Almanac Footy: The Melbourne Football Club – Recollections and Reflections (Part 5)

 

Following the massive Grand Final loss to the Hawks in 1988 Melbourne were in desperate need of a key forward. Earl Spalding had been traded to Carlton on the insistence of coach John Northey and the club needed a big key forward – a full forward. Darren Bennett had played a handful of games with the West Coast Eagles in 1987 but had some knee problems and after being delisted was re-drafted by the Demons with pick 13 at the 1988 National Draft. He proved to be a handy pick up booting 208 goals from just 74 games between 1989 and 1993.

At the end of the 1993 season Bennett asked Melbourne fitness guru Chris Jones to contact the San Diego Chargers as he and his newly wed wife were honeymooning in San Diego and thought he might show off his punting skills to the Americans. He was a booming kick of the Australian football with his trademark high follow through and after making some adjustments to the smaller American football was confident he had enough in his kit bag to make an impression.

Sure enough he was invited to a trial and despite being ingloriously hit in the face on his first “snap” he showed enough to be invited to the 1994 minicamp. After a stint with the Amsterdam Admirals in the NFL Europe competition he returned in 1995 and went on to become the Chargers regular punter and in his rookie season finished second in the NFL punting average and made the AFL Pro Bowl team. He was regarded as one of the greatest players of the 1990’s and is a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team.

Back to Melbourne and the early 1990’s. The Demons recruited another forward to add some fire power to the team. Melbourne Recruiting Manager Jim Durnan had seen Allen Jakovich in the back half of 1990 playing for SANFL club Woodville. Jakovich had kicked 100 goals in 1989 but was overlooked in that year’s National Draft and was on track for his second consecutive ton. Coach John Northey had instructed Jim to find another goalkicking forward. After a couple of meetings in Adelaide, Jim confirmed to the talented forward that the club would pick him with its first pick. Allen Jakovich was selected with the Demons’ first selection (pick No 6) at the 1990 National draft. With Lyon, Bennett, Jakovich and the emerging David Schwarz the club was optimistic about its ability to kick consistent winning scores.

Allen Jakovich made his debut in Round 1 of the 1991 season against the West Coast Eagles on the wide expanses of Subiaco Oval. Jakovich played on the half forward flank and had two kicks for the day. The young David Schwarz also made his league debut that day. The Demons kicked a miserable two goals. A humiliation.

Jakovich was banished to the reserves the following week and spent the next eight weeks making his opponents look ridiculous. He booted 60 goals from all angles and from both feet. He would mesmerise opponents with his uncanny reading of the play, body use, marking and his explosive pace. I’m sure the Melbourne faithful came early to the MCG just to watch his extraordinary feats.

Jim Durnan and I shared our frustration with the reluctance of the Match Committee to select him in the senior side after he consistently kicked bags of 6 and 7 goals week in week out. He was a prodigious talent and had done enough to warrant selection. Mark Cross, the reserves coach, argued that until he learnt to chase and tackle, he would not support his promotion into the senior team.

Finally, by Round 14 of that year and having kicked 60 odd goals in the reserves he was promoted into the senior side for its clash against Hawthorn at VFL Park where he kicked 3 goals in its 50-point loss. Jaka had done enough to retain his spot and the following week booted eight majors (and received 3 Brownlow Votes) against the Swans. Darren Bennett booted seven that day and the signs were encouraging that finally the Demons had a potent attack.

The following week he booted 6 goals against the Eagles in a match where Eagle half-forward Chris Lewis was cited for biting Todd Viney’s hand and copped a three-week suspension. In the following weeks Jakovich would kick bags of 6, 8, 7, 11, 5, 1, 3, 8 and 4. He booted 71 goals in his debut year and earnt the distinction of being the fastest player to score his first fifty goals: 9 games. He was the only player ever to top his club’s reserve grade and senior goal-kicking ladder in one season. His eleven goals, eight behinds and two out of bounds on the full against North Melbourne was perhaps the most extraordinary performance of any Melbourne forward in the history of the club.

Poor Mick Martyn had no answer that day. And Jaka let him know all about it.

“Once I was up and about and had kicked a couple, then I sort of let Micky know that day; look mate don’t worry about punching me in the back of the head, I’m going to make you look like a clown today.”

But even by April the following year alarm bells started to ring out. I could never quite work Jaka out and I certainly was not on my own in that regard. He was a loveable larrikin and a scoundrel. He was a showman and an entertainer. The day after Jaka was drafted back in 1990 Jim Durnan received constant phone calls from virtually all over Australia from people and businesses wanting contact details on the elusive character. He had borrowed money, had debts to pay and now that he was an AFL footballer surely, he would have enough money to pay back his debts.

I could never keep track of his movements off the field. He moved houses and units on a regular basis. Mobile phones had yet to take over our lives, so it was difficult to put in a call to see if he was ok and what he was up to. In the off season I wasn’t sure if he was back in Perth with his mum or up in Darwin fishing. He was a bit like the elusive ‘Scarlett Pimpernel’.

In April 1992 the legendary Age journalist Mike Sheahan wrote a feature article Great Expectations: Is Football Asking Too Much of Allen Jakovich? following coach John Northey’s comments on Jakovich’s performance despite a five-goal haul.

In it, Sheahan wrote: “he doesn’t look fit, he doesn’t chase often or hard enough, he doesn’t always play percentage football, and, in the best traditions of full forwards, he is no more likely to handpass than a bloke with one arm.” Sheahan noted that in a radio interview with 3UZ, Jakovich left no doubt that his liking for food was a far bigger problem than his relationship with the coach.

“I like to eat, and I like to eat well. Food is a problem. I don’t take the skin off my chicken,” he conceded.

But soon his battle with food and weight became a secondary problem to the difficulties he was having with his back. By 1994 his debilitating back problem required off season surgery. His rehabilitation was difficult, and he continued to battle his weight problems. The club had made the decision to delist him. I suggested we give Allen the opportunity to announce his “temporary retirement” to allow him time to fully recover from his injury rather than a cold delisting. A clearly emotional Allen Jakovich fronted the media in a small room at the Junction Oval and announced his “temporary retirement.”

Allen Jakovich was like a shooting star in the sky. He came and went in an instant but left an indelible mark on the club and the game with his mercurial feats.

In 1996 he made an ill-fated comeback with Footscray and I distinctly recall a nervous Neil Balme praying he wouldn’t “turn it on” the day the Demons ventured to the Western Oval to take on the Dogs. Jaka had a quiet day. He could only manage seven games and seven goals that season and quietly retired again from the game barely halfway through the season – this time for good.

It was great to see Jaka back at the Demons in 2018; the first time since leaving the club back in 1995. He is very much a loved figure and will always be remembered for giving the Demon supporters some of the most exciting and thrilling moments in the club’s history.

“I don’t know about the royalty mate. Maybe a mad, wild knight.” Allen Jakovich.

 

Read more from Richard Griffiths HERE

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