AFL great and Brownlow medallist Barry Round dies, aged 72
After sadly passing away on Christmas Eve, Swans legend Barry Round is being remembered by the AFL – including tributes from fellow Brownlow Medalists.
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Even in his final hours, Barry Round’s sense of humour remained.
The football giant — who famously wore the No. 25 on his back for South Melbourne and Sydney — had always fancied himself as a mug punter.
Omitted to palliative care in a Gold Coast hospital last week, he had told his partner Jenni that he was going to get the trifecta.
Round was in Ward 25, Bed 25 and said he was going to go out on December 25.
He fell just short, sadly passing away on Christmas Eve. He was 72.
About 60 friends and former teammates gathered at Williamstown Football Club for a quiet beer that afternoon in honour of a man who would have a cold beverage with anyone.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or how good the individual is, for whatever reason there is always someone who doesn’t like someone,” good friend Brad Hardie said.
“But I don’t think there was a person in football that disliked Barry, which is quite remarkable in itself. It says a lot about the bloke.”
Hardie first met Round when he won the 1985 Brownlow Medal in his first year with Footscray.
Round was already in the Brownlow Medal club, having won his own in 1981 while playing for South Melbourne.
“He was one of the very first that came up and congratulated me the day I won mine,” Hardie said.
“We just remained close ever since.”
Hardie last saw Round at the Australian Football Hall of Fame function, which was held in Melbourne in June.
The pair and their wives shared a taxi together on the way back to their hotel.
The towering 193cm Round had to lie down in the back seat to get out.
“He was stuck in the taxi, the poor bugger,” Hardie said.
“He was a very, very solid guy.”
The man who tied with Round for the Brownlow Medal in 1981 — Bernie Quinlan — started his career playing alongside Round at Footscray in 1969.
“He’s always been the same,” Quinlan said of the talented and likeable ruckman.
“He’s just a fantastic bloke and very sociable. He loved to have a good time and he loved to have a drink with anyone. Everybody loved him.”
By 1981, Quinlan had moved on to Fitzroy and Round was captain of South Melbourne.
But the pair travelled to the Gold Coast together that year with their families for a pre-season training camp.
“We did beach runs on the sand every morning from Surfers Paradise to Southport and for such a big bloke, you wouldn’t believe that Roundy was such a good long-distance runner,” Quinlan said.
“We would get up to Southport and we would do a series of exercises like push ups and sit ups and then we would turn around and run back. With about 2km to go, Roundy would start picking up the pace and I’d say, ‘Hang on’. He’d say, ‘No, come on, come on’. It was fair dinkum unbelievable how well he could run for a bloke his size with his frame. He’d run me into the ground.”
It was fitting that after that unofficial pre-season training camp, Quinlan and Round tied for the competition’s highest individual award later that year after stellar seasons for their respective clubs.
“To win the Brownlow’s fantastic but to share it with Roundy, a mate I’d known since 1969 when I started at the Bulldogs, was even more special,” Quinlan said.
Despite relocating to the Gold Coast, Round had remained tightly connected with the Swans and his impromptu renditions singing ‘The Gambler’ or ‘Sweet Caroline’ were always a highlight of club functions he attended.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said Round was a “larger-than-life personality” who had “held the player group together” during South Melbourne’s “turbulent” move to Sydney.
Swans chairman Andrew Pridham described Round as “a great of our club” who would leave “behind a legacy which will forever live in the folklore of our club”.
Round played 193 games for South Melbourne and Sydney, after featuring in 135 games for Footscray to start his career.
After his time with the Swans came to an end, Round joined VFA club Williamstown and was a two-time premiership captain-coach of the club.
Round leaves behind his partner Jenni and his children David and Natalie.
Tributes flow for ‘larger than life’ AFL great after passing
Tributes are flowing for “larger-than-life” football figure Barry Round, who sadly passed away on Christmas Eve.
Round went into palliative care earlier this week before losing his battle in a Gold Coast hospital on Saturday morning. He was 72.
Round played 328 VFL/AFL games with Footscray and South Melbourne/Sydney, highlighted by being a joint winner of the 1981 Brownlow Medal.
He was a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, is the starting ruckman in the South Melbourne/Sydney Swans Team of the Century and had been awarded AFL life membership.
However, Round has also been remembered for his impact on the game beyond the field.
He was captain of South Melbourne when the club relocated to Sydney and is credited with helping to hold the group together during a difficult time.
“The early days of the Swans in Sydney, after their painful relocation from the Lake Oval in Melbourne, were incredibly challenging for the club as they sought to generate a new fan base and establish themselves at the SCG,” AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said.
“In a turbulent period as the club battled to build its new life and the competition itself grappled with the first stage of expansion four decades ago, Round held the player group together with his larger-than-life personality. Under his leadership, and because of his leadership, the Swans fought huge obstacles to lay down a foundation that sees them today as one of the great clubs of the AFL.
“His skills as a ruckman, as an unorthodox but reliable kick for goal, and particularly as a dominant mark around the ground, quickly made him an SCG-favourite and ensured the club would thrive, despite many hard days.
“Across his 325-game career at both Footscray and South Melbourne/Sydney, Round was both respected by his opponents and loved for his gregarious nature. He will be deeply missed by all and remembered as one of the cornerstones of the Swans’ success in the Harbour City.”
Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham said Round would forever be “a great of our club”.
“Barry was a big man who leaves behind a legacy which will forever live in the folklore of our club,” Pridham said.
“He was an outstanding player and forged such a decorated career.
“As a kid one of my most vivid memories was watching this huge man, Barry Round, battle it out at the SCG on the Sunday telecast of Swans games live into SA.
“Notably, Barry was a unifying figure who identified the positive in everything and everyone. His impromptu renditions singing “The Gambler” of “Sweet Caroline” were always a highlight when Barry attended club functions.”
Pridham said Round had remained connected to the club despite living on the Gold Coast during his retirement.
“As someone who led the club through so much adversity, he was incredibly proud of the success achieved in recent times,” Pridham said.
“He remained very connected to the club, just this year attending the Hall of Fame event and Grand Final week where he joyfully reconnected with former teammates.
“Barry is a true Bloods Champion and will always hold a special place in the history of the Sydney Swans.”
Former Sydney chairman and chair of the Swans’ Hall of Fame Committee, Richard Colless, said ‘Roundy’ could not have been happier when Sydney won the 2005 premiership to end a 72-year flag drought.
“On the MCG immediately after the 2005 premiership win there was Roundy with his scarf draped over his massive shoulders and the joy that he was experiencing was infectious,” Colless said.
“It was like he had finally got the success he’d been denied. The fact he hadn’t actually played wasn’t the point. The Swannies had finally prevailed.
“If I can make a comment wearing my Chair Hall of Fame hat, I knew his record in minute detail and I realised he was a great player
“What I hadn’t fully appreciated, however, were the extraordinary leadership skills that he possessed and that were fundamental to the club relocating and surviving. It’s a recurring theme with every teammate of his with whom I’ve spoken in recent days. And post his leadership role at the Swans he included coaching in his repertoire at Williamstown with much success. True leadership comes in many forms.
“It’s been said by other people, but I truly believe in an all-round sense he is one of the greatest and most influential players in our nearly 150-year history.”
After his career at the top level came to an end, Round went on to play a further six seasons in the VFA with Williamstown, where he captained-coached a premiership side and was also named as the Seagulls’ ruckman of the century.
‘Barry Round was a giant of a man, in more ways than one,” Williamstown president Clint Rippon said.
“In his presence everyone stood taller. He gave so much of himself both on and off the field. His undeniable footballing talents will forever be etched into the history of our club and the game of Australian Rules. There is no doubt he is a true icon of the Williamstown Football Club and we are incredibly fortunate that he called our club home.”
Sydney has extended its “deepest condolences to Barry’s partner Jenni, his children David and Natalie, his grandchildren, and his extended family”.
Brownlow winning AFL great dies at 72
Barry Round, who has died aged 72, was a champion footballer but a better bloke.
Generous of spirit, warm, self-deprecating and blessed with an extremely keen sense of humour, Round’s death from organ failure will be felt by everyone who had the pleasure to meet him.
His 328-game VFL/AFL journey (293 goals) began in Rd 1 of the 1969 season when he was selected for Footscray to play Fitzroy at Princes Park, a moment Round never forgot.
He was just a humble, broad-shouldered kid from Warragul who was asked to help Peter Welsh take on the daunting Fitzroy rucking duo of Norm Brown and Russell Crow.
Naturally nervous, 19-year-old Round was surprised when he entered the Footscray rooms to be greeted by red, blue and white streamers and balloons.
“I thought it was a bit over the top for me and another debutant Richard Radziminski, but a lovely touch all the same, then someone explained it was actually Ted Whitten’s 300th game,” laughed Round.
Round went on to play another 135 matches for the Dogs before new coach Bill Goggin sacked him prior to the 1976 season, allowing South Melbourne to secure him for a career that would boast 193 games, including the 1981 Brownlow medal which he shared with his old mate Bernie Quinlan.
Captain of Sydney from 1980-84, he led the Swans when they moved to Sydney in 1981 before retiring in 1985 and becoming captain-coach of Williamstown, who he took to 1986 and 1990 (best on ground) VFA Premierships, while also winning the Liston Trophy for best player in the competition in 1987.
Named as ruckman in Sydney’s Team of the Century, in recent years Round has lived on the Gold Coast where he was a regular early morning jogger and swimmer, just as he had been in Williamstown prior.
Alan “Rocky” Stoneham played with Round at Footscray from 1972-75: “ I was honoured to have ‘Roundy’ as best man at my wedding. I’ve never met a more generous person, although he could be very dangerous to get in a drinking session with,” recalled Stoneham.
“As a player he was just so smart and perfected the craft of forward ruck work resulting in goals long before Tom Hawkins made an art-form of it.”
In 1980, Round was asked to remain at Tullamarine to meet prized South Australian recruit John Roberts while the rest of the South Melbourne side travelled to Bali.
When the pair arrived at Denpasar airport in Bali, Round was the worse for wear after straying from his normal intake of beer and sampling some of the duty free Scotch, recalled Roberts in an interview some years later.
“ I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself in for but in fairness he had drunk half a bottle of scotch and about a dozen cans of beer,” explained Roberts.
After the story appeared in this newspaper, Round rang the reporter who had written it and politely advised him to get his facts right before besmirching his reputation.
“It was 18 cans of beer and the full bottle of scotch,” laughed Round before wishing the reporter all the best for the season ahead.
Coodabeen Champion Ian Cover, who has interviewed hundreds of AFL players over his 40-odd years on the airwaves, said none surpassed Barry Round’s company.
“He was interested in everyone else and just so modest, plus he did a very good version of The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. We annually would call Barry for our Grand Final show due to public demand.”
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