Geoff Blethyn This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. BomberBlitz.com: Blast From The Past

   www.bomberblitz.com/columnists - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/29/2004   Last Visited: 4/11/2007

   His name was Geoff Blethyn, and in the short time he was at Essendon, he was destined to leave his mark.
   
   He came to Windy Hill from St. Andrews in the Coburg and Northern Junior League. Prior to that, whilst attending Strathmore Primary School he had become a bit of a local legend when he kicked 25goals 2pts in a game against Parkville and by following it up a week later with 15 goals in a game against Strathmore North!
   ...
   Blethyn was only 17 years old but his light frame could climb packs and take "screamers" on the shoulders of other players. He was an accurate kick, and had pace and good ground skills, enabling him to play across the centre as well.
   
   Geoff Blethyn kicked 75 goals in 1968 for the Essendon seconds and managed to play twice for the seniors during the season. When the season was over, he must have been thinking longingly of the coming summer, when out of the blue, Essendon captain Ken Fraser suffered a knee injury in the Preliminary Final and coach Jack Clarke turned to Blethyn as the replacement for the Grand Final with the words "Just play your own natural game."
   
   And so, in front of 116,828 fans Geoff Blethyn lined up for Essendon in the 1968 Grand Final aged 17 and playing his third game.
   
   When asked in a recent radio interview what it was like lining up on Carlton stalwart Wes Lofts, Blethyn replied that Lofts tried to rough him up a bit and "questioned my heritage".
   ...
   By quarter time of the GF, Blethyn had kicked 2 goals and by the end of the day he finished with 4 out of the teams 8 goal total. He had a shot from a long way out on the boundary line in the dying minutes but in the blustery conditions his kick went behind the goal posts and Carlton were victors in a close game.
   ...
   When asked recently of his impression of Jack Clarke as a coach, Blethyn said "He was the best coach I ever had - so far in front of the others it wasn't funny".
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   By round 18 we were to play St.Kilda at the Junction Oval and there was great excitement at the ground that we were hoping to see Geoff Blethyn kick his 100th goal. When the moment finally arrived, it wasn't an incident without an equal measure of both drama and humour. Here's what happened.
   
   Blethyn recalled that he lined up for goal and sent a torpedo punt on it's way through the goals. The crowd erupted and thousands of fans swarmed on to the oval to congratulate him. His team mates - unused to such goings on - were slow to react and Blethyn found himself being pushed from pillar to post by the huge crowd.
   ...
   Team mates have their act together by now and protect Blethyn from the swarming masses. The affectionate horse took a shine to Blethyn, and left slobber all over his face and glasses !!! The trainers had the task of trying to clear his glasses enough for him to see through.
   
   In 1973 Blethyn decided to follow a job opportunity In WA and left the Dons - he was just 22 years old. He played for Claremont in the west and returned to Victoria in 1976 for one year, playing as an on-baller.
   
   Then in 1977 he transferred to Adelaide (where he lives to this day) and went into business for himself. He played in Port Adelaide's premiership side in that year and after retiring from football, he helped out as assistant coach at Glenelg until a growing business required all his attention.
   
   Blethyn grew up with flair and a great self belief instilled in him by his parents who told him he could achieve anything.