John Bennett (Australian footballer)
| John Bennett | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | John J. Bennett | ||
| Date of birth | 5 October 1960 | ||
| Original team(s) | East Brighton | ||
| Height/Weight | 183 cm / 83 kg | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1980-1983 1984 1985-1986 Total |
St Kilda Footscray St Kilda |
18 (16) 3 (8) 17 (25) 38 (49) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1986 season. | |||
John Bennett (born 5 October 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda and Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Bennett, a left-footed forward from East Brighton, first broke into the St Kilda team in the 1980 VFL season.[1][2] He made two appearances that year, in rounds six and ten, then injured his ankle and missed the rest of the season.[2][3][4] In 1981 he played 12 league games, with his best performance coming against South Melbourne at Waverley Park, where he had 23 disposals and kicked six goals.[2] In 1982 and 1983, he played just four games in total, also appearing for Sandringham in the latter year.[2]
In 1984, Bennett played for Footscray, but was only picked for three senior games, despite good performances in the reserves where he kicked 84 goals and won the reserve grade goal kicking.[2]
He returned to St Kilda in 1985 and made a career high 16 appearances that season.[2] His 25 goals were enough for him to finish second in the St Kilda goal-kicking, behind Tony Lockett.[2]
During the 1986 season, Bennett went back to Sandringham and played there for the rest of the decade, kicking over 200 goals.[5] He topped Sandringham's goal-kicking in 1987 and 1988.[6]
Bennett was coach of East Brighton throughout the 1990s, with premierships in 1991 (South East Suburban Football League) and 1993 (Southern Football League Division 1).[7] In the season of the 1991 premiership, Bennett kicked 116 goals.[7] He joined Heatherton as coach in 2002 and steered them to a Division 2 premiership in both 2006 and 2009.[8] His last season as coach was in 2010.
Beanie has coached over 300 games for 7 grand finals with 4 premierships. John has been a tremendous contributor to local footy and in 2015 was inducted into the Southern Football Netball League hall of fame and was described as classy, strong, skillful and a great leader.
Beanie as he is known around town is a regular contributor to the local radio show on 88.3FM on Sunday mornings His son, Josh Bennett, plays for Sandringham.[9]
References
- ↑ Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 9781920910785.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "John Bennett". AFL Tables.
- ↑ The Canberra Times, "Siren scores", 1 June 1980, p. 20
- ↑ The Age, "Dench out of luck", 4 June 1980, p. 31
- ↑ "Sandringham Football Club Player Encyclopedia". Sandringham Football Club.
- ↑ "Honourboard". Sandringham Football Club.
- 1 2 Moorabbin Leader, "Heatherton coach a keeper", 3 August 2009, Paul Amy
- ↑ "Honour Board". Heatherton Football Club.
- ↑ Herald Sun, "Josh Bennett signs with VFL club Sandringham and trains with the Saints", 12 November 2013