St Kilda Football Club
and Cousin Darrel Baldock
by Dallas Stott
'
By MICHAEL STEVENS
The Mercury 2 August 2003
TASMANIAN
Darrel Baldock's elevation to legend status at St Kilda's Hall of Fame dinner
last night is seen by many Saints stalwarts as the first step to a similar
honour from the AFL. Baldock. 64, captain of St Kilda's only premier-ship side
in 1966, significantly received the honour ahead of triple Brownlow medallist
and fellow Tasmanian Ian Stewart.
Stewart.
one of 13 inducted into the St Kilda Hall of Fame last night, was made an AFL
legend in 1997. Affectionately known as "Doc", Baldock last night
headed a Who's Who of champion players who have worn the red, white and black.
Also inducted were AFL record goalkicker Tony Lockett and Brownlow medallists
Verdun Howell, Neil Roberts and Ross Smith.
Other
champions from the past 30 years who were recognised included Trevor Barker,
Carl Ditterich and Nicky Winmar, while from the early days Bill Mohr and Dave
McNamara got the nod. Master coach Allan Jeans, who guided the Saints to the
1966 flag, was also honoured, as was legendary administrator Ian Drake, who was
responsible for securing Baldock’s signature to a Form 4 in controversial
circumstances in 1961.
Saints
historian Russell Holmesby feels strongly that Baldock deserves to be named an
AFL legend. Holmesby said Baldock's record of 397 senior games spanning 20 years
speaks for itself: That games record includes East Devonport, 71 games between
1955-58; Latrobe, 158, 1959-61 and 1969-74; St Kilda, 119, 1962-68; New Norfolk,
4, 1975.
Baldock
also represented Victoria in l0 games, Tasmania in 15 and the North-West
Football Union in 20. Holmesby said Baldock's performances, which included being
selected in the NWFU representative team and winning East Devonport's best and
fairest at 16, deserved to be recognised with AFL legend status.
"He
was Captain-coach of Latrobe at 20. and captained Tasmania at 21, the youngest
“When
he first came to Melbourne as a 16-year-old, he caught a tram to go to the MCG
to see East Devonport team mate Peter Marquis, who was at Melbourne,"
Holmesby said. "Within
20 minutes he was training with the Demons, under the eye of Norm Smith.
"He was subsequently signed to a Form 4 and stayed to watch the Demons'
second semi-final against Collingwood.
“'The
Form 4 bound him to Melbourne for two years, but there were tentative approaches
from St Kilda. “Ex
South, Richmond and Fitzroy player Jeff Patterson was coach of East Launceston
'Doc'
Baldock named Captain
of St
Kilda's
Team of the Century
My cousin Darrel John Baldock is a famous Australian sportsman, and in 2002 was named captain of St Kilda's Team of the Century. He played cricket for the Tasmanian State Team before going to Victoria, where he played 119 games and kicked 236 goals with Saint Kilda (Saints) Aussie Rules Football team in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1962-68. Darrel is my father's 1st cousin once removed (see family tree below) which makes him my 2nd cousin once removed.
Born 29 Sep 1938, 179 cms high and 87 kg, his nick-name was "The Doc". He will always be remembered as Captain of St Kilda's 1966 one and only premiership side which defeated Collingwood by one point. St Kilda were runners up in 1913, 1965, 1971 and 1997. Darrel is one of the greatest figures in the club's history and was recently named Captain of the Saints' Team of the Century.
He made his football debut with East Devonport in Tasmania in 1955 and played for the Tasmanian State Team when he was 18. He was captain-coach for Tasmania's Latrobe team in 1959. The Saints recruited him from Latrobe in 1962, when the league was known as the Victorian Football League (VFL).
His first AFL game was against Collingwood and it created enormous interest as he was already rated a football super-star. Baldock earlier had signed with Melbourne and South Melbourne, the Saints swooping as soon as the Swans' hold on him expired. He did not let any of his judges down and he quickly established a reputation as a freakish champion with the seeming ability to have the ball on a string.
Also known as "Mr Magic" his ground skills were phenomenal and his courage legendary, turning and weaving to storm past his opponents. Although short (177cm) he played at centre half-forward and controlled the St Kilda forward line.
Baldock won St Kilda's Best and Fairest Award in 1962-63 and 1965. He also topped their goalkicking from 1962-1965 and was club captain from 1963-68. He captained Victoria in 1966-67 and the all-Australian team in 1966.
He returned to coach in Tasmania where he became a Member of Parliament, which included the portfolio of Minister for Transport in the House of Assembly.
Darrel Baldock, St Kilda's favourite son, returned to coach the Saints in 1987 and lifted them off the bottom of the ladder in his first season in charge. He suffered a minor stroke in 1987, but continued to coach the Saints until the end of 1989. He has now retired to Tasmania where he races horses.
Ref: Holmesby R, 1998, The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers, Information Australia, Melbourne
HISTORY OF ST KILDA
FOOTBALL CLUB
Joined league: 1897
Home venue: Colonial Stadium
Official Colours:
Vertical red, white and black striped guernsey with crest
Premierships: 1
While St Kilda is one of the oldest clubs in the league, it has one of the poorest records.
Known as the Seasiders early on - but later more popularly as the Saints - St Kilda was invited to join the VFL in 1897 largely because of its favourable home base, the Junction Oval. St Kilda had one of the worst starts in history playing 48 games before it registered a victory.
It was not as if St Kilda lacked champions with players such as Hugh Cumberland, Roy Cazaly and goalkicking machines Bill Mohr and Neil Roberts who won successive Brownlow Medals in 1957-58, but as a team the Saints failed to fire.
Their only Grand Final appearance was in 1913 and it was not until the 1960s that the Saints started to show some on-field spirit. Allan Jeans was appointed coach in 1961 and for the next few years, the Saints either made the finals or were thereabouts until 1965 when they reached their second Grand Final, but went down to Essendon.
But glory was near and in one of the most nail-biting Grand Finals contested in history, the Saints defeated Collingwood by just one point in 1966 with the great Darrel Baldock captaining the team and Barry Breen kicking the winning point - something that to this day he is constantly reminded about.
Despite stars such as Baldock, firebrand ruckman Carl Ditterich and star centreman Ian Stewart the Saints were unable to add to their premiership collection although they were runners-up to Hawthorn in 1971.
After that brief period of success the Saints wallowed for the next 20 years and during that time used six coaches, sacking five of them.
Ken Sheldon took over the club and with champion full-forward Tony Lockett on fire the Saints made a brief finals appearance in 1992, but a year later Sheldon was replaced by Stan Alves.
From 1993 to 1996 the Saints struggled under Alves and his tenure looked shaky after the club's poor performances early in 1997, but the players rallied and they made it into the Grand Final only to be outplayed by Adelaide.
The Saints went backwards in 1998, finishing also rans after an inexplicable loss of form in the second half of the season. Coach Stan Alves was held responsible for the downturn, and was replaced by former Essendon champion Tim Watson at the end of the season.
Based at Waverley in recent years, the Saints reluctantly abandoned their south-eastern suburbs' base to become Colonial Stadium co-tenants in 2000.
The 2000 season was a disaster for the Saints, finishing with the wooden spoon after only winning two games. Watson stood down and was replaced by AFL legend Malcolm Blight. His appointment, coupled with the arrival of several big name players, has the club very optimistic about its future.
Saint Kilda Football Club Australian Football League
Australian Football League Teams
How the Stotts and Baldocks are related
William Baldock (Common Ancestor)
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John Baldock Barbara Baldock
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Reginald Baldock Emily East
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Darrel Baldock Hilton Stott