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Tony Lockett, nicknamed "Plugger", is the greatest goalkicker in the history of VFL/AFL football. He retired in 2002 with 1,360 career goals from 281 games - a record that has stood for more than two decades and is widely regarded as one of the game's most enduring achievements. He was the first full-forward to win the Brownlow Medal, sharing the 1987 award with John Platten, and won four Coleman Medals across his career with St Kilda Football Club and the Sydney Swans.
Lockett's move to Sydney ahead of the 1995 season was one of the most significant trades in AFL history, helping strengthen the code's presence in New South Wales. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and elevated to Legend status in 2015.
Anthony Howard Lockett was born on 9 March 1966 in Ballarat, Victoria, the son of a local football champion who would eventually be inducted into the North Ballarat Football Club Hall of Fame. Growing up in football country, Lockett began playing with his father’s club at under-12 level in 1974 and played 120 junior games before St Kilda recruited him at 16 through their country zone. He made his VFL debut for the Saints in Round 4 of 1983 against Geelong, kicking a goal with his very first kick.
By his second season Lockett was kicking 77 goals and it was already evident the competition had not seen anything quite like him. Standing 191 centimetres and eventually weighing up to 104 kilograms, he combined explosive pace over the first few metres with physical power that opponents simply could not match. He was not a player who finessed his way to goals – he overwhelmed defenders through sheer force of will and physicality, taking contested marks in traffic and converting with a set shot that was as reliable as any in the competition.
The 1987 season was a landmark year. Lockett kicked 117 goals to win his first Coleman Medal and became the first full-forward in VFL/AFL history to win the Brownlow Medal, sharing the honour with Hawthorn’s John Platten. The achievement underscored that there was far more to his game than goal-kicking – his capacity to influence play across the ground earned him the respect of umpires who rarely looked towards the forward pocket for their best-on-ground votes.
Injury interrupted his career significantly through the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the 1991 season delivered one of his most remarkable efforts – 127 goals from just 17 games, a goals per game average that has never been matched over a comparable period. His 1992 campaign produced 132 goals, just edged by Jason Dunstall’s 145 for the Coleman Medal in what was the defining individual rivalry of the era. The two giants of forward play pushed each other to feats that may never be seen again.
Lockett’s departure from St Kilda after 12 seasons and 898 goals sent shockwaves through the competition. Sydney won the race for his signature in 1995 and the impact was immediate – the Swans kicked 110 goals in his debut season and sold out the SCG regularly on the back of “Pluggermania”. His most famous moment came in the 1996 Preliminary Final when a behind after the final siren sent Sydney to their first grand final in 22 years. In 1999 he broke Gordon Coventry’s 62-year goals record with his 1,300th goal in front of a packed SCG, one of the most celebrated moments in modern football history.
Lockett retired at the end of 1999 as the AFL/VFL all-time leading goalkicker with 1,357 goals, returned briefly in 2002 for three games, and finished with 1,360 – a record that has remained untouched and is considered by most analysts to be permanent. He was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2006 and elevated to Legend status in 2015. Named at full-forward in both the St Kilda and Sydney Teams of the Century, Tony Lockett is simply the most prolific scorer the game has ever produced.
