A Statue of Jock McHale?

[Piesnchess]

<Split from the Dick Lee Hall of Fame thread - BBMods>

Thought id tag this in here, because it seems an appropriate thread for it. I want to know when is the bloody AFL gong to put a Statue outside the MCG to the great Jock McHale, one of, if not the, greatest Coach of all time, and was a great player, 250 games, i think, and played in or coached, 8 Premierships, like its outrageous he hasnt got a statue, that little Hungry bastard from Richmond has one, so come on, AFL, what about ol Jock, surely he deserves one.??

[inxs88]

Apparently 8 flags wasn't enough

[Jezza]

Longest serving coach and the most flags as a coach.

Certainly deserves a statue. Always irks me he was overlooked as VFL/AFL Team of the Century coach.

[masoncox]

Jock is not remembered by most people because it was too long ago.
Prefer a statue for Steven Milnes missing the bounce of the ball followed by The daft kicking at goal from 15m out and missing by Peter Sumich.
The best Collingwood moments of all time

[3rd degree]

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

When are we going to let go of the great Jock McHale and create our own dynasty at the club moving forward?

[BEAMER09]

[Piesnchess]

[Hiss]

Should be at Victoria Park next to Tony Shaw.

[Lazza]

[Presti35]

The vital piece of information that you're forgetting is that he is a Collingwood legend and identity.

There's no doubt that the club he represents has an impact on his place in history and any accolades he shall be given.

Jack Regan being passed on as the ToC fullback over the then current posterboy (and not one player in the final team). Dick Lee yet to be elevated as an AFL legend. Gordon Coventry not elevated in the inaugural legends. The allowing of teams to cover up the Coventry name at Marvel Stadium. There's plenty of evidence.

Sometimes it's like the club never existed.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

The best way of honoring their legacies is by creating a new dynasty. They’d be turning over in their graves at some of the things we’ve done in the last decade.

[David]

I'm not saying this is how things should be, but this is how things work in the football world: if the average football journalist, commentator or TV show panellist has personal memories of someone playing or coaching the game, then they're a "legend". Otherwise, they're just a name in the record books that only football historians and stats nerds like Col Hutchinson care about. That memory-holing is already happening to stars of the 1960s like Bob Skilton and Ted Whitten – think about it, when did you last hear their names mentioned during a game, or on a football show, or in a newspaper article? – let alone someone like McHale, who was a dominant figure of the first half of the twentieth century, well before anyone working in football media was born.

I absolutely think that the AFL should show more interest in its history and support Presti35's campaign to have Dick Lee given his due, but I think if we're being realistic, the chances of a McHale statue ever being built are already very low and dwindling even further with every decade that passes. A more complicated question is whether we need statues to pay homage to the greats of the game (or how much a statue can really do to preserve someone's legacy).

Edit: A related question – does anyone know what the backstory was of renaming Victoria Park "McHale Stadium" back in 1999, and why that name didn't stick? (At least, I haven't heard it referred to as such for well over a decade, and Wikipedia lists it as a "former name".)

[Presti35]

Cheers David.

It's also worth noting that Jock does have one honour already named after him and is mentioned every GF day.

[Piesnchess]