Ron Barassi

DOB: 27 February, 1936
Debut: Round 4, 1953 against Footscray at MCG
Last Game: Grand Final 1964 against Collingwood at MCG

Games: 204 (254 total)
Goals: 295 (329 total)
Career Statistics

From: Preston Scouts

Number: 31 1953-1964

Honours
Premiership Winner - 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964
Grand Final team - 1954, 1958
Captain - 1960 - 1964
Best and Fairest - 1961, 1964
Coach - 1981 - 1985
Leading Goalkicker - 1958 (Joint), 1959
Victorian state representative - 1961 (c)
All Australian - 1956, 1958, 1961 (Captain)
Australian Football Hall of Fame "Legend" inductee - 1996
Melbourne FC Hall of Fame "Legend" inductee - 2003
Life Member
Team of the Century - Captain and Ruck/Rover
150 Heroes selection

The son of the late Ron Barassi Sr who was killed during World War 2 qualified to play for the Demons under the then Father/Son rule - a rule invented specifically to make sure that he didn't end up elsewhere.

Barassi had started training with the thirds as a 15-year-old in 1951, and began playing for them in 1952. Invited to train with the seniors the next year, he was taken in by Norm Smith and his family. Far from getting an easy ride from the mastercoach, many - including Barassi himself - believed that he was made to work harder than any of his teammates.

Barassi wasn't the most skilled player in the competition but he more than made up for it with fierce determination. His early performances gave no indication of how he was going to practically invent the ruck-rover position. 1953 saw him play 12 games in the reserves and six with the seniors. He played two games at full-forward in the second and third rounds of 1954 before being sent back to the reserves. It was there that he was thrown onto the ball, and the modern ruck-rover was born.

It was in that position that his strength and leadership qualities blossomed, and he became a terror all around the ground for opposition sides. The Demons had a remarkable rise from 11th to Grand Final in 1954, and the second year Barassi was one of the major contributors.

His side won the premiership in 1955, and Barassi was already one of the stars of the competition. No lesser than Jack Dyer was moved to call him the best VFL player since Ivor Warne-Smith.

In the 1959 Grand Final he played five minutes of sublime football just before half-time which helped drag his side back into the match. Three goals came from a miracle snap and two strong marks. It gave the Demons a lead at half-time and they went on to win.

During 1957 he suffered a spate of injuries including a chipped finger bone, bruised back, gashed eye-lid and two bruised shoulders but still managed to lift his third premiership cup.

Appointed captain in 1960 his side won the premiership that year, and he picked up two Best and Fairest awards. He was sensationally reported and suspended for the 1963 finals series, where the Demons finished their third season in a row without a flag for the first time in over a decade. Barassi won another premiership in 1964, but freely admitted that he had played a poor game and that if the Demons hadn't won he felt as if he would have to shoulder the blame. It was to be his last act in a red and blue jumper.

After Melbourne

On December 23, 1964 Carlton announced that Barassi would join them as a playing coach for 1965. In the book "The Coach", John Powers described the move as one that "Shattered many people's beliefs in the traditional concepts of sportsmanship and loyalty. Letters of protest poured into the papers and the Melbourne Football Club. Small boys wept."

Barassi had already stood in as coach for Smith when he was away on Victorian state duties, and was being groomed as the Red Fox's successor but chose not to wait. Carlton had got their man for a fee of 5000 pounds over three years (some suggest 6k). The Melbourne committee cleared Barassi by just 7 votes to 5, making him the first reigning league captain ever to change clubs.

The Demons wouldn't play another final until 1987. Barassi would coach the Blues to a flag in 1968 after retiring as a player late in the season. He returned for a final game in Round 7, 1969 - against Melbourne - in order to boost his total games with the Blues to 50 and qualify his son to play for Carlton under the father/son rule. A torn hamstring in the third quarter ended his comeback.

He coached the Blues to another flag in 1970, and was linked to his first return to Melbourne at the end of that year. The job would go to Ian Ridley, but Barassi would soon Carlton anyway. Attempting a short lived comeback with Port Melbourne (3 games) in 1972 before entering the media.

In 1973 he accepted an offer to coach North Melbourne and took them to their first two senior premierships in 1975 and 1977 before being lured back to the Demons as coach during the dark days of the early 1980's.

Coaching

First game: Round 1, 1981 vs Hawthorn at MCG
Last game: Round 22, 1985 vs Richmond at MCG

Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	%
111	34	0	77	30.63

Three years previously Barassi had signed a deal with the club that allowed them first option on his services at the end of the 1980 season, and both the club and Barassi found the time right to take the option up at the end of 1980. Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon all made substantial bids for his services but he chose to return home for a considerably lower salary. His refusal of the Essendon role opened the door for the Bombers to appoint Kevin Sheedy as coach.

Before his return Barassi took out newspaper advertisements asking for the fans support for taking up the role and was, not surprisingly, overwhelmingly supported by a fan base who hadn't seen a finals appearance since his last year with the club in 1964. Upon his appointment he said he expected it to be between "four and eight years" until the Demons were a force again - and just under 8 years later they were playing in a Grand Final.

Barassi's son Ronnie was zoned to Essendon but crossed to North Melbourne under the father-son rule (as it was) and played in practice matches for the Roos while also turning out for Heathmont in the Eastern League. He failed to play a senior match, and was unable to join his father at the Demons.

Having dropped 4kg on an Israeli army diet before coming back to the club, one of Barassi's first edicts was to ban his players from wearing beards.

Though his stint as coach was largely unsuccessful on the field, including a wooden spoon in the first year, he nonetheless laid the foundations for the success of the John Northey era.

During 1984 it was unclear whether he would continue in '85, as he said he believed he wasn't getting through to the players, but as the side picked up in the middle of the season he agreed to stay. Six wins in a row between Round 8 and 13 had them inside the five, and as late as Round 18 they were only a game outside but six losses in the last seven rounds saw them finish a place lower than the previous season.

An enduring image of his reign was a 3/4 time bust up with Shane Zantuck during a Round 14, 1984 loss to Essendon at Waverley.

Before the Round 16, 1985 match against Carlton Barassi announced that he would retire at the end of the season.

Sydney and beyond

Later came out of retirement to coach the Sydney Swans during their darkest days in Sydney. However it was the platform that Barassi built which allowed them to recruit Tony Lockett and make the 1996 Grand Final.

He was named as coach in the Italian Team of the Century

Media
"Demons may have a Tiger as their new coach" - The Age 01/09/1970
"Barassi Finally a Demon Again" - The Age 2/10/1980
"Young Barassi a Demon too?" - The Age 3/10/1980
"Barassi bans beards" - The Age 06/02/1981

Video

Palmer's Punchlines - Barassi vs Zantuck

Links
Wikipedia profile
Blueseum profile
Full Points Footy profile

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