Simon Madden once called Kevin Sheedy: “An enigma. Batman and Bruce Wayne all in one.” But Batman and Bruce Wayne ARE one. Batman is really just Wayne with a cape and some ears.
Sheedy does like to tell a joke every now and then so perhaps Batman and the Joker all in one would be better . Except Batman and the Joker aren’t all that different either.
Remember in The Killing Joke when Batman says to his smiling insane nemesis: “I don’t know what it was that bent your life out of shape, but who knows? Maybe I’ve been there too.”
No let’s stick with the old Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They’re one, and completely different.
When James Hird was suffering from his chronic foot injury, Sheedy said: “Don’t worry about it. Make sure you get it right so it doesn’t go again”, and sent him to Munich to see eccentric physician and injector of “homoeopathic substances” Dr Hans- Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt.
Later Hird would comment: “If there’s one club you want to get a serious injury at it’s Essendon”.
However when Dean Wallis told Sheedy he was thinking of retiring after three years of hamstring injuries Sheedy replied: “You’re ******* (f word) what?! You ******* (f word) **** (c word)! “.
He then upended the table with its cups of coffee onto Wallis.
One of Essendon’s greatest players, Tim Watson, was coached by Sheedy for twelve years but still seems unsure who the man is and exactly what happened during that time: “Kevin is a little eccentric and has been known to make the odd comment or push the odd idea…Is he a genius? Genius is a very strong word”.
He released a book, Kevin Sheedy. The Jigsaw Man, which included the thoughts of other players but that only made matters worse. Often they appear to be talking about a completely different person.
“I never really got to meet him one on one. Until such time as you earned his respect, he was cold on you”, said Mark Harvey. Mark Thompson in the early days would cop an elbow from his coach at training if he spilled the ball.
But to a young Darren Berwick ‘he was more of a father figure to me than anything, because my father passed away a couple of years before”. To Michael Long, a young shy indigenous player struggling in the intimidating atmosphere of Melbourne and top flight football, Sheedy was “almost like a father who brought me into this world”.
He also mentions somewhere, without elaborating, that he was also like a mother.
More importantly for Long, Sheedy was a role model outside of sport and a significant figure in bringing about reconciliation between indigenous and non indigenous people.
Now who would have believed that a thug from Richmond with mutton chops and no teeth would one day have those things said about him?
Some have suggested his philanthropy is really self promotion citing the 1996 draft when he told club officials “I want to be the first person to coach a Maori”.
For a plumber who had previously only read one book (the Catechism), he has certainly come a long way. And he’s still going.
His obsessive, impulsive personality is more suited to teaching than plumbing. If the school kids at GWS show committment then he will reward them with loyalty: “If you believe in them and they believe in you , then it’s amazing what you get”.
If any of them tell him they’re giving up because of a hamstring injury, they certainly will be amazed at what they get.
db swannie
Guest
& how did the big China game experiment go..They queing up to buy memberships ,sponsor ,etc.. Like i said ,its a bizzare world .
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Db Swannie, You dont need 90% market share to be successful. For example, assume the games are played over there regularly, one a year, and Richmond and GWS temporarily advertise via, say, UWS, ONGC, RMIT and Tata. ONGC are the Indian state-owned oil company. They are playing in coal bed methane with Arrow, and may have taken a posisition in Advent Energy. Its fair to say they are interested in Australia. RMIT and UWS sell a lot of education into the Indian market. Tata Engineering make pretty much everything. You get a curious crowd turning up, and you have the opportunity via the internet to convert them slowly. You keep plugging away. You use this to advertise in the mainstream Indian, and indeed Bangla and Tamil press in Australia. And what are you paying - $100k in airfares ?
db swannie
Guest
So do you honestly think these other countries with their own sports they are fanatical about are just waiting for a new sport to come & show them what they are missing. I just dont get the AFL fan squad. So they think a foreign game in India will be a success.. Answer me this If another country(which only had a sport played there) tried to start their sport in this country,would you suddenly drop AFL because you had seen the light.. It is bizzarre thinking.. Alot of AFL fans cannot accept RL,RU or Soccer because they seeit as foreign,even though they have been part of this countries sporting landscape for over a Century...So why would you expect the Indians to embrace something that has no ,meaning,history ,or relelevence to them?
Jaredsbro
Roar Guru
But they love cricket too much ;) The problem with all this expansion logic is that at the moment it's too hard to see the AFL meaning anything to anyone other than those who have been exposed to a certain breed of Australian culture
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Got cricket fields to play on, check. Got no local contact sport to compete with, check. Got no need for any given body size, check. Got local pay-TV moguls who need content, check.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Thats our Sheeds
The Cattery
Roar Guru
The madman is now promoting a pre-season game next year in India, between GWS and Richmond: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-giants-agree-to-pre-season-match-in-india/story-e6frf9jf-1226282055135 Apparently Rahul Dravid is a patron of the new Richmond supporter group, the Indian Tigers, while GWS has two Australians of Indian heritage in its Academy, and are keen to tap into the Indian community in Australia as supporters.
Strummer Jones
Guest
Nah, its definitely a handball-ish sort of thing. I've asked the stats people to review it and amend the records. Would hate to think "the Car" (as we call him down at the club) harbours his indignation until he's like 90 years old because the 'stats man' (as we call him down at the club) messed up.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Wasn't that a dropped mark? I'm not sure if that counts.
Strummer Jones
Guest
On the subject of GWS, I just studied the GWS / Collingwood tape from last week. At 9.05 to go in the last quarter (or half, or whatever it is), Izzy actually gets what looks to be a handball away. Its a crude one, but I think he managed it. I think there should be a Royal Commission enquiry into this, as all week everyone's been bagging the poor guy for not getting a possession. I'll take "sort of a handball" = 1, Kicks and everything else = 0, but its a possession that no doubt helped them to get within a kick of beating last year's runner ups.
amazonfan
Guest
I love Sheeds. IMO he's one of the four best coaches of all time, and the best coach since Barassi. A genius. He's also a great showman, and GWS are very lucky to have him (even if Williams does the actual coaching.)
ChrisH
Guest
that was cooky eccentric
ChrisH
Guest
Can't see what the attraction with Sheedy is. Doesn't come across as intelligent. Don't find him amusing in any way really. Genuine charisma should cross the boundaries of sport (think Muhammad Ali), especially in foreign territory. Now he's becoming a parody of himself fed by this media reflection of him as a folky eccentric.
McHappy
Guest
I can't get the image of Kevin with a batman mask on out of my head, great stuff andrew
It's called football
Guest
My contax weren't in when I read this. Thought it said Teacher & Madam!
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
The GWS structure - and they stole it off American football - appears to work. Silvagni is the General Manager, with responsibility for player acquisition and retention. Sheedy is the Head Coach, with responsibility for overall direction and media management. He does noty have control of which players get hired, however, for the same reason that - traditionally - the Australian cricket captain has not been a selector. Williams if Offensive and Defensive Coordinator, in charge of actually coaching the game plan that the head coach comes up with.
Ben Anderson
Roar Rookie
As an Essendon fan I am greatful for all Sheedy has done but he has been trading on his eccentric persona since the 2001 Grand Final, any coaching ability a mere loss leader for his promotional skills. Any success GWS experiences this year will be due to Mark Williams.
Aware
Guest
You forgot to include "hitman".
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Kevin Sheedy: “An enigma. Batman and Bruce Wayne all in one.” That's such a funny line, I've been laughing all morning.
Australian Rules
Guest
Sheeds has a fascinating ability to connect. He connects to young fans. He connects to the media. He connects to his players...be they precocious kids from the city, or indigenous kids form the bush. I realise his aura and reputation is a bit lost on the unconverted from NSW and GWS, but he's a great addition to that club and to the region. It's good to have Sheeds back in the AFL.