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The Australian
16-07-2025
- Sport
- The Australian
AFL legend Barrie Robran dies aged 77
Australian football Hall of Fame Legend and arguably South Australia's greatest footballer, Barrie Robran, has died. Robran, who won three Magarey Medals as the best player in the SANFL, as well as seven best and fairests for his club North Adelaide across 201 games, was 77. One of the inaugural inductees into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, Robran was elevated to a legend five years later despite never playing in the VFL, choosing instead to dominate in his home state. The Barry Robran statue at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Jason Hywood He was the first South Australian to be named a Hall of Fame legend. Robran kicked 194 goals for North Adelaide from 1967-80, won premierships in 1971-72 and is also in the club's team of the century. He was such a revered figure in South Australia that there's a statue of Robran at the Adelaide Oval that serves as a permanent reminder of his standing. Robran was an SA stalwart, played 17 state matches and served as an SA selector for 14 years. AFL CEO, Andrew Dillon said there was little debate around who was SA's best ever player 'This is a terribly sad day for South Australian football, as Barrie Robran was the outstanding player in a time when the game was built around state pride, and testing yourselves at a state level against the best from around the country,' Mr Dillon said. 'While fans in other states may argue over who were their best-ever players, that same debate has always been absent in Adelaide as any South Australian who saw Robran play simply defers to him as the greatest.' North Adelaide president Kris Mooney said Robran was 'more than just a footballer'. 'He was the embodiment of everything North Adelaide stands for – excellence, humility, and unwavering loyalty. His legacy will forever inspire us, and his quiet grace touched everyone he met,' he said in a statement. 'We are incredibly proud to call him one of our own.' Robran takes a mark in the SANFL in 1973. Picture: Ray Titus One of Robran's sons, Matthew, was a dual-premiership player in 130 games for the Adelaide Crows, further cementing the family's football legacy. His niece, Jade, an Adelaide media personality, had to leave her morning radio show after being told the news of her father's death on Wednesday. Read related topics: Adelaide
News.com.au
16-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
AFL world mourning death of Barrie Robran, the first South Australian legend in the Hall of Fame
Australian football Hall of Fame Legend and arguably South Australia's greatest footballer, Barrie Robran, has died. Robran, who won three Magarey Medals as the best player in the SANFL, as well as seven best and fairests for his club North Adelaide across 201 games, was 77. One of the inaugural inductees into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, Robran was elevated to a legend five years later despite never playing in the VFL, choosing instead to dominate in his home state. He was the first South Australian to be named a Hall of Fame legend. Robran kicked 194 goals for North Adelaide from 1967-80, won premierships in 1971-72 and is also in the club's team of the century. He was such a revered figure in South Australia that there's a statue of Robran at the Adelaide Oval that serves as a permanent reminder of his standing. Robran was an SA stalwart, played 17 state matches and served as an SA selector for 14 years. North Adelaide president Kris Mooney said Robran was 'more than just a footballer'. 'He was the embodiment of everything North Adelaide stands for – excellence, humility, and unwavering loyalty. His legacy will forever inspire us, and his quiet grace touched everyone he met,' he said in a statement. 'We are incredibly proud to call him one of our own.' One of Robran's sons, Matthew, was a dual-premiership player in 130 games for the Adelaide Crows, further cementing the family's football legacy. His niece, Jade, an Adelaide media personality, had to leave her morning radio show after being told the news of her father's death on Wednesday.
ABC News
10-07-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Hall of Fame footballer and politician Brian Dixon remembered as 'passionate' public health advocate
Former Melbourne premiership player and Victorian politician, Brian Dixon, has died aged 89. Dixon's family confirmed to the ABC that he had died in hospital on Wednesday. His daughter, Judy Dixon, said her father had always been a "change maker" with a "passion for making things he cared about happen". "He was an incredibly positive person," she said. Dixon played 252 games for the Melbourne Demons, including five premierships. He won Melbourne's best and fairest in their 1960 premiership and in 2010 was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Never one to be idle, he was still playing for Melbourne when he entered state parliament as the Liberal Party member for St Kilda in 1964. During his 18-year political career, he notched up several significant achievements and held multiple ministries. "At one point he was dubbed the minister for having his photo in the paper," Ms Dixon joked. She said her father was "very concerned" about public health and was most proud of the "Life. Be in it." campaign he launched in 1975 while serving as the state's Youth, Sports and Recreation Minister. The TV ads encouraged Australians to get off the couch and be more active. The National Museum of Australia included the campaign in its defining moments of Australian history project. "Dad would really want to be remembered as someone who cared deeply about the health of the larger community and the importance of being physically active and healthy for good quality long life," Ms Dixon said. The athlete-come-politician has also been remembered for advocating passionately for the introduction of compulsory seat belt legislation. He was chair of the Road Safety Committee in 1971 when Victoria became the first jurisdiction in the world to make wearing seatbelts mandatory. According to the Transport Accident Commission, the new laws led to a 13 per cent reduction in road deaths over the following 12 months. Dixon served in state parliament until 1982 when he lost his seat and his party lost government. After leaving politics the former footballer remained active in public life and was instrumental in establishing the Melbourne Marathon Spartans, an organisation that honoured people who had run in the race 10 or more times. In a statement Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin paid tribute to the former politician saying he "leaves a massive legacy" behind. "Brian's achievements and accomplishments as a parliamentarian and minister should be more than notable enough on their own to deserve our recognition," he said. "However, they are only made more remarkable when you consider that for many years of his time in Parliament, Brian was also an active VFL player and coach." Kicking off his VFL career with Melbourne Football Club in 1954, he would go on to play in five premiership for the team, before winning best and fairest for the side in 1960. Melbourne Football Club president Brad Green said he had "left a lasting mark, not just on Melbourne, but on the game as a whole". Brian's football achievements speak for themselves, but his love for the club was jut as significant," he said. In a statement, the AFL praised his achievements and said he was "one of the greatest to have played". His daughter said "he ate and breathed footy". She said he had always been "very disappointed" about missing out on a sixth premiership after he was benched for playing for a university team against his coaches orders. He later went on to coach North Melbourne in 1971 and 1972, before entering the AFL hall of fame. "He wanted [AFL] to be on the International stage, so he was involved with making sure that football was made in other countries," Ms Dixon said. As player 9, Ms Dixon said the number would go on to be his lucky charm for the rest of his life. "On every birthday card, Christmas card, there would be nine kisses, nine hugs," she said. "It's a little freaky dad managed to leave us on the 9th [of July] ... I think in his own way he organised that." The father of six and grandfather of 11 spent his final decades in Jamieson, in north-east Victoria, living with Carmal Dixon, his wife of 22 years. His daughter said he spent his later years investing time in his grandchildren and staying connected to his former teammates.
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Australian football is notably richer when it's open to everyone
The 30th Australian Football Hall of Fame was a reminder that there's more to the sport than the AFL. It was a reminder that the talent in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania was at various times every bit the equal of what was coming out of Victoria. Last night's inductees included a five-time All Australian, a self-described 'little fat kid from Colac', and a man considered the best ever Tasmanian footballer never to play on the mainland. They included a man who took more marks than anyone else in the history of VFL/AFL football, a giant raconteur from South Australia who reflected that 'football was simply something I did on a Saturday,' and a seven-time premiership player in the WAFL who later umpired five grand finals. A goalkicking machine from South Australia during the Depression years was also elevated to legend status. But last night's event did something very different to the preceding three decades – it inducted two AFLW players. Erin Phillips won two WNBA championships, a basketball world championship gold medal and represented Australia at two Olympics. But until just over a decade ago, the idea of playing Australian football professionally seemed fanciful. 'I never wanted to be a boy,' she said last night, 'I just wanted the opportunities they had and that was footy.' Her dad, Greg, a Hall of Famer himself, was a fine footballer for Port Adelaide and Collingwood. He had thighs like John Nicholls, the sort of legs that could prop up jetties. Last night he was a blubbering mess. 'I can't imagine what it would be like to tell your 13-year-old daughter that she can't play the game she loves any more,' his daughter said. 'Now she's standing next to you in the Hall of Fame.' Daisy Pearce bashed down the same barriers. 'I'm a pretty determined bugger,' she said last night. She won 10 premierships and seven competition best and fairests at the local level, before becoming a key driver of the AFLW. There were dozens of Hall of Famers in the room last night but few of them finished their careers on such a high note. Her dad, Daryl, also her junior coach, suffered a stroke in recent years and missed her final game, a premiership. But he was in the room last night to see her inducted into the Hall of Fame. Football's women, a correspondent wrote in The Age in the 1970s, 'are mere appendages to the game, extras in an all-male saga, tolerated but not taken seriously'. That sentiment prevailed until not that long ago. In some corners of the internet and the industry more broadly, it still does. But more than anyone else, champion players like Phillips and Pearce proved the folly of this. They reminded men that this game they were brought up to assume was theirs is now open to the other 50.2% of the population, and that it's all the richer for it. Nearly three-quarters of a million girls and women now play Australian rules football. Pearce and Phillips, one suspects, would be pivotal figures for nearly all of them. Every inductee last night said a variation of the same thing. They looked around the room and they saw their childhood heroes. Garry Lyon had a poster of Tim Watson on his wall. Nick Riewoldt idolised Jason Dunstall. Phillips followed her dad everywhere, even to the premiership dais. 'To look around the room right now – these were my gods,' Pearce said. She and Phillips said they could never have imagined standing in front of a room such as this as fellow professional footballers, as fellow Hall of Fame members, and as equals. The Hawks have won their past seven matches at UTAS Stadium with their last loss coming against the Crows in 2023. Nick Riewoldt, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last night, was one of the great players of last few decades. Few made their direct opponent work harder or run further. Few deserved a premiership more. But few were so tortured by nerves and anxiety before games. He described it as like being on death row, awaiting execution. 'It was something to endure, not enjoy,' he said. He described it as a 'pit in your stomach feeling, fuelled by the fear of not performing perfectly and the judgment that came with it.' For 24 hours before a game, he would sweat, struggle to sleep and eat, pace the house, snap at everyone and generally be a nightmare to himself and all around him. He would always be the first to arrive at the ground, whereupon he would warm up with a routine akin to Rocky Balboa training in Russia. The minute the ball was bounced, he was fine, and it was his opponent's time to start sweating. The Melbourne captain backs May for 'showing care, his version of care', while speaking on Triple M radio, after the teammates' confrontation after a late turnover in the narrow loss to Collingwood. 'To borrow an infamous line from Will Smith, I think Melbourne should take our players' names out of their mouth. It's interesting, hearing the captain and coach speak specifically on Luke was really disappointing.' Fremantle chief executive, Simon Garlick, takes a swipe at Melbourne while speaking on SEN WA Mornings, after the Demons made not-so subtle overtures to their former key forward Luke Jackson. Any thoughts you want to share? Reply to this email or send your views to fromthepocket@ Sign up to From the Pocket: AFL Weekly Jonathan Horn brings expert analysis on the week's biggest AFL stories after newsletter promotion Western Bulldogs (including as Footscray) are part of the three longest streaks for matches played against an opponent without meeting in a final. Which club do they share the record with? Answers in next week's newsletter, but if you think you know it, hit reply and let me know. Last week's answer: Which clubs have met in the most grand finals? Collingwood and Melbourne have played seven times with a premiership on the line. Congratulations to Michael Courtney, who was first to reply with the right answer. No team is better than Collingwood at adapting to the needs of the moment – and the ladder leaders keep on winning even if by the narrowest of margins against Melbourne. Reply to this email and drop me a line, or email fromthepocket@ Have a friend who might? Forward this to them, or tell them how to get it.
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
The 'Don Bradman of football' is inducted as 33rd Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, as greats line the red carpet for glitzy ceremony
South Australia legend Ken Farmer has been announced as the 33rd legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Once dubed by The Advisor as 'the Don Bradman of Football', Farmer enjoyed a glittering career in the SANFL, booting an outstanding 1417 goals across 224 appearances. A South Australian great with over 1400 career goals. Ken Farmer is the 33rd Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame. — AFL (@AFL) June 10, 2025
