Jack Oatey

Jack Oatey
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Caleb
Date of birth	(1920-08-29)29 August 1920
Place of birth	Adelaide, South Australia
Date of death	26 February 1994(1994-02-26) (aged 73)
Place of death	Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s)	Norwood (SANFL)
Height	168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s)	Rover
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1940–43, 1945–52	Norwood (SANFL)	181 (233)
1944	South Melbourne (VFL)	5 (4)
Total		186 (237)
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1945–56	Norwood (SANFL)	229 (147–81–1)
1957–60	West Adelaide (SANFL)	78 (52–26–0)
1962–82	Sturt (SANFL)	470 (314–152–4)
Total		777 (513–259–5)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1952.
Career highlights
Club 4x Norwood Best & Fairest 1940, 1941, 1942, 1945 Norwood-North Adelaide Premiership Player 1943 Norwood Football Club Captain 1945-52 3x Norwood Premiership Captain 1945, 1948, 1950 4x Norwood Best & Fairest 1940, 1941, 1942, 1945 Norwood-North Adelaide Premiership Player 1943 Norwood Football Club Captain 1945-52 Coach 3x Norwood Premiership Coach 1945, 1948, 1950 7x Sturt Premiership Coach 1966-70, 1974, 1976 Representative 7 State games for South Australia (Captain: 1949-50) South Australian State Coach 1950, 1959 Honours Norwood Football Club Life Member Sturt Football Club Life Member 1971 Order of Australia (AM) for services to the sport of Australian football 1978 SANFL Life Member 1981 Jack Oatey Medal (SANFL Grand Final BoG) named in honour 1981 Only person to coach over 500 wins in elite Australian rules football (513) Norwood Football Club Hall of Fame Member Norwood Football Club Team of the Century - Rover Sturt Football Club Hall of Fame Member Sturt Football Club Team of the Century - Coach Australian Football Hall of Fame Inaugural Inductee 1996 South Australian Football Hall of Fame Inaugural Inductee 2002
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Club

Coach

Representative

Honours

Jack Oatey AM (29 August 1920 – 26 February 1994) was an Australian rules football player and coach.

Oatey played 181 games for the Norwood Football Club between 1940 and 1952 and acted as playing-coach from 1945 to 1952.

While on service for World War II in 1944, he played 5 games for the South Melbourne Football Club.

Following his retirement from playing in 1952, Oatey remained the coach of Norwood until 1956. In 1957, Oatey moved to West Adelaide where he coached until 1960, reaching the finals each year but never winning the premiership. Not involved in coaching at any team in 1961, Oatey saw the Bloods win the SANFL premiership, convincing him to return to the league. He went to Sturt, coaching there from 1962 to 1982, and leading the league team to 7 SANFL Premierships (a record at the time) including the famous five in a row from 1966 to 1970.

A long-standing coaching rival to Port Adelaide's Fos Williams, Sturt defeated Port Adelaide four times in Grand Finals under Oatey's tutelage.

Oatey was one of the instigators of the greater use of handball, which is often solely attributed to the VFL's Ron Barassi, particularly within Victoria. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996. Overall, Oatey coached 37 seasons in the SANFL, winning ten premierships (three with Norwood, seven with Sturt), reaching seventeen grand finals (six with Norwood, two with West Adelaide and nine with Sturt) and reaching the finals on 33 occasions. His ten premierships is still the record for the most premierships by one coach in top-level football.