Go straight to the biography of your choice by clicking on the appropriate link:
[Geoff Raines] [Bill Rainoldi] [Alan Rait] [Graham Ramshaw] [Murray Rance] [Neil Randall] [John Randell] [Bert Rankin] [Cliff 'Ticker' Rankin] [David Rankin] [Edward 'Teddy' Rankin] [John Rantall] [Brett Ratten] [Dennis Rattigan] [Gordon Rattray] [George Rawle] [Michael Redden] [Jack 'Dinny' Reedman] [Jack Rees] [Edward 'Jack' Reeves] [John Reeves] [Les Reeves] [Sid Reeves] [Con Regan] [Jack Regan] [Shaun Rehn] [Jim Reid] [Noel Reid] [Lou Reiffel] [Jack Reilly] [John Reilly] [Ron Reimann] [Matthew Rendell] [Bert Renfrey] [Percy Renfrey] [Russell Renfrey] [George Renwick] [Allan 'Bull' Reval] ['Peter' Reville] [Clarrie Reynolds] [Dick Reynolds] [Peter Riccardi] [Mark Ricciuto] [Colin Rice] [Laurie Richards] [Lin Richards] [Lou Richards] [Ron Richards] [Barry Richardson] [Jim Richardson] [Max Richardson] [Michael Richardson] [Vic Richardson] [Wayne Richardson] [Colin Richens] [Charles Ricketts] [Ian Ridley] [Roger Rigney] [Horrie Riley] [John Riley] [Maurice Rioli] [Edward Rippon] [Norman Rippon] [Don Roach] [Michael Roach] [Harold 'Tim' Robb] [Alf Roberts] [Brian Roberts] [John Roberts] [Lew Roberts] [Neil Roberts] [Neville Roberts] [Austin Robertson junior] [Austin Robertson senior] [Colin Robertson] [Ian Robertson] [John Robertson] [Keith Robertson] [Ralph Robertson] [Ralph G. Robertson] [Phil Robin] [Alec Robinson] [James Robison] [Barrie Robran] [Saverio Rocca] [Jack Rocchi] [Alby Rodda] [Richard 'Pat' Rodriguez] [Andrew Rogers] [Matthew Rogers] [Norm Rogers] [Ralph Rogerson] [Charles Roland] [José Romero] [Paul Roos] [Bob Rose] [Geoff Rosenow] [Keith Rosewarne] [Laurie Rosewarne] [Bob Ross] [Don Ross] [Jim Ross] [Lester Ross] [Jack Rough] [Barry Round] [Des Rowe] [Harold Rowe] [Havel Rowe] [Ted Rowell] [Ray Rowles] [Barry Rowlings] [Brian Royal] [Ernest Ruddock] [Harold Rumney] [Alex Ruscuklic] [Bob Rush] [William Russ] [Dick Russell] [Don Russell] [Peter Russo] [Alan Ruthven] [Alf 'Bulla' Ryan] [Bill Ryan] [Clem Ryan] [David Ryan] [Denis 'Dinny' Ryan] [John Ryan] [Leo Ryan] [Thomas Ryan]
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Geoff Raines (Richmond, Collingwood, Essendon, Brisbane)
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| Audaciously talented and tremendously damaging, centreman Geoff Raines hailed from Swan Hill and, after joining Richmond in 1976, rapidly developed into one of the most outstanding footballers of his era. A triple best and fairest winner with the Tigers, Raines was a key player, and some people's choice as best afield, as they annihilated Collingwood in the 1980 VFL grand final. A regular 'Big V' representative, he was selected in the 1980 All Australian team. At the close of the 1982 season, after 134 games and 53 goals for Richmond, he was traded to Collingwood, where he added 47 games and 24 goals over the next three and a half seasons, without ever consistently recapturing the form he had shown with the Tigers (he did, however, achieve selection in the 1985 All Australian team). It was a similar story with Essendon, for whom Raines played 14 games and kicked 2 goals in 1986, but with his last league club, Brisbane, where he played 59 games and booted 20 goals from 1987 to 1989, he again established himself as one of the most effective and eye-catching centremen in the game. When fit, and playing at peak form, there have been few better all round footballers in recent times than Geoff Raines, who was a recent worthy inclusion in Richmond's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. |
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| Popularly known as 'The Flea', West Perth's Bill Rainoldi was a top quality rover renowned for his pace, evasive skills, courage, and inch-perfect short passing. He commenced with the Cardinals in 1929, and by the following season was a regular in a side that struggled all year, and eventually finished last - albeit with the rather impressive record for a wooden spooner of 6 wins and a draw from 18 games. Things were soon to improve, however, and just two years later, with Rainoldi starring as first rover, West Perth won its first flag since 1905 thanks to a resounding 18.9 (117) to 11.8 (74) grand final defeat of East Perth. Further premierships followed in 1934 and 1935, with Rainoldi again a noteworthy contributor as first rover. He would almost certainly have enjoyed the distinction of appearing in four premiership teams, but an injury sustained in the 1941 2nd semi final kept him out of the Cardinals' winning grand final team against East Fremantle a fortnight later. Rainoldi would have liked to resume in 1942, but along with a number of team mates such as 'Fat' McDiarmid and Max Tetley he was forced into premature retirement when the WANFL decided to replace its senior competition with one restricted to players aged under eighteen. Bill Rainoldi had played a total of 228 league games. Other highlights of his career included winning the Cardinals' fairest and best award in 1931, and representing Western Australia on 3 occasions. When West Perth's official 'Team of the Century' was announced, Rainoldi's name was missing, an omission that some might regard as surprising. |
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Alan Rait (North Hobart & Footscray)
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| Prior
to the mergence of Peter
Hudson, the greatest full forward in Tasmanian football history was
undoubtedly Allan Rait. In his debut season with North
Hobart in 1927 he played mainly as a half forward flanker, but from
1928 onwards he found his true home at the goal front.
In 1929, Rait 'topped the ton' for the first of four times, and the following year established a TANFL record of 152 goals for the season that was to stand until 1976, when superseded by Hudson. The 1930 season also saw Rait selected to represent Tasmania at the Adelaide carnival when, with 27 goals, he finished second on the goal kicking list to Bill Mohr of the VFL. In 1933, Alan Rait joined Mohr in the VFL when he was signed by Footscray. He played 18 games that year, and booted 59 goals to head the Tricolours' list, but an injury sustained early the following season brought his VFL career to an untimely end. After spending the remainder of the 1934 season back home in Tasmania recovering from his injury, Rait resumed with North Hobart in 1935 as captain-coach. The Robins lost that year's grand final to Roy Cazaly's New Town by 14 points, but made amends in 1936 by winning both the local and the state titles. Alan Rait put in one final season with North Hobart in 1937 before deciding to retire. All told, he booted 847 goals in league football in roughly 180 games. He topped the TANFL goal kicking list in all but two of his ten full seasons in the competition. |
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Graham Ramshaw (Perth & Fitzroy)
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| Boasting considerable natural talent and tremendous courage and determination Perth's Graham Ramshaw might well have been one of the all time greats had he supplemented these qualities with a dedicated approach to training. He was still a very good player, however, and his value to the team was enhanced by his ability to play in any key position. Ramshaw worked his way through the ranks at Perth, winning a fairest and best award with the Colts in 1962 before making his senior debut the following year. He was at full forward in the winning grand final of 1966 against East Perth, and at full back in the flag-winning combinations of 1967 and 1968. As a forward he could be brilliant at times, while as a defender he was doggedly determined and extremely resolute. His kicking with both feet was superb. He commenced with Perth in 1963, and impressed so much that he was promptly recruited by VFL club Fitzroy, where he played 4 senior games in 1964. Ramshaw returned to Perth the following year and, by the time he retired in 1973, had amassed 177 WANFL games with the club. |
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Murray Rance (Swan Districts, Footscray, West Coast)
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| Superbly built at 190cm and 85kg, Murray Rance was an excellent key position player who could dominate the play with his strong high marking. He began with Swan Districts in 1981 and was a member of the club's 1982-3-4 premiership-winning combinations. In 1984 he was a member of Western Australia's victorious Australian interstate championship side and was named in the All Australian team afterwards. Rance spent the 1986 and 1987 seasons with Footscray in the VFL, where he played 40 senior games and kicked 5 goals. He returned home to Western Australia in 1988 to join West Coast and his strong performances at centre half back were instrumental in the Eagles making the finals for the first time. Between 1988 and 1990 Murray Rance played a total of 57 VFL games and booted 7 goals for West Coast; he was captain of the side in 1989. Once his VFL career was over, he resumed with Swans, where he continued playing until July 1992, taking his final tally of WAFL games to 140; he kicked 26 goals. |
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Neil Randall (Subiaco & South Fremantle)
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| A highly skilled and elusive left footer, Neil Randall debuted with Subiaco in 1971 and was on a half forward flank in the club's winning grand final team against West Perth a couple of years later. A half forward specialist for most of his career, he topped the Lions' goal kicking list in 1975 with 43 goals. The following year, playing mainly as a rover, he won the club's fairest and best award. In 1980, after 152 WANFL games, Randall moved to South Fremantle where, despite sometimes struggling for form, he played on for three more years. |
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John Randell (Subiaco & East Perth)
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| Popularly known as 'Jack', John Randell (sometimes, as in the above photo, mis-rendered 'Randall') played a total of 107 WAFA/WAFL games during the first decade and a half of the twentieth century. He began at Subiaco in 1903, playing 79 games, but enjoying little team success. Things were scarcely better at East Perth, however, where he moved in 1910, and although the Royals reached that season's premiership play-ff, Randell was not a part of the action. Nevertheless, given the number of games he played (quite high for the period), he must surely have been a player of some quality, and it is perhaps surprising to note that he never represented Western Australia. |
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| Originally
from Chilwell, Bert
Rankin debuted for Geelong in 1912, only two
seasons after his father, Edward Rankin,
had retired. A highly skilled and clever player, he inherited his
father's fleetness of foot and adroitness, as well as being a marvellous
exponent of the drop kick. He played his early football on the
forward lines before moving to the wing, where his exceptional pace could
be exploited to maximum effect. In 1917 he took over as the senior
side's centreman, and for the next seven seasons he was without peer in
the position anywhere in the land. When interstate football resumed
after the war, Bert Rankin became a regular fixture in VFL representative
sides, and was appointed captain in 1922. He and his brother Cliff
were the first siblings to play together in the same VFL combination.
In 1923, Rankin appeared set to embark on the most exciting phase of his VFL career when he was appointed captain of Geelong. However, late in the season his form deteriorated, and he was dropped, whereupon in a display of petulance that seems hard to credit nowadays he walked out on the club and never played again. In eleven seasons with the Pivotonians he played 132 senior games. He also played seven times for the VFL. |
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| Son
of former Geelong champion Teddy
Rankin, and brother of team mate Bert, Cliff 'Ticker' Rankin was one
of the last goalsneaks in the VFL to specialise in the place kick.
He made his league debut in late in the 1915 season, having arrived at
Geelong from Chilwell, but then missed the
better part of four years, during which time he played rugby while on war
service, before returning to Geelong in 1919. The following year he
began to make a name for himself as a clever and highly effective forward,
topping Geelong's goal kicking list for the first of four consecutive
times. In 1921, he booted 63 goals to overhaul Percy Martini's club
record of 51 established in 1910.
The keys to Rankin's success at the goal front were his astute awareness of where a ball was likely to spill to ground off the hands of a pack, and lethal accuracy when snap-shooting for goal from almost any angle, and with either foot. Later in his career he moved away from full forward to a forward pocket or the half forward line, but continued to prove equally effective. Appointed captain-coach of the Cats in 1925 he had the honour of leading them to their first ever league premiership that same year. In the grand final against Collingwood Rankin played in a forward pocket and was one of Geelong's best as he booted 5 of the side's 10 goals for the match. A regular VFL interstate representative, Cliff Rankin captained the Big V in 1926 against both South Australia and Western Australia. He continued at Geelong until the end of the 1928 season, having captain-coached the team from 1925-27. In 153 VFL games he kicked a total of 400 goals, adding a further 30 goals in 14 interstate appearances. |
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David Rankin (Fitzroy & East Fremantle)
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| Initially from Colac, David Rankin made his league debut with Fitzroy in 1980 but could only manage a total of 9 senior games in two seasons with the Lions. In 1982 he headed west where he joined East Fremantle and, after a tentative start, established himself as a useful player for the Sharks for most of the remainder of the decade. Gutsy and wholehearted in approach, and boasting considerable pace, he played mainly in the back pocket early in his career before developing into a fine wingman, in which position he lined up in the 1985 WAFL grand final (reviewed here) that saw East Fremantle narrowly edging out Subiaco. David Rankin had played 152 games for the Sharks by the time he retired in 1990. |
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| 'Teddy'
Rankin began with Geelong in 1891 and went
on to play well over 200 games for the club in almost 20 years of
service. He was the first Geelong player to notch up 100 VFL games,
an achievement that appears all the more meritorious when you consider
that he missed the entire 1898 season after contracting typhoid.
A nippy, elusive rover for most of his career, Rankin shifted to the backlines when he began to slow down, and his anticipation and reading of the game made him one of the best defenders in the business. During a match played on a very wet day at the Brunswick Street Oval, Rankin embarked on a run with the ball during which, rather than attempting to bounce it on the greasy playing surface, he stooped to touch it to the ground every ten yards, a practice which soon became a commonplace feature of the game. Edward Rankin had two sons, Bert and Cliff, who both followed in their father's footsteps, representing both Geelong and the VFL with considerable distinction. |
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John Rantall (South Melbourne, North Melbourne, Fitzroy, Sherwood)
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| Despite
the fact that he scarcely looked like a league footballer, with skinny,
shrunken legs and an almost emaciated physique, John Rantall had few peers in the
VFL during his eighteen season, 336 game senior career with three
clubs. Recruited from Cobden, he began with South
Melbourne in 1963, and was selected to represent the VFL in his very
first season. He went on to play a total of 260 league games (a club
record) in two stints with South, most of them on a half back flank,
although it was as a back pocket that he achieved selection in the Swans
official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'.
Somewhat surprisingly, John Rantall never managed to win a best and fairest award while with South, a failure he rectified with North Melbourne in 1974 during a three season, 70 game stint with that club that culminated in membership of a premiership team in 1975. The 1976-9 seasons saw him back at the Swans, and in 1980 he rounded off his career with a brief, 6 game stint at Fitzroy. Renowned for his superb judgement and tremendous all round skills John Rantall was without doubt one of the best specialist half back flankers ever to have played this game, and further testimony to South Melbourne's perhaps unequalled record of producing bona fide, out and out champions. Prior to the 1982 season, Rantall was appointed coach of South Melbourne but the club's move to Sydney brought about a split which resulted in his being replaced by Ricky Quade. The following season saw him installed as coach of Sherwood for what was that club's debut season in the QAFL. In 2003 he was selected on his favoured half back flank in the Kangaroos' official 'Team of the Century'. |
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| A tough, 'in and under' type of player who was not always afforded the level of recognition he deserved, there was little that Carlton's Brett Ratten did not achieve in the game. A triple club best and fairest winner, he earned AFL All Australian selection in 2000 and 2001, was a key member of the Blues' 1995 premiership team, and captained the club in 2002 and for part of 2003. The epitome of durability for most of his career, from late in the 2001 season he began to suffer a series of debilitating injuries which ultimately led to his retirement in 2003 after 255 AFL games in fourteen seasons. |
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| Dennis
Rattigan was a calm, unflappable and highly effective defender in 157
games for Sturt during a predominantly
inauspicious decade, the 1950s. Former school master Jeff Pash's
memorable description of him warrants reproduction in full:
Rattigan - as quiet and unobtrusive a goalkeeper as he was a schoolboy - guards the goalsneak with fairness, absolute fidelity, and a lot of clean-cut ability (see footnote 1). Rattigan also represented South Australia on 9 occasions, including games at the 1956 Perth and 1958 Melbourne carnivals. After leaving Sturt he won a Mail Medal while playing for Willunga in the Southern Football Association. |
Footnotes1. The Pash Papers by Jeff Pash, page 216. Return to Main Text |
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Gordon Rattray (Fitzroy & Brighton)
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| A product of Wesley College, Gordon Rattray made his VFL debut with Fitzroy in 1917, while still a schoolboy. He went on to be one of the 'Roys best players in that year's challenge final against Collingwood, which the Magpies won by 35 points. After missing the entire 1918 season while on military duties, Rattray resumed his VFL career in 1919, and went on to establish himself as a key member of the Fitzroy side that would emerge as one of post-World War One football's principal powers. A half forward flank specialist who boasted commendable all round skills, and whose kicking was fêted as just about the best in the game at the time, he had played a total of 87 VFL games and kicked 65 goals by the time he retired in 1928. Among those games were the challenge finals of 1922 (won) and 1923 (lost) against Collingwood and Essendon respectively. Rattray, who won the Maroons' best and fairest trophy in 1921, was appointed club skipper in 1923, and again in his final season, when he also coached the side. He played interstate football for the VFL on 5 occasions. In 1925, Rattray was appointed playing coach of Brighton, a club that had been in the VFA since 1908 without ever contesting the finals. Under Rattray, Brighton rectified this in 1926 by finishing as runner-up to Coburg, a result that was duplicated in 1927. Rattray continued to show fine personal form as a player during his time with Brighton, playing for the most part as an attacking centre half back. |
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George Rawle (North Melbourne, Essendon Association, Essendon, Camberwell)
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| Despite
standing just 178cm in height, and being afflicted with a badly deformed
foot, George Rawle was a ruckman par excellence as he proved repeatedly
over the course of a fourteen season senior career in both the VFA and
VFL. Originally from Melrose United, he joined North
Melbourne in 1911 and before long, in harness with fellow ruckman Syd
Barker and rover Charlie
Hardy, was providing the club with arguably the premier first ruck
combination in the game.
Rawle was a member of North Melbourne premiership sides in 1914, 1915 and 1918. In 1921 he crossed to Essendon Association, and then returned to North as captain-coach the following year. In 1923 he was appointed coach of VFL club Essendon's seconds, but at the end of the season was a sensational last minute addition to the Dons' senior grand final side against Fitzroy. Aged thirty-three at the time, he remains the oldest debutant in V/AFL history. After 19 games and 4 goals for Essendon Rawle was appointed captain-coach of Camberwell in 1926 as the club made its debut in the VFA. He played 16 of the side's 18 matches for the year as it finished 9th out of 10 clubs. Rawle later returned to Essendon as a committee member. |
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Michael Redden (North Adelaide)
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| North
Adelaide's 'games played' record holder with 378 senior appearances
between 1978 and 1993, ruckman Mick Redden almost certainly racked up more
kilometres travelling to and from Adelaide for matches than any other
SANFL player of his, or indeed arguably any, generation. Being based
on a farming property near Orroroo, 300 kilometres north of the city,
Redden was rarely able to attend club training sessions, but over the
course of his sixteen season playing career travelled an estimated 260,000
kilometres just to get to matches.
Everyone at Prospect was no doubt delighted that he did, as for much of that time he was the cornerstone of the team. Neither quick nor particularly athletic, he more than compensated with his great energy, determination, indefatigable good humour, and refusal to succumb. North's best and fairest player in 1983, he was a key member of two premiership teams, and was a regular state representative (11 games). His departure at the end of the 1993 season left a hole that, so far, the club has been unable to fill. The value of Mick Redden's contribution to North was officially recognised in 2001 with his inclusion in the club's 'Team of the Century'. |
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Jack Reedman (South Adelaide, North Adelaide, West Adelaide)
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| 'Dinny'
Reedman was a superb all round sportsman who, in addition to his football
exploits, was a champion long distance swimmer, captained South
Australia's Sheffield Shield cricket team, and played cricket at Test
level against England in 1894-5.
As far as football was concerned, Reedman was involved at league level with three different clubs for a total of twenty-two years. He made his South Adelaide debut in 1884, and was a key member of the club's 1885 premiership side. Lanky but lithe, Reedman was formidable in the air and like a terrier when the ball hit the ground; however, it was his leadership qualities and tactical acumen which marked him out from the crowd. Captain of South Adelaide for eleven years, chief among his alleged innovations was a method for creating and then exploiting the loose man, a concept which, in some ways, could be regarded as the cornerstone of the modern game. He was an extremely durable footballer, assiduously maintaining high standards of personal physical fitness, and between 1889 and 1898 he did not miss a single game for his club. Reedman led South to a total of six premierships before being compelled, after the introduction of electorate football, to move to North Adelaide. In five seasons with North he oversaw another three premierships and later coached West Adelaide (as a non-player) to its first ever premiership in 1908. The season after his success with West, he returned to North Adelaide for one last season as a player, but it was an inauspicious finale as the red and whites finished second from bottom. Reedman's peak years as a player came during an era when intercolonial and interstate football was only intermittently played, but even so he represented South Australia 4 times. 'Dinny' Reedman was selected as a back pocket and change ruckman in South Adelaide's official 'Greatest Team'. |
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| An exhilaratingly pacy footballer, and widely regarded as one of the pre-eminent wingmen of his generation, Jack Rees was a key factor in North Adelaide's premiership wins of 1902 and 1905. On his day he had few peers either for skill or elusiveness, but he could be inconsistent. He represented South Australia 5 times. Once his football career was over he achieved prominence in local government. |
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Edward 'Jack' Reeves (Boulder City & Claremont)
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| After a somewhat inauspicious time at Boulder City - he was omitted from the club's 1935 grand final team for disciplinary reasons - 'Jack' Reeves went on to become a fine ruckman for Claremont in 96 WANFL games between 1936 and 1941 and in 1945-6. He was a key member of the Monts' three successive grand final-winning teams from 1938 to 1940, overcoming eyesight problems to produce displays of consummate courage and skill when it mattered most. His 4 interstate appearances for Western Australia included both matches at the 1937 Perth carnival when the home state came very close to securing the championship. Reeves spent much of his final season in league football as de facto coach of the club given that ostensible coach Johnny Leonard was frequently unavailable owing to business commitments. It was not a salutary end to his career, however, as Claremont finished last with just 3 wins from 19 games. |
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John Reeves (North Melbourne & St Kilda)
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| John Reeves was a strong, solid and consistent footballer who joined North Melbourne from Assumption College and played 102 VFL games for the club between 1948 and 1955, kicking 36 goals. He was in a back pocket and change ruckman in North's losing grand final team of 1950 against Essendon, and represented the VFL the following year. Midway through the 1955 season he transferred to St Kilda where he added a final 8 VFL games and 1 goal before retiring. |
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| North Melbourne has been blessed with many formidable defenders over the years, but few tougher or more hard-nosed than Les Reeves. Quick, tempestuous and highly aggressive, he relished the physical side of the game, and was extremely hard to beat one on one. Recruited from Wesley College, he was the archetypal no nonsense type of player whose twin objectives were to prevent his direct opponent from getting the ball, and to kick it as far as possible out of the danger zone if he happened to gain possession himself. He was on a half back flank when North lost to Essendon in the 1950 VFL grand final, and he played a total of 116 senior games for the club between 1946 and 1953. Once his senior career was over he served as playing coach of the club's reserves for a time. |
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Sid Reeves (Richmond & Hawthorn)
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| Sid Reeves, who played 110 senior games for Richmond between 1910 and 1919, was regarded as one of the best VFL centremen of his era. Quick, strong and tireless, he moved to VFA side Hawthorn in 1920 where he finished his career. |
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| Con Regan was a tremendously accomplished and versatile footballer for East Fremantle over 261 WANFL games between 1953 and 1965. Besides being one of the game's all time great full backs, he could hold down a key attacking role with almost equal aplomb, and indeed topped Old Easts' goal kicking list in 1955 with 65 goals. Con Regan represented his state on half a dozen occasions and was a member of East Fremantle's 1957 and 1965 premiership sides. He was placed at full back in the club's official 'Team of the Century'. |
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Jack Regan (Northcote, Collingwood, Kalgoorlie City)
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| Given
the fact that he played during an era replete with champion full forwards
Jack Regan's consistent success as a 'goalkeeper' lends a fair amount of
credence to claims that he was the greatest ever custodian of that
position. The main secret of his success was his uncanny aerial
judgement which enabled him repeatedly to out mark - often from seemingly
outlandish positions behind his man - even the Pratts,
Mohrs and Vallences of this world. As his career went on and his
confidence grew Regan's repertoire expanded to include strong rebounding
skills, vigorous - but always scrupulously fair - close checking, and an
accurate, penetrating kick.
Arguably Regan's most memorable performance in a glittering career came in the 1935 VFL grand final when his containment of star South Melbourne goalsneak Laurie Nash (who managed just a single goal for the game) was instrumental in securing the Magpies' 11.12 (78) to 7.16 (58) victory. Although full backs do not traditionally fare well in awards decided by central umpires, such as the Brownlow Medal, Regan was voted Champion of the Colony by members of the Victorian media in 1938. In 1947, Jack Regan was appointed captain-coach of GNFL club Kalgoorlie City, whom he steered to a flag in the second season of his three season stint. |
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Shaun Rehn (West Adelaide, Adelaide, Hawthorn)
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| When
fit, Adelaide's Shaun Rehn was arguably the
finest ruckman in the AFL for much of the 1990s. Unfortunately, he
suffered repeatedly from knee injuries, undergoing no fewer than three
complete knee constructions, so his best was only somewhat sporadically
displayed. Recruited from West
Adelaide, where he had played just 2 senior games in 1990, Rehn made
his AFL debut in 1991 and by season's end was being touted as a future
champion. At 203cm and 106kg it was no surprise that he was strong
overhead, but allied to this he showed exceptional ability at ground
level. In 1994 he achieved AFL
All Australian selection and won the Crows' best and fairest award,
but the following year saw him sustain the first of two serious knee
injuries in as many seasons, effectively halting his progress for two
years. His importance to the Adelaide cause was starkly demonstrated
in the premiership years of 1997 and 1998 when his consistently commanding
all round performances were integral to the club's success.
Rehn's last two seasons with the Crows were cruelly undermined by a third major knee injury, incurred in 1999, and he seldom recaptured his best form. After 134 games and 55 goals for Adelaide he crossed to Hawthorn in 2001 where he added 33 games and 7 goals over the final two seasons of his AFL career. In 2003, Shaun Rehn was appointed non-playing coach of West Adelaide, steering the side to a losing grand final against Central District in his first season. He resigned a couple of games from the end of a dismal 2005 season that yielded the club's first wooden spoon since 1979. The following year saw him at Brisbane, where he assumed an assistant coaching role under Leigh Matthews. |
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Jim Reid (South Melbourne & Claremont)
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| A
long-striding wingman or half forward, Jim Reid began his senior league
career at South Melbourne where he played
36 games, and was a member of the club's losing grand final teams against Collingwood
in 1935-6. However, it was with Claremont,
where he added another 107 games in a war-interrupted stint from 1937 to
1946 that he had the greatest impact. For many Claremont supporters
who can still recall the club's great pre-World War Two teams, "the
sight of Reid sprinting down the wing outpacing numerous opponents and
capping his dash with a magnificent running drop kick at goal is an image
that is more easily called to mind than any other of that era" (see
footnote 1).
Jim Reid's arrival in the west coincided with, and helped shape, Claremont's emergence as a league power for the first time in its history. The side won three consecutive grand finals between 1937 and 1939, with Reid making significant contributions to the first two, but missing the third through injury. He won the Claremont fairest and best award on two occasions, in 1939 and 1940. Always a crowd-pleasing player, he represented his adopted state against both South Australia and his state of origin at the 1937 Perth carnival. After retiring as a player he was made a life member of the club. |
Footnotes1. The Tigers' Tale by Kevin Casey, page 46. Return to Main Text |
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| North Hobart's Noel 'Nogger' Reid was the first post-war TANFL footballer to notch 200 league games. A champion rover and centreman who late in his career was transformed into a top quality back pocket player, he ended his senior career in 1956 with 213 TANFL games to his credit, plus 35 intrastate representative appearances, and 8 state games for Tasmania. His state appearances included games at both the 1947 Hobart and 1950 Brisbane carnivals. Always cool under pressure, Reid boasted all the skills of the game, and was extremely strong and quick. He won the Leitch Medal for best and fairest in the TANFL in 1945, his very first senior season. In August 2000 'Nogger' Reid was selected in North Hobart's official 'Team of the Century'. |
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Lou Reiffel (Melbourne & South Melbourne)
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| Extremely diminutive for a league footballer at just 165cm and barely 62kg, Lou Reiffel was a dual premiership player with Ballarat Imperial before moving to the VFL with Melbourne in 1936. An extremely adept ground player, and dangerous near goal, he played 35 games and kicked 73 goals for the Fuchsias before crossing to South Melbourne midway through the 1939 season. He was South's top goal kicker in 1940 with 33 goals, and altogether booted 45 goals in 29 games for the club. He retired at the conclusion of the 1941 season. |
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Jack Reilly (South Fremantle & Mines Rovers)
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| Jack Reilly senior's playing career spanned World War Two and he was a key figure in South Fremantle's legendary 1947 and 1948 premiership teams. Nicknamed 'Corp', "Reilly was a ruckman who was smaller than most of the opposing followers of his day, but he more than made up for those disadvantages by his ruggedness and unlimited stamina" (see footnote 1). A club fairest and best winner in 1945, Reilly represented the state 10 times. He played 204 WAFL games, and also spent a season with Mines Rovers in 1940 which yielded both a premiership and the Larcombe Medal as the GNFL's best all round player. |
Footnotes1. The South Fremantle Story 1900-1975 Volume 2 by Frank Harrison and Jack Lee, page 11. Return to Main Text |
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John Reilly (South Fremantle, Carlton, Footscray)
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| A tall, strong marking forward, John Reilly began his league career with South Fremantle before embarking on an eight year stint in the VFL which comprised spells with Carlton (39 games from 1962-5) and Footscray (55 games, 1966-9). While with the Blues coach Ron Barassi transformed him into a full back, and he continued as a defender on his return home to South Fremantle in 1970. Showing all the benefits of his time in the nation's premier football competition he achieved selection in Western Australia's interstate team for the first time, and at the end of the year had the satisfaction of playing in a premiership-winning team as South comfortably overcame Perth. |
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Ron Reimann (Norwood & South Adelaide)
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| Tough, dependable and superb overhead, Ron Reimann was one of Norwood's, and the SANFL's, best defenders of the 1950s. His career with the Redlegs ran from 1948 to 1957 and saw him play a total of 156 league games. He won a best and fairest in 1956, and captained the side the following year. In 1958-9 he added another 34 league games to his tally as captain-coach of perennial strugglers South Adelaide but his overall success rate while at the helm was a rankly inauspicious 26.4%. |
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Matthew Rendell (West Torrens, Fitzroy, Brisbane)
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| Matt Rendell began his league career with West Torrens where he played 79 SANFL games and kicked 39 goals between 1977 and 1980. He spent the next eleven seasons at Fitzroy, carving out a reputation for himself as one of the most consistent and imposing ruckmen in the VFL. Of massive build at 200cm and 102kg he was a dominant figure both at ruck contests and in general play around the ground. He won the Lions best and fairest award in 1982 and 1983, and captained the club from 1985 to 1987. A regular South Australian state of origin representative, Rendell achieved All Australian selection twice. At the end of the 1991 season, after 164 games and 104 goals for Fitzroy, he was intent on retirement, but Brisbane persuaded him to head north for one last season in which he added 13 games and 7 goals to his tally. |
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Bert Renfrey (North Adelaide, Norwood, West Broken Hill, Boulder City, West Perth, St Kilda, Sturt, South Adelaide)
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| Bert
Renfrey's name is forever associated in the minds of South Australian
football fans with arguably the greatest achievement in the state's entire
football history: the emphatic 1911
Adelaide carnival win. Renfrey it was who captained the
croweaters during that series, the highlight of a varied career that saw
him involved in senior football in four states.
Born in South Australia, Ethelbert Lussome Renfrey made his league football debut with North Adelaide, aged just sixteen, in 1895. He spent four seasons with the red and whites before moving to the much stronger Norwood side, where a series of eye-catching performances earned him his inter-colonial debut against the VFL in 1899. Two years later he was on the move again, this time to West Broken Hill, which at the time boasted arguably the strongest side outside the three major football states (see footnote 1). After playing in West Broken Hill premiership sides in 1901 and 1903, Renfrey headed west, initially to Kalgoorlie, where he spent the 1904 season playing for Boulder City, and then, after accepting a contract to play for West Perth for two seasons, to the coast. The Cardinals, who were captained by another South Australian in Bill Plunkett, had a very strong team at this time, and in Renfrey's first season they won the flag after overcoming East Fremantle in a replayed grand final. Renfrey attracted much acclaim for the quality of his performances: he was speedy - twice running second in the Stawell Gift - gutsy, and skilful, and could handle a variety of positions. In 1906 he was widely regarded as the most accomplished player in the competition, and West Perth sorely missed him when he was forced to drop out of the grand final team against East Fremantle because of injury. Old Easts won with ease, and the following year Bert Renfrey headed back east for a season in the VFL with St Kilda. Once again, he came under notice for some fine performances as he helped the Saints to qualify for the VFL major round for the first ever time, but he was unable to prevent a substantial loss to eventual premier Carlton in a semi final. An attractive offer from West Broken Hill saw Renfrey back there in 1908, although he returned to Melbourne midway through the year as a member of the New South Wales state side which competed at the Melbourne carnival. It was while he was at the carnival that he was approached by Arthur Thomas from Sturt who was endeavouring to attract proven footballers to his club using the best bait possible - the promise of employment and accommodation, courtesy of club benefactor John Dempsey. The 1909 season saw Renfrey at Unley Oval as one of a group of players quickly dubbed 'Dempsey's Immigrants'. Other members of the group included Harry Cumberland (St Kilda), Albert Heinrichs (East Fremantle), Phil Matson (Boulder City), Francis 'Driver' Dunne (South Fremantle), Joe Bushell (North Fremantle) and the South Melbourne pair of Percy Champion and Alphonse Wood. All were to prove instrumental in varying measure in lifting Sturt out of the doldrums, but it was to be Renfrey who would leave the most enduring legacy. Captain of the club from his debut season until 1913, he also coached the side from 1910-13. Inspirational and dashing, he was one of the first players selected in South Australian state teams during this period, making a total of 11 appearances in all, and his tremendous performances during the 1911 carnival were a significant factor in the home state's ultimate success. Renfrey's Sturt career ended in acrimonious fashion during a 1913 season that began spectacularly for the Blues who topped the ladder after round 6 with 5 wins. However, when they succumbed to a fast finishing West Adelaide side by 11 points a couple of weeks later the knives were suddenly out for the Sturt skipper, whom some team mates accused of 'playing dead'. The matter was not finally resolved until after the following week's match against North Adelaide, which featured a number of heated on field exchanges between Renfrey and several of his team mates. After the match, which Sturt lost by 7 points, a fight broke out between Renfrey and one of his fellow 'Immigrants', Albert Heinrichs. The encounter was fierce, prolonged, but ultimately inconclusive. However, it had the effect of convincing the committee that Renfrey had lost the loyalty of his troops, and so he was replaced as captain by Murray Brannigan. When Sturt finally broke through for its inaugural league premiership a couple of seasons later, Bert Renfrey, the man who had arguably done more than anyone else to steer the club on an ascendant course, was no longer involved. His final contribution to league football came with a brief pre-World War One stint as coach of South Adelaide. Ninety years after his retirement as a player, Bert Renfrey's significance in the history of the Sturt Football Club was officially recognised by his inclusion in the club's 'Team of the Century'. |
Footnotes1. When Australia achieved nationhood in 1901, the formerly separate colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia became the new nation's constituent states. Return to Main Text |
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Percy Renfrey (South Fremantle)
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| Known
as 'Skeeter', Percy Renfrey joined South
Fremantle in 1936, the same season that saw former East
Fremantle full back Jack Jones take over as the club's senior coach.
South struggled during Renfrey's first couple of years before developing
into a power in the final three seasons before the WANFL senior
competition went into mothballs because of World War Two. In 1940,
Renfrey was an ever present member of a side that reached the grand final
against Claremont, managed 29 scoring
shots to 26, but still went down by 17 points. He lined up in a back
pocket on that occasion, as he was to do in the overwhelming majority of
his 125 league appearances.
The WANFL resumed full scale post-war competition in 1945, but Renfrey did not return to South until the following year. In 1947 he was close to best afield in his customary back pocket position as the southerners edged out West Perth by 15 points in a hotly contested grand final, thereby claiming their first flag for thirty years. This proved to be the pinnacle of 'Skeeter' Renfrey's career, as although he continued at the club for several more years, he was never again a regular, first choice senior player. |
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| Known as 'Hooker', Geelong's Russell Renfrey was a tough, durable follower whose consistency is evidenced by the fact that he was never once selected for the reserves. Not tall for a ruckman at just 180cm he was nevertheless extremely adept at using his body to maneuver himself into prime position to win the tap, and he rarely lowered his colours over the course of an entire game. Later in his career he moved from being a knock ruckman in the traditional sense to a more modern ruck-rover type, à la Barassi. Renfrey was selected to represent the VFL in 1948, and was a key figure in the Cats 1951 and 1952 premiership-winning teams. Originally recruited from Drysdale in the Geelong and District Football League, he played 201 VFL games for Geelong between 1946 and 1956, booting 165 goals. |
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George Renwick (Boulder City, Carlton, West Perth)
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| George Renwick was a top class rover who played for three clubs of league standard in addition to representing Western Australia on 4 occasions at the 1908 Melbourne carnival. He played for Boulder City during a highly successful phase in that club's history, and was frequently among the goldfields best players during representative fixtures. He also played briefly with both West Perth and Carlton. |
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Allan Reval (Port Adelaide & Glenelg)
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| When
Allan 'Bull' Reval combined with Bob
Quinn in Port Adelaide's redoubtable combinations of the 1930s the
pair effectively revolutionised certain aspects of how the game was
played. When Bob McLean arrived from Norwood
in 1939, he was swiftly admitted to an inner circle which, but for the
war, must surely have dominated the South Australian game for most of the
next decade.
Stoutly built, 'Bull' Reval was too hefty for a rover, but not tall enough to engage in ruck contests; however, his supreme fitness, intelligent positioning ability, powerful running, and excellent team skills made him ideally suited to operate as on-baller, as part of the ruck division, which typically comprised a pair of tall followers, or ruckmen, who jointly contested the hit-outs, and a much smaller, nippier player, the rover. Reval, in effect, replaced the second follower with an intermediate player - a 'ruck-rover', if you will. Combining the mobility, skill and adroitness of a rover with the strength and some of the aerial prowess of a ruckman, Reval virtually gave Port Adelaide two players for the price of one. He also possessed that acute and unteachable team sense that almost invariably knows not only exactly where each proximate team mate is, but which of them is best placed to receive the ball. In concert with team mates like Quinn, Lew Roberts, Tom Kelleway and Ken Obst, Reval was adept at using handball to maneuver the ball out of tight situations in order to facilitate its transmission further downfield. He was also an excellent kick, whether over distance, or in stabbing the ball short "exactly into the next man's hands" (see footnote 1). According to Jeff Pash, the Reval stab pass was - with apologies for the limp pun - a 'revelation', "having speed, range and direction plus an elegance that you might not have expected in that hot, anxious, hurrying champion" (see footnote 2). Allan Reval made his league debut with the Magpies in 1932, and went on to play a total of 187 SANFL games over the next fourteen seasons, which included 21 games with the Port Adelaide-West Torrens combined team that played between 1942 and 1944. He also played 13 interstate matches for South Australia. A member of premiership teams in 1936-37 and 1939, he won Port Adelaide's top individual award in 1939. However, his importance stems not so much from personal achievements as from the impact which, in combination with Bob Quinn and Tom Kelleway (and later Bob McLean), he had on South Australian - and indeed Australian - football. 'Revolutionary' is an over-used term, but in the case of Port Adelaide's proto-ruck-rover Allan 'Bull' Reval it is an adequate description of the magnitude of his influence. After his retirement as a player, Reval coached Glenelg for a season in 1949, implementing a number of significant measures which assisted his successor, Johnny Taylor, to steer the Tigers to the 1950 grand final. |
Footnotes1. The Pash Papers by Jeff Pash, page 49. Return to Main Text 2. Ibid., page 49. Return to Main Text |
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H.J. 'Peter' Reville (South Melbourne, Coburg, Fitzroy)
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| 'Peter'
Reville, who made his VFL debut for South
Melbourne in 1925, and went on to play a total of 156 senior games for
the club, was widely acknowledged as one of the finest utility players of
his time. A good mark, and excellent kick, he booted a total of 207
goals for South, and was a key member of the club's winning 1933 grand
final team against Richmond. Reville's
last game with the southerners was the premiership play-off of the
following year when his admirable all round performance as a half
forward-cum-follower was insufficient to prevent the Tigers achieving
their revenge. Never one to take a backward step, Reville was also
reported no fewer than three times during the match, but he escaped
suspension by electing to depart the VFL scene and join Coburg
as captain-coach.
After a successful three season stint with Coburg, during which time he tied with Preston's Bert Hyde for the 1936 Recorder Cup, Reville resumed his VFL career in 1938, this time with Fitzroy. Still a handy player, he added 22 games and 27 goals to his tally over the ensuing couple of seasons before finally retiring. |
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Clarrie Reynolds (East Fremantle, Boulder City, Kalgoorlie City)
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| Clarrie
Reynolds was a diminutive but highly effective rover who was a driving
force behind the first three of East
Fremantle's four flags in a row between 1928 and 1931. The keys
to his success were extraordinary pace allied to great resilience, making
him extremely hard to suppress. His most memorable season was 1930,
when he won the Lynn Medal for Old Easts' fairest and best player, and was
best afield in the derby grand final win over South
Fremantle. After
138 games for East Fremantle between 1927 and 1930 and from 1932 to 1935,
plus 2 for Western Australia, Reynolds decided that he needed a fresh
challenge, and joined Boulder City in the
GNFL as captain-coach. He enjoyed his time with the Tigers, but
failed to steer the side to a flag. It was a different story at his
next port of call, however. After World War Two, Reynolds spent some
time as coach of Kalgoorlie City's
junior team, before progressing to the seniors, who he promptly steered to
an unprecedented two successive premierships in 1953-4.
After retiring from football, Clarrie Reynolds remained on the goldfields, claiming "It's the greatest place in the world, as far as I'm concerned" (see footnote 1). |
Footnotes1. Quoted in Gravel Rash by Les Everett, page 88. Return to Main Text |
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Dick Reynolds (Essendon & West Torrens)
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| 'King
Dick' as he was known was one of football's archetypal gentlemen - a much
needed antithesis to the likes of Don 'Mopsy'
Fraser,
Leigh
Matthews, Bob
Chitty and 'Mad
Mal' Brown. At 179cm and 82.5kg he was tall and quite heavily
built for a rover and seldom came off second best in the physical
exchanges. He was a fine high mark and possessed of supreme balance
and ball handling ability, and although not the greatest kick he was
dangerous near goals averaging well over a goal a game over the course of
a nineteen season, 320 game VFL career.
Later in that career Reynolds developed into an excellent half forward flank/ruck-rover type who went a long way towards defining that role for future generations. Extreme fairness coupled with an indefatigable brilliance ensured that 'King Dick' attracted a significant amount of attention - of the right sort - from the men in white: he was one of just two Victorians (and indeed only four players in total) to win three Brownlow Medals, polling a career total of 154 votes (8th on the all time list). He was also the quintessential team man and leader, captain-coaching the Dons to two premierships, and skippering the Big V in 6 of his 19 interstate appearances. His leadership qualities remained in evidence after his retirement as a player as he guided Essendon to two further flags before embarking on a less successful three season stint as coach of West Torrens. Several years after Reynolds' retirement as a player one of his most illustrious contemporaries, the great Haydn Bunton senior, paid him this fulsome tribute: In my estimation Dick stood out shoulder high as the best footballer ever to pull on a boot during the years I played in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. When his turn came to captain Essendon, Dick soon demonstrated that he was a great leader as well as a great footballer. He never had to shout at his players. He showed them by example and led them out of many possible defeats to victory. He was a big rover and therefore was a better high mark than was thought. In the air he stretched up. On the ground he had the greatest gift a rover can have, the ability to play low, gather the ball and sweep through and on without the opposition having a chance to up-end him. The man who plays the ball low does not have to contend with crazy bounces. He nips off the bounce and gains at least half a yard in pace. For a big man, Dick was an expert at playing low. I have seen better foot passers than Dick, but he was a wizard at hand-passing. He was deadly with a shot from 30-40 yards out. He might have been weaving in circles, but on gaining the ball he straightened up and, facing the goal squarely, seldom missed. (See footnote 1) Further information about Dick Reynolds' career can be found in the entry on Essendon. |
Footnotes1. As told to Hec de Lacy of 'The Sporting Globe'. Return to Main Text |
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| Without doubt one of the pre-eminent Geelong footballers of the 1990s, Peter Riccardi, who joined the Cats from Geelong West-St Peter's, would almost certainly have enjoyed premiership success with the club had he counted another two or three players of similar energy, passion and skill among his team mates. As it was, he played in a losing grand final against West Coast at the end of his debut season of 1992, and went on to do so twice more during a career encompassing 288 games over fifteen seasons. Boasting exhilarating pace and a pounding left foot kick, Riccardi was capable of changing the course of a match with an explosion of brilliance. He slowed down as his career went on, but became more adaptable, and arguably a better player all round. Had he a touch more consistency to his game he would have been universally acclaimed as a champion. Individual career highlights included three top three finishes in Geelong's best and fairest award, including a win in 1998. Former club great Bob 'Woofa' Davis said of Riccardi after the player announced his retirement in 2006, "I think Peter has been a magnificent player for the Geelong Football Club and I'm positive that every one of the teammates he's played with would regard him as one of the best players they played with". |
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Mark Ricciuto (West Adelaide & Adelaide)
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| Of
the 160-plus footballers to have represented Adelaide
during the club’s first eighteen seasons none has given more value or
had a greater all round impact than Mark Ricciuto whose tally of 312 AFL
games between 1993 and 1997 made him the Crows’ longest serving player
to date. Originally from Waikerie, Ricciuto played briefly with West
Adelaide before commencing his AFL career when still a few months
short of his eighteenth birthday. Early in his career it was his strength
and power which captured the attention, but before long it became apparent
that he boasted much more than an average quota of genuine skill as well.
In 1997 he was one of the principal factors in a stellar season for the
Crows which culminated in the club’s first ever premiership. Tragically
for Ricciuto, however, he suffered an injury late in the year which forced
him to miss the grand final victory over St
Kilda. Selection as an AFL
All Australian for the second time (the first had been in 1994) would
have afforded scant, if indeed any, consolation.
The 1998 season saw the player dubbed ‘Roo’ by team mates and fans produce even better football than the previous year, and this time it was crowned in perfect fashion by participation in the grand final defeat of North Melbourne as the Crows went back to back. Selection in another AFL All Australian team was icing on the cake on this occasion, with candles supplied in the form of a first ever club best and fairest award. Throughout the remaining decade of his career Mark Ricciuto was universally acknowledged as one of the game’s supreme talents, a status repeatedly reaffirmed in numerous ways, most notably by his joint Brownlow Medal win in 2003. Other noteworthy achievements included further Crows best and fairest awards in 2003 and 2004, selection in another five AFL All Australian teams, and the club’s goal kicking award after booting 44 goals in 2006. Ricciuto also skippered the Crows in his last seven seasons. |
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Colin Rice (Geelong & Glenelg)
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| Geelong
recruited Colin Rice from Swan Hill and he made his VFL debut in
1957. Nicknamed 'Sago', he was a strong, determined type of player
who excelled initially in a back pocket, and later as second rover to Bill
Goggin. He won the Cats' best and fairest award in 1959, and also
deputised for captain Ron Hovey for 7 games during the 1960 season when
Hovey was injured. The last of Colin Rice's 97 games for Geelong was
the victorious 1963 grand final against Hawthorn.
He also booted 87 goals.
In 1964, Rice ventured to South Australia where he joined Glenelg. Many former VFL stars have ventured to either the SANFL or WA(N)FL and succeeded only in sullying their previously high reputations (see footnote 1), but Colin Rice gave sterling service to the Bays over 36 games in a two season stint that yielded 64 goals and the 1964 club champion award. He also played for South Australia on half a dozen occasions, kicking 11 goals. |
Footnotes1. One instinctively demurs from naming names, but in a bid to get the arguments and recriminations underway, how about these? SANFL: Max Kruse (South Melbourne/Sydney, Glenelg), Adrian Battiston (Sydney, Melbourne, Glenelg), Ray Boyanich (Richmond, Woodville), Geoff Blethyn (Essendon, Port Adelaide), Syd Jackson (Carlton, Glenelg), Bill Barrot (Richmond, Carlton, St Kilda, West Torrens); WA(N)FL: Darryl Griffiths (St Kilda, Claremont), Neville Fields (Essendon, East Perth), Ken Newlands (Geelong, East Fremantle), Kevin O'Keeffe (Fitzroy, East Perth), Darryl Sutton (North Melbourne, Swan Districts), Vin Cattogio (Carlton, Melbourne, Sydney, Subiaco) Return to Main Text |
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Laurie Richards (West Perth, Fitzroy, Woodville)
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| A
spectacular high-flier with a keen goal sense, West Australian Laurie
Richards was one of a rare group of individuals to enjoy a top-line career
encompassing all three main football states. Recruited locally by
West Perth he made his senior debut in 1966 and finished the year as his
club's top goal kicker with 36 goals. Although he was normally used
at the goalfront, Richards was adaptable, often giving highly effective service
on the ball, for example.
The 1969 season saw him topping his club's goal kicking list for a second time, with the last 7 of his 72 goals for the year coming in the grand final demolition of East Perth. The Cardinals' 21.21 (147) to 10.14 (74) win that day was memorable for many things, but ask anyone who was at the game what sticks in their mind the most and chances are it will be Richards' exhilarating aerobatics on the forward line (an excellent example of which can be viewed in the above photograph). Among those taking admiring note of the Richards Air Show that day were representatives of VFL club Fitzroy, which was where Richards would spend the second phase of his career, from 1971 to 1974. After a slow start to his time with the Lions he developed into a consistently damaging performer whose talent was recognised in 1973 with selection in the VFL team that scored a 4 point win over South Australia on the Adelaide Oval. Many of his best games with Fitzroy were played on the ball or in the centre, but he could also be a valuable forward as his tally of 69 goals in 79 games attests. Runner-up in the Lions' best and fairest award voting in 1972, he was given the vice-captaincy the following year, affording clear evidence of the high regard in which he was held. In 1975 Laurie Richards crossed to Woodville in the SANFL where he added another 32 senior games in two seasons, booting 38 goals. After that, he returned home to West Perth, taking his final tally of games with the club to 119 by the time he finished in 1979. His form over these three seasons was excellent, and in 1978 he was chosen to represent Western Australia against the Victorians at Subiaco. Richards' final port of call was Woodville once more, for whom he played another 18 games and kicked 26 goals in 1981. |
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Lindsay Richards (East Fremantle, Boulder City, South Melbourne)
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| Hailing
from Boulder, Lindsay 'Blue' Richards was a bona fide goldfields football
legend. He played a season with East
Fremantle in 1927, but returned the following year to the goldfields,
where he lined up with Boulder City.
Richards won the competition fairest and best award that season and was a
member of the Tigers' premiership team. In 1929 he resumed with Old
Easts where, despite standing just 180cm in height, he developed into one
of the most commanding centre half backs in the game. He was a
member of East Fremantle premiership teams in 1929, 1930 and 1931, played
for Western Australia at the 1930
Adelaide carnival, and in 1931 became the club's first ever Sandover
Medallist, eliciting this praise from 'The Western Mail':
He.......is an ideal Sandover Medallist. Fair and clean in his methods, he shows great dash, fine marking ability and never hesitates to kick the ball as far away from danger as possible. (See footnote 1) Richards also won the Lynn Medal as club fairest and best in 1931, but the following year, after a total of 59 games with Old Easts, he ventured back to the goldfields and two more premiership seasons with Boulder City. The final phase of Lin Richards' career saw him confronting his greatest challenge as he became a member of the famous 'foreign legion' at South Melbourne. It was a challenge successfully negotiated as he played at centre half back in the southerners' grand finals of 1934 and 1935, both of which were unfortunately lost. In 1936 he retired in order to take up a business opportunity in Broken Hill, but towards the end of the season South sent him an SOS urging that he line up for them during the finals. Richards, who had kept himself fit during the year, although he had not played, decided to have one last stab at VFL football, and ended up starring in a back pocket as South went under on grand final day for the third successive time. After the game, which was the ninth consecutive premiership decider in which Richards had played, he returned to Broken Hill, and hung up his boots for good. He had played a total of 39 VFL games. In 1997, Lindsay 'Blue' Richards was selected as a member of East Fremantle's official 'Team of the Century'. |
Footnotes1. Cited in Gravel Rash by Les Everett, page 75. Return to Main Text |
|
[Click to enlarge] |
| At the risk of seeming trite, it might be suggested that Lewis Thomas Charles Richards is the personification of the Collingwood Football Club, an organisation which has been a focal point in his life for close to eighty years. His most enduring contribution to the club came during his fifteen season, 250 game VFL career there as a player. Tough, courageous and - perhaps most distinctively of all - lippy, he was one of football's great characters of the 1940s and '50s. His urgency and desperation made him a firm favourite at Victoria Park, while his cheeky demeanour made him Public Enemy Number One as far as most opposition teams, and their supporters, were concerned. Appointed Collingwood captain in 1952, he led the side to a grand final win over Geelong the following year, and carried on as skipper until he finished as a player. Always a danger near goals, he topped the Magpies' goal kicking list on three occasions, but perhaps surprisingly never won a club best and fairest award. After his retirement, Lou Richards became a successful and popular media identity, renowned for his wit, passion, and, most particularly, his 'kiss of death' tipping. |
|
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| Recruited, like his brother Lou, from Collingwood Tech., Ron Richards enjoyed a productive VFL career with Collingwood which saw him play 143 games and kick 114 goals between 1947 and 1956. Less talented perhaps than Lou, he was nevertheless every bit as competitive, and much more versatile. He starred on a wing in the 1953 grand final defeat of Geelong, but he could also rove, was dangerous near goal, and was a fierce and tenacious tackler in the backlines. He later gave tremendous service to the Magpies in a variety of off-field roles. |
|
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| One of many fine players to hail from St Pat's in Ballarat, Richmond's Barry Richardson had to contend with debilitating knee injuries for much of his 125 game VFL career, but was still one of the finest full backs of his time (although he was also eminently capable of playing in other positions with equal success). Always calm, confident and assured, he once famously kept the great Peter Hudson goalless. Richardson was a member of Tiger premiership teams in 1967, 1969 and 1974. He was at full forward in the 1974 grand final against North Melbourne, which proved to be the last game of his ten season VFL career, and booted 5 goals. He later coached Richmond to 4th place in 1977, and 7th the following year. During the nineties he coached Old Xaverians to an A Section flag and went on to assist Neil Balme at Melbourne. He returned to Old Xavs as coach in 2005 and promptly steered the side to another A Grade flag, its eighth in eleven seasons. |
|
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| A powerful, strong marking player, Jim Richardson was without doubt one of the greatest centre half backs produced in the ACT. A member of Eastlake premiership sides in 1972, 1976 and 1978, Richardson was also a regular ACT representative player at a time when the standard of the team's performances was improving steadily. In 1999 he was selected on a half back flank in the official 'ACT Legends' team which was chosen to commemorate 75 years of organised Australian football in the nation's capital. |
|
Max Richardson (South Fremantle, Collingwood, Fitzroy)
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| Unlike his older brother Wayne, Max Richardson had already played senior football (40 games) with South Fremantle by the time he was recruited by Collingwood in 1969. Like Wayne, however, he was a talented footballer who gave the Magpies a decade of fine service which comprised 211 VFL games and 158 goals. Club captain in 1977, Richardson was a tremendous ball winner who was equally effective as a ruck-rover or across half back. He crossed to Fitzroy in 1979 and added 30 games and 41 goals over the final two seasons of his league career. |
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Michael Richardson (Swan Districts, Collingwood, Essendon, Brisbane, West Perth)
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| Mike Richardson was a vibrant, athletic and abundantly skilled footballer whose memorable senior career stretched for almost two decades. He made his league debut with Swan Districts as a nineteen year old in 1978, and soon established a regular niche in the side as a smooth running and highly damaging rover forward. He played in Swans' losing grand final team of 1980, and the winning side two years later, and was listed high among his side's best players on both occasions. Top goal kicker at Swans in 1982 with 75 goals he crossed to the VFL with Collingwood the following year and rapidly became a firm favourite among the Victoria Park faithful. He played a total of 60 VFL games in three and a half years with the Magpies, booting 117 goals, which included a club list-topping tally of 49 in his debut season. Midway through the 1986 season Richardson crossed to Essendon where, for the only time in his career, he struggled to make his mark, and after 15 games and 14 goals he moved on to Brisbane in 1987. His 81 game, 43 goal stint with the Bears saw him produce some of the best and most consistent football of his career. He also demonstrated his versatility by playing games at both ends of the ground as well as across centre and on the ball. In 1991 he returned home to Swan Districts, and by the end of the 1993 season had taken his tally of games with the club to 141 (for 220 goals), and his overall total of league games to 297. He would doubtless have liked to have brought up the elusive 300 game milestone with his beloved Swans, but a difference of opinion with coach John Todd precipitated his departure prior to the start of the 1994 season. He ended up rounding off his WAFL career with West Perth, for whom he made his 300th league appearance late in July 1994, and for whom he continued to perform with energy, purpose and distinction right to the end. Richardson also played state league or state of origin football for Western Australia on 10 occasions, and was selected as an All Australian in 1983. In the year 2000 he was chosen on a half forward flank in Swan Districts' official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. |
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| Victor
York Richardson was one of Australia's greatest ever all round
sportsmen. His first love was cricket, at which he captained both
his state and the Australian Test side, but he was also a superbly
accomplished footballer. Born and bred in Sturt's
district, he represented the club with distinction in 114 games between
1915 and 1927, and donned the South Australian jumper in state matches 10
times. During that time he captained both his club and
state, won two Sturt best and fairest awards, and was a member of
premiership teams in 1915, 1919 and 1926. In 1920 he was runner-up
in the Magarey Medal
to Dan Moriarty of South
Adelaide. Both players actually obtained an identical number of
votes, but the rules of the award dictated that in such circumstances the
league umpires should be required to adjudicate. They plumped for
the South man. In 1998, the SANFL awarded Richardson, and everyone
else who had originally lost on either a countback of votes or some kind
of referral system, retrospective medals.
As a player, Vic Richardson was cool, poised, and purposeful, with intelligent, pinpoint foot-passing a particularly noteworthy feature of his game. He spent most of his career as a centreman where he had few peers anywhere in Australia. Aside from his two major sporting pre-occupations, Victor York Richardson also played baseball, tennis, lacrosse and golf to a high standard. |
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Wayne Richardson (Collingwood)
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| Collingwood snared Wayne Richardson from South Fremantle in 1965 before he had made his senior debut and, not surprisingly, the West Australian side was extremely reluctant to clear him. Richardson was forced to stand out of football for the entire 1965 season before his clearance was ratified, but as far as the Magpies were concerned, the wait was worth it, as he would develop into one of the finest players in the club's history. A tough customer, and extremely skilful, he spent most of his 277 game, 323 goal VFL career between 1966 and 1978 as either a rover or ruck-rover, where his adeptness at reading the play enabled him to pick up countless possessions. A Copeland Trophy winner in 1971 and 1974, Richardson skippered the Magpies from midway through the 1971 season until 1975. He represented the VFL on numerous occasions, and was universally acknowledged as one of the 'greats' of his era, a status emphasised by his inclusion in Collingwood's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. |
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|
He may seldom if ever be mentioned these days in the same breath as such undoubted Tiger champions as Churchett, Johnston, Handby, Owens, Sallis and McDermott, but it is at least arguable that he deserves to. He began his career in 1957, and quickly developed into a top line rover. Later on he re-invented himself as a rebounding back pocket player of the highest order, and it is high testimony to the quality of his play that he won club best and fairest awards and earned state representation (a total of 12 times) in both positions. Indeed, only Len Sallis and Nick Chigwidden can match Richens's record of four club champion trophies with Glenelg. Solidly built to the point of appearing hefty, Richens was nevertheless extremely quick both off the mark and over distance, and a master of getting clear of his man. He used the ball well, with almost effortless precision, and during his early years in particular knew how to kick a goal, amassing 220 during his career, which included a club list-topping topping 29 (shared with Harry Kernahan) in 1961. He retired at the end of his tenth league season in 1968. |
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Charlie Ricketts (Richmond, South Melbourne, St Kilda)
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| Charlie Ricketts was a tremendously skilled rover whose use of the ball was impeccable. He commenced his senior career in the VFA with Richmond, and was first rover as the yellow and blacks overcame North Melbourne in the 1905 grand final. He crossed to South Melbourne in the VFL in 1906 and went on to play 82 league games and boot 47 goals over the course of the ensuing seven seasons. He was also a clever tactician, and captain-coached South to the 1909 flag, as well as to a runner-up spot three years later. In 1913 he returned to Richmond, which by this time was a league club, after being somewhat surprisingly passed over for the South Melbourne captaincy. Ricketts played 16 games and kicked 11 goals in two seasons with the Tigers. In 1920 he was appointed non-playing coach of St Kilda but returned to the fray briefly as a player (5 games, 1 goal) the following year. |
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| A gritty, keen, energetic, team-orientated performer, Ian Ridley was without doubt one of the toughest rovers of his era. He joined Melbourne from Hamilton Imperials and made his VFL debut in 1951. Dangerous near goals, he booted a total of 228 for the Dees in his 130 game senior career which ended in 1961, and which featured involvement in no fewer than five premiership teams. In the boilover 1958 grand final which Melbourne lost to Collingwood by 18 points, Ridley had his nose broken. |
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| Known as 'Wombat' because of his predilection for burrowing into packs (and, more often than not, emerging with the ball) rover Roger Rigney was a vital if unostentatious component in the Sturt machine between 1959 and 1971, during which time he played 211 games and kicked 250 goals. One of only eight Double Blues players to appear in all five of the club's premiership teams between 1966 and 1970, Rigney was often at his most effective when the weather was at its worst. One such instance was the 1970 grand final against Glenelg, played on a heavy ground in almost constant driving rain, when Rigney's dynamically aggressive and gutsy four quarter performance was a key factor in Sturt's eventual 21 point win. During the summer months, unlike many of his contemporaries, he played little or no sport, and often had trouble keeping his weight down. However, the same trademark determination that was so clearly evident on match days was invariably utilised to good effect in ensuring that he was in optimum physical shape by the time the ball was bounced at the start of each season. |
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| Despite standing a mere 177cm in height, and weighing just 76kg, Sturt's 1923 Magarey Medallist was particularly renowned for his feats of aerial brilliance (as depicted above, with Riley wearing the number 21 jumper), frequently out-marking opponents who dwarfed him physically. Unfairly regarded as inconsistent, he actually gave the Double Blues many fine displays during his ten season, 122 game league career between 1921 and 1930. If the Medal was the undoubted highlight of that career, there were other noteworthy features as well, not least his telling performance against North Adelaide in the 1926 challenge final, won by Sturt, and his 20 appearances for South Australia. Hardly surprisingly, Horrie Riley, who was actually born in Victoria but moved to South Australia as a youngster, is a member of Sturt's official 'Team of the Century'. |
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John Riley (North Adelaide & Footscray)
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| Chosen on a half back flank in North Adelaide's official 'Team of the Century', John Riley gave loyal, consistent and deceptively unobtrusive service to the club in 250 games between 1977 and 1990. He joined the Roosters from Broadview, and almost from the start his calm, authoritative approach earned him many admirers. Appointed club captain in 1982, he won a fairest and most brilliant award the same year, and represented South Australia in all three of its matches for the season. Prior to the 1984 season he was controversially signed by Footscray, but after just 1 VFL game he returned home and resumed with North. In 1987 he was on a half back flank in the Roosters' comprehensive grand final victory over Glenelg, a result which secured the club's first flag in fifteen years, as well as reversing the outcome of the previous two premiership deciders, in both of which Riley had also played. A state representative 5 times, John Riley was somewhat unfortunate in that his retirement came just a year before the Roosters won a second flag in five years. |
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Maurice Rioli (St Marys, South Fremantle, Richmond)
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| Melville
Islander Maurice Rioli combined incomparable deftness of touch and great
skill with tremendous toughness, this last trait being a legacy of his
boxing background. Often reserving his best for big games, Rioli won
consecutive grand final Simpson
Medals with South Fremantle
in 1980 and 1981 (the latter shared), and then went on to secure a notable
hat trick when his best afield performance in a losing Richmond
grand final side against Carlton earned
him the 1982 Norm Smith
Medal.
Twice voted Richmond's fairest and best player, he ran 2nd in the 1983 Brownlow to Ross Glendinning. His best finish in the Sandover was 4th in 1979. Rioli played interstate football for both Western Australia (13 appearances) and the Northern Territory, and achieved the comparatively rare distinction of gaining All Australian selection with both teams. His VFL career with Richmond saw him play a total of 118 games and kick 80 goals between 1982 and 1987. |
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Edward Rippon (Essendon & St Kilda)
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| Initially from Cheltenham, Ted Rippon was recruited by Carlton, but persistent injuries prevented him from breaking into the seniors. In 1933 he crossed to Essendon where he embarked on a serviceable seven season, 69 game career, mainly as a follower. Known jokingly as 'Autumn Leaves' because of his repeated tendency to fall over after contesting the ball in the air, he was nevertheless a hard working and determined footballer, who in 1935 won the Dons' Most Serviceable Player award. After four seasons away from league football he resumed in 1944, this time with St Kilda. Rippon spent two seasons with the Saints, and played 17 games. He later served on Essendon's committee, and was a football commentator on both radio and television. |
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Norman Rippon (Melbourne & South Melbourne)
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| A product of Caulfield Juniors, Norman Rippon would almost certainly be remembered today as an out and out champion had his determination to succeed matched his undoubted talent. As it was, he gave VFL crowds occasional glimpses of his audacious ability, but that was all. He joined Melbourne in 1898, but played just 1 game for the year before deciding that top level football was not for him. He had another stab at the big time in 1901, this time with South Melbourne, and, as hinted at above, there were occasions when he seemed capable of taking his football to another plane. Ultimately, however, his tally of 36 VFL games in four seasons, playing mainly as a centreman, must be seen as representing a dismal under-achievement for someone of his capabilities. |
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Don Roach (West Adelaide, Hawthorn, Norwood)
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| Melbourne-born
Don Roach moved to Adelaide with his family as a youngster, and commenced
in league football with West Adelaide
in 1958. A tall, angular left footer, he moved smoothly, and was a
superb kick. He was selected as an All
Australian after representing South Australia at the 1961 Brisbane
carnival, arousing the interest of a number of VFL clubs. In 1964 he
joined Hawthorn, and played a total of
29 VFL games over the ensuing two seasons, mainly as a half forward
flanker or wingman. He returned to West Adelaide as captain-coach in
1966 but in two seasons in charge was unable to steer his team to finals
participation.
Roach spent the 1969 season out of football but resumed in 1970 with Norwood where he added 42 SANFL games to the 162 he had played with West. He also played 9 interstate games for South Australia. Late in his playing career he was employed by the SANFL as its promotions officer, and he continued his career in football administration after he retired as a player in 1972. |
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Michael Roach (Longford & Richmond)
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| Michael Roach began his senior career with Longford where he played mainly as a wingman. However, it was as a full forward with Richmond in the VFL, where he moved in 1977, that he made his name. Supremely powerful overhead, he kicked both straight and long, and was a key figure in Richmond's pre-eminence during the early 1980s. His best year in front of the sticks was 1980, when his club record tally of 112 goals was good enough to top the league list. He was the league's top goalkicker again in 1981 with 86 goals, and he headed Richmond's list no fewer than seven times (once jointly). After representing Tasmania at the 1979 Perth state of origin carnival, Roach achieved All Australian selection. He retired in 1989 after precisely 200 VFL games and 607 goals. |
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Harold 'Tim' Robb (Yarraville, Footscray, North Melbourne)
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| Christened Harold, but normally referred to as 'Tim', Robb was a lively, elusive rover with a keen eye for goal. He commenced his senior career in the VFA with Yarraville, producing football of such consistent high quality that it was only a matter of time before he began to receive offers from league clubs. In 1947 he made the shift, joining Footscray, where he played 40 VFL games in two and a half seasons, kicking 63 goals. Midway through the 1949 season he crossed to North Melbourne, and the following year he was a key factor in the club's reaching its first ever VFL grand final, which was lost to Essendon by 38 points. Playing as second rover, Robb was close to the shinboners' best player on the day. He continued with North for another year, by which time he had played 34 senior games and booted 71 goals for the club. |
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| There have been few better South Australian full backs than Alf Roberts who played 230 SANFL games for West Torrens between 1945 and 1958. Never flustered, he did everything with a minimum of fuss and a maximum amount of elegance and poise. Torrens' best and fairest player in 1954, he represented his state on 2 occasions - a total which would have been much higher had his career not coincided to a large extent with that of another great South Australian full back, John Abley. |
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Brian Roberts (South Adelaide, East Fremantle, Richmond, South Melbourne)
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| Known
during the Victorian phase of his career as 'The Whale', Brian Roberts had
physical attributes to match, and is thought to have been, at roughly
120kg, among the heaviest men ever to play league football. He did
so in three states, beginning in his home state of South Australia with South
Adelaide, where he played 57 SANFL games between 1965 and 1967, as
well as representing the croweaters at the
1966 Hobart carnival. His next port of call was East
Fremantle where, over the course of the next three seasons, he played
precisely the same number of league games as he had with the
Panthers. He also played for his adopted state at the
1969 Adelaide carnival.
The final phase of Roberts' league career was in the VFL with Richmond (97 games from 1971-5) and South Melbourne (15 games in 1975). He was a member of Richmond's 1973-4 premiership teams, but enjoyed possibly his finest concerted spell in football with South Melbourne where, despite having a late start to the season, he finished only 3 votes shy of winner Gary Dempsey in the Brownlow Medal. Extremely tall at 199cm as well as being of extraordinarily hefty build, Brian Roberts combined enormous ability as a tap ruckman with great marking skills around the ground. Sadly, an argument with South Melbourne coach Ian Stewart during the 1976 pre-season period led to his premature retirement from the game. |
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John Roberts (Woodville, South Melbourne/Sydney, West Torrens, North Adelaide)
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| John Roberts was an elusive, high leaping full forward who began his league career with Woodville in 1974. Over the next six seasons he played a total of 120 SANFL games for the 'Peckers, topping their goal kicking list in 1977 with 51 goals and in 1978 with 30. In 1980 he joined South Melbourne and earned an instant place for himself in the hearts of Swans fans by kicking the winning goal right on the siren in his debut match against Geelong. Roberts was success in the VFL, kicking 135 goals in 50 games spread over three seasons. He was the Swans' top goal kicker in 1980 with 67 goals, and in 1981 with 51. Returning to South Australia in 1983, he spent the next four seasons with West Torrens, adding 58 SANFL games to his tally, as well as a further three club goal kicking awards. The final phase of Roberts' career took place at North Adelaide, where he finally got to play in a premiership team, contributing 5 goals to the Roosters' 23.7 (145) to 9.9 (63) grand final annihilation of Glenelg. That same season he booted 111 goals to top the SANFL's goal kicking ladder for the first and only time in his career. He ended his career after a 1988 season which saw him boot 80 goals to top North's list once more; his 53 senior games with the Roosters gave him a career total of 283, including 2 appearances for South Australia at the 1980 Adelaide carnival, after which he achieved All Australian selection. |
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| A stay at home centreman of the old school, Port Adelaide's Lew Roberts lacked nothing in temperament or skill, and boasted a particularly strong defensive game. Almost invariably one of South Australia's most auspicious performers in interstate matches, he was content when playing for Port to allow the likes of Quinn and Reval to run the show while he concentrated on mopping up behind them. Roberts, whose short passing - "a delicately lobbed missile" (see footnote 1) - was another particularly noteworthy feature of his play, played 143 league games for the Magpies between 1937 and 1941, and from 1945 to 1948. He also played 38 games for Port Adelaide-West Torrens during the SANFL's wartime competition which ran from 1942 to 1944, and half a dozen interstate matches for South Australia. In 1946, Lew Roberts was the first ever winner of the prestigious Advertiser Trophy. |
Footnotes1. The Pash Papers by Jeff Pash, page 49. Return to Main Text |
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| St
Kilda recruited Neil Roberts from Melbourne High School Old Boys and
he made his VFL debut in 1952. After failing to impress as a forward
during his first two and a half seasons in league company he was moved to
centre half back with stunning success. Tall and boasting an
athletic physique, he was excellent overhead, and a superb rebound
player. He won St Kilda's best and fairest award in 1955, and again
three years later, when he also landed the Brownlow.
A regular Big V representative (11 appearances), he was an inspirational
player who led from the front. In 1958 he became the first ever St
Kilda player to achieve All
Australian selection. Appointed St Kilda captain in 1959 he
retained the position until he retired, after 169 VFL games and 40 goals,
in 1962.
In 2002, Neil Roberts was chosen at centre half back in St Kilda's official 'Team of the Century'. |
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Neville Roberts (West Torrens, Richmond, Norwood)
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| Neville
'Rocky' Roberts, who began his league career with West
Torrens in 1973, was a quick, highly skilled half forward or forward
who marked and kicked extremely well. After two seasons with the
Eagles he joined VFL side Richmond, where he
played 48 games and kicked 81 goals over the next three years. A
second stint at West Torrens followed, with Roberts showing the benefits
of his spell in the VFL by developing into one of the most eye-catching
players in South Australia. He topped Torrens' goal kicking list in 1980
with 47 goals and all told kicked precisely 200 goals in 96 games for the
club before crossing to Norwood in
1982. In his debut season with the Redlegs he played in a
premiership team, while in the grand final of two years later, against
arch-rival Port Adelaide, he booted 6
goals from a forward pocket to be one of the best afield as Norwood edged
home by 9 points. By this stage of his career, Roberts was playing
most of his football on the full forward line, and he topped his club's
goal kicking list in 1982 with 85 goals, 1983 (117), 1984 (106) and 1985
(71). He retired at the end of the 1987 season after playing 108
games and kicking 413 goals for the Redlegs. He also represented
South Australia 5 times (twice as captain) and Victoria once. He
captained the Eagles in 1980 and 1981, and the Redlegs in 1985 and
1986. After his playing days were over, Roberts
became a respected media commentator, before returning to Norwood as
senior coach in 2000. In two seasons at the helm he oversaw 5th and
4th place finishes.
Arguably Neville Roberts' best football came during his six season stint at the Parade, a fact that was endorsed with his selection in a forward pocket in Norwood's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. |
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Austin Robertson junior (Subiaco & South Melbourne)
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| Son
of the former South Melbourne great of the
same name, Austin Robertson junior managed the rare feat of actually
out-performing his famous father.
Playing almost exclusively as a full forward Robertson's main strengths were his blisteringly fast leads to space, and his meticulously accurate kicking for goal, almost invariably using the drop punt. Astute judges such as Graham Farmer and Neil Kerley regarded him, when at his peak during the late 1960s, as the finest full forward in Australia. To a certain extent, the measure of a full forward's effectiveness can be determined by bald statistics, and in Robertson's case these were inordinately impressive. Over the course of his entire 269 game league career between 1962 and 1974 he totalled 1,338 goals, 1,278 of which constituted an all time WANFL record. He topped the WANFL goal kicking list a record eight times, and 'bagged the ton' on six occasions, accomplishments rendered all the more remarkable by the fact that he played almost exclusively in mediocre teams. Indeed, in thirteen seasons of senior football the teams for which he played only contested the finals half a dozen times, with Robertson's only grand final appearance coming in 1973, by which time he was past his best. Thankfully, however, Subiaco rewarded him with a richly deserved premiership. |
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Austin Robertson senior (South Melbourne, West Perth, Perth, Port Melbourne)
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| Old
Xaverians product Austin
Robertson was a superb all round sportsman who, for a time, looked most
likely to reach the top in cricket. Ultimately, however, he elected
to split his attention between football, and professional sprinting.
During the early 1930s, Robertson, known almost universally as 'Ocker', was world sprint champion, and given that he was also playing league football with South Melbourne at the time there seems little doubt that he was one of the fastest footballers ever to play the game. Newspaper cartoons at the time typically depicted him with wings growing from his feet. Nevertheless, there was much more in his armoury than just speed; he was also an accomplished ball handler, strong mark and excellent kick, and could play in virtually any position. Robertson made his VFL debut with South as an eighteen year old in 1927 and went on to play a total of 154 games over the next eleven seasons. To his immense disappointment, however, he missed the chance to play in the club's 1933 premiership win because he was in the USA at the time, endeavouring - ultimately without success - to arrange a head to head challenge against the American sprint champion, Eddie Tolan. In 1937, Austin Robertson was enticed west by West Perth supremo Alec Breckler, who was desperate to give his team the vital push it needed in order to make that year's finals. The arrangement was that Robertson would play the last four home and away matches of the year with the Cardinals, plus the finals if they made them, in return for some substantial nest feathering. He would then be free to return home to Melbourne. Unfortunately for West Perth, the plan broke down when Robertson dislocated his elbow in the penultimate match of the year against East Fremantle, a game which the Cardinals ultimately lost to wreck their hopes of making the finals. However, West Perth's loss was to be the Perth Football Club's gain, as while Robertson was recuperating in hospital after surgery to his elbow, he received a visit from Redlegs secretary Jack Sheedy, who made him, in Robertson's own words, "an offer I was not going to be able to refuse" (see footnote 1). Perth wanted Robertson as its coach, and was prepared to pay handsomely to procure his services. Clearly, the Perth committee was far from complacent about its lack of success, and was prepared to take fairly drastic action to turn things around. Although Robertson did not turn out to be, on paper at any rate, a success, his appointment as Redlegs coach was arguably a seminal event in the emergence of what might be termed the 'new Perth', the club which would, in post-war years, gradually transform itself from perennial chopping block into the most professionally run and, for a short time at least, the most successful force in West Australian football. After two seasons in the west, Robertson returned home to Victoria, and his football career took a new turn when he lined up with Port Melbourne. Playing mainly as a fast, elusive centre half forward, Robertson was a key contributor to the Boroughs' success in procuring back to back flags in 1940-41. After a seven season break from football, Robertson returned to Perth as non-playing coach in 1948, steering the side to 4th place in his debut season, and a losing grand final against West Perth in his second. With other commitments pressing in, he then resigned, but once again, and this time even more conspicuously, he had been instrumental in pushing the club in the right direction. Remaining in the west, Austin Robertson continued to afford passionate support to the sport he loved. During the 1960s and '70s his son, Austin Robertson junior, carried on the family tradition by playing with distinction for Subiaco, South Melbourne and Western Australia. |
Footnotes1. Ocker: the Fastest Man Alive by Austin Robertson, page 53. Return to Main Text |
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Colin Robertson (Cooee, Wynyard, Hawthorn, Burnie)
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| Best
remembered for the Norm
Smith Medal he won during Hawthorn's 1983 VFL grand final demolition
of Essendon Colin Robertson was a
dashing player in two states who was equally at home on the ball, on a wing,
or in defence. In the 1983 grand final his brief was to curb the
effectiveness of key Bomber on baller Tim
Watson, a task he performed in
exemplary fashion, whilst still managing to exert a significant impact
offensively.
Robertson joined Hawthorn from Wynyard in 1980 after the Hawks won a six club chase to procure him. He quickly settled in at Glenferrie becoming, from 1981 onwards, a significant contributor to the hard running style of football which was being developed by coach Allan Jeans, and which would ultimately enable the Hawks to establish one of the most awesome - and enduring - football dynasties of all time. Such high standards made competition for senior places at Hawthorn probably stiffer than it had been at any other VFL club up to that point, and after the 1984 grand final - in which he performed serviceably to contribute 2 goals to Hawthorn's losing tally of 12.9 - Robertson found it increasingly difficult to perform consistently at the required level. Admittedly, grand final day 1985 did see him earn a 2nd premiership medallion in a side including players of the calibre of Peter Knights, Rodney Eade, Michael Byrne, James Morrissey, Greg Dear and Steve Malaxos, but the sad fact was that this was just a reserves flag which, in the context of the Hawthorn senior side's 78 point capitulation to Essendon later the same day, meant very little. Colin Robertson finished his senior football career by captaining Burnie Hawks during that club's first three seasons in the TFL statewide competition. |
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Ian Robertson (Carlton, Footscray, Oakleigh)
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| Ian Robertson was an elegantly eye catching wingman who, on his day, was as good as any in the VFL. He joined Carlton from Dalyston, and his 125 goals between 1966 and 1974 included the winning grand finals of 1968 against Essendon, 1970 against Collingwood (reviewed here), and 1972 against Richmond. In the Essendon game, he was some observers' choice as best afield. A superb drop kick and a fine mark, he crossed to Footscray in 1974 and added a final 4 VFL games to his tally before crossing to VFA 1st division club Oakleigh as captain-coach the following year. The Devils did not enjoy a good season, however, and failed to contest the finals for the first time since 1970. Ian Robertson later became a TV football commentator on channel seven. |
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John Robertson (Port Adelaide)
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| The individual highlight of John Robertson's brief football career came at the 1914 Sydney carnival when he won a Referee Medal as South Australia's best player. A pacy and intelligent rebound defender renowned for his exceptional foot passing, he was a key contributor to Port Adelaide's 1913 and 1914 premiership wins, as well as the championship of Australia victories of the same years. He commenced with Port in 1912, and had played somewhere between 45 and 55 games by the time that league competition went into recess owing to the war in 1916. On its resumption in 1919, Robertson again lined up for Port, but was hampered by injury. He managed only 1 game that year, and then the following season, after being appointed club captain, he broke down again after just a couple of games and was forced to resign and, ultimately, retire as a player. |
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Keith Robertson (North Melbourne)
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| Keith Robertson possessed all the attributes of the top class wingman - electrifying pace, sure hands, and first rate disposal skills - but he elected to end his involvement in league football prematurely in order to concentrate on his teaching career. The slimly built, red-haired Robertson was picked up by North Melbourne from Mallee League side Tempy, and made his senior VFL debut in 1957. He was only twenty-four when he retired half a dozen seasons later having played 69 games and kicked 9 goals. Robertson also made 2 interstate appearances for the VFL. |
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Ralph Robertson (St Kilda, East Sydney, North Shore)
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|
Adapted from an article by Ian Granland Born in Aylestone, Leicestershire, Ralph Robertson achieved substantial, if fleeting, notoriety as an exponent of a 'strange' code of football on the other side of the world, initially in Melbourne where he ventured with his family as a three year old in 1885, and later in Sydney, where his involvement was significant in helping the sport establish a toehold after a prolonged hiatus. Robertson's early football was played with junior club South Beach which was based in the St Kilda area. In 1899 he fronted up in the VFL with the Saints, and went on to play a total of 14 league games in two seasons. The 1901 season saw him based in Sydney where, with Australian football being in abeyance at the time, he played rugby union with a club that gloried in the name of Fitzroy. When Australian football resumed in the harbour city in 1903, Robertson was an inaugural member - and vice-captain - of East Sydney, which landed that year's premiership. Somewhat diminutive in stature at only 171cm, Robertson, perhaps not surprisingly, played mostly as a rover, although he could also provide more than solid service across half forward or at the goalfront. A regular member of metropolitan and state representative teams, Ralph Robertson, who was once described as "one of the most scientific footballers in the state" (see footnote 1), represented New South Wales with distinction at each of the first three interstate championship series, winning a Referee Medal at Sydney in 1914. His tally of 30 interstate appearances for New South Wales has been bettered only once. In 1909, after six seasons with East Sydney, Robertson transferred to North Shore, and enjoyed the immediate satisfaction of participating in another premiership team. He was still at the top of his game when he signed up for active war service in 1914. He died while after a mid-air collision while piloting a single-seater fighter plane over Egypt in May 1917. In 2003, Ralph Robertson was named as one of ten inaugural members of the official Sydney AFL Hall of Fame. |
Footnotes1. 'The Referee', pre-carnival publication, 1908. Return to Main Text |
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Ralph G. Robertson (St Kilda, Hannans, Mines Rovers)
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| One
of several brothers to play for St Kilda
during that club's final few years in the VFA, Ralph Robertson was
appointed captain in 1896 before embarking on a two year sojourn in the
west. Regarded as an extremely clever player, and an excellent on
field leader, Robertson formed part of a star-studded Hannans line-up -
along with the likes of Ted Rowell
and James 'Carbine' Gullan - which in 1897 won only the second ever
premiership of the Hannans Districts Football Association, precursor of
the Goldfields Football League.
In 1901, Robertson joined reigning HDFA premier Mines Rovers. Midway through the year he was one of the best players afield as a combined Goldfields Football Association team (the new name for the controlling body of the goldfields region) trounced a WAFA representative side 8.9 (57) to 4.8 (32) in Perth. Robertson was also strongly instrumental in helping Mines go 'back to back' in 1901, before making it three in a row the following year. |
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[Click to enlarge] |
| Phil
Robin made his league debut with Norwood in
1907, became a regular the following season, and for the next seven years
he was widely acknowledged as one of the finest wingmen in the game.
An interstate representative on 7 occasions, he played in South Australia's
victorious 1911 carnival
team. That same year saw him receive Norwood's best and fairest
player award, making him the earliest known such recipient on record.
Always scrupulously fair, Robin's electrifying dashes down the wing, weaving and dodging his way past opponents, delighted both the Redleg faithful as well as general connoisseurs of the game. He was somewhat unfortunate to play during what was effectively a time of rebuilding at Norwood, but if anything this made the high quality of his football stand out even more. When war broke out, Phil Robin joined the AIF, and not long afterwards was one of many to make the supreme sacrifice (see footnote 1). |
Footnotes1. Some of Phil Robin's activities in the AIF were noteworthy and heroic in the extreme, and while not directly germane to his career as a league footballer, they will doubtless be of interest to some readers, and so are referenced here. Return to Main Text |
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Alec Robinson (Essendon, Boulder City, Subiaco)
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| Recruited by Essendon from Brighton Juniors, Alec Robinson played 10 games and kicked 5 goals for the Same Old in his only season in the VFL in 1904. It was on the West Australian goldfields with Boulder City, however, that he made his reputation. Tall and powerfully built, he was a tireless player renowned as one of the finest exponents of the place kick of his era. In 1907 he enjoyed an exceptional year, helping Boulder City to the premiership and an unbeaten coastal tour, and being voted the best player in the GFA. In 1908 and 1914 'Robbie' as he was universally known played carnival football for Western Australia. He was also selected for the 1911 carnival but had to withdraw from the side owing to injury. A member of five pre-World War One Boulder City premiership teams, Robinson made a brief playing comeback after the war, before taking on the role of non-playing coach of the club. In 1928 and 1929 he coached Subiaco to 3rd and 4th positions on the premiership ladder. |
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| A solid and consistent full back, Hawthorn's Jim Robison conceded height to most opponents but compensated for this with a mixture of formidable body strength, good judgement, and a prodigious and always well timed leap. He was a long, elegant drop kick and approached the game with a calm authority that was reassuring both to team mates and to fans of the often beleaguered Hawks. Originally from Old Scotch, Robison played 89 VFL games and kicked 17 goals for Hawthorn between 1947 and 1953. At the 1950 Brisbane carnival he was the VFL's full back in 3 out of the side's 4 matches. |
|
Barrie Robran (North Adelaide)
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| Barrie
Robran was arguably South Australia's, some would say Australia's,
greatest ever footballer. The bare statistics fail to do him
justice: three Magarey Medals
and seven consecutive club fairest and most brilliant awards during a 201 game career
which also saw him represent his state on 17 occasions (see
footnote 1). Originally
from Whyalla, Robran off the field was shy and unassuming; on it, he was
an artist. Victorian Mike Patterson who coached Robran for much of
his league career observed that "Barrie can match (any Victorian) in
any phase. I've seen him do things that the best players over there
have been unable to accomplish".
Robran's 'finest hour' arguably came during North Adelaide's 1972 club championship of Australia final against Carlton when he performed with such brilliance that, on more than one occasion, opposition player Alex Jesaulenko - himself no mean footballer - broke into spontaneous applause. (Click here for a brief review of the match.) In 1974, while captaining South Australia against the VFL at the SCG, he sustained a serious knee injury which, while not ending his career in a literal sense, effectively put paid to his genius, and meant that the sustained brilliance which had characterised his first eight seasons in League football would seldom be seen again. In 2001 that brilliance was accorded belated recognition by the AFL when Robran became the first AFL Legend never to have played league football in the state of Victoria. Perhaps the most succinctly apposite description of Robran was coined by 'Advertiser' journalist and former West Torrens and state footballer, Geoff Kingston, who wrote simply that "Barrie Robran was a man in whom nature succeeded". Originally from Whyalla, Robran's genius was evident from an early age. In 1966 he helped North Whyalla to a WFL premiership, and was a joint winner of the competition best and fairest award, the Whyalla News Medal. He played seconds football for North Adelaide during the 1966 finals series, and made his league debut in the opening round of the following season when he produced an awesome display of all round football brilliance to hit the headlines in the next day's Sunday papers, a position he would enjoy on numerous occasions over the ensuing eight seasons and more. |
Footnotes1. Robran won his seven successive club champion awards between 1967 and 1973, although in point of fact he was originally placed second in the voting for the 1967 award, losing out on a countback to Don Lindner. The North Adelaide Football Club's Board of Directors later decided to rectify this perceived injustice by awarding Robran, and all other runners-up who were originally placed second on a countback, retrospective awards. (I am indebted to Bruce Pointon for alerting me to this, as well as for confirming that Robran's tally of interstate match appearances for South Australia was 17, and not 14 as suggested in some sources.) Return to Main Text |
|
Saverio Rocca (Collingwood & Kangaroos)
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| Given
his highly impressive physique, his formidable strength, and his almost
unequalled marking ability it would seem fair to suggest that key position
forward Saverio Rocca did not quite achieve everything he might have done
in the game. There were probably many reasons for this, some
obvious, and others difficult to pin down. For one thing, just as he
was probably reaching his peak as a player in 1996 he suffered a
debilitating shoulder injury from which he arguably never fully
recovered. There was also the fact that some of his basic football
skills were less than exemplary. His kicking for goal often let him
down, for example, and his recovery speed after contesting a mark left
much to be desired. Nevertheless, looked at objectively, Rocca's
career has to be adjudged a success, and what cannot be denied is that,
for much of his time at Collingwood, he was
by some measure the club's most popular player.
Originally from Reservoir Lakeside in the Diamond Valley Football League, Rocca made his AFL debut with Collingwood in 1991, and topped the club's goal kicking list for the first time two years later, a feat he was to accomplish no fewer than seven times in succession. He enjoyed easily his best season in 1995, the season before his shoulder injury, kicking 93 goals for the year, and winning the Copeland Trophy as the Magpies' best and fairest player. As the nineties went on, however, his form declined, and it was no real surprise when he was delisted at the end of a 2000 season that saw him manage just 27 goals in 12 appearances. He was subsequently picked up by the Kangaroos, where he showed slightly improved form for a while, topping the club's goal kicking list in his first two seasons, and again in 2004. When he retired at the end of the 2006 season Rocca had played 101 games and kicked 234 goals in a blue and white jumper to add to his career record of 156 games and 514 goals with the 'Pies. |
|
Jack Rocchi (Boulder City, South Fremantle, Fitzroy)
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| Jack Rocchi began his senior career with Boulder City, but he made his name at South Fremantle, where he played 63 league games between 1926 and 1929. Despite his diminutive stature (he weighed just 59kg), he was coolness personified, and never shirked a physical confrontation. Skilful and elusive, he became South's first ever Sandover Medallist in 1928, and for good measure won his club's fairest and best award as well. He won his second fairest and best trophy the following year, and also made his West Australian interstate debut against the VFL at Perth Oval, when he attracted the attention of Victorian talent scouts by being close to best afield. In 1930, Rocchi transferred to Fitzroy, but was forced to stand out of football for twelve months awaiting a clearance. He made his VFL debut the following season, but after just 4 games his career was brought to a premature end by injury. |
|
[Click to enlarge] |
| One of the smallest players of his day, Alby Rodda was also one of the best, roving in three Melbourne premiership teams (1939-40 and 1948), and representing the VFL. He missed the winning grand final of 1941 through injury, but played in the losing grand final of 1946. He got better with age, winning a club best and fairest award in 1948, as well as being best afield in that year's drawn grand final against Essendon. He was also prominent the following week when Melbourne triumphed in the replay. Alby Rodda's VFL career comprised a total of 131 games between 1939 and 1950. He also booted 142 goals. |
|
Richard 'Pat' Rodriguez (West Perth & Subiaco)
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|
Richard Rodriguez - invariably known as ‘Pat’ - was a prominent league footballer who went on make a telling and enduring contribution to the sport he loved as an administrator. His playing career comprised an unknown number of games with West Perth in 1916 followed by a 105 game stint with Subiaco between 1918 and 1927. Rodriguez played most of his football at full forward, including the 1924 challenge final in which he contributed 4 goals to the Maroons’ 7.9 (51 to 3.6 (24) defeat of East Fremantle. Goal kicking records were not always assiduously maintained during Rodriguez’s playing career, but it is known that he topped the WAFL goal kicking list in 1920 with 36 goals. The highlights of his time as a football administrator were stints as president of both the league (1951-64) and the ANFC (1956-64). The Rodriguez Shield, awarded each year to the WAFL club with the best combined performance in all three grades, is named in his honour. |
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Andrew Rogers (Woodville, Essendon, Geelong, Woodville-West Torrens)
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| Andrew Rogers joined Woodville from Risdon in Port Pirie, and made his senior SANFL debut in 1985. In three seasons with the Warriors he played a total of 63 league games, earning a reputation as one of the toughest defenders in the competition. In 1987 he represented South Australia against both Victoria and Western Australia, and earned selection in that year's All Australian team. In 1988, he crossed to VFL club Essendon, but found it difficult to gain a regular place in the powerful Bombers line-up, and managed just 8 games for the year. At Geelong between 1989 and 1992 he seemed much more at home, perhaps finding the small town ambience more to his liking, and he produced some of the best and most consistent football of his career. The last of his 75 games for the Cats was the grand final of 1992 against West Coast, but it was a sad way to bring the curtain down on the AFL portion of his career, as the Eagles comfortably won both the match, and the premiership. Returning to South Australia in 1993 Rogers joined Woodville-West Torrens, which was about to embark on its third season in the SANFL having been formed through the merger of the Woodville and West Torrens clubs in 1990. At the end of the year he had the satisfaction of appearing in the first and only premiership side of his senior career as the Eagles overwhelmed Norwood on grand final day to the tune of 73 points. Rogers was vice-captain on that occasion, and later served as club captain between 1995 and 2000. He won the Eagles' best and fairest award in 1993, 1995 and 1996, and his eventual tally of 179 games for the club included the losing grand finals of 1994, 2000 and 2001 (his last game). Some might argue that Andrew Rogers was the single most important footballer to play for Woodville-West Torrens during the club's formative period. |
|
Matthew Rogers (South Adelaide & Richmond)
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| Matthew Rogers commenced his senior league career with South Adelaide in 1992, and, after playing 33 games and kicking 27 goals in two season, transferred to Richmond. The Tigers had actually selected him at number 37 in the 1992 National Draft, but felt that he needed another season of senior football with the Panthers before moving to the AFL. Nimble, quite strong, and extremely adaptable, Rogers gave Richmond plenty of options, and it was difficult to say whether his best football was played as a defender, in the forward lines, or on the ball. For most of his career he was tremendously consistent and reliable, although his form did decline somewhat towards the end. He retired after a disappointing 2004 season in which he managed just 1 AFL appearance for the year. All told, he played 197 games, and kicked 153 goals while with the Tigers. |
|
Norman Rogers (East Fremantle)
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| According
to erstwhile opponent and one time coaching colleague John
Todd, as a footballer East Fremantle's
Norm Rogers "was tough and relentless" (see
footnote 1), as well as being an extremely respected on-field
leader. He belongs to that comparatively rare football cub which
comprises players who won a grand final Simpson
Medal despite playing in a losing side. He achieved that feat in
1964, against Claremont - a match
that Old Easts supporters would otherwise prefer to forget. As for
Rogers, just about the only mistake he made all day consisted in allowing
opponent Ian
Brewer to elude his attentions for a split second deep into time-on
and grab the easy chest mark from which he had little difficulty in
putting his side in front on the scoreboard for the first time since
late in the 2nd term. The siren sounded moments later, and all
Rogers' hard work had been to no avail; no doubt he would happily have
offered Brewer half a dozen goals and perhaps even his Simpson in exchange
for involvement in a flag. (You can view a detailed report of the
1964 WANFL grand final here.) Fortunately, Rogers did not have long to
wait, as in 1965 he was part of the Old East combination which came from
behind to defeat Swan Districts on grand
final day and secure the club's twenty-first open age premiership
(reviewed here). Rogers
came close to a Simpson Medal that day as well, with a superb all round
performance, ostensibly across half back, but in reality almost everywhere
in the backlines.
East Fremantle's best and fairest player in 1959, Norm Rogers played a total of 234 league games for the club he loved, and also represented Western Australia a remarkable 27 times. He was named an All Australian after the 1958 Melbourne carnival. In addition to the 1965 premiership he made a significant contribution to Old Easts' hard fought 16 point grand final win over East Perth in 1957. After retiring as a player, he served, albeit without success, as East Fremantle's senior coach for part of 1967 and the whole of 1968. |
Footnotes1. Celebrating 100 Years Of Tradition by Jack Lee, page 311. Return to Main Text |
|
Ralph Rogerson (North Adelaide, East Perth, Fitzroy, Waverley)
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| His
name might seldom if ever crop up during discussions about the all time
greats of the game, but Ralph Rogerson's comparatively rare feat of
playing with some distinction for three top level clubs in three states is
worthy of considerable commendation.
He began with North Adelaide in 1956, where his strength and aerial prowess made him a force to be reckoned with, and as such he was selected in South Australia's squad for the 1958 Melbourne carnival. A profile in South Australia's weekly football paper of the 1950s, 'Football News', described Rogerson thus: His game is based on keen anticipation, superb judgement, and safe hands. Although spectacular overhead he loses balance on landing, falling to the ground with at least half of his marks. Ralph wouldn't win a Stawell Gift, but makes up for his lack of pace with determination in general field play. Generally his kicking is too high for successful passing, but he can find team mates with well-directed 30 yard drop kicks. (See footnote 1) Equally at home at centre half forward and full forward, he later moved to East Perth, lining up at the goal front for the Royals against Swan Districts in the losing grand final of 1961. A shot of Ralph Rogerson in high-flying action for East Perth can be viewed here. Rogerson's next port of call was Fitzroy, where he played 39 VFL games between 1964 and 1966, captaining the side in 1965 and part of the way into the following season, before deciding to retire because of injury. However, just weeks later he bobbed up again as a member of the Waverley side which reached that year's VFA 1st Division grand final, only to lose to Port Melbourne. |
Footnotes1. 'Football News', 27/9/58, page 6. Return to Main Text |
|
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| Many footballers are quick, but few if any have left opponents in their wake as often and as conspicuously as Carlton's early twentieth century wingman Charlie Roland. In addition to the wing, Roland could take a turn on the ball, or hold down a forward position. From 1900 to 1905 and in 1908 he played a total of precisely 100 games and booted 24 goals. Roland also played half a dozen representative games for the VFL. |
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José Romero (North Melbourne & Footscray)
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| José Romero remains the only Chilean ever to reach Australian football's highest level. In 89 games for North Melbourne between 1988 and 1994 he earned a reputation as an energetic, gutsy performer who perhaps fell just a little short of the top rank. A move to Footscray in 1995 obviously suited him, however, and over the next few seasons he played easily the best football of his career, tying for the Bulldogs' best and fairest award with Chris Grant in 1996. When the re-christened Western Bulldogs repeatedly threatened to 'go all the way' during the second half of the 1990s, the admirably tenacious Romero was often at the forefront of their assaults. Injuries impeded him during the later stages of his 200-plus game career, but at his best he was a vital cog in the Bulldog machine. |
|
[Click to enlarge] |
| An imposing key position player at either end of the ground, Paul Roos enjoyed a spectacularly successful seventeen season career at the top level. He joined Fitzroy from Beverley Hills and made his VFL debut in 1982 as a wingman, but it was when moved to centre half back that he truly blossomed. The fact that he was also capable of doing a 'pinch-hitting' job up forward is clearly evidenced by his accomplishment in averaging a goal a match over the course of his 269 game stint with the Lions (he actually finished with 270 goals). Roos was a warm pre-count favourite for the 1986 Brownlow Medal, but ultimately finished second. He did pick up numerous other trophies and accolades, however, including five Fitzroy best and awards, All Australian selection in 1985, 1987 and 1988, and AFL All Australian selection in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1997. Crossing to Sydney in 1995 he continued to play fine football in 87 games over his final four seasons, mainly at centre half back. A Victorian representative on fourteen occasions, Roos was a dual winner of the EJ Whitten Medal. He remained at Sydney as a member of the coaching staff when he retired as a player, and in 2002 he took over from Rodney Eade as the club's senior coach. |
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Bob Rose (Collingwood & Footscray)
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|
Bob Rose made a sterling contribution to the Collingwood Football Club for much of his adult life. As a player he was tough, powerful, quick, well balanced and highly skilled. He won a then unprecedented four Copeland trophies for the club's best and fairest player in 1949 and from 1951-3, played 15 consecutive interstate matches for the VFL, was chosen in the inaugural All Australian team in 1953, and was a member that same year of the Magpies' winning grand final team against Geelong. His extraordinary toughness was a legacy of his notorious side-line as a prize fighter, in which he enjoyed a fair amount of success. A superb drop kick, he was said to rove "like a ruckman" (see footnote 1), and often sustained needless injuries by preferring to crash through packs rather than dodge his way out of trouble. After leaving Collingwood, Bob Rose enjoyed an auspicious seven season career as captain-coach of Ovens and Murray League side Wangaratta Rovers, winning two Morris Medals for the best and fairest player in the competition, as well as four club champion awards. He also steered the team to four grand finals for two wins. Rose returned to coach Collingwood for eight years from 1964 but, despite having many fine players available to him, had to endure the heartache of three losing grand finals. Between 1972 and 1975 he was coach of Footscray, and in 1974 steered the Bulldogs into their first finals series in twelve years. With Collingwood in dire trouble financially he returned briefly as coach in 1985 in a bid to 'steady the ship'. After a horror start to the 1986 season, however, he handed over the reins to his acolyte, Leigh Matthews, who would go on to mastermind the club's first flag for three decades. Bob Rose continued to have an impact on the club behind the scenes, and his importance to Collingwood goes well beyond the overt achievements listed here. |
Footnotes1. Football's 50 Greatest by Greg Hobbs and Scot Palmer, page 31. Return to Main Text |
|
Geoff Rosenow (Geelong & Mordialloc)
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| Originally from Echuca, Geoff Rosenow played 147 VFL games for Geelong between 1962 and 1970, kicking 7 goals. A strong, one grab mark, and quite pacy for a big (188cm, 87kg) man, he played the game hard but fair, and gave excellent value as both a ruckman and a defender. If he had a weakness, it was that his kicking was erratic - something that became much more of a drawback with the introduction of the kicking out of bounds on the full rule in 1969. Once his VFL career was over, Rosenow coached Wangaratta for four seasons, winning the club's best and fairest award in 1973, before being appointed captain coach of 2nd division VFA side Mordialloc in 1975. Under Rosenow, the Bloods enjoyed the most auspicious era in their history, reaching consecutive grand finals in 1976 (lost to Williamstown) and 1977 (defeated Yarraville). Rosenow stayed on to oversee the side's debut in division one, but when they were relegated he resigned. The 1983 season saw him back as coach of the Bloods, and he managed to get the side as far as the 2nd division preliminary final. In 1984, however, the club's dire financial plight began to take its toll. Only 5 wins from 17 matches were recorded that year, and at season's end Rosenow departed, this time for good. |
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| He may only have had a comparatively brief VFL career, but St Kilda rover Keith Rosewarne was a bona fide champion whose class stood out in a team which invariably finished at or near the foot of the premiership ladder. Rosewarne made his league debut in 1946, winning both his club's best and fairest award and the immense admiration of press and public. Tenacious, full of courage, and with socks typically at half mast or around his ankles, he was the sort of player who was always in the thick of the action, and was particularly dangerous near goal. A VFL carnival representative at Hobart in 1947, he played a total of 92 VFL games and kicked 151 goals before retiring, almost certainly prematurely, aged just twenty-seven, at the end of the 1951 season. He later spent time as coach of both Port Fairy and Leongatha. |
|
[Click to enlarge] |
| A
hard working centreman or wingman who did most of his work so quickly and
efficiently that it was barely noticed, Laurie Rosewarne gave Glenelg
fine service in 169 league games between 1965 and 1973. A local boy
who worked his way through the club's junior ranks, he was a
prominent member of the Bays side that made consecutive grand finals in
1969 and 1970, and was a South Australian state representative in the
latter year. A strong and relentless ball getter, he tended to be
somewhat old fashioned in his tendency to stick to position rather than
roam freely like an increasing number of opposition centreline
players. His career ended in great disappointment when, as
vice-captain, he was omitted from Glenelg's 1973 grand final side and had
to watch from the sidelines as his team mates overcame North
Adelaide by 7 points in one of the most thrilling matches ever played
on the Adelaide Oval (reviewed here).
Laurie Rosewarne was the son of former Glenelg, Swan Districts and South Adelaide player Clem Rosewarne. |
|
Bob Ross (Collingwood & Northcote)
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| After struggling to hold down a senior berth at Collingwood, where he managed just 10 VFL games in two and a half seasons, Bob Ross moved to Northcote and became one of the foremost VFA footballers of his generation. He made his debut with the Brickfielders midway through the 1931 season, and the following year won the Recorder Cup as the Association's best and fairest player. Even more importantly, he helped his side reach the grand final, where it scored a hard earned 26 point win over Coburg. A tough, influential and highly skilled rover, Ross played a total of 139 senior games for Northcote, and went on to be a member of further premiership teams in 1933-4 and 1936. He would be a shoe-in for inclusion in any official Northcote 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. |
|
[Click to enlarge] |
| Originally from Albury, Don Ross was a hard working centreman, ruck-rover or half forward who was a key figure in Footscray's breakthrough VFL premiership win in 1954. He had 20 disposals in the centre during the grand final win over Melbourne, and clearly outpointed his opponent Ken Melville. Ross played a total of 129 VFL games for Footscray between 1952 and 1958, winning the club's best and fairest award in 1956 - the same year that teammate Peter Box won the Brownlow Medal. |
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Jim Ross (St Kilda & North Launceston)
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| Jim Ross was a classy centre half forward or ruckman who won three best and fairest awards during a nine season, 139 game VFL career with St Kilda. He also booted 171 goals. In 1955 he joined North Launceston as playing coach with the Robins proclaiming him "one of the best footballers to come to Tasmania" (see footnote 1). Ross spent seven seasons and played 109 NTFA games with North Launceston, winning the Tasman Shield Trophy on two occasions and his club's best and fairest award once. He also earned All Australian selection after the 1958 Melbourne carnival. Jim Ross retired from football after the Robins' 8.11 (59) to 8.10 (58) grand final defeat of Longford in 1961, a result which provided him with the only premiership of an illustrious career. |
Footnotes1. North Launceston Football Club 1889-1990 by Ron Williams, page 81. Return to Main Text |
|
Lester Ross (St Kilda, Norwood, South Adelaide, Subiaco)
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| An accomplished and highly creative footballer at his best, Lester Ross only really managed to fulfill his potential during his time at South Adelaide, when he played under the astute and inspirational guidance of Neil Kerley. Originally from Moe, he first played league football at St Kilda, where he managed 10 games in 1959 without ever seeming better than serviceable. In 1961 he had a second crack at the big time when he joined Norwood, but in 27 games over two seasons he gave only occasional glimpses of his true ability. It was a similar story in his first season with South Adelaide in 1963, but Kerley's arrival sparked a rapid and quite spectacular change. In 1964, with Ross a conspicuously consistent contributor on a half forward flank, the Panthers catapulted themselves from the previous season's wooden spoon to the hitherto undreamt of heights of a grand final victory over perennial premiership contender Port Adelaide. Over the ensuing couple of years, Lester Ross regularly continued to produce performances of the highest order, establishing himself as, without doubt, one of the finest half forward flank specialists in the state. In 1967, deprived of the Kerley influence after 'The King' moved to Glenelg, his form dipped somewhat, but he still managed 13 games for the year to take his final tally with the club to 72. His last port of call as a league player was Subiaco in 1968 but, seeming to lack the passion and the vitality of his time with South, he managed just 1 senior game for the year before retiring. |
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Jack Rough (New Town/Glenorchy & Ulverstone)
|
| Jack
Rough was arguably Tasmanian football's greatest ever ruckman.
Renowned for the accuracy of his palming, Rough made his debut with New
Town in 1945 and, apart from the 1951 season when he led Ulverstone
to the NWFU premiership (winning a Wander
Medal in the process), and allowing for the name change to Glenorchy
in 1956, he spent his entire senior career at the club.
Never the most spectacular of players, Rough was nevertheless invaluable to his team both in terms of his quiet effectiveness as a knock ruckman - his palming skills were especially noteworthy - and in the level of encouragement he provided, particularly to his younger team mates. As captain, captain-coach or coach he was responsible for helping steer the Magpies to eight grand finals for five premierships. He also led the side to the unofficial state championship title on four occasions. Six times a Tasmanian state representative, Rough participated in the 1950 Brisbane carnival, where he caught the eye of Victorian talent scouts. However, like many of his generation he saw little incentive in trying his luck on the mainland. In 2005, Jack Rough was named as an inaugural coaching legend in Tasmanian Football's official Hall of Fame. |
|
Barry Round (Footscray, South Melbourne/Sydney, Williamstown)
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| With
a heart to match his colossal 193cm, 99kg frame it would seem reasonable
to suppose that Barry Round was always destined to carve out an
illustrious career for himself in his chosen sport. Nevertheless,
for many of his 135 VFL games with Footscray
between 1969 and 1975 he played second fiddle to the likes of Gary
Dempsey, and it was not until he crossed to South
Melbourne in 1976 that he truly hit his straps. Over the course
of his 193 game, ten season stint with the Swans Round proved himself
without peer as a ruckman, while for good measure he could hold down
centre half forward with as much aplomb as anyone. A joint Brownlow
Medallist (with his best friend, Bernie
Quinlan) in 1981, Round was captain of South when the club relocated
to Sydney in 1982, and he rapidly became the Harbor City's most renowned
and popular Australian footballer. Round won the Swans best and
fairest award on two occasions and was a 'shoe-in' as first ruckman in the
club's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'.
The final phase of Barry Round's career took place in the VFA with Williamstown, where he established himself as one of the Association's premier draw-cards, winning the 1987 Liston Trophy, and captain-coaching the Seagulls to the 1990 flag. Emulating his feat with the Swans, he was chosen to lead the rucks in Williamstown's official 'Team of the Century'. |
|
[Click to enlarge] |
| Des
Rowe began his senior career at Coburg, where he
played as a centre half forward under his father Percy, a former league player with Collingwood.
Having booted 60 goals in 1945, Rowe sought to cross to the
VFL with Melbourne, who needed a key forward,
the following year, but his desires were
thwarted when it was shown that he was residentially tied to Richmond.
Having burnt his bridges in the VFA, Rowe agreed, with a certain
reluctance, to throw in his lot with the Tigers, who saw his urgent,
speedy and tenacious approach as better suited to the backlines, which was
where he ultimately ended up spending the majority of his league career.
Over the next dozen seasons, Des Rowe became acknowledged as one of the finest half backs in the VFL. A regular Big V representative, he earned All Australian selection at the 1956 Perth carnival. Utterly dependable and self-assured, he rarely lowered his colours, and was one of the most respected players at his club, a fact emphasised when he was made captain in 1952. Rowe skippered Richmond for his last six seasons in league football but never had the satisfaction of leading his side onto the MCG during finals time. Indeed, the highest position the Tigers managed during Rowe's entire career with them was 5th in 1954. Des Rowe played a total of 176 VFL games, and was a dual winner of Richmond's best and fairest award. He served as non-playing coach of the club between 1961 and 1963, but once again was unable to procure the satisfaction of finals participation. Forty years later he was a worthy inclusion in Richmond's official 'Team of the Century'. |
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| A key player for West Perth during the first decade of the twentieth century, Harold Rowe was equally effective as a follower resting in defence, or across half back or half forward. He was a member of the Cardinals' 1905 premiership team, and was still an important member of the side six years later when it lowered its colours to East Fremantle in the grand final. |
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| Quick, intelligent, and a fine overhead mark, Havel Rowe, who hailed from Geelong College, played 123 VFL games for Richmond between 1948 and 1957. He was equally at home across centre or half forward, and won the Tigers best and fairest award in 1953. Havel Rowe was no relation of team mate Des Rowe. |
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Ted Rowell (Collingwood, Hannans & Kalgoorlie Railways)
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| One of the greatest ever West Australian goldfields-born footballers, Rowell played 189 VFL games for Collingwood including 3 winning grand finals. A member of Hannans' 1897 premiership team, he was later named Champion of the Colony in Victoria in 1902, the same year in which he topped the VFL's goal kicking list with 33 goals. He spent the 1904 season back home on the goldfields with Kalgoorlie Railways before resuming his VFL career at Victoria Park. |
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| Not really at the forefront of East Perth's rise to prominence during the 1950s, but a valuable player nonetheless, lanky ruckman Ray Rowles played 119 senior games for the club between 1955 and 1962. During that time, the Royals went top three times, but Rowles only got to take part in one winning grand final, that of 1958 against East Fremantle, when he was nineteenth man. He also played in the losing grand finals of 1960 against West Perth and 1961, once again as nineteenth man, against Swan Districts. Captain-coach of the 1958 flag-winning combination, Jack Sheedy, described him as "very athletic and could generally get the tap. He was like a bloody great giraffe who gave you some extra height and could get first hands on the ball" (see footnote 1). |
Footnotes1. Quoted in The Royals: 100 Years Of Football Tradition by Alan East, page 85. Return to Main Text |
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Barry Rowlings (Hawthorn & Richmond)
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| Hawthorn
recruited Barry Rowlings from Moe and, after making his VFL debut in 1975,
he developed into a more than handy rover or centreman who was one of the
Hawks best in their losing grand final of 1975 against North
Melbourne. In the following year's premiership decider, when
Hawthorn gained revenge, Rowlings was again one of the finest players on
view.
In 1978, after 82 VFL games and 78 goals for Hawthorn, Rowlings sustained a serious knee injury and the Hawks, believing he would struggle to recover, allowed him to transfer to Richmond. It was a rare misjudgement on the part of the Hawk brains trust as Rowlings went on to play the best football of his career for the Tigers, winning a best and fairest award in 1979, and starring as a ruck-rover in the 1980 grand final annihilation of Collingwood. He played a total of 152 games for Richmond, kicking 117 goals, and was club captain in 1983-4. He retired in 1986. |
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| Originally from Bairnsdale, Brian Royal was an ardent Footscray fan as a youngster. Shortly after the Bulldogs recruited him he sustained a serious knee injury which kept him out of the game for twelve months. When he finally made his senior debut for the club in 1983 he had a pronounced and immediate impact. A livewire competitor who excelled when the going was tough, he won the club's best and fairest award in his debut season, and soon became a regular fixture in Victorian state of origin teams, making a total of 8 appearances. Highly skilled on both sides of the body, he excelled at getting rid of the ball quickly, usually to telling effect. When Footscray made a rare major round appearance in 1985, he was one of the main driving forces behind the team's push to the preliminary final. He achieved All Australian selection in 1986, and was named as first rover in the Bulldogs' official 'Team of the Century'. Brian Royal's career came to a peremptory and sad end when, having played 199 V/AFL games, he snapped his achilles tendon against Essendon at the MCG in round 20 1993. He had booted an impressive career tally of 299 goals, a legacy of his having played the majority of his last few seasons as a permanent forward pocket. |
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Ernest Ruddock (Richmond & Collingwood)
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| Tough, hard-hitting and resourceful, defender Ern Ruddock was a key player for Richmond toward the end of that club's VFA phase. In the 1905 challenge final against North Melbourne, which Richmond won 9.7 (61) to 5.6 (36), he made a sterling contribution from a half back flank. In 1907 he crossed to Collingwood where he played 14 of the team's 18 VFL games for the year, and acquitted himself well. |
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Harold Rumney (Brighton, Carlton, Collingwood, Northcote)
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| Harold
Rumney's senior football career began in 1924 with Brighton
in the VFA, where he performed sufficiently well to attract attention from
the league side to which he was residentially bound, Carlton.
Over the course of the next couple of seasons Rumney played 15 league
games for the Blues without ever really impressing, and in 1927 he was
cleared to arch rivals Collingwood. It
proved to be his making.
Among Rumney's failings while at Carlton was a tendency to try to do to much with the ball - a tendency which, in the eyes of Magpie coach Jock McHale, was one of the 'cardinal sins' of football. At Princes Park, it had produced exasperation and the odd rebuke; were Rumney to try it at Victoria Park, however, he would be out on his ear. When Harold Chesswass was unavailable for the opening match of the 1927 season, Rumney was a surprise replacement, and played well. Thereafter, he was a first choice player, and never looked back. Known to his team mates as 'Dasher', he played most of his debut season, including the winning grand final against Richmond, in a forward pocket, before developing into a fleet-footed and resourceful defender. A member of each of Collingwood's four consecutive premiership-winning teams between 1927-30, Rumney was the archetypal model of consistency, seldom putting in a bad game, especially when it mattered most. The Victorian selectors were quick to take note, and Rumney was chosen to represent the VFL in 10 games from 1929-32. After the 1930 Adelaide carnival he received an award for 'the most consistent player'. In 1935, Rumney played in a back pocket in his 5th Collingwood premiership side, being named among the best players as the Woods overcame South Melbourne's famous 'foreign legion' combination by 20 points. The following year saw Rumney at Northcote, where he took up an appointment as captain-coach. However, after the Brickfielders had succumbed to ignominious defeat in each of their first 4 fixtures of the year, he promptly resigned. The 1937 season saw Rumney back at Collingwood where he intended to play just one last game in order to qualify for ten years' service. However, after breaking into the league side in round 6 he played so superbly that he retained his place for the rest of the year, including the finals. At season's end, after a total of 171 games for the Magpies, he retired. When Collingwood announced its official 'Team of the Century' more than sixty years later, Harold Rumney was named in a back pocket. |
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Alex Ruscuklic (Fitzroy, Carlton, Preston)
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| Born
in Germany, the multi lingual Alex Ruscuklic was one of two brothers to
play in the VFL. Younger brother Peter played briefly with Fitzroy
and Geelong in the mid 1970s before going on
to greater things as a free scoring full forward with East
Sydney.
Alex’s arrival at Fitzroy in 1966 was surrounded by controversy: he was cleared to the Lions by his Latrobe Valley Football League club Morwell, but the Latrobe Valley League refused to sanction the transfer. In a sequence of events which attracted enormous media attention at the time Fitzroy took the case to the VFL which ultimately endorsed the clearance, ruling that such matters were of concern purely to the two clubs involved and that the LVFL had had no business interfering. Ruscuklic was thus free to embark on his VFL career, but it was not to be the last time he was the subject of controversy. While his uninhibited determination and spectacular aerial ability (he was the top mark taker in the VFL in 1971) made him a popular figure among the Fitzroy faithful he repeatedly locked horns with officialdom, particularly as represented by the club committee. After several well-publicised disagreements things finally came to a head just prior to the start of the 1974 season when Ruscuklic was suspended by the committee and, although an uneasy truce was concocted which saw Ruscuklic play the opening game of the season for the Roys, relationships quickly soured again resulting in the hasty arrangement of a transfer to Carlton where he saw out the remainder of what was to be his final league season. He then rounded off his top level senior career by playing briefly with Preston in the VFA. In 108 games with Fitzroy Alex Ruscuklic amassed 189 goals and was the club’s top goalkicker in 1970 with 49. In 9 games with Carlton during 1974 he added a further 20 goals. He was also Fitzroy’s leading vote recipient in the 1971 Brownlow Medal with 16, just 5 shy of eventual winner Ian Stewart. With his blond hair and gravity defying aerodynamics Ruscuklic was seldom less than eye-catching but one imagines that his continual run-ins with authority would almost certainly have undermined his effectiveness. |
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| Few
individuals have enjoyed as illustrious, varied and influential a football
career as Bob Rush. As a player he was a pacy, tenacious defender
who seldom lowered his colours, and was a key member of Collingwood's
1902 and 1903 premiership sides. After 146 VFL games between 1899
and 1908 he went on to serve the Magpies in a range of committee posts,
and later became both a league delegate and president of the ANFC.
Rush it was who coined the famous Collingwood motto, 'Floreat Pica' ('may
the Magpies flourish').
Bob Rush had four brothers who played VFL football but none managed more than a handful of games. |
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William Russ (North Melbourne & Footscray)
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| An accomplished and sometimes explosive centreline player, Bill Russ gave sound service to two clubs over the course of a nine season career in both the VFA and VFL. He began with North Melbourne in the Association in 1922, and continued with the club when it was admitted to the league in 1925. In a tempestuous home game against Geelong in round 12 of that year Russ was reported for striking, and was suspended for the remainder of the season. (To add salt to his wounds, North lost to the Cats by 85 points.) He remained with North until 1929 when he crossed to Footscray. His first season with the Tricolours was perhaps his best in football as he secured the club's best and fairest award. He retired the following year after adding 36 games and 19 goals to the 59 VFL games and 16 goals he had managed with North. |
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| Described by Jeff Pash as "a
football phenomenon" (see footnote 1), back
pocket specialist Dick Russell, known popularly as 'The Rock', endured the comparative ignominy for a
Port
Adelaide man of only managing to play in a single premiership team during his
admittedly rather brief, seven season, 121 game league career. Already
aged twenty-five when he made his debut with the Magpies, Russell was
solid,
assured and imperturbable, won club best and fairest awards in 1948-9
and '51, and was an automatic choice for South Australia for the majority
of his time in the game, making a total of 18 interstate appearances. In 1950 he commanded national attention
after a series of dashingly resolute performances at the
Brisbane carnival, and largely as a consequence he was chosen in the
back pocket in 'The Sporting Life' Team of the
Year, a combination to which the AFL erroneously persisted, until
recently, in
attributing All Australian
status.
When Port Adelaide announced its 'Greatest Team' in 2000, it was no surprise to find Dick Russell named in a back pocket. |
Footnotes1. The Pash Papers by Jeff Pash, page 201. Return to Main Text |
| Don Russell was one of those footballers who might have achieved real and sustained notoriety had he not been such a frequent victim of injury. A pacy and incisive wingman or half forward flanker, he played 107 league games for West Torrens between 1958 and 1964. He was selected in the South Australian state squad in 1960 and, after being named as twenty-first man against the VFL in Melbourne, earned a place in the starting eighteen, on a wing, against both Tasmania and the VFL in Adelaide. In the match against the VFL he conclusively out-pointed his direct opponent, Laurie Dwyer, and earned a prominent mention in dispatches for himself as South Australia won at a canter by 69 points. A serious shoulder injury sustained against Woodville late in the 1964 season precipitated his premature retirement as a player, aged just twenty-four. He later served as a league field umpire. |
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Peter Russo (Hawthorn & St Kilda)
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| He may not have been the most eye-catching of performers but Peter Russo was an extremely versatile and highly effective footballer. Hawthorn recruited him from Pakenham, and he took his VFL bows in 1978. In that season's winning grand final against North Melbourne he put in a serviceable effort as a forward pocket and change ruck-rover. Russo could also perform well in a range of other positions, including the back pocket and wing, and was a key if underrated figure in Hawthorn's emergence as the leading club in the VFL during the 1980s. He missed the winning grand final against Essendon in 1983 with injury, but played in the premiership team of 1986, as well as in the losing grand finals of 1984-5 and 1987. At his peak during the mid '80s, Russo represented Victoria in 1985. After 162 VFL games and 102 goals for the Hawks he crossed to St Kilda in 1989 and continued to produce useful football for two more seasons, during which he played 33 games and booted 20 goals. |
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| Alan
Ruthven was a champion schoolboy footballer who became one of the greatest
rovers of the 1940s and early '50s. While growing up in the Fitzroy
district, Ruthven's greatest hero was the club's triple Brownlow
Medallist Haydn
Bunton, whose number 7 jumper Ruthven would later wear with
pride. Belying his comparatively diminutive stature, he was also a
larger than life character who gloried in the nickname of 'The Baron'.
First rover in Fitzroy's 1944 premiership side, Ruthven later won club best and fairest awards in 1946 and 1948-9. Somewhat ironically, after playing even better in 1950, and landing the club's sixth Brownlow Medal, he conceded the club award to Bill Stephen. Tough, talented and tenacious, Ruthven was renowned for his ability to gain possession of the ball under the most challenging of circumstances, and to use it purposefully and well. He was also dangerous near goal, and won the Maroons' goal kicking award on three occasions. In 222 VFL games between 1940 and 1954 he amassed 442 goals. He also played 17 interstate matches for the VFL. Captain-coach of Fitzroy during his final three seasons in league football, one of the highlights of Ruthven's career came when he steered the side to a heart-stopping 1 point win over Carlton in the 1952 1st semi final. Fitzroy won despite having 9 fewer scoring shots than the Blues, and 'The Baron' capped a best afield performance by snapping the match-winning behind in the dying seconds. After retiring as a player, Alan Ruthven became a household name to an entirely new generation of football fans when he appeared as a regular panelist on the Channel 7 TV show 'World of Sport'. |
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| Despite
frequently being rooted at the wrong end of the premiership ladder, South
Adelaide has boasted far more than its share of top quality
players. During the 1920s, for example, South was never a serious
challenger for the flag, but in Alf 'Bulla' Ryan it possessed one of the
finest utilities in the game. Despite standing only 173cm in height,
Ryan was frequently required to hold down a key position, a task he
invariably accomplished with a minimum of fuss and a surfeit of
effectiveness. In 1926, for instance, he spent the majority of the
season playing at centre half forward in a team that failed to win a game,
but his tally of 53 goals for the year was only 12 fewer than Norwood's
Roy Bent, the league's top goal kicker, managed.
In interstate matches, Ryan and Bent formed an effective and productive partnership, and both were key members of South Australia's 1924 Hobart carnival side. 'Bulla' Ryan later played in the 1927 Melbourne carnival as well. Overall, his highly auspicious interstate career saw him amass 73 goals in 24 appearances. After playing much of his early football in one or other of the key forward positions, from where he topped the blue and whites' goal kicking on four occasions, Ryan later showed his adaptability by performing to excellent effect as a rover. He won South Adelaide's best and fairest trophy in 1924 and 1928. Alf Ryan was the most famous and successful of five brothers who played league football for South in the seventeen year period from 1913. His league career comprised a total of 146 games, played between 1922 and 1931. He was selected as a half forward flanker in the Panthers' official 'Greatest Team'. |
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Bill Ryan (Geelong, Coorparoo, Southport)
[Click to enlarge] by Murray Bird and Peter Blucher |
| A champion centre half back/forward from Geelong who played 167 VFL games from 1963-72, Bill Ryan represented Victoria in 1971 and was a member of the losing 1967 grand final side. He moved to Queensland in 1973 to join Coorparoo and captained Queensland in 1974-75, including the famous Gabba win over Tasmania, when he kicked five goals. Ryan played a total of 6 games for Queensland and finished his career with Southport on the Gold Coast, where he played in 5 premiership sides. His strong presence on the Gold Coast was a catalyst to the upsurge in the game there, eventually leading to the entry of the all-powerful Sharks to the QAFL in 1983. |
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by Murray Bird and Peter Blucher |
| Clem Ryan was a defender who ranked among the best of his era, and is truly one of Queensland's greats. He was a Valleys and Windsor junior before playing 250 games at Mayne. Twice a winner of the De Little Medal for the best player in the league, Ryan was a member of numerous Mayne premiership sides, including their undefeated team of 1934. He played for Queensland over an eleven year period, including seven years as captain, and went on to be coach and manager of the state side. His work in the schools as a pioneering development officer was pivotal to the growth of the game, and culminated in the QAFL's under 19 best and fairest medal being named in his honour. |
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David Ryan (Geelong, Collingwood, Prahran)
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| David Ryan overcame a failure to make the grade at Geelong, where he managed just 3 games in 1906, to become a mainstay at Collingwood for the ensuing six seasons. Consistent and highly capable, he played a total of 99 VFL games with the Magpies, kicking 72 goals. He made the majority of his appearances as a ruckman, but was also a danger when stationed up forward. He was a member of the Woods' winning grand final side against Carlton in 1910, and was one of their best in a losing team against Essendon the following year. Ryan finished his senior career with a brief stint at Prahran in the VFA. |
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| Recruited
by Fitzroy from Albury, 'Dinny' Ryan's VFL career was cut short by World War Two, during which he was wounded at
Tobruk.
Ryan made his debut for the Maroons as an underdeveloped eighteen year old in 1935 when, playing in the vital centre half forward position, he immediately caught the eye with his powerful marking and prodigious kicking. If there was a major weakness in his game, however, it was his wayward kicking for goal, and in 1938 the Fitzroy selection committee decided to try him in a new position, centre half back. He was a resounding and immediate success, gaining state selection, being awarded Fitzroy's Most Improved Player Award and - to almost everyone's surprise, including 'Dinny's' - landing the VFL's most prestigious individual honour, the Brownlow Medal. In 1939, Ryan sustained a serious knee injury, and soon afterwards enlisted for active service in the army. He made an attempt to return to league ranks after the war, but was unable to reach the level of fitness required. 'Dinny' Ryan's VFL career was over after just five seasons and 70 games, but his achievements during that time were sufficient to mark him out as a special player. |
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| John Ryan was a useful half forward and centreline player who worked his way through the ranks at West Adelaide before making his senior debut, aged nineteen, in 1957. Playing in the centre, he was a major driving force behind West's defeat of Norwood in the so called 'Turkish Bath' grand final of 1961 (reviewed here). In 1964 and 1965 he played in Whyalla before returning to West for one last season in 1966. All told, he played 115 senior SANFL games and kicked 114 goals, besides playing 4 interstate games for South Australia. |
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| Leo Ryan was one of Footscray's finest footballers of the 1930s, as well as one of the best permanent back pocket players in the VFL. He was quick, determined, an excellent ball handler, and he kicked the ball superbly. Originally from Fish Creek, he began his league career with the Tricolours in 1934 and went on to amass 117 VFL games before retiring at the conclusion of the 1941 season. |
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Thomas Ryan (Melbourne & St Kilda)
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| Diminutive, elusive and decisive, rover Tom Ryan was an eye-catching and highly effective performer whether on the ball or resting on the forward lines. Most of his senior career was spent with Melbourne, where he played 55 VFL games and kicked 64 goals between 1899 and 1902. He made a significant all round contribution to the 1900 flag win against Fitzroy, garnering numerous possessions, and kicking one of Melbourne's four goals for the match. After a season out of the game he lined up with St Kilda in 1904 and added 11 games and 8 goals to his tally before finally retiring. |
