Jack McKenzie
Personal information
Full name John Joseph McKenzie
Nickname(s) Dookie
Date of birth 10 November 1881
Place of birth Fitzroy North, Victoria
Date of death 21 March 1946(1946-03-21) (aged 64)
Place of death Melbourne, Victoria
Original team(s) Brunswick
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)
Position(s) Ruckman
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1901–1902 Essendon 32 0(26)
1903 White Feather
1904–1906 Essendon 49 0(64)
1907 Essendon Association
1908–1914 Brunswick
1915 Melbourne 16 0(10)
Coaching career
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1915 Melbourne 17 (9–8–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1915.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

John Joseph "Dookie" McKenzie (10 November 1881 – 21 March 1946) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon and Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

He gained the nickname "Dookie" from his favourite player as a youth, Alex "Dookie" McKenzie, a Carlton and Melbourne player of the 1880s, and 1890s.[1]

Family

The son of John McKenzie, and Johanna McKenzie, née Scott, John Joseph McKenzie was born in Fitzroy North, Victoria on 10 November 1881.

He married twice.

His first wife, Mary Ellen McCann (1886-1918) died in July 1918.[2] Their son, John James McKenzie (1908-), played for Essendon in 1929.[3]

McKenzie fell on hard times in 1918 when his wife died, leaving him without work and with six children to look after.[4] A fund was set up by the VFL to give him financial support, with many clubs donating money.[4][5]

He married his second wife, Winifred Zipporah Griffiths (1884-1969), née Simmons, in 1922.

Football

McKenzie played for Fitroy Juniors for half a season before going to Brunswick in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).[6]

He joined Essendon in 1901, winning a premiership in his first season. He played for Essendon in 1901 and 1902. He then moved to Western Australia and spent a year playing in the Western Australian Goldfields Football Association with the White Feather Football Club.

In 1904 he returned to Essendon and by 1906 he was the captain. For his efforts during the 1906 season he was Essendon's best and fairest winner in his last season for the Bombers. He finished his career with Essendon having played 81 games and kicking 90 goals playing as a ruckman.

In 1907 season he became captain-coach of Essendon Association in the VFA before taking on the same role at his original club Brunswick from 1908 to 1914. He led the Brunswick to a premiership in his second season, 1909. During the last month or so of that season, The Argus newspaper conducted a public vote on which players were considered a champion in both the VFL and the VFA. McKenzie won the Association poll with a tally of near 18,000 votes, a figure which outstripped that of the League winner Bill Busbridge.[7] As captain, McKenzie was offered £150 to throw the 1911 Grand Final against Essendon Association; McKenzie refused and immediately reported the offer to the Association.[8]

He returned to the VFL for just one season in 1915, playing this time with Melbourne. As captain-coach he helped them reach the finals for the first time in fifteen years, becoming one of a select few players to captain two different clubs in finals.

Hawthorn (VFA)

Hawthorn returned to the VFA in 1919 — having not played in 1916, 1917, and 1918 due to World War I — and McKenzie was appointed as coach for the 1919 season.

Death

He died on 21 March 1946.[9][10]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Alex McKenzie, Demonwiki; Alex "Dookie" McKenzie, "Blueseum".
  2. ↑ Deaths: McKenzie, The Argus, (Wednesday, 3 July 1918), p.1.
  3. ↑ Son of a Champion, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 6 April 1929), p.6.
  4. 1 2 Ross, John (1996). 100 Years of Australian Football. Ringwood, Australia: Viking Books. p. 382. ISBN 9781854714343.
  5. ↑ "Dookie" McKenzie, The (Perth) Daily News, (Thursday, 5 September 1918), p.2.
  6. ↑ "Dookie" McKenzie's Memoirs, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 7 September 1935), p.7.
  7. ↑ "FOOTBALL CHAMPION. RESULT OF PLEBISCITE". The Argus. Melbourne. 27 September 1909. p. 7. Retrieved 20 December 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Melbourne football scandal". Singleton Argus. 14 October 1911. p. 1.
  9. ↑ Deaths: McKenzie, The Age, (Friday, 22 March 1946), p.9.
  10. ↑ Jack McKenzie Fine Sportsman, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 23 March 1946), p.3; Death of "Dookie" McKenzie, The Herald, (Friday, 22 March 1946), p.16; Football: Mr. J.J. McKenzie's Death, The Age, (Saturday, 23 March 1946), p.4.

References

  • Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
  • Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
  • Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0
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