St Kilda has announced the signing of goalkicking guru David Wheadon, with the 75-year-old returning to Moorabbin as a specialist, part-time forwards coach.
Wheadon had previously spent time at Linton Street in 2011, working under current head coach Ross Lyon and with forwards such as Nick Riewoldt, Stephen Milne and current Philadelphia Eagles punter Arryn Siposs.
The former Collingwood forward pulled on black and white bars on 19 occassions between 1968 and 1970, ending his brief career at Victoria Park with four goals and fourteen behinds - a conversion rate of 28.6 per cent.
After hanging up the boots more than half a century ago, Wheadon went on to perform similar guiding roles at Collingwood, Carlton, Richmond, Essendon, Geelong and, of course, St Kilda.
The Colac-born guru has also had his methodologies presented within the 2022 Hardie Grant publication 'The Art of Goalkicking.'
Wheadon's arrival at RSEA Park will see him not only aid forwards such as Max King, Tim Membrey and rookie Anthony Caminiti but also mentor first-year assistant Brendon Goddard in his role as offensive coach.
Speaking by way of an official club statement, St Kilda's acting GM of Football, and former Wheadon colleague, David Misson claimed the Saints' latest signing was one to be celebrated.
โWe're thrilled to have David back at St Kilda to share his knowledge with our playing group,โ Misson told Saints Media.
โDavid's skillset and expertise on goalkicking is rivalled by very few, and he's personally overseen the development some of the game's most noted goalkickers across several decades.
โHis inclusion to our program this season will be a great asset and we look forward to learning from him as we continue to improve as a collective.โ
Across the opening eight rounds of the 2023 AFL season, St Kilda has racked up 95 goals and 80 behinds - a far cry from their wayward 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons in which the Saints proved sinful, scoring just 729 majors from 1531 scoring shots.
The still King-less Saints will face the rising Adelaide Crows at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday afternoon.
