Malcom Blight Otter
Thu, Mar 16, 2023 6:00PM • 47:08
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
coach, players, game, north melbourne, playing, coaching, bit, people, football club, bloke, malcolm, ground, club, years, called, kick, ron, pitcher, happen, spend
SPEAKERS
Paul Barnett, Malcolm Blight
Paul Barnett 00:00
Yeah. Malcolm light. Good morning, and welcome to the great coaches podcast.
Malcolm Blight 00:10
Good morning, Paul. And how are you this fine day? Oh, I'm pretty good. It's a little overcast here in Sydney. But having an hour to speak to you means I don't have to spend an hour cutting away the cuttings in the backyard. And so I'm very much looking forward to this. And welcome back to Australia to
Paul Barnett 00:27
thank you very much. Welcome. Could I start by asking you something really simple? Where are you in the world? And what have you been doing so far today?
Malcolm Blight 00:39
I'm in my hometown of Adelaide, South Australia. After spending, I'm 72 years of age, I can work it out there to have another birthday. But right now I'm 72 have spent 18 years in Queensland. I've spent 18 years in Victoria, and I've spent 36 years in South Australia. So it's a nice little lever number at the moment. We've moved around a bit with it 24 addresses in our life with my wife, darling wife, Patsy. So jobs and moving and itchy feet and all that sort of stuff. As much as move around the country in a great country. So we've enjoyed everything. Now we're just settling back into the into the hometown that we both came from.
Paul Barnett 01:23
Well, I'm looking forward to talking to you about the whole journey. You've been on this football teams, there's a corporate role. There's cricket, there's multiple sports, we're gonna we're gonna get into all of that discussion. But I'd like to start by talking about Mr. Ron Baresi. So, you had the pleasure of playing for perhaps the most famous Australian Rules coach of all time. But then you transitioned into coaching and you came up against a couple of other pretty good ones in the names of Mick Malthouse and David Park. And I would like to start by asking you from this perspective, with Ron and Mick and David and all the other great coaches you've met along your journey? What is it you think the modern great coaches do differently? That sets them apart?
Malcolm Blight 02:11
Look, I mean, it's a multi layered thing. We know all that. One of the things that I've, I've discovered and I figured out maybe with Ronda Rousey, let's just go back there a bit. You know, he was called the Super coach. He was the first of the super coaches. He played at the Melbourne Football Club in a very successful year under norm Smith, the great norm Smith. And then he went to Carleton as a playing coach, he almost pulled the grandstands down is another football club in Australia. So any had any once and flags when a couple of flags there. So then he came to North Melbourne where I was eventually came the year after you've already been there for a year. And then we went a couple of flags. So this, this guy was the first and original SuperCoach. Now I can tell you now it's the greatest load of crap you've ever heard. There is, there is no such thing as a super coach. What it is, is a person or persons now as we call it. Getting together with a group of athletes, no matter what the sport, let's talk about Australian rules football, because that's probably what you've been known for, is that there is a list of players, the only way you can become a very good coach is first and foremost to have very good players. You can't do it otherwise, I've coached at the top of coaches from the bottom, there is no doubt talent on the ground, no matter what the sport is, we'll get you across the line. Now. The tricky is, do you finish top four. If you don't pull the right strings on a given day as a coach, you know, there are some decisions you make as a coach as a leader of the club, in any in any business even in those I never found out until the final siren or until the profit and loss at the end of the month when you make those decisions. Now some of them just might be look, what we're going to do is we're going to put a Baraka Barak at a tablet, give them an extra little bit of fizzy in their drink rather than just water. It's a really simple one. But sometimes you make those decisions. What we're going to do is kick this side of the ground, we're not going to go over that side of the ground. So there's all those things a coach goes through and makes those that helps you maybe win 123 games a year and I reckon as a coach, you get lucky 234 times a year if you're really lucky. The rest of it is pretty mundane. You do everyone does the same thing. You're trying hard you work hard. You try and give blokes confidence. So the super coach is no such thing. What you do is get some very diligent people with a talented group make it that much better.[SB1]
Paul Barnett 04:52
Malcolm I have this quote from you where you say coaching is about painting a picture. And I wanted to flip it around a bit not Want to ask you? What did you have to unlearn? From your days playing in order to discover that importance about painting a picture when you became a coach?
Malcolm Blight 05:12
Yeah, I think it was my upbringing. You know, I used to watch football locally, the club way that applying for on the bid, I used to watch players with their hands on the ball. So you'd actually see the way they did it. And so coaching for me, and I try and explain this to a lot of people.
Coaching is almost not about your mouth, or your tongue. It's with the eyes. And your eyes actually tell you what you need to say, do or react next. So everyone understands what a pitcher is. If I say to you, pitcher Mona Lisa, a pitcher, you can picture it in any one prop probably over 1012 or 13, in our system wouldn't know what the Mona Lisa is. And the pitcher, that lovely lady. So if you see when I talk to players, and I did talk to players, I tried to put them in their position on the ground and show the work that they needed to do. Did you need to go left? Did you need to go right did you need to do this. So what I tried to do in the end, after I stopped shouting, because my initial coach Ronda Rousey used to shout a lot, because that was the way it was done. So I actually tried to give them a picture of where they fit it into the team, as an individual, and then obviously, as part of the team. [SB2]
But so if just for instance, I'd say, Look, this guy is a left handed puncher in our game, you know spoiling from behind putting the ball away. So the v is going to probably be in this area here on this right hand side of where the ball comes in. Ah, so why don't you run there, you've got more chance of getting the ball. So that's what I call painting a picture. And everything. I mean, I've seen a lot of things written about me, some of the stuff I did on the ground, apparently was unexplainable, which is rubbish. Everything's explainable. Because you could take a mark or kick a goal, or all that sort of stuff, everything that you could see on the ground that either I did, or any other place there was explainable. And so every time I got into that situation trying to teach was that, why don't we look at this? And I'll show you what I mean. All of a sudden, that player then put himself in that picture.
Paul Barnett 07:34
Now, can you talk about teaching and what's fascinating in your story is that after you retired, you went back to your childhood club, you retired from the big league, you went back to where you were from in South Australia, and you became the player, the coach, the administrator, the marketer, you were doing everything at once. And I'm, I'm curious, how did that experience shape your approach to leadership for the bigger roles that were to come?
Malcolm Blight 08:01
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the story is, let's just say in the premier competition, which was the theophylline. I coached my old cup that was the last plane coach at North Melbourne. So no one's ever done it. No one's been silly enough to do it since. And very quickly, easily it was because we're playing a game at the MCG against Richmond touching North Melbourne. And we had a couple of kids playing, you know, we had a lot of injury. So I started playing some kids and I talked to them after game, we got beat. I talked them out of the game, I said, Look, I'll spend some time with you with the kicking, you know, and I'll show you under pressure, or paint that picture for you under pressure, that this is how you can learn to kick better. I just kick four goals, eight full goals and eight points. I could just see their eyes starting to roll. At the end of that game. I knew the playing coach was gone. It wasn't as do as I say. It's going to be a whole new term. And I think, coaching from that day on in my eyes, I flicked the switch. I didn't survive that. Of course, it didn't matter because I kept on playing but I get 100 goals at the end of the next season. And I could have easily kept on playing in the premier camp. But I had each I was each year to teach. I was itchy that I found supposedly far out as the last playing coach. So I really wanted to coach again. And the worst football club in Australia at that time. Senior football club just happened to be my old home club back in Adelaide. So I left Melbourne and came back and coached a one win team won when in a lot of talent there might not a lot of talent. So you actually what you had to do was restart and teach paint the picture, how you hold the ball, how you handle almost went back to the basics of football but I actually enjoyed it. It actually gave me something internally and eventually Not initially, not initially. But eventually, that became you. So that the teaching became the mantra.
Paul Barnett 10:09
It's funny, you say I love coaching, I love teaching. It's a quote I've got for you. But what's interesting is it's not just teaching the basics and beginners, you're actually noted and well known Malcolm, for getting the very best out of the very best out of the elite players that you've that you've had in your sphere of influence and leadership. So when it comes to unlocking potential in people, I'm really curious to hear what advice you've got for other leaders.
Malcolm Blight 10:38
What? Yeah, I guess the development of watching players and watching games and watching other teams, and all that sort of stuff is that let's just say that gifted players are and it's not that you still have to train, you still have to practice hard, you have to do all that sort of stuff. But those that apparently, you know, they're really, really gifted players, what I found was that they were seeking to get better. When you talk to them dig down, the really honest, really, really good ones, that great ones wanted to get better. And someone asked me many, many years ago, as a player, what do you want to do, you know, I just, I just hope I get better, never wanted to be the best. Some have some have gone public on that. And that's fine. I never wanted to be the best because that means you usually get jumped over you, that's where you want to finish. So when I just started talking to a lot of those really, really good players, they wouldn't even get a bit better. Soon as they started talking like that, then you could talk, have you thought about using your body when you first feel it, not someone. And so all the little technique, things that I'd use as a player and started to coach, I mean, I think they got a buzz out of because you're actually spending time with them. Not saying that's great. That's great. That's great. What's anywhere, but here is something I can help you get better. And that became, you know, a bit of a thing with all those very good players that I ended up coaching. And today, all right, they all reacted beautifully. They all got better.
Paul Barnett 12:11
Malcolm, you, I don't think it's any stretch or hyperbole to say you were a great player yourself one of the greats. Do you think your status and history allowed them to listen? Or was it just simply your ability to teach?
Malcolm Blight 12:32
Good? I mean, that's a really fair question. You'd have to ask them. I don't know. I guess that someone once said, Well, there's nothing you haven't done on the football field that anyone else hasn't. Now, does that help? I reckon if you don't handle that, right. And I hardly ever talked about myself, that's honest, I have a bit of fun with myself now. Because all the youngest we get to how good we were, in a way, but it is true. I probably never talked about that. I actually explained it in a way that they could help. Now, I didn't ever showed footage of myself. But I just I guess that is something I probably had the entrance to the door. But you still have to put that sentence together or that pitcher together to walk through it to help them. So I think it probably did help. But as I said that there's a there's a finality to that. If you can't put it together and explain it to them, you're no good anyhow.
Paul Barnett 13:31
It's interesting, because through this series of interviews we've done, there's not all there's not a lot of great players that go on to be great coaches. And one of the explanations I've heard playback from some of the great coaches is, it's so intuitive for the great players. It's just, they see things they react, it's intuitive, and they don't always have that skill to break it down and explain what they did for others. But it seems like you've been able to marry that with your own history. And that, perhaps is where the secret sauce is.
Malcolm Blight 14:07
Yeah, yeah, I think it's probably you got to start talking about yourself when you answer that. So it's probably it's probably good to have a lot of, I have a lot of fun with it, but I do and it really goes back to my upbringing in watching my favorite players, the way they moved on the ground. I would just watch a play. I wouldn't watch the whole game sometimes I would just watch a play that I really really liked. And just to see what he was doing when I was 910 1112 13. So one of the things I should say here is so how do you develop that? And it came when I moved from Adelaide to Melbourne, you know to the premier competition, the VFL and with Ronda Rousey is code in North Melbourne played in six grand finals in a row which is very you know, the championship game is as you would well known. It became what actually happened was breast which huge You have a lot I mean, and I did that early too, by the way, obviously, she had it. But in the end, you realize that you can share occasionally which breasts had. We had, there were three games only televised at the six in nighttime in Melbourne. And on our board was a guy called Ron Casey, one of the great commentators, one of the great TV men in the game, he was a mad North Melbourne supporter. So we could go to the channel, seven studios, and the old three quarter inch tape for all those that remember before we now got everything fent new thangal is that we would go there on a Thursday night and either watch us for 15 or 20 minutes, and the opponent that we might be playing next week. Now, when he showed us it generally picked out all the mistakes, you know, so you got smashed. But what it did, it opened my eyes to the possibilities of teaching. So when I got introduced to the video coach Ron Baresi did through channel seven, and that great setup in the early days in Melbourne. Wow. It's it suddenly hit me that he was a teaching tool, not only to get yelled at, but I could see I could actually start to see my teammates. Not that I'd say anything because it wasn't my position. But I can and I can actually see some of the things that I did I think, Ah, hell, if I can do that better than that better. So I started watching videos, just and started helping the player. Not not before, it's just in mentally. So I started pitcher pitching myself actually doing that, but it was actually press introducing the video to a very lucky North Melbourne team, I thought, but he only honed in on the mistakes, not the good stuff.
Paul Barnett 16:49
I want to talk to you about video actually, because I've read where after a loss, you could become quite obsessive poring over video staying up all night, until you found the reason for the loss. You could identify what needed to change for the next game and we're ready to communicate that the next day. And I it sounded obsessive to me and I wondered what you've learned along your journey around the obsession either helping or hindering when it comes to leadership.
Malcolm Blight 17:19
Yeah. Yeah. But there were some things are just growing up once again. You always, I don't know, just as I said, like to be better. But I think deep down I really like to win. You know, there was this appetite inside Amita. You know, we all get beat. You know, we all mess up. God, no one's perfect. So, but when I did, I could analyze about the ground ticket and you know, you What did you do that for? Or how did that happen? And so I was I was pretty harsh. I had a coach that was pretty harsh early on myself, but also as harsh on myself.
So, you know, when that transposed into into coaching, you know, you'd look back after the game. And yeah, I yield early, and then I got better at it. But I think she's, I could have done something there. How come I missed that on the day. So it was as much for learning of the pliers, as it was for myself, you know, a simple structure thing you could have done. So I would pour hours and hours. over every single thing that happened on the ground, let's say there's 1000 or 1200 items are going down, right, something that we could have done. Now, at the end of those that time, it could be three o'clock in the morning, two o'clock, 12 o'clock, four o'clock didn't matter. I just lost track of time that I would write down so many notes, so many notes, little bullet points bullet point bullet point bullet point. Then, even then sometimes I went to bed finally. And it still could it just didn't jump out at me. So I had to pour over the notes again the next morning, pretty tired. But sometimes you get into the second quarter thing, ah. And I can remember clearly one time we've been kicking to the boundary line going too wide for far too long. In our game, you know that you can go bound or you can go middle and it was just this clicks I showed three bits of footage in Iran said boys, you know that three hours or two hours that I spent that night came a 32nd clip and then we went out and drained it. So it would sometimes it would be you know you'd see it quickly. Other times you wouldn't. But I always tried to find something so that we would get our training to get better. And then I did a road every training night not one person ever helped me with it. Now they've got 67567 touches. Now they've got 567 people analyze watching that game through video, and then coming in with a bit in mind that I did it myself. And I was happy to do it. I felt that was my role. So I wanted to know why me being the leader of the club, that coach of the club, didn't pick that up on game day. Now, sometimes I've mentioned it in a review. Other times, I wouldn't, you know, then I'd say, I recommend if I did that, we could do that better. So, occasionally, you owned up to the mistake. And I think a lot of players liked that you didn't do it all the time, by the way. Usually, it's, you know, it's what happens on the ground is where that where it goes wrong. So yeah, I couldn't pull. It was just one of those things. It was me. I started as a young player, and I carried it through my coaching.
Malcolm, a couple of times, in this discussion, you've talked about yelling and shouting, and it almost sounds like a turning point for you was when you learn to either control that or step away from it. Did it happen all at once? Or was it a slow shift?
No, I think it was a slow shift after the North Melbourne bit in coming back to Adelaide to Kojima art club. When you win one game, as I mentioned before, that, you know, there's not a lot of talent on the ground, so. And I found that players that aren't very good struggle to listen, you know, they don't actually, they don't actually listen. Because if they listen, they would actually get better, a bit quicker. And some of them say, Well, I'm not good enough. But that's not true. So what you had to do to get their attention, and that's, you know, you're probably yield too much, you know, get your attention. And then after a while, oh, hang on. This is, we're not getting anywhere here. You know that. The first eight months back there, I was like, this is this is not working. So one day, we lost again, went to the bottom of the ladder again. And I remember sitting out with really good mate of mine, John Reed, who's who's touching a second steam at the time. I just said, Look, I recommend or we can if, if we kick better today, we would have won, it was one of the first time was a it was a bright light moment. After a game, the two of us sitting in a deserted football ground in an opposition ground by that. Just this is I reckon that was okay today. So it was walked into the room after I can clearly remember and so again, I I didn't you know, because I genuinely thought we should have won that game. Now, we just needed to tidy up one or two things in colors, which we went out for next five games. And then that started the role of not sharing. So it was actually a it was one of those moments in your life, you think I can still clearly remember thinking that was okay. It was okay to get yeah, sometimes it's not okay to get beat. But there is a way to get beaten. I think we all understand that as I've never seen any team, any person be perfect in their whole life in their sporting career. It just doesn't happen. So from that point onwards, it actually became a lot more focus on on coaching, teaching, rather than yelling. Because that's, that's why Ron Baresi did it. And that's the way he was taught with the non Smith. I mean, they were very aggressive. And I know why they came out of war years, second world war years, a lot of those people and stand deliver, you know, that army system, but I get it, I get one of that happen. But you know, I think there was, you know, perhaps could have changed slightly quicker.
Paul Barnett 23:48
Now come another interesting element of your story is that great player, leading sporting teams and coaching but you've also led a large company SPD transport, and I'm really curious to hear what similarities and differences between an organization and a sporting club stood out most to you.
Malcolm Blight 24:13
Pool, it's a word called time. And somehow rather, the modern player in our game has time. They spend 40 hours with the coaches a week. So it's such a full time job. In my time, when I was doing it was very much a part time role in football and a full time role at work. So you did your 40 hours at work. And it's almost sane and sensible. Because you have to live with these people. Every day, every minute, always. It may become like your family. So you work with them. You know if Johnny's got clubfoot, please go and see him at school. You know, sad awful happen, please have a few days off. So you actually learn to live with the sympathy of all the things that life presents, when you've got time, when you've got 40 hours a week with them. In our day, when we started out, as coaches, we were very lucky to get to two hours, Tuesday, two hours, Thursday, maybe a little bit on Wednesday, and Monday, and then going down, and an occasional run on a Sunday morning. So worked it out probably probably seven hours, maybe eight. So what you had to do was fit in what they now fit 40 hours in, and people don't understand it, no one's ever talked about it. So the pressure, the time pressure you got in coaching the guys to try and get your message across as a coach in the, let's say, semi professional day. So it became this aggressiveness, this yelling, this gotta get done quickly. Whereas now just like work, you can take your time and I know you've run big business, mate, I loved it. I love the thrust and parry of the corporate world. You know, I had three separate corporate roles in for seven years at a time. And I loved it. I love the leadership, I love the time you got, you could discuss things and move on and then make decisions. Whereas in football, you got to make a now because you've got no time. And I guess even now watching the operate as I was with the Gold Coast suns or went up there for five or six years with a in a coaching group. It is it is like a work environment. There's almost no time pressure at all. So I think time was the evil of the semi professional era of the artefill.
Paul Barnett 26:45
Now it's such a such a great answer. Malcolm and I listened to you talking about time. And I just wish I had a little bit more of it to ask you more questions, but I'll get going along. I want to get on to self doubt actually, because I got this quote from you. And you say I think everyone doubts themselves at some stage. I don't think that there is anyone that's ever played sport who doesn't. So you got to fight some demons. Now it's the last part that caught my eye this solid year of fighting demons and I'm you've coached some real Mavericks, you've coached some of the great games greats, but also just players who have you know, been role players that have gone on to play in premierships as well. So I was wondering if there was a story or an anecdote or something you could share where you've worked with the person and help them overcome their doubts so that they could improve.
Malcolm Blight 27:33
Yeah, there's a number of cores one that springs to mind is he is now a dual premiership player, and a 300 game player at the Adelaide football club. So part of those premiership us it was a young boyfriend the the Murray Family in South Australia between here and Victorian border. And his name was Tyson Edwards. I've told the story and I Tyson. I've told you I'll tell the story. Because I think it's a great story. And there's many many like Tyson. But what actually happened was Tyson on the training track when I first went to Adelaide was beautifully balanced player. Smooth across the ground. With enough speed. Beautiful kick, left foot right foot. Beautiful. Take the ball. Beautiful decision maker in training. One of the really, really you know, sometimes you just I just admire when you get the training, sometimes you get a bit humdrum at training sometimes because you're always trying to search for something. See this lens or this kid look at the training shaper. He played a few games not many. And he played for a local club called West Adelaide. So start of the season it is not just not happening. Just not happening. So I sit down with him one day and I just sit twice and just you know I don't know you're very well it's let's this is really important. Just with with an edit. How did you get to La football club in a way? You said are you used to play Junior football and then worse that I went down to West LA that was their zone? And I don't know why I asked this question. But I sit down. How many how many times if you got best on ground in any young career? So he would have been playing since nine or 10? He was probably 18 and 19 then so nearly eight nine years, which are I never have. I said you've actually he said no I don't think I've ever been in the history ever, ever. What also the junior grades all through here. Now I read like football club. And you're telling me he said no. I've never. I don't reckon I've ever been and he's really honest that you know if you knew it now he is really honest lead. I said you never been in the history on the ground in the votes never got a vote in the middle never got any Wow. So there's this lead I want is doubt it he's been through this whole system of you know sociation teams playing in the league club in playing at an AFL club. And if you go in not not knowing where he was at, didn't think he was anywhere near still wasn't certain why he was doing it wasn't certain wise playing footy even because he didn't think he was very good. Then your eye can see this bubble. You know, there's, something's in there. I just You just know something's in the area. You had to put it back the West headlight but you can't keep playing because she's doing nothing. Anyhow, after about four weeks, you know, and I'd go around and watch these, let's say you know the seconds games of our team. Now, but I didn't go to Richmond I always did like play in about four or five weeks later in the local paper on the Sunday after game at West Adelaide. This player for Western Line, Tyson Edwards. Well, yeah, I'll give him a sharing purchase. But what's it what's wrong with his data? He's done it. But this is five, six weeks later. So what I did, I got the I got the paper, and I blew it up the scores. And I got Edwards best pliers and I blew it up like Hill and just put it stuck it inside his locker. So that when he came on Monday training, because he's still training with us, obviously then Westies do it later in the week. So I've put that up on the board. Welcome back. That was it was the moment. So yeah, doubt a lot of people have doubt even the great ones have doubt at some stage. You know, no one's perfect. But the Tyson Hybels story is a lovely story, because as I said, ended up playing in the Premiership side that year the following it, and ended up paying a 300 game player, and a bloody good one at that. It just something just unlocked. Thank goodness, Malcolm, you're quite well known for your innovative and usual methods of motivating players. I wanted to ask you what you've learned around the art and science of motivation over the years. Yeah, I'm certainly one of the that's the best way to describe it. I have always thought that if something wasn't working, and this doesn't work to, you know, even at home, you know, you deal with it with it with your own kids. That didn't work. So, so what do we keep going down that track and particularly, probably business taught me that as much as anything, you know, if we keep doing that, we're not going to get that result. So let's just come from a different angle. And I'm sure you've been through that I'm sure most people have. Whereas football, tended to be straight down the line, you know, kick in here, do this, they do that they run there, and they kick a goal, you know, and so And usually, you know, probably 80 85% of the time that works. And there's nothing wrong with that. But occasionally, I just this is not right, when, you know, you can just feel the joint just dropping a little bit. So I play games, you know, I just do stuff. And people said, Where did he get this stuff from? I said, up here in the head, you know, I would just think of scenarios, and some of them. Some of them were beautifully. Some didn't. So you ended up with a sort of nine there's this sort of half genius half madman thing. But I mean, probably drove but in the end it I mean, I just did stuff I wanted to. Sometimes you want to excite the group, sometimes, you know, you wanted to get them out of their comfort zone. Sometimes you wanted to make it fun. You know, like Damien Hardwick who I listened to your interview with him, you know, when he had that change. In before the game, you know, the last couple of years, they've been telling jokes to each other before the guy went in this high pressurized environment. While I was doing that 20 years ago, you don't know meant just mucking around in there sometimes know who you are, then you get serious and then you do this and then you do that. Then you'd say kick out this other ground now that one, I mean, it was just I did some stuff. A lot of them have been run around a million times now. But it was really just to create a different environment, a different mindset for a group of people that hopefully bought into it. A lot of times I did sometimes I didn't. But that's coaching.
Paul Barnett 34:53
Malcolm I read where you said, in the end, you were glad to be out of coaching because what it forced you to become an subsequently learn about yourself. If you're comfortable sharing, I'd be intrigued to understand what was that learning?
Malcolm Blight 35:08
Yeah, no, that was at that time. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe we talked about it earlier, maybe that obsession, you know that it couldn't leave your body. So that, you know, when you're, you're talking, it just becomes all consuming. I think now with the group of coaches that are involved in our game, now, it would be probably easy for someone like me that you can actually share that. Whereas I felt because I was in charge. So if we're going to lose, it's going to be on my way, you know, that autocratic style? Now, that probably wouldn't get the job done now, but but I wouldn't be like that now. Because you've got all these other people around you. So I just think that it would I could just feel myself slipping both, you know? Yeah, it was just one of those things. I just, you could just see yourself going downhill. And once you start doing that, I reckon you start showing it, and I reckon pliers, pick it up, the club picks up, whatever. But it certainly was certainly at the end of July, and certainly at the end of Edline, you can just feel yourself slipping into this abyss really, because of that obsession, I think,
Paul Barnett 36:22
Malcolm, you, we talked I asked you earlier about some of the I don't know if Maverick is the right word. But you, you, you coach, some players that were very unique and had special abilities and so much want to ask you about those players, I wanted to ask you about how did you go, structuring guardrails or team rules, but also giving yourself enough flexibility to handle people who just needed different things in order to function at their best?
Malcolm Blight 36:50
Yeah, I think the best story is probably one of the most famous blogs I'd catch was a guy called Gary Edwards senior. An absolute freak of apply, you know, he's 99 goals in the grand final, the record. Gary was different. No doubt about it. Most players are different to each other. But Gary was so different. And he had this penchant for Sunday morning training, you know, which is really just a light kick around and run just to get some, some muscles going again. He hadn't heard that a couple of times. And so I spoke to him. He was involved in a church. Right. So and that was very important to him. So I had this dilemma, you know, out in the track, you've so you've got 48 players in the 49th ones, not there. Anyhow. So what I decided to do, I waited a couple of weeks and, and I spoke to a captain and a couple of others and said, Look, I'm gonna sort this out, right. And I'll over the next couple of weeks, we'll, I'm really gonna sort this out. So we played on a Saturday, we play the Richmond football club at the MCG again, and Gary kick 14 goals. We weren't, we weren't. We weren't quite handsomely site that. And he didn't turn up Sunday, he was at church. That's what he told me, I believed him. So on the Monday, I got didn't, I didn't need a leadership group. I think leadership groups are quite interesting. In some ways. They're overrated and waste of time. Other times, they're good, but I just got the six senior players, because I'll guarantee and now the six senior players, what the six senior people in your business or anyone's business, they run that place. I mean, they're the ones that dictate everything. So you know, whether they're good players, role players or whatever, they're, they're older players. And so I've got the six most senior players in into a room on this Sunday morning. And I said, Boys, we have got a problem. You know, Gary's not here again, Gary Halbert, senior, that he's involved in a church that says wish, but I'll tell you what, we're going to make a decision, you six in the you're going to make a decision here and now. I will finish him up tomorrow. Don't make a mistake, because I've done that before. Or you people aren't happy with him to be there. And I'll give some extra training with him on Monday night. Just keep 14 It's the star of that show.
Paul Barnett 39:27
Pretty, pretty quick discussion, I imagine.
Malcolm Blight 39:31
Didn't last long, but it was just like, Well, okay. You know, we all have our beliefs. And, you know, that's what he believes. So, it was probably the time that you know, we just started to bend a bit before then it was a one in all in, you know, whatever you did, you had to do, we all had to do the same. So I think that was a bit of a start for me to to solang. And you can actually treat these guys a little bit differently to some others you know, because of a B, C or D. So, anyhow, the players in this Have we voted? That's okay. But I had to make sure we did some work on Monday. And I said, Look, I'm happy to do that. Yeah. So you do been in there a lot of other little stories like that. Really little stories. Yeah, it was. But that was, that was part of the fun of an Oregon, particularly, you know, when he kicked another 10 The next week.
Paul Barnett 40:26
Welcome. If I could take you back at a time machine, I could take you back and introduce you to that eight year old who was sneaking into the Percy Fox grandstand to listen to what the coach had to say? Knowing what you know, now, what would you say to him?
Malcolm Blight 40:43
Well, first of all, I wouldn't have smoked because the whole room was just a pool of smoke, everyone smoked and a halftime so I grew up with that's what you do. That would be the first thing and we all know now that we probably shouldn't have been the will anyway. And the other thing was that when the coach spoke, and blood on him, she had to pick and you got to remember why, you know, this train is moving around the room, you know, this UN officials, they're not, it was just this busy place. You know, there's a bloke getting a Rabb, there's someone getting a bit of tape on, and the smell of a cinnamon. And so the coach, you know, to get them all together and just quietly sit in a room that wasn't them. So you actually had to yell a bit to get above and I wonder why we all started yelling. But that was a that was the glamorous stuff we've now got. You know those blokes on benches bloke sitting on for the for was 43 years of age and built it around. And so it was quite a busy place. So I always I used to watch the coach. And then I watched the other blokes listening, half of the pulling up their Bhootnath of importance given themselves a scratch. And so the coach had to get their attention. So it was it was quite a noisy, it was actually a bit of a frightening place for an eight, nine year old. But I loved it.
Paul Barnett 42:08
And the advice if I could take you back there don't smoke. Is there anything else that would come up?
Malcolm Blight 42:15
Yeah, you could probably get the girls attention a bit more often. And just move the trainer's away and get those that need help to get help, then start your talk. So it was a bit of once again, time timings a great thing in sport.
Paul Barnett 42:28
Now can we haven't met before today or we spoke briefly in preparation but just listening to you what strikes me is that you ask great questions either of yourself, or the people around you. Do you know where that skill comes from?
Malcolm Blight 42:49
I'm probably also I'm guilty of this all the time, but I was pretty quiet as kid was pretty quiet. Someone once told me you know the old story you got one time in two years. So you should listen as much as you talk to earth as much. No, no, I just think that I've always been a bit inquisitive. And even in my work life the same even at home. Yeah, I just think I spent time. We didn't have a car growing up. So wherever I went, I walked around. And I can just remember, you know, and I could do it by the older brother. We did a bit but I'd love just being out there and thinking about you know, Mrs. Jones lives there and I basically work the streets and down to Woodville live on my favorite over one on your every nook and cranny, you know or to go different ways. And I go for my own little world. I think although I was reasonably quiet as a kid, I think I could go off in my little world. I think on reflection at my age now. Maybe I went a bit too far off the world
Paul Barnett 43:56
sunspots that if that's the case at all. Welcome one last question if I could you 72 You I'm not I know you. I'm not sure your coach mentoring anymore? I'm not sure. But I'd be really keen to ask you about legacy you've lived as you said in the start in was it 24 different addresses 22 different addresses over the years. You've touched so many lives. You've been involved with so many people in organizations and I'm wondering what you hope the legacy is that you've left with these people and teams that you've led?
Malcolm Blight 44:31
Hmm. I call I've been honored to be a legend in the Hall of Fame in the NFL. But I'm also on it because four football clubs in this country have ordered me with life membership. Pretty rare effect. Probably none. To sync that group of people their time at the club I saw fit to, and I certainly didn't spend 10 years, you know, the old 10 year rule with, with all of them really so honored to give me that I'm really, I'm really chuffed by that, that, that. Maybe in your time there absolutely in your time there. You know, hopefully I didn't scare the horses, I actually was committed as anything and hopefully help that club through that time. Whenever that may have been so met some wonderful people do was the people that you've met, the players that you've coached, you know, just just really good people, the trainers, I mean, like they're fantastic people, you know, the property stewards. I mean, they are, you know, the microcosm of microcosm of the whole whole suburbs. And so yeah, I just think that I've been fairly on it. Been a great guy. It's been a wonderful, wonderful.[SB3]
Paul Barnett 45:57
Welcome. It's been an absolute privilege to spend an hour with you today. Not only because you've got me out of housework, but because it's been great listening to your lessons along the wonderful journey that you've had. And I just want to say thank you again for for your time and the stories that you've shared.
Malcolm Blight 46:13
Our poor Paul, this is great, great to talk to you. Thank you for your research. And also, I guess, hopefully, someone out there, if ever they fall across this podcast, somewhere in the past say I learned something from that bloke. That would be a wonderful thing to happen.
Paul Barnett 46:33
I'll let you know if anybody passes along that feedback.
Malcolm Blight 46:37
Go anyway, bike. X. Malcolm,
Paul Barnett 46:40
thank you so much for a great interview. That was wonderful. Thank you so much. Were you happy with that? Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like fancy school. Yeah. I'll follow up with your coffee. Yes, please. Hello, Mrs. Bligh, nice to meet you. Take care about Take care. Bye bye.