Ron Barassi
Ronald Dale Barassi was an Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the greatest and most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a "Legend", and he is one of four Australian rules footballers to be elevated to the same status in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
When Barassi was five years old, his father, Melbourne Football Club player Ron Barassi Sr., died in action at Tobruk during World War II. Barassi was determined to follow in his father's footsteps at Melbourne, and heavy lobbying by the club to recruit him resulted in the introduction of the father–son rule, still in use by the AFL today. Barassi subsequently lived with Norm Smith, Melbourne's then-coach and a former teammate of his father. Under Smith's mentorship, Barassi pioneered the ruck-rover position and appeared in six premiership-winning sides, two of which he captained.
In 1964, in what has been called "the most audacious signing in league history", Barassi left Melbourne for a lucrative contract at Carlton. Retiring from playing in 1969, he coached Carlton to two premierships, including a record-breaking grand final comeback in 1970 before what remains the largest crowd in football history; Barassi's famous half-time injunction to his men to play on from marks and handball at all costs came to be remembered as "the birth of modern football".
Barassi retired from professional football in 1971, but he was lured back two years later to coach North Melbourne. In 1981, after leading the club to its first two premierships, he returned to an ailing Melbourne, where he initiated the "Irish experiment": the recruitment of Gaelic footballers into Australian rules. His stint at Melbourne, followed by another at the Sydney Swans in 1993–95, proved vital in rebuilding those clubs as viable members of the competition.
Barassi's coaching career was both successful and regarded by many as revolutionary, and his clean record and passion for the game earned him a place as a celebrity and popular culture figure in Australia. A prominent early campaigner for a national club-level competition, he is the namesake of the Barassi Line, which describes the regional split between football codes in Australia. He was named a Member of the Order of Australia in 1978, and in 1996 was selected in the AFL's Team of the Century as a ruck-rover. Following his death, Barassi was honoured with a state funeral.
Early life
The only child of Ron Barassi, Sr., Barassi was born in the central Victorian town of Castlemaine on 27 February 1936. The following year, his father moved to Melbourne to play VFL football with the Melbourne Football Club. A pugnacious rover, Barassi's father was a reserve in the Demons' 1940 premiership team before leaving to serve with the army in North Africa, where he died in the Siege of Tobruk. The young Barassi spent his early years in Guildford, Victoria. He was educated at Castlemaine Tech and then at Preston and Footscray techs in Melbourne.Barassi was a third-generation Italian Australian whose Swiss Italian ancestors migrated to Victoria during the gold rushes of the 1850s and 1860s. They settled areas such as Guildford, Castlemaine and Daylesford.
Australian rules football career
Barassi unintentionally changed the game before he even took the field. After his father's death at Tobruk in 1941, a group of players and officials at the Melbourne Football Club 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.Father–son rule
To ensure he played with the Demons, Melbourne went to the VFL and successfully lobbied for the creation of a father–son rule to allow clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the team. When the time came for Barassi to be signed, Melbourne picked him 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 16-year-old use of his backyard bungalow. Looking back on the experience, Barassi believed 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 wrote that:
"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 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 shirtfronted by Footscray's Charlie Sutton. Initially unsure as to Barassi's best position, Smith played him as a second ruckman in 1954 despite his lack of size 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 he was quickly handed leadership responsibilities. In 1957, he was appointed vice-captain, and he was made captain three years later. After losing the 1954 Grand Final to a more experienced Footscray football team by 51 points, the Demons dominated the VFL by winning three successive flags in 1955, 1956, and 1957, with the team at the time hailed as the best to ever 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 years
A resurgent Carlton gave him a dilemma in 1964. New president George Harris was desperate to have Barassi at Princes Park, and he was willing to offer a lucrative deal for the time – a three-year contract of A£9,000 plus bonuses — 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 said that "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 brought them from their lowest-ever VFL finish to premiers only four 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. In mid-1969, he retired from playing, he had played one game and torn his hamstring, but continued as non-playing coach, ultimately going down to Richmond in the 1969 VFL Grand Final by 25 points; however, in the 1970 Grand Final, in front of the biggest-ever VFL crowd, he led Carlton to arguably football's most famous comeback by 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. Despite not having played football since 1969, he signed to play with Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association in 1972, but he played only four games before suffering a hamstring injury and retiring.
North Melbourne years
Barassi returned to coaching in 1973. With administrators Allen Aylett and Ron Joseph, he 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 won the wooden spoon in 1972, finishing last. However, in 1974, in just Barassi's second year of coaching the club, North Melbourne were to come runner-up in the 1974 grand final. Whereas Barassi had implemented a tough training regime in 1974, he modified this approach for the 1975 finals when he introduced lighter training sessions to keep his squad mentally-focused and not overtrained and exhausted. His strategy worked and they won the 1975 premiership.
North Melbourne went on to win another premiership in 1977, but they nearly squandered the flag as they gave up a late lead against Collingwood to create the second-ever drawn VFL grand final before coming back a week later to win the flag. In the drawn grand final, Barassi made major positional changes, including placing North Melbourne Team of the Century full-back and captain David Dench into the forward line, which sparked North Melbourne'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 disappointing setback 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' Jordon. The under-19s 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".Barassi started the "Irish experiment" at Melbourne, which started recruiting Gaelic footballers from Ireland and converting them to Australian rules footballers. He recruited the most famous of all, the 1991 Brownlow Medallist, Jim Stynes.