Jock

The story of the longest serving and most successful coach in the history of the Australian Football League is told vividly in Jock: The Story of Jock McHale, Collingwood's Greatest Coach.

Jock McHale coached Collingwood for 714 games between 1912 and 1949, leading the club to eight premierships. Under his charge Collingwood won four consecutive premierships between 1927 and 1930, a feat that others have come close to but have never matched.

This remarkable team became known as the Machine and is widely regarded as the best collection of players ever assembled. McHale never recruited lavishly, but instilled a style of football on the field and a values system of it that established Collingwood as the greatest football club in the first half of the 20th Century.

Author Glenn McFarlane examines the life and times of McHale, his impact on Collingwood and the game and what drove him during the 38 years he was in charge of the Magpies, a record for coaching tenure in football that is yet to be broken.