Shinboner number: 666
Guernsey number: 15
Born: February 16, 1950
North Melbourne games: 178 (1974-82)
Goals: 444
Playing coach (1981)
North Melbourne Hall of Fame inductee: 2003
Elevated to Legend status: 2026

You could pull any number of names from out of a hat to try and come up with North Melbourne’s greatest player, and if Malcolm Blight came out nobody would argue with you.

The South Australian, from the Woodville Football Club, was a sensational footballer who could do it all. He could leap for spectacular marks, snap goals on either foot from any angle, dodge and weave through heavy traffic and, above all, do the downright unpredictable. His quirky ways may have led to coach Ron Barassi pulling his hair out at times, but also every opposing player was kept guessing as to what Blight would do next.

Ron Joseph, who brought Blight to Arden Street in 1973, reflected on that quirkiness: “Blighty, when he started with us, was either best man on the ground or you wouldn’t play him in your reserves,” he said.

It was that early inconsistency that would rile Barassi; the pair famously sharing a love-hate relationship, with Blight admitting he often played in spite of his coach’s approach. He said: “Sometimes you were so frustrated that, the only way to get him off your back was to play well. Now, did he do that purposefully? I don’t think so. It was just his mannerisms. It was passed on to him by Norm Smith, who was a very aggressive coach.”

According to Joseph, Barassi’s constant demands on Blight saw him become a more consistent player. “Towards the end of his career he was an 80 per cent contributor every single week.” It’s a fact that Blight, himself, concedes is true: “I think in the end I have to acknowledge that he did tighten me up as a player, just got me a bit more consistent.”

Blight was a genius with the football. He once won a game for North with an after-the-siren torpedo kick at Princes Park from close to the centre wing that sailed through post high. As a forward, he averaged 2.5 goals per game, and is only the second North player to top the 100 goals in a season (103, 1982), equalling Doug Wade’s tally (1974), but such was his versatility he could play in almost any position on the field.

He was a key member of North’s first premiership side, in 1975, but, two years later, he almost missed out on playing in the club’s second premiership triumph. After Blight had performed below his best in the drawn Grand Final, Barassi was set to drop him for the replay. It was only intervention from his fellow selectors that changed his mind. “There was no way known we were dropping Malcolm,” said former player and selector John Dugdale, “because you knew he could be best on the ground the next week.” Earning a late reprieve for the rematch, Blight proceeded to collect 27 disposals and kick two goals and, of course, collect a second premiership medallion.

After Barassi stepped down at the end of 1980, Blight became playing-coach in 1981. Although the venture was short-lived, he holds the distinction of being perhaps the last appointed playing-coach in VFL/AFL history. 

He realised that the dual role was too much, and handed over to Barry Cable, after the round 16 loss to Fitzroy at Waverley Park. The next week, against Footscray at Whitten Oval, he booted 11.6, the only time he scored more than 10 goals in a game. He did, however, boot seven goals or more 17 times, and is the second Kangaroo to kick the ton (103 in 1982).

He was truly one of the game's most versatile players, and he would later take that individual, creative and versatile personality into the coach's box, coaching Geelong into three Grand Finals (1989, 1992, 1994), before leading the Adelaide Crows to back-to-back premierships in 1997-98.

Certainly Blight's resume is unparalleled: Magarey medallist (1972), Brownlow medallist (1978), Coleman medallist (1982), Ken Farmer medallist (1985), twice Woodville best and fairest (1972, 1985), dual North premiership player (1975, 1977), twice All Australian (1972, 1985), Victorian and South Australian State representative (including captain of both States), dual premiership coach, an inaugural inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame (1996), the South Australian Hall of Fame and North Melbourne's.

His impact on North Melbourne was recognised when he was named on a half-forward flank in the club's Team of the Century in 2001. He was elevated to Legend status in the club's Hall of Fame in 2026.