Barrie Robran

Barrie Robran
Statue of Robran outside Adelaide Oval
Personal information
Full name Barrie Charles Robran
Date of birth (1947-09-25) 25 September 1947 (age 76)
Place of birth Whyalla, South Australia
Original team(s) North Whyalla
Position(s) Centre Half-Forward, Ruck Rover, Centre
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1967–80 North Adelaide 201 (196)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
South Australia 17 (?)
Coaching career
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1978–80 North Adelaide 66 (21–45–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1980.
Career highlights
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Barrie Charles Robran MBE (born 25 September 1947 in Whyalla, South Australia) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 1967 to 1980. He won South Australian football's highest individual honour, the Magarey Medal, on three occasions – 1968, 1970 and 1973.

Robran is generally considered to be the greatest ever South Australian football player.[1] His citation in the Australian Football Hall of Fame describes him as "Regarded as the best player never to play at AFL level".[2]

Robran won immense respect not only for his talent, but also his humility and sportsmanship. He played most of his time at centre half-forward, but was versatile enough to also play in the centre or on the ball as a ruck-rover. He resisted many overtures to play in Victoria, at one stage signing a form four with Carlton so that the Victorian recruiters would stop pestering him. Off the field, Robran kept a low public profile and shunned much publicity.[3]

  1. ^ "Reference at www.adelaidenow.com.au".
  2. ^ "Legends". afl.com.au. AFL Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018.
  3. ^ Connolly, Rohan (22 May 2001). "Robran is first non-VFL, AFL player to win 'legend' status". The Age.