Golden Soft Sombrero Moment with Guy McKenna

Achievements:                       

West Coast Eagles AFL Legend

Inaugural coach of the Gold Coast Suns AFL team

Diegos Verdict:                       

Use to live in Perth Glory territory and now lives in Gold Coast United territory - that’s enough for the Four Diegos.

Some Golden Soft Sombrero Moments with Guy McKenna

McKenna on captaincy…

Diegos: “Congratulations on being appointed captain of the Eagles for the coming season.

As a captain will you adopt the Johnny Worsfold – ‘Mad Pharmacist, Mad Stare, Scare the Living Daylights out of the Opposition’ approach or a more ‘Peace to all men, Dalai Lama’ approach to leadership?”

McKenna: “I tend to adopt the Dalai Lama type approach. I’m pretty much a ball player. Unlike ‘Woosher’, I go out and seek the ball more than the man.

He used to think that the opposition was out there to get in his way and as a consequence, he used to go out of his way to get in their way. I’m not as grumpy as John was on the field. I enjoy getting the ball and giving it to my teammates whereas John used to enjoy hurting people.

I will definitely employ a different approach to Johnny Worsfold that’s for sure.”

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

McKenna on Malthouse…

Diegos: “Speaking of the Dalai Lama, you’ve spent much of your AFL career playing under the intense yet strangely likeable, Mick Malthouse.

Last season in one press conference he sent hard-nosed footy reporters scurrying for their Year 8 Latin books after he broke into some Latin prose when evaluating the game.

In your opinion has he mellowed over the years or has he merely gone mad?”

McKenna: “I’d hate to say that he has gone mad because I intend playing under him for a few years yet. Implying that he is will, I imagine, hurt my footy career.

When he first came across he was pretty hard nosed in setting down the guidelines for the players and in mapping out the direction that the club was going to be heading.

He still imposes the same rules as he did in those early days but at times, when appropriate, he allows them to be bent a bit but certainly never broken.

He still delivers the same sort of hard and fast message and the players are still responding to it.”

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

McKenna on Mickey’s pep talks in Latin…

Diegos: “ At the three quarter time huddle when things aren’t going so well, has he ever tried to get the boys to lift their game by unleashing a tirade 12^th century Latin equivalents of ‘Take a good hard look in the mirror McKenna or stop whimping it McIntosh’?”

McKenna: “I think he accuses us all of never getting beyond Grade 3 so I’d imagine all that Latin stuff would go straight over our heads.

When Mick wants to fire people up he’s pretty basic and he gets straight to the point. He certainly doesn’t beat around the bush.”

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

McKenna on being a ‘ball hungry hog’…

Diegos: “The Eagles have been well known for their magnificent rebound footy from the half back line.

There is no better sight for sore Sandgroper eyes than watching you, Peter Matera and Glen Jakovich grabbing the pill, running and bouncing, running and bouncing. It is thrilling for the crowd but l often wonder about your teammates.

Do they ever accuse you of being a ball hungry hog?”

McKenna: “All the time! When ‘Roo’ does it I even end up having a go at him. I yell myself hoarse screaming for the ball from Glen Jakovich during the game sometimes. I just wish they would share it around, at least with me anyway.

It certainly is a strength of the team and obviously with the turnover of players, we now have the likes of David Wirrapunda and Daniel Metropolis giving us run from the back half. It is good but sometimes we do go on our own merry way running down the ground ‘hogging’ the ball, which does prompt our teammates to get a touch frustrated.

It’s a style of play that Hawthorn adopted in the early 80’s and we have refined in the late 80’s and early 90’s.

We feel that it has definitely worked for us. A lot of the top sides such as North Melbourne have the likes of David King continuously rebounding from the back line, creating the impetus for attack. That’s the type of strategy that we like adopting.”

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

McKenna on Ben Cousins on and off the park…

Diegos: “The Eagles movie star goal sneak, Ben Cousins, since bursting on to the scene a couple seasons ago, has not only earned as impressive reputation for his footy skills but also earned a Guernsey on the bedroom wall of many of the club's dizzy footy nymphet groupies.

Do you find that many of the older Eagles players attempt to tag Ben socially so he can take them to where all the action is?"

McKenna: "Maybe not so much the action but perhaps to pick up the crumbs. Ben gets hammered left, right and centre.

Now that he has made a name for himself, he is attracting his fair share of attention on the field in a physical way and also off the field with some of the more enamored fans.

I think some of the tags off the field are a lot harder to shake than the tags on the field. But having said that, I think Ben tends to work harder to shake his tags on the field than he does off the field.”

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

McKenna on AFL calendars…

Diegos: “At 30 years of age, you are moving into the veteran stage of your career.

Nowadays the young pretty boys coming through the ranks are often asked to get their gear off and pose for the "Men for All Seasons" AFL calendar. 

How would you react to the AFL recruiting the more mature players, like yourself, to pose in a magazine targeting the older, more worldly women's market called "Men for All Women Experiencing Mid-life Crisis" AFL calendar? Would you accept the gig?"

McKenna: "I think accepting a gig in a magazine targeting women going through a mid life crisis would be accepting that I may be at that same stage.

I often though, have thought of being involved in a ‘Golden Oldies’ calendar, targeting the more ‘wiser’ members of the Eagle’s supporter base.

That would really give some of the veterans of the club such as the Materas, Mainwarings, Kemps and obviously myself, a chance to strut their stuff in a glossy centrefold for a change. I think it would be worth its weight in gold.”

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

McKenna on the Eagles young guns…

Diegos: “The Eagles tend to unveil at least one young superstar each season. Which of the Eagles' young guns are in for a big season 1999?"

McKenna: "I don’t want to lump any pressure on them but, of the young guns, David Wirrapunda is certainly taking steps in the right direction playing out of a back pocket. A rookie who got through our tough preseason was Andrew Embley.

He is already showing great promise and looks to be staking a claim for that Ben Cousins type mantle over the next couple of years.”

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

McKenna on the Eagles recruiting…

Diegos: “It’s amazing how the Eagles keep on coming up with this rare talent. They seem to come from nowhere. You must have a quiet assembly line tucked away somewhere?

McKenna: “We find them at about 14 or 15 years of age and hide them in a box.

All the other scouts go off and recruit someone else and when there gone, we just unlock the padlock and pick them up in the draft at about number 120 like the Kemps and the Headys were, and then make them into footballers.”

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

McKenna on the Eagles fans…

Diegos: “As the head Eagle on the field, have you a message for the fanatical Eagles fans out there?

McKenna: " We‘ve bounced off the bottom at position number 7 on the ladder and we’re on our way up.

How far we go will depend on our attitude but if its anything like we’ve shown so far this summer, we are in for a big year.

Everyone is beating to one drum and we are looking forward to a very successful year.”

Diegos: "Thanks Guy. Good luck for the season. You better brush up on the Latin; you may need it in Micky's team talks. Adios amigo!"

McKenna: "Thanks Diegos. Mick can speak any language and l think I'll always get the gist of what he is saying. Adios amigos!"

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999