Alex Jesaulenko

Born in 1945 in Salzburg (Austria) to a Ukrainian father and a Russian mother, Alex Jesaulenko emigrated with his family to Canberra in 1949.

He first played soccer, then rugby and did not play Australian Rules until he was in his early teens. Beginning in 1967 ‘Jezza’ played 256 games and kicked 424 goals with Carlton.

His high marking and goal kicking were real crowd-pleasers and he was the last playing coach in the VFL/AFL to win a premiership. He is perhaps best remembered for a spectacular mark in the 1970 grand final between Carlton and Collingwood. (Carlton won.)

He left Carlton and played for St Kilda 1980-81, coached Carlton for one more season then returned to Carlton in 1989 as coach until 1990.