All time great sprays

[Kreuzers Crusaders]

Well following Aurelio Vidmar's spray after his p*ss-ant United went double bagel against the Victory, I was thinking about some of the all time great sprays, but I'm sure there's plenty more out there, here's a few that spring to mind. Here's just a few footy ones.

Bomber Thompson "All of you, All of you"
Alastair Clarkson having a crack at the journo from Tassie
Mick Malthouse pretty much every week

 

[The Boy From Brasil]

Probably the most famous one is the "Pathetic Pittmann" Malcolm Blight press conference after Adelaides first loss in Melbourne under him.

Interesting enough, on the exact same day as Blights spray, Terry Wallace(coaching the bulldogs) gave an equally big spray but it went under the media radar because of Blight's one. Geoff Poulter had written an article earlier saying that the style of football the bulldogs were playing, they should lock the gates at Western Oval to keep the fans in. Well the dogs narrowly won and Wallace gave it to Poulter both barrels at the press conference. To Poulters credit, he gave as good as he got, and the two of them are abusing the hell out of each other whilst the other journos are trying to ask questions about the game.

 

[mark73]

Probably the most famous one is the "Pathetic Pittmann" Malcolm Blight press conference after Adelaides first loss in Melbourne under him.

Interesting enough, on the exact same day as Blights spray, Terry Wallace(coaching the bulldogs) gave an equally big spray but it went under the media radar because of Blight's one. Geoff Poulter had written an article earlier saying that the style of football the bulldogs were playing, they should lock the gates at Western Oval to keep the fans in. Well the dogs narrowly won and Wallace gave it to Poulter both barrels at the press conference. To Poulters credit, he gave as good as he got, and the two of them are abusing the hell out of each other whilst the other journos are trying to ask questions about the game.

I would've said the most famous one would be Ron Barassi to Gerard Healy and Shane Zantuck in about 1981. Or alternatively when coaching North in the late 70's and Ross Henshaw was having a shocker and Barassi called him a ****ing weak **** in the huddle.

 

[The Boy From Brasil]

I would've said the most famous one would be Ron Barassi to Gerard Healy and Shane Zantuck in about 1981. Or alternatively when coaching North in the late 70's and Ross Henshaw was having a shocker and Barassi called him a ****ing weak **** in the huddle.

I think the Henshaw one was in pre season 1979 in a practice game.Was that the "Ross, you are a weak *** and I will tell you why"?

For North Melbourne supporters, if you ever get the chance to rent "Year of the Dogs" there is about 25-30 minutes of footage in the extras, of North Melbournes pre season under Barassi. Some vintage sprays are contained in that.

 

[Minka Beaver]

Probably the most famous one is the "Pathetic Pittmann" Malcolm Blight press conference after Adelaides first loss in Melbourne under him.

Interesting enough, on the exact same day as Blights spray, Terry Wallace(coaching the bulldogs) gave an equally big spray but it went under the media radar because of Blight's one. Geoff Poulter had written an article earlier saying that the style of football the bulldogs were playing, they should lock the gates at Western Oval to keep the fans in. Well the dogs narrowly won and Wallace gave it to Poulter both barrels at the press conference. To Poulters credit, he gave as good as he got, and the two of them are abusing the hell out of each other whilst the other journos are trying to ask questions about the game.

'Plough's spray was a ripper - he had the article in front of him and was quoting it piece by piece, after which came that wonderful argument between the two.

Meanwhile, a few other Malcolm Blight belters:

1) walking around the huddle at Princes Park, screaming at his Adelaide players (in particular Matt Connell) from behind

2) sending Austin McCrabb to stand on his own in the middle of Waverley Park during a 3/4 time address when coach of Geelong (1990 from memory)

3) the infamous "ladder treatment" meted out to the Adelaide players in 1999

4) teaching Lucas Herbert "a lesson" by taking him interstate to play at the MCG, then refusing to bring him onto the ground at any stage of the game

5) putting Trent Ormond-Allen into the ruck at Waverley Park after he'd previously shirked a contest

6) taking the St Kilda players back out onto the Docklands arena after they conceded a ten goal last term against Melbourne to lose in 2001. Trainers weren't even allowed to tend to injuries while Blight berated his players in front of a then-empty stadium

Personally though, I've always had a soft spot for Ken Sheldon bawling out Craig Davenport at the MCG against Collingwood in 1992. In a close game, Devonport broke a team rule, which resulted in Sheldon not only dragging his player, but actually running down to the fence himself so he could abuse his player in front of 80,000 people while the game continued behind them. Probably the best spray I've seen at the game's top level.

 

[Stevie_Crow]

Thread has great potential!

 

[rodda]

Maxy Hudghton vs Matt Maguire last year

 

[Deefolt]

i agree to a previous poster, barass has had some nice ones, the ones against melbourne and nth melbourne stand out a bit.

 

[Jascave]

Ron Barassi's blast to his North Melbourne team in 1979.

[YOUTUBE]ZmlVMnLZhRM[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Durham Eagle]

Mal Brown making South Fremantle do drills at halftime in a particuarly poor performance against Swans(I think)
Another sport I know, but Nick Saban then coach of the Miami Dolphins is a middle aged guy of about 5 foot 8. At pre-season training in his first year at Miami he made a 300+ pound player burst into tears.
I saw Saban giving press conferences when he was coach of LSU & I'd reckon he's the angriest coach I've ever seen.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

That Barassi spray is one of the most pathetic things I've seen in football. Belittling individual players in front of their team mates. Poor form Ron, and you were only a successful coach at clubs who could buy the right players. Over-rated to the extreme.

I especially love the point where he's paying out the guy saying "you could have intercepted the ball and prevented the 1st goal, or the 2nd goal, or whatever it was .... and you probably don't even know what I'm talking about". Ron didn't even know what HE was talking about, let alone the player.

An if it was the 1st or 2nd goal, it probably happened early in the quarter, and the player had put in another 20-25 minutes of footy since then. What a blowhard.

 

[davey_magik]

Was it Blight or Barassi who admitted one of his coaching techniques was turning off the lights in the rooms and throwing chairs around?

 

[jonoman89]

That Barassi spray is one of the most pathetic things I've seen in football. Belittling individual players in front of their team mates. Poor form Ron, and you were only a successful coach at clubs who could buy the right players. Over-rated to the extreme.

I especially love the point where he's paying out the guy saying "you could have intercepted the ball and prevented the 1st goal, or the 2nd goal, or whatever it was .... and you probably don't even know what I'm talking about". Ron didn't even know what HE was talking about, let alone the player.

An if it was the 1st or 2nd goal, it probably happened early in the quarter, and the player had put in another 20-25 minutes of footy since then. What a blowhard.

So what bought players did we have in 1968?

 

[Minka Beaver]

That Barassi spray is one of the most pathetic things I've seen in football. Belittling individual players in front of their team mates. Poor form Ron, and you were only a successful coach at clubs who could buy the right players. Over-rated to the extreme.

I especially love the point where he's paying out the guy saying "you could have intercepted the ball and prevented the 1st goal, or the 2nd goal, or whatever it was .... and you probably don't even know what I'm talking about". Ron didn't even know what HE was talking about, let alone the player.

An if it was the 1st or 2nd goal, it probably happened early in the quarter, and the player had put in another 20-25 minutes of footy since then. What a blowhard.

I just love the bit where after having a go at Darryl Sutton, he turns to Steven Icke and gives him a spray. Cut to Icke (I think?) picking his nose!

Brilliant stuff!

Barassi was a brilliant coach and tactician.

 

[dyl_tigerman]

hey guys what was the spray that was on the hawks membership drive last year...

 

[UpForGrabs]

Personally though, I've always had a soft spot for Ken Sheldon bawling out Craig Davenport at the MCG against Collingwood in 1992. In a close game, Devonport broke a team rule, which resulted in Sheldon not only dragging his player, but actually running down to the fence himself so he could abuse his player in front of 80,000 people while the game continued behind them. Probably the best spray I've seen at the game's top level.

Must've worked - didn't Davenport end up winning the game for them that day?

 

[stabler]

That Barassi spray is one of the most pathetic things I've seen in football. Belittling individual players in front of their team mates. Poor form Ron, and you were only a successful coach at clubs who could buy the right players. Over-rated to the extreme.

I especially love the point where he's paying out the guy saying "you could have intercepted the ball and prevented the 1st goal, or the 2nd goal, or whatever it was .... and you probably don't even know what I'm talking about". Ron didn't even know what HE was talking about, let alone the player.

An if it was the 1st or 2nd goal, it probably happened early in the quarter, and the player had put in another 20-25 minutes of footy since then. What a blowhard.

Actually, singling out individual players for criticism is a pretty effective way of making damn sure players don't **** up out on the field. It keeps the players constantly on their feet and alert so as to avoid the full wrath of the coach putting them down in front of their teammates.

No doubt Barass learnt this technique under Norm Smith who would routinely single out Barass for a spray infront of the whole team. Smithy would let a player know exactly what he thought of them and wouldn't hesitate to take them apart verbally.

Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in some of his half time addresses.

 

[Woodside Hawk]

hey guys what was the spray that was on the hawks membership drive last year...

I think you're referring to John Kennedy's famous "Don't think - do something" speech.

Here's an excerpt from the Wiki page on him:

In the 1975 Grand Final, his exhortation to the Hawthorn players at half time was: "Don't think, don't hope, do! Do something! Come off the ground and say 'I did this, I shepherded, I played on. At least I did something.'"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kennedy_(Australian_football)

 

[geejay76]

Durham Eagle - Mal Brown making South Fremantle do drills at halftime in a particuarly poor performance against Swans(I think).

Yes I remember that one - it was definitely against Swans, from memory it was in 1982. I remember being very confused about it at the time, not half as confused as the players who were scampering around the little league players, mind you Mal had a pretty good reason to send them out, they were only about 20 goals or so behind.