Bob Keddie

Bob Keddie (born 10 May 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and West Adelaide, South Adelaide and Glenelg in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

Keddie made his debut for Hawthorn in 1965 and in the subsequent seasons became a highly effective half forward flanker for the club. He was Hawthorn's best and fairest winner in 1967 and 1969 and for his performances at the 1969 Adelaide Carnival for Victoria he earned All Australian selection.

During the 1970 season and kicked 47 goals for the year. He was overshadowed however by teammate Peter Hudson who managed to kick 146 goals.

In the 1971 VFL Grand Final against St Kilda the Hawks were down by 20 points when Keddie was pushed to Full Forward (and Hudson to Centre Half Forward). They went on to win the game by seven points with Keddie kicking four final quarter goals and gaining hero status. Interestingly, in the week prior a Church billboard in the teams' eponymous home suburb carried the question "What would you do if Christ came to Hawthorn?", to which some wag had added "Move Peter Hudson to Centre Half-Forward". Thus Hawthorn fans regarded this move, when it actually happened during the game, as a good omen and Bob Keddie as a sort of saviour.

Keddie worked as a Physical Education teacher in the Victorian State School system at Belle Vue State school and is responsible for a strong cadre of "Hawks" from that generation.

Keddie left Hawthorn at the end of the 1972 season and became captain and coach of West Adelaide. Keddie played 18 games, kicking 14 goals and winning their Best and Fairest before moving on to rivals South Adelaide as captain in 1974, playing 53 games, kicking 71 goals and winning South's Best and Fairest in 1975. In 1977 Keddie played a final season with Glenelg, playing seven games and kicking two goals. During this time Keddie also played five games for South Australia, kicking four goals.

In the 1980s Keddie returned to Victoria and coached Sandringham Football Club to the 1985 flag.

He continued his teaching career into the 1980s, teaching primary at Wesley College until 1987. He then moved onto coaching Morningside Football Club in the Queensland State League in the early 90s and then South Launceston Football Club in the Tasmanian Football League. This is where his only child Alexandra Jane Keddie was born. He now resides back in Melbourne and is currently teaching at a high school.

External links

• Bob Keddie's statistics from AFL Tables
• Full Points Footy: Bob Keddie

References

• Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.