Why Australian rules football legend Barrie Robran was one of the greats

Former North Adelaide halfback Bohdan Jaworskyj knew Barrie Robran was something special the first time he watched him play.

It was September 1966, and the teenage Robran had travelled from his hometown of Whyalla to line up for the Roosters' reserves side in a final at the Adelaide Oval.

Playing in midfield, Robran was confronted with a pack of players waiting under a ball that had bounced high in the air.

What happened next has not left Jaworskyj's mind.

"He took the ball high in the air with one arm and swept it in one motion onto his right foot without putting another hand on it or without trying to control it in any other way," Jaworskyj told Adelaide radio station FiveAA.

"It was just one motion, put it onto his right boot, and kicked it down into the forward line, and I'd never ever seen anyone do that.

"That then struck me as something special."

Barrie Robran was known for his versatility, "silky" skills and evasiveness. (Supplied: North Adelaide Football Club)

Jaworskyj is among a chorus of voices in South Australia's football community paying tribute to Robran, who died on Wednesday aged 77.

He was widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers South Australia has ever produced, with his list of honours including three Magarey Medals, two SANFL premierships and seven North Adelaide best-and-fairest awards.

What made Robran so special according to those who played with and against him was his versatility, "silky" skills and evasiveness.

"You could not contain him," Jaworskyj said, recalling Robran's ability to make players "look foolish without even looking".

"He was mentally aware of his surroundings, he was so … able to see what was happening around him and then move to the best position to get the ball.

"He was as hard a ball winner as you could find when he needed to be, and yet he was as smooth and silky as he wanted to be when he was out in the open."

Barrie Robran was inducted in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. (Facebook: North Adelaide Football Club)

An all-rounder on the field

Robran played 201 games for North Adelaide from 1967 to 1980 and 17 matches for South Australia's state side, including as captain.

SA Football Commission chair Rob Kerin said Robran "changed the way the game was played", with his capacity to excel at both centre-half forward and midfield an attribute that put him a cut above the rest.

"Barrie was a guy who could have played any position on the field," he told ABC Radio Adelaide.

Kerin also noted the long-standing comparisons between Robran and Port Adelaide football icon Russell Ebert, who died in 2021.

The duo dominated the South Australian football landscape through the 1970s and enjoyed a long friendship after football.

Russell Ebert and Barrie Robran were former rivals and long-time friends. (Supplied: Jordan Bianchini)

"Both of them, they could be flying for a mark and both of them would handball before they got to the ground," Kerin said.

"They just brought another skill to the game."

Sturt legend Rick Davies, an Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee who played through the 1970s and 80s, said Robran could do everything on the football field.

"If somebody asks me now, 'what do you have to do to be a footballer?', one, you've got to be fit; two, you've got to be able to get the ball; and three, you've got to be able to make the right decision when you get the ball," he told Fiveaa.

"He could do the lot: he was always very fit, he could get the ball just at will and he never ever made a mistake.

"Him and Russell really were the two complete players.

"I always say Wayne Carey was the best player I saw, but Barrie and Russell, I just couldn't part them because they were just such great players."

The Barrie Robran statue at Adelaide Oval was adorned with a North Adelaide Football Club scarf following his death. (ABC News: Ashlin Blieschke)

The time Jesaulenko clapped Robran

One of the many anecdotes cited by those paying tribute to Robran this week was the time he played against Carlton great Alex "Jezza" Jesaulenko.

It was 1972, and North Adelaide was matched up against Carlton in the now disbanded Championship of Australia competition, which pitted the winners of the VFL, SANFL and other state leagues against each other.

Robran had a best-on-ground performance on a muddy day at the Adelaide Oval; it was a day that earned him plenty of plaudits from Victoria.

But there was one particular moment that has gone down in folklore, when Robran gathered the ball on the wing with three Carlton players bearing down on him.

Barrie Robran excelled at both centre-half forward and midfield. (Supplied: North Adelaide Football Club)

"He avoided one player by showing him the ball and he moved casually past him," Bohdan Jaworskyj recalled.

"Then showed another player the ball on the other side and then swept around him and delivered the ball down into the forward lines."

The last of the trio Robran evaded was Blues great Jesaulenko, who stood and applauded his rival.

Veteran football commentator Bruce McAvaney described the moment to the ABC in 2023.

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