Ron Barassi
Encyclopedia
Ronald Dale Barassi, Jr AM
(born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules football
player and coach. During a long and decorated career, Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. His father, Ron Barassi, Sr.
, was the first Australian footballer killed at Tobruk
during World War II. The young Barassi spent his latter teenage years living with Norm Smith
, coach of the Melbourne Football Club
and a former teammate of his father.
Barassi's name is synonymous with Australian football. He is held by many as the game's greatest identity acknowledged by being the first player to be inaugurated into the Australian Football Hall of Fame
as a Legend.
Barassi's coaching career was both successful and regarded by many as revolutionary. Barassi's clean record and passion for the game has earned him a place as celebrity and popular culture figure in Australia. He was named Victorian of the Year
in 2009.
Barassi was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1978.
in 1936. The following year, Barassi Snr moved to Melbourne to play VFL
football with the Melbourne Football Club
. A pugnacious rover, Barassi Snr was a reserve in the Demons' 1940 premiership team before leaving to serve with the army in North Africa. Ron spent his early years in Guildford, Victoria
.
Although Ron is classified as an Italian Australian, he has never spoken the Italian language
. He is a descendent of one of the Swiss Italians of Australia
who migrated to Australia in the 1850s and 1860s to areas such as Guildford, between Castlemaine and Daylesford
.
pledged to support his widow, Elza, and her young son. As a teenager, Barassi was determined to follow in his father's footsteps at the Demons, but the zoning system of the day required him to play for either Collingwood
or Carlton
.
and successfully lobbied for the creation of a Father-Son Rule
. When the time came for Barassi to be signed up, Melbourne picked him up from Preston Scouts in 1952 and he became only the second player signed under the new rule. This rule, with some modifications and adapted to the drafting system created in 1986, endures to the present day in the AFL
.
The club had gone to great lengths to recruit the young Barassi, and coach Norm Smith
took him under his wing after his mother moved to Tasmania
. Smith offered the sixteen year-old use of his backyard bungalow. Looking back on the experience, Barassi believes that living with the man who was voted as the coach of the AFL's team of the century had a profound impact on his development. On his website, Barassi had this to say: “Norm Smith loved his footy. That suited me fine. “His ability with young people, his strength of character, his ethics and values, came into my life at the right time.”
. Initially unsure as to Barassi's best position, Smith played him as a second ruckman in 1954, despite his lack of inches for the position. Barassi played more as a second rover, and the term "ruck rover" entered the football lexicon. Within a few years, most teams imitated this structure which ultimately paved the way for a new-style of quicker on-ball play.
Barassi soon proved himself as an influential footballer, and was quickly handed leadership responsibilities. In 1957 he was appointed vice-captain, and as captain three years later. After losing the 1954 Grand Final to a more experienced Footscray football team, the Demons dominated the VFL by winning flags in 1955-56-57 with a team hailed as the best to play the game. The image of Barassi breaking a tackle in the 1957 Grand Final is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport
was desperate to have Barassi at Princes Park, and was willing to offer a lucrative contract if Barassi would cross to Carlton as captain-coach. Carlton offered Barassi a chance to test his skills as coach with a professional wage which would help with his children’s education.
Barassi joined Carlton in 1965. On his decision to leave Melbourne Barassi stated “Inevitably with many decisions in life there will be a downside. It is regrettable but you have to get on with things,” he said. “You have to ensure, as much as possible, that the decision you’ve made turns out right. Fortunately it worked out, and I’ll be forever grateful to Carlton for the start they gave me in coaching.”
Barassi's coaching at Carlton bought them from their lowest ever finish (at the time) to premiers only 4 years later. Drawing from his own experience under Norm Smith, Barassi forced his squad to become more disciplined and committed to the club, and their career. He preached and played a tough brand of football, and asked his charges to play a selfless, team-oriented style.
In 1968, he guided Carlton to its first premiership in 21 years, and in 1970, in front of the biggest ever VFL crowd, he led Carlton to arguably footy’s most famous comeback defeating Collingwood who were leading by 44 points at half-time.
After the 1971 season, Barassi left the Blues to focus on his business career.
and Ron Joseph
, Barassi recruited a new batch of stars for North Melbourne. Proven champions were recruited from clubs throughout the country, including Malcolm Blight
, Barry Cable
, John Rantall
, Barry Davis
and Doug Wade
.
North Melbourne were to win the wooden spoon in 1972, finishing last. In 1974, Barassi's second year of coaching, North Melbourne were to come runner up in the grand final. By 1975 they had won the premiership. Barassi had implemented a tough training regime in 1974 which he modified for 1975 finals where he introduced lighter training sessions to keep his squad mentally focussed and not over trained and exhausted.
The Kangaroos went on to win another premiership in 1977, but it very nearly wasn’t, as North Melbourne gave up a late lead against Collingwood in the second ever drawn VFL grand final. Barassi made major positional changes, placing David Dench
into the forward line, which sparked off the club's comeback to get back in front, until Ross Dunne
kicked a late goal to draw the game. Within a week, Barassi had picked his side up from this disappointment to lead North to a memorable triumph.
. The under-19’s made three straight grand finals and won premierships in 1981 and 1983. Barassi laid some foundations for what would become a revitalised Melbourne side. “In the five years we were there I think we raised the level of the club quite substantially. Melbourne reached the preliminary final two years after we left, and the grand final the year after that. I felt we did some of the ground work.”
He started the "Irish experiment
" at Mebourne which started recruiting Gaelic football
ers from Ireland and converting them to Australian rules footballers. He recruited the most famous of all, 1991 Brownlow Medal
list, Jim Stynes
.
. This was seen as a coup for the AFL given Barassi's media skills and profile. In his three seasons in Sydney he raised the profile of Australian rules football and the Sydney Swans in the rugby league
-dominated city.
.
Ron's first trip overseas occurred in 1961. He has since travelled much of the world. In 1967 in New York City during the Australian Football World Tour
, Barassi was involved in a fight in which detective Brendan Tumelty broke Barassi's nose and both were sent to the same hospital. They have been friends since.
Barassi moved to the suburb of St Kilda
in the late 1970s and has lived there ever since.
For many years, Barassi owned the Mountain View Hotel at 70 Bridge Road
in Richmond
.
For his 70th birthday he did a trek of the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, which received prominent media coverage.
On 28 February 2008 Ron Barassi launched and signed his book Barassi, focusing on his personal life and scrapbook memoirs.
On New Year's Eve 2008/09 Ron Barassi was assaulted when he went to the aid of a young woman in St Kilda
. Barassi, dining with friends, saw a woman punched to the ground around 12.30 am. "If you see a woman being belted up, you step in. It's like when a kid is being bashed. It's not right, so I gave the criminal to the Victorian police!" said Barassi.
In 1996, he became an inaugural inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame
, one of few former greats to be bestowed the honour of the Legend category. He is also is one of only three Australian rules footballers recognised as a Legend of Australian Sport in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, alongside Leigh Matthews
and Ted Whitten
.
He has also been involved in grassroots football development and has been an advocate for the development of the game internationally, particularly in South Africa. Reflecting this, Barassi has lent his name to the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament
.
He is a republican
.
More recently, he was one of the last runners in the Queen's Baton Relay
for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
, being held in Melbourne, Australia between 15 and 26 March. His section of the relay, run on 15 March, involved taking the Baton from a series of pontoons
in the middle of the Yarra River
onto shore. It was handed to him by David Neitz
, captain of the Melbourne Football Club
(the team with which Barassi has been long associated). This was accomplished by having Barassi walk on a pontoon that was submerged just beneath the surface of the water, giving the impression that Barassi was 'walking on water
'.
Barassi has appeared in the Specky Magee
books and was mentioned several times in episodes of the television show Kingswood Country
. He was one of the first footballers to have his own footy clinic on television and during the '60s he also launched his infamous "Ron Barassi" footy boots, which school kids worshipped and wished to play in.
After the second week of the 2006 AFL Finals, with the four remaining teams all being non-Victorian, with Victorians reeling from their recent weakness, Barassi controversially called for an inquiry to unearth the reason Victoria was trailing in the AFL, despite the state giving birth to the national competition.
In late 2006, he became a Sport Australia Hall of Fame member.
The best player in the Under 17 International Rules Series is awarded the Ron Barassi Medal.
Barassi was the subject of a series 2 episode of Who Do You Think You Are Australia.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
player and coach. During a long and decorated career, Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. His father, Ron Barassi, Sr.
Ron Barassi, Sr.
Ronald James Barassi was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the VFL. His grandfather came from Italy and Ron was the father of Hall of Famer Ron Barassi, Jr. who was signed to the club under the Father-Son rule.Originally from Castlemaine, Barassi was a rover and made his...
, was the first Australian footballer killed at Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
during World War II. The young Barassi spent his latter teenage years living with Norm Smith
Norm Smith
Norman Walter "Norm" Smith was an Australian rules football player and coach in the Victorian Football League. After 200 games as a player with Melbourne and Fitzroy, Smith began a twenty year coaching career, including a fifteen year stint at Melbourne...
, coach of the Melbourne Football Club
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
and a former teammate of his father.
Barassi's name is synonymous with Australian football. He is held by many as the game's greatest identity acknowledged by being the first player to be inaugurated into the Australian Football Hall of Fame
Australian Football Hall of Fame
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...
as a Legend.
Barassi's coaching career was both successful and regarded by many as revolutionary. Barassi's clean record and passion for the game has earned him a place as celebrity and popular culture figure in Australia. He was named Victorian of the Year
Victorian of the Year
The Victorian of the Year is an award given to the most outstanding Victorian in any given year.This is not to be confused with the Victorian winner of the Australian of the Year awarded in Canberra by the Australia Day Council .The Victorian of the year is awarded in Melbourne by the Victoria Day...
in 2009.
Barassi was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1978.
Early life
The only child of Ron Barassi Snr, Ron was born in the central Victorian town of CastlemaineCastlemaine, Victoria
Castlemaine is a city in Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria about 120 kilometres northwest by road from Melbourne, and about 40 kilometres from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It is the administrative and economic centre of the Shire of Mount Alexander. The...
in 1936. The following year, Barassi Snr moved to Melbourne to play VFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
football with the Melbourne Football Club
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
. A pugnacious rover, Barassi Snr was a reserve in the Demons' 1940 premiership team before leaving to serve with the army in North Africa. Ron spent his early years in Guildford, Victoria
Guildford, Victoria
Guildford is a small settlement situated on the Loddon River, north-west of Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Midland Highway between Daylesford and Castlemaine...
.
Although Ron is classified as an Italian Australian, he has never spoken the Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
. He is a descendent of one of the Swiss Italians of Australia
Swiss Italians of Australia
Swiss Italians of Australia, are Italian speaking Swiss that settled in Australia during the 1850s and 1860s. The Swiss Italians initially settled in the area around Daylesford, Victoria...
who migrated to Australia in the 1850s and 1860s to areas such as Guildford, between Castlemaine and Daylesford
Daylesford, Victoria
Daylesford is a town located in the Shire of Hepburn, Victoria, Australia. It is a former goldmining town about 115 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. At the 2006 census, Daylesford had a population of 3,073...
.
Australian rules football career
Barassi unintentionally changed the game without taking to the field. After his father's death at Tobruk in 1941, a group of players and officials at the Melbourne Football ClubMelbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
pledged to support his widow, Elza, and her young son. As a teenager, Barassi was determined to follow in his father's footsteps at the Demons, but the zoning system of the day required him to play for either Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
or Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
.
Father-son rule
To ensure he played with the Demons, Melbourne went to the VFLAustralian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
and successfully lobbied for the creation of a Father-Son Rule
Father-son rule
The father-son rule is a rule that allows clubs to select the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the team in Australian rules football, most notably the Australian Football League...
. When the time came for Barassi to be signed up, Melbourne picked him up from Preston Scouts in 1952 and he became only the second player signed under the new rule. This rule, with some modifications and adapted to the drafting system created in 1986, endures to the present day in the AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
.
The club had gone to great lengths to recruit the young Barassi, and coach Norm Smith
Norm Smith
Norman Walter "Norm" Smith was an Australian rules football player and coach in the Victorian Football League. After 200 games as a player with Melbourne and Fitzroy, Smith began a twenty year coaching career, including a fifteen year stint at Melbourne...
took him under his wing after his mother moved to Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. Smith offered the sixteen year-old use of his backyard bungalow. Looking back on the experience, Barassi believes that living with the man who was voted as the coach of the AFL's team of the century had a profound impact on his development. On his website, Barassi had this to say: “Norm Smith loved his footy. That suited me fine. “His ability with young people, his strength of character, his ethics and values, came into my life at the right time.”
Melbourne Football Club years
Melbourne Football Club was the dominant team of the 1950s. Under the coaching of Norm Smith Barassi developed quickly. Barassi's first game was against Footscray in 1953 in which he was 'flattened' by Footscray's Charlie SuttonCharlie Sutton
Charlie Sutton is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League .Although he served the club for many years as coach and committee man, he is perhaps best known for captaining his team, Footscray to their only premiership, in 1954.A tough, nuggety Bulldog player who...
. Initially unsure as to Barassi's best position, Smith played him as a second ruckman in 1954, despite his lack of inches for the position. Barassi played more as a second rover, and the term "ruck rover" entered the football lexicon. Within a few years, most teams imitated this structure which ultimately paved the way for a new-style of quicker on-ball play.
Barassi soon proved himself as an influential footballer, and was quickly handed leadership responsibilities. In 1957 he was appointed vice-captain, and as captain three years later. After losing the 1954 Grand Final to a more experienced Footscray football team, the Demons dominated the VFL by winning flags in 1955-56-57 with a team hailed as the best to play the game. The image of Barassi breaking a tackle in the 1957 Grand Final is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport
Carlton Football Club years
But a resurgent Carlton gave him a dilemma in 1964. New president George HarrisGeorge Harris (Carlton President)
George Harris was a President of Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League from 1964 to 1974 and again from 1978 to 1980. He was regarded as a highly significant figure in VFL-AFL history....
was desperate to have Barassi at Princes Park, and was willing to offer a lucrative contract if Barassi would cross to Carlton as captain-coach. Carlton offered Barassi a chance to test his skills as coach with a professional wage which would help with his children’s education.
Barassi joined Carlton in 1965. On his decision to leave Melbourne Barassi stated “Inevitably with many decisions in life there will be a downside. It is regrettable but you have to get on with things,” he said. “You have to ensure, as much as possible, that the decision you’ve made turns out right. Fortunately it worked out, and I’ll be forever grateful to Carlton for the start they gave me in coaching.”
Barassi's coaching at Carlton bought them from their lowest ever finish (at the time) to premiers only 4 years later. Drawing from his own experience under Norm Smith, Barassi forced his squad to become more disciplined and committed to the club, and their career. He preached and played a tough brand of football, and asked his charges to play a selfless, team-oriented style.
In 1968, he guided Carlton to its first premiership in 21 years, and in 1970, in front of the biggest ever VFL crowd, he led Carlton to arguably footy’s most famous comeback defeating Collingwood who were leading by 44 points at half-time.
After the 1971 season, Barassi left the Blues to focus on his business career.
North Melbourne Football Club years
Barassi returned to coaching in 1973. With administrators Allen AylettAllen Aylett
Dr. Allen Aylett is a former Australian rules football player and administrator. He was the chairman/president of the North Melbourne Football Club during the 1970s and then again from 2001–2005...
and Ron Joseph
Ron Joseph
Ron Joseph is an American television producer known for his dance shows. On his shows, he is usually referred to as RJ.- Early life :...
, Barassi recruited a new batch of stars for North Melbourne. Proven champions were recruited from clubs throughout the country, including Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former champion Australian rules football player and coach, and current television commentator. During the 1970s and 1980s Blight played for the Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League and the North Melbourne Football Club in the...
, Barry Cable
Barry Cable
Barry Cable is an Australian former Australian rules footballer who played in the West Australian National Football League and Victorian Football League . Cable played as a rover. He won the Sandover Medal three times while playing with the Perth Football Club.-Club career:Cable played 225 games...
, John Rantall
John Rantall
John "Mopsy" Rantall was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.Originally from Cobden, Rantall moved to the South Melbourne Football Club where he debuted in 1963. He moved to North Melbourne Football Club with the intention of playing in a premiership side in 1973 and...
, Barry Davis
Barry Davis
Barry Davis is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League with Essendon and North Melbourne, before coaching his original team between 1978–1980.- Essendon career :...
and Doug Wade
Doug Wade
Douglas Graeme Wade is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club....
.
North Melbourne were to win the wooden spoon in 1972, finishing last. In 1974, Barassi's second year of coaching, North Melbourne were to come runner up in the grand final. By 1975 they had won the premiership. Barassi had implemented a tough training regime in 1974 which he modified for 1975 finals where he introduced lighter training sessions to keep his squad mentally focussed and not over trained and exhausted.
The Kangaroos went on to win another premiership in 1977, but it very nearly wasn’t, as North Melbourne gave up a late lead against Collingwood in the second ever drawn VFL grand final. Barassi made major positional changes, placing David Dench
David Dench
David Dench is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League. He played his whole career with North Melbourne Football Club at one of its most successful periods....
into the forward line, which sparked off the club's comeback to get back in front, until Ross Dunne
Ross Dunne
Ross 'Twiggy' Dunne is a former Australian rules footballer who appeared regularly for the Collingwood Magpies in the VFL from 1967 to 1978....
kicked a late goal to draw the game. Within a week, Barassi had picked his side up from this disappointment to lead North to a memorable triumph.
Return to Melbourne
In 1981 Barassi returned to Melbourne to assist long-term under-19 coach Ray 'Slug' JordonRay Jordon
Raymond Clarence Jordon is a former Australian first-class cricketer who represented Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and toured with the Australian national cricket team...
. The under-19’s made three straight grand finals and won premierships in 1981 and 1983. Barassi laid some foundations for what would become a revitalised Melbourne side. “In the five years we were there I think we raised the level of the club quite substantially. Melbourne reached the preliminary final two years after we left, and the grand final the year after that. I felt we did some of the ground work.”
He started the "Irish experiment
Irish experiment
The Irish Experiment is the popular name for the interest, primarily from VFL/AFL clubs, in bringing Irish sportspeople to Australia to play Australian Rules Football professionally ....
" at Mebourne which started recruiting Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
ers from Ireland and converting them to Australian rules footballers. He recruited the most famous of all, 1991 Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
list, Jim Stynes
Jim Stynes
James "Jim" Stynes OAM is an Irish former professional Australian rules footballer who is currently a businessman, philanthropist, writer, youth worker, qualified teacher and chairman of Melbourne Football Club since 2008....
.
Sydney Football Club years
In 1993 Barassi returned to coaching for the Sydney SwansSydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
. This was seen as a coup for the AFL given Barassi's media skills and profile. In his three seasons in Sydney he raised the profile of Australian rules football and the Sydney Swans in the rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
-dominated city.
Coaching career
| Coaching Career: 515 games, four premierships. Carlton – 1965–1971 (147 games); 1968 and 1970 Premierships North Melbourne – 1973–1980 (198 games). 1975 and 1977 Premierships Melbourne (U18's) – 1981–1985 (110 games). Sydney – 1993–1995 (59 games) |
Career highlights
- MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
premiership player 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964 - MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
leading goalkicker 1958 (eq), 1959 - MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
Captain 1960–1964 - MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
Best and FairestKeith 'Bluey' Truscott MedalThe Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Melbourne Football Club player judged Best and Fairest for the season.It is named in honor of Keith 'Bluey' Truscott, a former dual premiership player and World War II fighter ace killed in 1943....
1961, 1964 - All Australian 1956, 1958, 1961
- Playing coach representing Australia in "The Galahs" Australian Football World TourInternational rules footballInternational rules football is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players....
1968 - Carlton premiership coach 1968, 1970
- North Melbourne premiership coach 1975, 1977
- Australian Football Hall of FameAustralian Football Hall of FameThe Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...
- AFL Legend
- VFL/AFL Team of the Century
- Sport Australia Hall of Fame (2006)
- VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century (coach) 2007
Personal life
On 4 March 1957, Barassi married Nancy Kellett, who he had met at work four years earlier. They settled in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, at Heathmont, and had three children: Susan (born 29 July 1960), Ron (born 23 June 1962) and Richard (born 13 February 1964). The couple separated in 1975, and Barassi married Cherryl Copeland in 1981. During his coaching career at North Melbourne he survived a car crash, which caused life threatening injuries and resulted in the loss of his spleen. His passenger, ex-St Kilda player and Brownlow medallist Neil Roberts, was also hurt. Barassi became a wheelchair user for a short time. Despite this setback, he attended training nights at Arden Street and could be seen directing players with assistants.Ron's first trip overseas occurred in 1961. He has since travelled much of the world. In 1967 in New York City during the Australian Football World Tour
Australian Football World Tour
The Australian Football World Tour was a series of International Rules Football matches, organised by football sports broadcaster and former VFL umpire Harry Beitzel in 1967 and 1968.-First tour:...
, Barassi was involved in a fight in which detective Brendan Tumelty broke Barassi's nose and both were sent to the same hospital. They have been friends since.
Barassi moved to the suburb of St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
in the late 1970s and has lived there ever since.
For many years, Barassi owned the Mountain View Hotel at 70 Bridge Road
Bridge Road, Melbourne
Bridge Road is a major shopping strip in Melbourne, Australia. It is best known for its abundance of clothing factory outlets, which makes it a popular tourist attraction...
in Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
.
For his 70th birthday he did a trek of the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, which received prominent media coverage.
On 28 February 2008 Ron Barassi launched and signed his book Barassi, focusing on his personal life and scrapbook memoirs.
On New Year's Eve 2008/09 Ron Barassi was assaulted when he went to the aid of a young woman in St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
. Barassi, dining with friends, saw a woman punched to the ground around 12.30 am. "If you see a woman being belted up, you step in. It's like when a kid is being bashed. It's not right, so I gave the criminal to the Victorian police!" said Barassi.
Public life
Since retiring from football coaching, Barassi remains a prominent Australian rules football celebrity and a figure of popular culture.In 1996, he became an inaugural inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame
Australian Football Hall of Fame
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...
, one of few former greats to be bestowed the honour of the Legend category. He is also is one of only three Australian rules footballers recognised as a Legend of Australian Sport in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, alongside Leigh Matthews
Leigh Matthews
Leigh Raymond "Lethal Leigh" Matthews AM is a former player and coach of Australian rules football. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League from 1969 to 1985, coached Collingwood from 1986–1995, and coached the Brisbane Lions from 1999 to 2008...
and Ted Whitten
Ted Whitten
Edward James "EJ" Whitten was an Australian rules football player and media personality. He played a then-record 321 Victorian Football League games for the Footscray Football Club between 1951 and 1970...
.
He has also been involved in grassroots football development and has been an advocate for the development of the game internationally, particularly in South Africa. Reflecting this, Barassi has lent his name to the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament
Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament
The Barassi Youth Tournament is an international Australian rules football tournament for junior players who are no older than 16 years of age. In conjunction with the Australian Football International Cup senior competition, the youth cup is an important event for the development of Aussie Rules...
.
He is a republican
Republicanism in Australia
Republicanism in Australia is a movement to change Australia's status as a constitutional monarchy to a republican form of government. Such sentiments have been expressed in Australia from before federation onward to the present...
.
More recently, he was one of the last runners in the Queen's Baton Relay
Queen's Baton Relay
The Queen's Baton Relay, similar to the Olympic Torch Relay, is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Relay traditionally begins at Buckingham Palace in London...
for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...
, being held in Melbourne, Australia between 15 and 26 March. His section of the relay, run on 15 March, involved taking the Baton from a series of pontoons
Pontoon (boat)
A pontoon is a flotation device with buoyancy sufficient to float itself as well as a heavy load. A pontoon boat is a flattish boat that relies on pontoons to float. Pontoons may be used on boats, rafts, barges, docks, floatplanes or seaplanes. Pontoons may support a platform, creating a raft. A...
in the middle of the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
onto shore. It was handed to him by David Neitz
David Neitz
David Neitz , nicknamed Neita, is a retired Australian rules footballer. The strongly built centre half back who became a full forward was the longest-serving captain in the history of the Melbourne Football Club and the first Melbourne player to achieve the 300-game milestone.Neitz was born in...
, captain of the Melbourne Football Club
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
(the team with which Barassi has been long associated). This was accomplished by having Barassi walk on a pontoon that was submerged just beneath the surface of the water, giving the impression that Barassi was 'walking on water
Walking on water
Jesus' walks on water, or Jesus walking on water, is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. Accounts of the miracle appear in three Gospels: Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52 and...
'.
Barassi has appeared in the Specky Magee
Specky Magee
The Specky Magee series is a highly popular and best-selling children’s book series in Australia. The books, written by Felice Arena and Garry Lyon, chronicle the life and times of teenager Simon Magee, an aspiring Aussie Rules football champion. There are currently eight books in the series...
books and was mentioned several times in episodes of the television show Kingswood Country
Kingswood Country
Kingswood Country is an Australian sitcom that screened from 1980 to 1984 on the Seven Network. The series started on 30 January 1980 and was a spin-off from a sketch on comedy program The Naked Vicar Show that had featured Ross Higgins as a blustering bigot...
. He was one of the first footballers to have his own footy clinic on television and during the '60s he also launched his infamous "Ron Barassi" footy boots, which school kids worshipped and wished to play in.
After the second week of the 2006 AFL Finals, with the four remaining teams all being non-Victorian, with Victorians reeling from their recent weakness, Barassi controversially called for an inquiry to unearth the reason Victoria was trailing in the AFL, despite the state giving birth to the national competition.
In late 2006, he became a Sport Australia Hall of Fame member.
The best player in the Under 17 International Rules Series is awarded the Ron Barassi Medal.
Barassi was the subject of a series 2 episode of Who Do You Think You Are Australia.
External links
- Ron Barassi's Personal Website
- Ron Barassi's Personal Scrapbook Website
- Interview – An interview conducted by George NegusGeorge NegusGeorge Edward Negus is an Australian author, journalist, and television presenter. He previously presented 6:30 with George Negus on Network Ten, until it was axed by the Network on 19 October 2011.-Education:...
for the ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
-TV programme George Negus TonightGeorge Negus TonightGeorge Negus Tonight was an Australian current affairs television series hosted by George Negus, which ran on ABC Television from 2001 to 2004.-Dimensions:... - AFL legends page
- Ron Barassi Profile on Full Points Footy
- Ron Barassi career stats
- DemonWiki profile
| Ron Barassi Premiership Teams | |
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