Statue heroes at Adelaide Oval — Barrie Robran, Malcolm Blight and Russell Ebert — unite to turn their joy into a win for charity
MALCOLM Blight calls it “The Brass Club”. He and fellow Magarey Medallist Barrie Robran and Russell Ebert are the only members of the exclusive club that recognises the three footballers with statues at Adelaide Oval.
MALCOLM Blight calls it “The Brass Club”. He and fellow Magarey Medallist Barrie Robran and Russell Ebert are the only members of the exclusive club that recognises the three footballers with statues at Adelaide Oval.
And the trio intends to generate brass for charity, as many as 10 organisations, from their fame along the Oval’s south-eastern perimeter.
The Hall of Famers formed “The Brass Club” Friday as Blight became the third footballer to have his image captured in bronze with a statue at the Oval. Ebert had his statue unveiled last Saturday and Robran’s statue ceremony marked the re-opening of the Oval for elite football in March last year.
The trio had a special photographic shoot by the statues and will autograph the limited edition prints before offering them at auction for charity, starting with the Epilepsy Foundation fundraising event at the Oval on Friday.
Blight Friday had his statue at the Victor York Richardson Gates unveiled by famed Adelaide broadcaster Bruce McAvaney. The image of Blight launching a long kick while dressed in the Woodville No. 15 jumper took sculptors Meliesa Judge and Will Kuiper 3260 hours to produce.
“It’s pretty good — I like it. The hair ... thank you,” Blight said at the unveiling. “And it’s nice to see me kicking on my right foot. Well done guys. That (image) was a long time ago — I look fit, healthy and happy.”
Blight paid tribute to his wife Patsy at the end of the ceremony, acknowledging she deserved a statue for her support during his 45-year journey in football as a player or coach at Woodville, North Melbourne, Adelaide, Geelong and briefly St Kilda.
“Somewhere in this statue there would be a heart — and it would be of my darling wife Patsy,” Blight said.
Blight added he remained “gobsmacked” by Basil Sellers’ decision to honour him with a statue at the Oval.
“I’m lucky to be here — not in my wildest dreams did I ever believe that I’d be standing here, as a boy from the Adelaide suburbs, with a statue at Adelaide Oval,” he said.
The football statues funded by Sellers will be completed next year with the unveiling of a bronze to honour SA’s greatest goalkicker, North Adelaide legend Ken Farmer. His statue will be at the Oval’s northern gates.