Darrel John Baldock (29 September 1938 – 2 February 2011) was an Australian sportsman and state politician. He played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL), East Devonport Football Club and Latrobe Football Club in the North West Football Union (NWFU), and New Norfolk Football Club in the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL). He was also a handy

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, successful racehorse trainer and served in the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

. Nicknamed "The Doc" and "Mr Magic", Baldock is a legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He represented both Victoria and Tasmania in interstate matches, and captained St Kilda to its first premiership. He also served as senior coach of Latrobe and St Kilda.

Early life

Darrell Baldock representing Tasmanian underage side in Brisbane from The Examiner 30 June 1953 pg 15

Born to Reginald Cecil Baldock and Jean Robertson Purdie, Baldock made his junior football debut for East Devonport in Tasmania's now defunct North-West Football Union in 1955 at the age of 16. He was selected in the NWFU team for intrastate matches and won the club best and fairest award that year. Even then, Baldock was already famous for his ball handling skills and balance. Baldock played 71 games for East Devonport before he switched to Latrobe in 1959. At the age of 20, Baldock became the youngest player ever to captain Tasmania.

VFL career

A ready-made player, Baldock ventured across

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

to play for St Kilda in the

(VFL), where he had an instant impact. Baldock played at centre half-forward and was made captain of St Kilda's " Team of the Century" in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and also named as the initial "legend" in the St Kilda Football Club Hall of Fame in 2003. In 1969, Baldock returned to Tasmania and captain-coached Latrobe to four consecutive NWFU premierships from 1969 to 1972, and ultimately played 158 games for Latrobe. He then played four games for

New Norfolk New Norfolk ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#Big River, Leenowwenne/palawa kani: ''Wulawali'') is a river bank, riverside town located on the Derwent River (Tasmania), River Derwent in southeastern Tasmania, Australia. Established in 1807, it is Tasm ...

in 1974 before retiring to commence his parliamentary career.

Other matches

Baldock also played six pre-season/night series matches for St Kilda, 25 matches in interstate football (10 for Victoria and 15 for Tasmania), and 20 matches for the North-West Football Union in intrastate football in Tasmania. If these are included, Baldock played a total of 403 senior career matches in Tasmania and Victoria. Some sources list Baldock as playing 397 senior career matches, excluding his pre-season/night series matches for St Kilda.

Political career

Baldock was one of four

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

candidates elected to the

on 22 April 1972 to represent the Division of Wilmot. Under Premier Bill Neilson, he was first appointed Minister for Housing and Social Welfare on 31 March 1975. He also served as Minister for Municipal Planning, Main Roads and Transport. Baldock resigned on 30 June 1987 to become coach of St Kilda.

Coaching career

Prior to Baldock's return to Moorabbin in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, the Saints had finished the previous four VFL seasons at the bottom of the ladder. Just as during his playing days, Baldock's impact on the club was immediate. He set about improving the skill level of the playing group, appointed Danny Frawley as captain and guided the talented but wayward full-forward

Tony Lockett Anthony Howard Lockett (born 9 March 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Nicknamed "Plugger", he played as a full forward, full-forwar ...

to become the first footballer to win the

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most Laws of Australian rules football#Scoring, goals in the Australian Football League#Premiership season, home- ...

and the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

in the same year. But just when it looked like St Kilda might reach the finals, Baldock suffered a minor

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. He continued to coach for a further two years.

Family and later life

Baldock married Margaret Elizabeth Williams on 26 March 1960. Together they had three children – one son (who was killed in a car accident in 1981) and two daughters. After retiring, Baldock returned to Tasmania where he raced horses. His biography, ''Darrel Baldock – The Incomparable Mr Magic'', was written by his friend Peter Lyons and published in June 2010. Baldock suffered from illness in his final years. He died at the Mersey Community Hospital in the early evening of 2 February 2011 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

following a fourth stroke. A

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

was held at

Latrobe, Tasmania Latrobe is a town in northern Tasmania, Australia on the Mersey River (Australia), Mersey River. It is 8 km south-east of Devonport, Tasmania, Devonport on the Bass Highway (Tasmania), Bass Highway. It is the main centre of the Latrobe Co ...

, on 11 February 2011. Those present included the St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt, vice-captain Lenny Hayes, coach Ross Lyon, club president Greg Westaway, chief executive Michael Nettlefold and premiership teammate

Kevin Neale Kevin Neale (18 July 1945 – 16 September 2023) was an Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda Football Club, St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Later in his career, he was a player-coach or captain-coach for a numbe ...

. The AFL was represented by commissioner Graeme John, who had played against Baldock for

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

Honours

Baldock was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in its inception in 1996 (as a player) and was upgraded to

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

in 2006. In 2004, he was named on the half forward flank and as captain in the Tasmanian Team of The Century. Baldock was also honoured by having the Northern Tasmania Football League Best and Fairest medal named after him. To this day, the Darrel Baldock Medal is presented to the best and fairest senior player in the

North West Football League The North West Football League (NWFL) is an Australian rules football competition in North West Tasmania. The league was previously known as the Northern Tasmanian Football League (NTFL) from its inception in 1987 until the end of the 2014 seaso ...

. On 26 January 1991, Baldock was named a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in recognition of service to the Tasmanian parliament and to Australian rules football. On 24 October 2000, he was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

for his contribution to Australian Football. In April 2014, at the entrance of the Latrobe Recreation Ground, the Darrel Baldock Memorial, which included a larger-than-life statue of Baldock and a garden, was unveiled at a public ceremony with friends and family in attendance. The project was completed over three years and cost $400,000, drawn from both state and federal funding as well as corporate and community donations to a memorial fund.

References

Sources

* Atkinson, G. (1982) ''Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian rules football but couldn't be bothered asking'', The Five Mile Press: Melbourne. .

External links

* * *
St Kilda honour roll
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldock, Darrel 1938 births 2011 deaths All-Australians (1953–1988) Australian sportsperson-politicians Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Tasmania Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Deaths from pneumonia in Tasmania Deaths from kidney failure in Australia Infectious disease deaths in Tasmania East Devonport Football Club players Latrobe Football Club players Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly New Norfolk Football Club players Sportspeople from Devonport, Tasmania St Kilda Football Club coaches St Kilda Football Club players St Kilda Football Club premiership players Tasmania cricketers Trevor Barker Award winners Australian cricketers Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Cricketers from Tasmania Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees VFL/AFL premiership players