Alex Jesaulenko

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Alex 'Jezza' Jesaulenko (born 2 August 1945 in Salzburg, Austria) is a former champion Australian rules footballer who is rated by many as one of the greatest players of all time.

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[edit] Early life

His father was Ukrainian and mother Russian. The family emigrated to Canberra, Australia in 1949. Initially the young Jesaulenko played soccer, then Rugby union; not playing Australian rules until he was 14 years old.

He began playing at the Eastlake Football Club in Canberra.

[edit] Carlton career

Beginning in 1967, he played 256 games and kicked 424 goals with the club. A spectacular and popular player of the 1970s, Jesaulenko was renowned for his high marking and goal kicking. He kicked 115 goals in 1970 and played in the famous Grand Final that year before a record MCG crowd of 121,000 fans in which Carlton came from behind (44 points down at half-time) to win the premiership against Collingwood. Popularly known as "Jezza", he was the playing coach of the 1979 Carlton premiership team, perhaps his finest moment in football. "Jezza" was the last playing coach in the VFL/AFL to win a premiership. He was All-Australian in 1969 and 1972, and played in the 1968, 1970, 1972 and 1979 premierships with Carlton.

[edit] 1970 Grand Final

He is best remembered for taking a spectacular mark in the 1970 Grand Final against Collingwood, where the famous commentary has Mike Williamson shouting "Jesaulenko, you beauty!". This "specky" is acclaimed by some to be the "Mark of the Century". This sparked Carlton's giant comeback against Collingwood in the game as they went on to win the Grand Final.

[edit] Later Carlton career

He had pay disputes with the club in 1977 and, having made his "solidarity" with George Harris an issue of his continued presence at Carlton, and having taken the position that "if he goes, I go" he cut all ties with Carlton at the end of 1979 after president George Harris was removed from office.

He was succeeded by stop-gap coach Peter Kevin "Percy" Jones (who had been given the nick-name "Percy" by Adrian Gallagher's uncle, Murray Gallagher, for reasons best known to the two men involved, after the movie Percy about a young man with a very large grafted-on appendage), who was, in his turn, abruptly replaced by David Parkin.

Mid-1989 Jesaulenko returned to again coach Carlton until the end of 1990.

[edit] St Kilda career

St Kilda went to great lengths to sign him as a player-coach. He played 23 games and kicked 20 goals for the Saints in 1980-1981, scoring a draw and a win in his first two games with the club. He stayed on for one more season as St Kilda coach.

[edit] Post football

He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, and today works with VISY Recycling in Melbourne.

He has adjudicated the Mark of the Year competition since 2005.

In 2006, Jesaulenko was featured in a Toyota Memorable Moments commercial with Stephen Curry, recreating his mark in the 1970 Grand Final in a comedic manner which involved a crane to relive that mark he took almost 40 years ago.

[edit] External links

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