The Australian Football League mourns Hall of Fame Legend Barrie Robran, who has passed away in Adelaide today at the age of 77.
Robran was universally regarded across South Australia as the finest footballer the state has produced in its history across the past 150 years – a seven-time consecutive club best and fairest with North Adelaide, three-time Magarey Medallist and dual premiership player across the peak of his career.
Coming from Whyalla on the Spencer Gulf to league football with North Adelaide in 1967, Robran won the club's best and fairest at the Roosters in each of his first seven seasons from 1967-73 and was runner-up for the Magarey Medal by one vote in his debut season. He went on to claim the Magarey Medal in 1968, 1970 and 1973, before a serious knee injury in 1974 badly impacted the remainder of his career at the top level.
AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon said the Robran name was revered for his on-field feats as a footballer and he would be remembered for his decency and humility as a man. The game sends it sincere condolences to wife Taimi and sons Matthew and Jon, and their families, and all of the Robrans' friends and colleagues across the game.
"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.
"That includes his opponents and contemporaries in SA football, who always placed him first on the podium and marvelled at his ability to play both on the ball and at centre half-forward with aplomb. Those who watched him, and played with and against him, talk of his complete skill-set as an elite high-mark, two-sided with both hand and foot, courageous, one-touch when gathering the ball and an elite football IQ that always had him at the centre of the action, with the ability to dominate the key moments as he did in the premierships of 1971 and 1972.
"Off the field, he always remained humble and served the game in numerous off-field roles, at his beloved North Adelaide, while also serving as a state selector for SA.
"Barrie will be deeply missed and remembered as one of the very greatest the game has produced in Australia, and we send our best wishes to all the Robran family in this difficult time," Mr Dillon said.
He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in its inaugural year in 1996 and, in 2001, was the first person elevated to Legend status who had not played at least some part of his career in Victoria.
Robran was a talented all-round sportsman who also played first-class cricket for South Australia as an upper-order batsman in 1971-72, during the summer between the two premiership years for the Roosters in which he was named at centre half-forward for the first flag side and then named in the centre for the other.
He suffered a serious knee injury while representing SA as captain against Victoria midway through the 1974 season, but still finished third in the Magarey Medal despite missing the last 10 games of that year. Persistent knee injuries and regular surgeries from this time would restrict him badly onfield and allow him to play little more than 50 games for the remaining six years of his career before eventually calling time as a player in 1980 as captain-coach.
Robran was the central figure in North Adelaide's premierships of 1971 and 1972 and also starred in the victory over Carlton in the 1972 Champions of Australia match at Adelaide Oval – the last national club-level title won by an SANFL side. A committed servant of the club, he worked in off-field roles at the club's headquarters at Prospect and, on match days, would often be found volunteering in the souvenir booth selling club merchandise to young modern-day fans. Long-time North Adelaide fans always were in wonder that you could buy a club badge for an Andrew Jarman or a Darren Jarman from the team's greatest-ever player.
Robran was the first SANFL player honoured with a statue at Adelaide Oval, placed at the Southern End of the ground in 2014, with statues since then for contemporaries Malcolm Blight and Russell Ebert, as well as fellow North Adelaide Legend of the Game, Ken Farmer.
Sons Matthew and Jon both played with Norwood in the SANFL and both played at AFL level, with Matthew playing 137 games at Hawthorn and Adelaide and being part of the Crows' back to back premierships in 1997-98, while Jon represented Hawthorn and Essendon in 83 games.
Barrie Robran's Career Record
201 games for North Adelaide, 1967-80, 194 goals
17 games for SA, seven goals
Magarey Medal 1968, 1970, 1973
Best and Fairest 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973
Premierships 1971, 1972
Champions of Australia 1972 (v Carlton)
North Adelaide Captain 1974-77 and 1980
SA captain 1974
North Adelaide Coach 1978-80
North Adelaide Team of the Century (ruck rover)
Legend, Australian Football Hall of Fame
