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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-15 Daily Xml
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Motions

Robran MBE, Mr B.

The Hon. L.P. HOOD (Adelaide—Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (11:59): I move:

That this house—

(a) expresses its deep sadness at the passing of Barrie Robran MBE, a legend of South Australian football and one of South Australia's most revered sporting icons;

(b) acknowledges Mr Robran's extraordinary career, including 201 games for North Adelaide, 17 games for South Australia, three Magarey Medals (1968, 1970, 1973), and his role in premierships in 1971 and 1972;

(c) recognises his induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and his elevation to 'Legend' status in 2001, the first South Australian and the first player without AFL/VFL experience to receive this honour;

(d) honours his humility, courage and lifelong service to football as a player, captain, coach, selector and mentor, including his contributions off the field to the North Adelaide Football Club and the broader football community; and

(e) sends its sincere condolences to his wife Taimi, sons Matthew and Jonathon, and all who knew and admired him.

Today we honour the life and legacy of Barrie Robran, a footballer whose name is etched not only in record books but in the hearts of South Australians. Barrie Robran was not just a champion of the game; he helped define it. He emerged from Whyalla with extraordinary talent, joining North Adelaide in 1967 and rapidly becoming one of the most influential players in SANFL history.

Barrie was a country boy, as so many of our great footballers are. He was born in Whyalla in 1947, and his sporting prowess came out during his time at Whyalla South Primary School and Whyalla Technical School. At the age of 17 Barrie took to the field with the North Whyalla Magpies A-grade team before catching the eye of the mighty North Adelaide Roosters. North Adelaide boldly named Barrie in their reserve side during the 1966 finals. Some would perhaps consider it trial by fire, but this was no mean feat for Barrie, whose performance left an unforgettable mark and changed the course of the club for decades to come.

In 1967 Barrie relocated to Adelaide to kick off his career with the Roosters, tying with one of his football heroes, Don Lindner, for club best and fairest in his very first season. Across 201 games for the Roosters he achieved what few could dream of: three Magarey medals, two premierships and seven consecutive best and fairest awards. He also wore the South Australian state guernsey with pride on 17 occasions and captained the team twice.

Yet Barrie's greatness was never just measured by accolades, and his values and attitude transcended sport. He was a footballer of rare elegance—balanced, brave and brilliant—with an uncanny ability to read the play and lift those around him. He was also known for his humility and sportsmanship, earning admiration from opponents and adoration from fans. His 1972 best-on-ground performance against VFL premiers Carlton in the Championship of Australia stands as one of the greatest displays ever seen on an Australian football field, a moment that continues to inspire generations.

Barrie's younger brother Rodney played alongside him for much of his playing career at North Adelaide and was a well-regarded player in his own right. Barrie's sister was, as Barrie said, the unheralded champion of the family. She was an all-Australian netball captain.

Barrie married the love of his life, Taimi, at the Enfield Methodist Church in January 1970, and together they had two sons, who shared Barrie's love for football. Matthew played in Adelaide's 1997 and 1998 premiership victories—go Crows—while Jonathon represented Hawthorn and Essendon.

Even after a career-altering knee injury, Barrie Robran remained devoted to his sport. He coached for his beloved Roosters, including whilst his brother Rodney was captain. He mentored up-and-coming players and volunteered at club headquarters giving back to the sport that had given him so much. He later served as state selector, shaping South Australian football long after his playing days had ended.

In 1996 Barrie was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. In 2001 he became its 17th official Legend, the first South Australian and the first never to have actually played in the VFL or AFL. That speaks volumes. In 2002, he was an automatic inclusion into the inaugural Football SA Hall of Fame.

Barrie was deeply connected to our North Adelaide Football Club community, often seen at Prospect Oval quietly enjoying the game, just another fan in the crowd, humble and unassuming, as always. His bronze statue at Adelaide Oval, the first to ever be given to a SANFL player, is a fitting tribute to his stature in the game and in the hearts of South Australians. I firmly believe AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon put it best:

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.

To his wife, Taimi, to sons, Matthew and Jonathon, and all who loved and admired him—many of whom join us in the gallery today—we offer our deepest condolences. Barrie Robran was more than just a footballer. He was a symbol of elegance, humility and South Australian pride, and his legacy will endure through every child who dares to dream big on a footy oval. May he rest in peace.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (12:04): I also take this opportunity to express our deep sadness at the passing of Barrie Robran and to note his legendary status in the game of Australian Rules Football, but also his impact as a sporting icon across South Australia and Australia. He is certainly in the top echelon of the very best that Australia has ever had in sport.

If you reflect back, Barrie played in a golden age of football in South Australia when state rivalry was at its greatest and when the feats of these great players transitioned from black-and-white footage to colour footage. I think all of us would agree that Barrie really brought the colour to football in South Australia. We have had some legends of the game play during that period and, unfortunately, lost some of those legends in the past four years. Russell Ebert has passed on, as has Neil Kerley and, just recently, Max Basheer. They all had a very influential role in South Australian football in their own right, but on 16 July this year we were met with the very sad news that the very best of them all, Barrie Robran, had passed on and really left what can only be described as a hole in the hearts of all those who love football in South Australia.

Barrie was born in Whyalla in 1947 and played at a time when football, as I said, was much more suburban. It was not the domestic competition that it is now. Certainly, players of Barrie's ilk—the players who are playing now—stand on his shoulders, much as he stood on many other players' shoulders while taking marks. He went to school in Whyalla and excelled not only in football but other sporting endeavours as well. His childhood hero, Don Lindner, played for North Adelaide, so that was where Barrie wanted to find himself.

Another legend of our game who I spoke of earlier, Neil Kerley, also came from Whyalla and he was giving the heads-up to West Adelaide, his club, that there was a fantastic footballer in Whyalla and saying, 'You should go and have a look at him. His name is Barrie Robran.' Of course, as clubs started to see Barrie's exploits, all the other SANFL clubs started showing interest but Barrie was determined to play for North Adelaide.

Funnily enough, especially when you think about where AFL football is at now, where you get kids drafted when they are 18 and going across the country, as an 18 year old Barrie stayed in Whyalla to continue to work and play for his local football club and was not drawn to the big smoke. Again, it was a different time from what we have now. Barrie played in the finals series in 1966 in the reserves for North Adelaide, and dominated. It was quite apparent that he would certainly have been able to play in that 1966 season, and that was emphasised when he did eventually come to play in Adelaide in 1967.

His league debut was against Sturt, the reigning premiers. They were the 1960s powerhouse of the SANFL, winning, I think, five premierships. Barrie basically was best on ground in his first game and led North to victory. He was a fantastic player and that would play out for the remainder of his career. What we saw on game day was a magnificent player but Barrie was renowned for his work ethic, coming to training an hour early and practising his skills probably in the day when a lot of the pre-training preparation for some of the players would have been to knock off, go to the pub and then turn up for training and have a cigarette.

Barrie really honed his skills and had great skills kicking with both left and right feet at a time when people did not have a non-preferred and he was a great overhead mark as well. He went on to win North Adelaide's best and fairest seven times in a row. For the 1967 best and fairest he tied with his hero, Don Lindner, and was awarded that best and fairest retrospectively, but went on to win seven times. He came third in the Magarey Medal in his first season, which is just a mark of what a dominant player he was to become, and then went on to win the Magarey Medal in seasons 1968, 1970 and 1973.

He was more than just a footballer; he also was very dedicated to his family. In 1970, he married Taimi and then went on to have two sons. Matthew was born in 1971, and you would have to say that this was really a time on which Barrie would have reflected fondly. Being married in 1970, his first son, Matthew, was born in 1971, and Barrie went on to win the premiership against Port in 1971 by 20 points. Anyone who has played SANFL footy knows there is nothing better than beating Port, and certainly nothing better than beating Port in a grand final. Barrie was able to do that, and in 1972 follow up that feat, beating Port again in the grand final, this time by 56 points.

That led to what would have to be another of the highlights of Barrie's career, and I think something on which all South Australians could look with pride. On 15 October—today is 15 October, so 53 years ago today—North Adelaide was crowned champions of Australia. Back in the day, the premiers of WA, SA, Victoria and Tasmania came together after their grand finals and played off to determine which was the champion club of Australia. The VFL of course had been a dominant force in Australian Rules Football, and no South Australian club had won the Champion of Australia title since 1914, that being Port Adelaide.

In 1972, Carlton came over here. If anyone has any knowledge of Carlton, they would know that they are reasonably big-headed. They would have come over here thinking they were doing the job, and they have come up against not only North Adelaide but Barrie Robran. The game was very close and Carlton threw everything at it, to the point where North was behind going into a strong wind in the last quarter. Led by Barrie in that last quarter, North was able to keep Carlton to only one goal and was able to kick two goals to come out victors by one point against Carlton. Barrie was named best on ground, and that certainly would have to have been one of the highlights of his football career.

Other highlights would be his representation for South Australia: he played for SA 17 times and was captain for two of those. I should also add another highlight of 1972 was that only six days later, after being crowned champion of Australia, his second son, Jono, was born on 21 October. He packed a lot into those three years of life.

In 1974, he was named captain of the South Australian team, played against WA at Football Park—the first state game at Footy Park—and then travelled to the SCG to play against Victoria and suffered a career-altering knee injury from what could only be described as a late Leigh Matthews clash, which really cruelled Barrie's impact as a player. He continued on playing until 1980, but unfortunately was not the player he was before that. In physical stature and certainly in spirit, what he gave to North Adelaide and to South Australian football never waned. He was the coach of North Adelaide from 1978 to 1980 and then also was a state selector from 1984 through to 1998.

I got to meet with Barrie and his sons, who played with Norwood. He was never about the limelight and you could tell, from seeing him come along to watch his sons play, that he was never there trying to tell them what to do. He let them tread their own path, and you would have to say they did it well. Matthew won two premierships with the Crows and Jono played for Hawthorn and Essendon—both very good players, playing very well at SANFL level as well. Time defeats me, but I just point out that of course Matthew had to sit out the 1992 season because Hawthorn would not let him play here for Norwood when he wanted to come back and play in the South Australian league.

Finally, as was noted, Barrie was of course recognised both in the AFL Hall of Fame as a legend and in the South Australian Football Hall of Fame as a legend. He sits beside Don Bradman and Bart Cummings as the very best of sporting greats here in South Australia. I offer my sincere condolences to his wife Taimi, sons Matthew and Jono, and all the family. He was a true legend. He was very humble and is respected by all.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (12:15): I rise just briefly to commend the motion moved by the member for Adelaide and spoken to so eloquently by the member for Adelaide and by the member for Morphett. Just to underscore, there is a reason why we say in South Australia that Aussie Rules runs through the veins. It does that because of Barrie Robran and his like. It is true to say Barrie stands as a symbol of what is great about South Australia. We can talk, as we should, about those extraordinary feats, those extraordinary sporting achievements. This is a man who defines our state. We say Aussie Rules runs through the veins because of Barrie Robran.

These days, it is a great game and it attracts great athletes and players who get paid brilliantly well for their services, and good luck to them, but it is good to underscore that Barrie's playing of the game, his being drawn to live his life's achievements on that stage playing the great game, was about doing something bigger than money, bigger than the playing contract, bigger than the professional side of all of that. It was about displaying those magnificent skills as a display of heart and soul and belief in something so much bigger and more human.

So the rewards to Barrie, I hope that we can express in this parliament, that run throughout his life way beyond his playing time and then indeed beyond his passing as an example for how we all ought to do what we can in our lives in this state, speak as a tribute down the ages. So I commend the motion, and let us all do what we can to emulate that great legacy.

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (12:17): I, too, would like to support the motion moved by the member for Adelaide and relay a little story about the impact that Barrie unknowingly had on our lives. Coming from a family that was double blue—generational double blue—whenever Barrie was near the ball, it was hold your breath and 'oh no'. My son, I would have thought, would have been a Sturt supporter as well. He was four years old and Sturt and North were playing at Prospect Oval. I got out the family scarf that was given to him at birth and we headed down to Prospect Oval.

Barrie happened to be on a stall. I think it might have been a caravan or something, and they had scarves and footballs and membership forms. So we were standing there at the beginning of the game, and our four year old said he wanted to go and have a look, so we went across and got talking to Barrie. Barrie was delightful and the four year old, our son, said he wanted to be a North Adelaide member, and it was just horror from our family. Barrie looked at me and he said, 'What about mum?' because I had my double blue scarf. Anyway, Barrie signed him up as a junior North Adelaide member, and he remains a member to this day.

Barrie was just delightful in the way he was talking to all of the kids who were there and the young people who were around. On a number of occasions that I did meet him, he was always most personable and someone who was just a genuine person. So my sincere condolences to the family. Know that Barrie's memory lives on in many memories here, not only in our parliament but in people who are football followers around South Australia. He well and truly earned his place in the Australian Football League Hall of Fame.

Motion carried.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Elizabeth I would like to say that I concur with all the comments made by the speakers on that motion, despite being a supporter of Port Adelaide.

Mr ODENWALDER: A somewhat sour note to end on, sir.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: It was not a sour note.

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