THE WORD “legend” loosely defined, is “a collection of stories about an admirable person”.
This is one such story, which in part tells the whole of the legend of David McKay – the 14th Member of Carlton’s Hall of Fame who this week earned legend status at the Club.
The tale relates to the 1972 Grand Final – a frenetic 50-goal shootout, in which Carlton’s record scoreline of 28.9 to vanquish bitter rival in Richmond remains a GF record.
By 1972, McKay was still basking in the afterglow of the outrageously successful second half comeback in the Grand Final of two years previous – and he’d again earn bragging rights for two more Premierships at Collingwood’s expense in 1979 and ’81 in rounding out an illustrious playing career through 13 seasons and three decades.
“(But) it (the 1972 Grand Final) was probably the Grand Final I didn’t enjoy as much as the other three,” McKay said, in an interview following his elevation to legendary status this week.
“Half-way through the second quarter, the ball was at the other end of the ground and I was playing on Neil Balme. He started pushing me around and I said: ‘Mate, you wouldn’t have a spark jump in the gap between your ears’,” McKay recalled.
“Well he obviously took exception to the remark, because the next thing I knew I was hit from behind and my jaw was broken in two places.
“I came in at half-time and I said to the doctor, ‘look I think my jaw’s broken, it’s hanging down,’ and he said ‘yeah, look, it might be a little bit broken, but Vinny Waite’s got a broken ankle, so you’ve got to go back out’ (remembering these were the days before interchange).
Building on the legend, McKay bravely played out the second half while nursing his busted jaw - during which time he took what was probably the greatest high mark in an illustrious playing career littered with them.
So famous was the mark that it featured in a promotional poster released by Ansett Airlines.
‘Swan’ again takes up the story:
“ . . . the ball was down at the city end of the ground and I was going for a mark against Royce Hart and Rex Hunt. I lifted my leg up in a token effort to take a mark, and Royce Hart got under me and lifted me straight up in the air . . . I ended up taking the most photographed mark of my career, but the one I least wanted to take, because when I came down I was more interested in protecting my jaw than holding the ball.
“At the end of the game I ran off, got changed, and no-one was in the rooms. I went straight to St Vincent’s for an X-Ray and they told me ‘we can’t do much for you, you’ve got a broken jaw’, which confirmed what I already knew.”
McKay’s recollections of all four Grand Final victories (he’s the only man in Carlton history to feature in three over the black and whites by the way) are but part of the interview, which takes in his glorious 263-game on-field tenure.
In it, he also reflects on his relationships with his four Carlton Premiership coaches – Ron Barassi, John Nicholls, Alex Jesaulenko and David Parkin – and reveals the greatest advice in football he ever got, from the great Ronald Dale no less. “Don’t make the same mistake twice”.
McKay also recounts his experiences as a Carlton runner and Assistant Coach at Under 19 level, and later as a director of the club’s board in the immediate aftermath of John Elliott’s presidency – and he casts astute judgment on the club’s current playing group and where it’s headed.
From a True Blue who earned the great EJ Whitten as his first opponent more than 50 years ago, and whose love for the club endures to this day, it’s truly the stuff of legend.
