Lockett limped off the ground gingerly and was sent to hospital for x-rays at half time.

Tony Lockett was initially diagnosed as having suffered a "badly bruised back".

Tony Lockett converted from the set shot, and thereafter, with a full-capacity crowd of over 25,000 spectators cheering them on, St Kilda went on a scoring rampage.

Tony Lockett added a further three goals for the quarter, and had nine to his name by half time.

Tony Lockett finished the game with 12 goals, and the percentage-boosting win lifted St Kilda to fifth on the ladder.

Tony Lockett backed up his spectacular return with ten goals the following week against Brisbane Bears and another haul of 12 goals against Sydney to take his overall tally to a remarkable 34 goals in three games.

However, no further action was taken and Tony Lockett was cleared to play.

Tony Lockett sat out the game, having been ill with influenza and warned by the club's medical staff that playing could trigger an asthma attack.

Tony Lockett was described by dual Brownlow medallist Robert Harvey as the best player he had ever seen.

Tony Lockett was subjected to abuse by Sydney supporters for the remainder of the game, but it appeared to have little effect on him.

Tony Lockett was not reported by any umpires for his hit on Caven, but subsequent review of the video footage by AFL officials on the Tuesday following the game resulted in Tony Lockett being charged not just for the incident with Caven, but for kneeing Daryn Cresswell in the head.

Tony Lockett added that he had only seen Caven a split second before impact, raising his elbow in self-defence.

Nonetheless, Tony Lockett was found guilty of striking and suspended for eight weeks.

Tony Lockett did not take long to rediscover form, kicking 28 goals in a four-game stretch before being ruled out of the final game of the season against Fitzroy with a back injury.

Tony Lockett ended the season with 56 goals, which was a slight improvement from his return the previous season.

In 1995, Tony Lockett transferred to the Sydney Swans, where he played for another six seasons.

Tony Lockett was an instant success with the Swans, helping the team into the 1996 finals series and subsequently into the 1996 AFL Grand Final.

Tony Lockett was a massive drawcard for the struggling Sydney Swans, who had previously found it difficult to attract large support in New South Wales's rugby league heartland.

At the height of his popularity, the song "One Tony Lockett" was released, performed by James Freud.

In 1996, Tony Lockett was the subject of much hype in the clash between Geelong and Sydney in which Gary Ablett Sr.

Tony Lockett broke the record of 1,299 career goals at the SCG in 1999 and sparked one of the biggest pitch invasions seen in Australian rules football.

Tony Lockett retired at the end of 1999 but had a brief comeback in 2002, playing three games and adding three goals to his record for a grand total of 1,360 career goals.

Tony Lockett played five State of Origin games for Victoria, kicking 19 goals in those games.

Tony Lockett was selected in 1987 against South Australia, and again kicked one goal.

Tony Lockett again kicked five goals against Western Australia in 1992.

Tony Lockett even appeared in various television commercials, including Advanced Hair and Lowes Menswear.

Tony Lockett is well known for his interest in greyhound racing.

Tony Lockett has competed in the gruelling Finke Desert Race in the open motorcycle class since 2008, and for the over-45s subcategory on many occasions between 2011 and 2019, riding in 2017,2018, and 2019 by using his KTM 500 EXC.

In 2017, Tony Lockett made a surprise decision to return to the Sydney Swans as a part-time goal-kicking and forwards coach.

Tony Lockett was actually absent from the match due to injury.

Tony Lockett was inducted to both the St Kilda and Sydney Swans' Team of the Century in 2001 and 2003, respectively.

On 22 June 2006, Tony Lockett was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

On 19 July 2009, Tony Lockett was inducted into the Sydney Swans Hall of Fame.

Tony Lockett kicked over one hundred goals in a season on six occasions: at St Kilda in years 1987,1991, and 1992 ; and at Sydney in years 1995,1996, and 1998.

In 2017, Tony Lockett was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

In March 2021, before the Round 2 match between St Kilda and Melbourne at Marvel Stadium set aside to honour the memory of former Saints captain and Fox Footy personality Danny Frawley and promote mental health awareness, Tony Lockett made a surprise appearance, along with Garry Lyon and Stewart Loewe, to pay tribute to his friend and captain.