GREAT Footy Incidents

Herald Sun – date unknown

The day Percy and Tony got all psyched up

It was the day when two macho football coaches went into battle over a sports psychologist.

It was September 6, 1980 when Peter Jones’ Carlton met Tony Jewell’s Tigers in a qualifying final at VFL Park.

Today it becomes the third in our series of “Great Footy Incidents”.

Carlton had won 17 out of 22 games and went into the game slight favourite over third-placed Richmond (16½ wins).

By quarter-time the Tigers led by 26 points with Kevin Bartlett on fire and Carlton smallman Ken Sheldon badly concussed.

“Percy” Jones takes up the story:  “I came storming on to the ground after Graeme Landy had cleaned up Kenny Sheldon,” he recalled.

“Standing in the Richmond huddle with a grin on his face was Rudi Webster (a West Indian-born motivator who had switched clubs).

“When Carlton won the flag in 1970-72-79, he was first on to the ground to grab the cup and there he was with Richmond.

“I let him have it telling him he was a Carlton supporter and all those other things about colour that you are not allowed to say today.

“As we left the ground at quarter-time I gave him another serve and then noticed Tony Jewell coming towards me.

“I knew he could go a bit and I didn’t want anything to happen in front of all the people but when he pushed me, I gave him a shove back.”

The next day Jones, Jewell and Webster appeared on World of Sport, something Jones remembers well.

“Rudi had been told by Richmond not to speak to the media, but he couldn’t help himself, being the all-knowing wise old sage that he was.

“He got a lot of laughs out of the line ‘it’s the first time two white men have fought over me’.

“Wes Lofts (a teammate of Jones at the Blues) and I actually rang him last week to ask him how he copped the West Indians getting beaten (by Australia in their Test cricket series).

“We forgot it was 3am in New York when we rang which probably explains why he didn’t have much to say.”

Webster, who was employed by several league clubs as an amateur psychologist, now works for the United Nations. 

Jones, Jewell and their wives, Jan and Marg, were seen laughing about the incident at the Carlton-Essendon match last weekend.  

But if Jewell had followed his instincts, it may have ended differently.

“When Percy came running towards me yelling out I did seriously think about dropping him but then I heard our fitness man Peter Grant yell out ‘don’t, TJ’, he said.

“By the time we’d won the game and the press arrived asking all about it, I’d fair dinkum forgotten, just because I would get that intense during a game.

“Some politician trying to make a name for himself actually brought the incident up in State Parliament complaining about violence in football, but it didn’t go anywhere.

“These days Percy and I laugh about it over a beer.”