Peter McKenna was, as one Werribee supporter, put it to me, almost a Beatle in the Seventies such was his popularity. When he was not kicking bags of goals for the black and white, he was recording pop songs, hosting TV shows and appearing on the radio. For those too young to remember Peter as a player, in his 180 games for Collingwood he kicked 838 goals. That is an average of over 4 and a half goals a game. Imagine kicking 147 goals in a season and not winning the goalkicking award, he did that, thanks to Peter Hudson. Peter spoke at the President's pre game dinner on Saturday night and told stories not of his goal kicking exploits,he is too humble for that. He spoke about becoming Collingwood's full forward because he was petrified of playing on 'Bluey' Shelton (his boyhood idol) and asked coach Bob Rose to move him from centre half forward to full forward "because I will be a better player for the team there". He spoke about choosing between continuing to host the original 'Hey Hey it's Saturday' with Daryl Somers or playing for Collingwood, as the club gave him the ultimatum. As he so amusingly reflected, he choose footy while 'Hey Hey" went for 28 years and made Daryl a multi millionaire. Peter captivated the audience who wanted more, but the main game started. Peter and his wife Marita had a great time and he happily signed autographs and posed for pictures. Just like in his playing days, he was all class on Saturday night.
Last Modified on 18/04/2013 10:56