Career: 1974-1982
Games: 178
Goals: 444
Brownlow Medal: 82 career votes
Guernsey numbers: 15
Height: 182cm
Weight: 89kg
DOB: 16 February 1950 (Debut: 24y 58d, last game: 32y 207d)
Recruited from: Woodville
Probably one of the most asked questions about football is, "Who is the greatest player of all time?" Quite obviously, it could never be resolved to the satisfation of all, but among the contenders would have to be Malcolm Blight, whose genius dazzled players and spectators throughout his long and award-studded career. A toast of his native State, South Australia and his adopted State, Victoria, it was fortunate that Ron Joseph signed him for the Kangaroos when he did, because he had wonderful opportunities, while at Arden Street during North's sensational seventies, to display his talents and to bring glory to the club as well.
While with Woodville in the SANFL, he had won the Magarey Medal, and so he came across to Melbourne with a high reputation, and live up to it he did. His aerial work was spectacular and effective, and he capped off these attributes with phenomenal kicking ability.
His most celebrate instance of drawing on all these talents was a match against Carlton at Princes Park, on 5 June 1976. In one of the most extraordinary finishes ever in any VFL matches, as the clock ticked away in the dying moments of the game, which the Blues appeared to have well and truly in the bag, North came back from the dead, principally through the agency of Malcolm Blight.
With three sensational goals in the time-on period, his marking strength and superb kicking ability saw North home to victory by five points. Accepting a pass on chest from Xavier Tanner, a little to the left of centre half-forward, he kicked truly for two flags. Moments later, Peter Chisnall shot the ball across to Malcolm in the forward pocket, right hand side or northern side. He was about 40 metres out, on a very acute angle, so he tried a high trajectory banana kick that cleared the big sticks and left his side just one point down.
With literally seconds to go, Blight outfoxed Mark Maclure to tighten his grop on a pass from Mark Dawson. As North's number 15 went back to take his kick the siren sounded, requiring him to kick a booming 85 to 90 metre shot to seal the match for the Roos by five points.
His kick, live the previous two was captued on Channel 7's videotape, one of the most sensational of all of time, being long enough to make the distance and high enough to pass above the outstretched hands of the Carlton defenders, Not surprisingly, in the welter of stunned players and hysterical North spectators Blight was chaired off the ground, his heroic efforts satisfactorily concluded.
This episode encapsulated superbly the genius that was Malcolm Blight. It was an entire season of that calibre that won him the 1978 Brownlow Medal, making him the first player to win the Fairest and Best award in both the Adelaide and Melbourne competitions. He was also North's first Coleman Medallist in 1982, amassing 103 goals for the season, and equalling Doug Wade's record for the club. That was the fourth time that he headed North's goal kicking; in 1978 he put through 77, and in the following year his tally was 60. Two years later, it was 70.
The North club gave him the compliment of naming him Barassi's successor as coach in 1981, with Wayne Schimmelbusch his captain. In mid season he decided that the job of coaching the Roos at that time was not for him, and he stepped down to continue as a player. The following week, under the new coach, Barry Cable, North played Footscray at the Western Oval and Malcolm evidenced his maturity and judgement by booting 11 goals, six behinds for the match, at that point a North record.
He played for Victoria five times and captained this State's team twice. While this account is restricted to his years at Arden Street, it should be noted that his playing and coaching careers long survived his years with the royal blue and white.
And the true estimate of his contribution to Australian Football in both South Australia and Victoria, as well as the regard with which he is held, was the decision to name the State of Origin Cup for competition between these two States in his name.
This likeable person and this extremely talented footballer, who was a member of both 1975 and 1977 premiership sides, and who won the Brownlow Medal, is still regarded as one of North's favourite sons, and its supporters are proud that he holds life membership with the club.
His playing career stretched from 1974 to 1982, during which he played in 178 matches and kicked 444 goals. In 1981, he coached North on 16 occasions for six wins, including North's greatest ever winning margin over Melbourne of 129 points at VFL Park. Blight was named in 1996 as a member of the AFL's Inaugral Hall of Fame.
Profile from 'The North Story'
VFL/AFL: 8631st player to appear
North Melbourne: 666th player to appear
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