Australia pays tribute to the late great AFL legend Ron Barassi as family accepts state funeral
Ron Barassi will be honoured with a state funeral, with Premier Daniel Andrews saying it would be a challenge to find a venue big enough to accommodate the thousands of mourners and footy fans.
Victoria
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The family of football great Ron Barassi have accepted the offer of a state memorial.
Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the news on Monday afternoon and said the challenge would be finding a venue big enough to accommodate thousands of mourners and fans who would want to attend.
Barassi, one of Australian football’s most revered and respected figures, died on Saturday at the age of 87.
Mr Andrews on Monday paid tribute to the “father of modern football” saying he changed forever the way the game was played.
“If you look at old tapes, and it’s not to be critical of that style of football, but it’s a sort of unrecognisable in some ways in some ways,” he said.
“The pace, the speed, the action, the kind of vibrancy and vitality of the game, it’s his doing, him and others.
“The wisdom just poured out of him. He was an amazing guy, an amazing guy, and we send our best wishes to his family and friends.”
“It’s rare that one person is that iconic in anything … to have such a unique icon like that, someone who’s head and shoulders above everybody really, is a special thing.”
Barassi has been remembered far and wide as a gentleman, a great competitor and a legend of Australian sport following his passing.
In a statement from the AFL great’s family on Saturday afternoon, it said: “After a full and extraordinary life, Ronald Dale Barassi, aged 87, left us today due to complications from a fall.”
“He died peacefully, surrounded by loving family. We ask for privacy at this time,” the statement said.
In a statement from the Demons, it said the club was “deeply saddened” to hear of the passing of one of its favourite sons, Ron Barassi AM.
“A much-loved Demon and legend of the game, Barassi achieved an incredible six premierships across 204 games in the red and blue, leaving a legacy like no other,” the statement said.
3AW radio broadcaster and close friend of Barassi, Neil Mitchell, told the Sunday Herald Sun the AFL legend was a “hero” and a “truly great Australian”.
“He was a hero of mine when I was running around with number 31 on my back, he’s a hero today on the day he died,” Mitchell said.
REMEMBERING RON: 31 MOMENTS THAN DEFINED A LEGEND
“He never let me down. He was a man of the utmost integrity, warmth, compassion, with that competitive streak,” he added.
Mitchell said Barassi was a “truly great Australian”.
“We overuse the word hero when we’re talking about sport speople, this man was a hero in life and sports.
“He was a genuine hero because of his decency and you saw that when he would intervene and try to help people.”
Mitchell recalled having some “lovely debates” with Barassi about various topics.
“Not once did our debates ever get unpleasant.
“We didn’t always agree and sometimes we disagreed strongly but it was always a very constructive, warm, competitive discussion.
“He was a truly great man”.
Mitchell said he first met Barassi while working as a sports editor at The Age in the 1980s.
“I worked with him all the time that I’ve been on radio. He’s been on my program regularly.
“I’ve toured a few cities around the world with him.
“He became a really close mate.
“It’s an enormous privilege for me to go from being that kid who worshipped this man because he was playing for the Demons and I was a Melbourne supporter.
“As I grew up he became a friend – it still staggers me that this could happen.”
Mitchell added that Barassi had “never let him down”.
“He would pull you in as a sign of strength and drag you over. He was a strong man and when I saw him in hospital a few weeks ago, he did just that.
“He was sitting in his chair and looked at me from under those magnificent eyebrows and he put his hand out to shake it. He pulled me over into the chair with him.
“Another thing he did that day as I left, he gave me a magnificent hug. That will stay with me forever and nearly broke me in half.”
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said: “Ron Barassi has contributed more than an individual could possibly give to our sport and we give our deepest condolences to Cherryl, all members of the Barassi family and their many friends.”
Former Pies president Eddie McGuire said he was extremely saddened to hear of Ron’s death.
“To me Ron was the most important figure of football in my time,” McGuire told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“I’ve long suggested that the premiership trophy be named the Barassi-Matthews trophy.
“Ron Bararssi was the only person who didn’t realise how big Ron Barassi was, he was a man of tremendous humility, influence, his drive, compassion, his ferocity.
“You would see him marching at three quarter time to address his players, he was like Superman, the Bruce Lee moustache, the fierce eyes and you would meet him and he was the most wonderful of company,” McGuire added.
“I was lucky enough to meet him when I was a teenager and he was like that from the moment I met him until the last time I saw him.
“He was everything that football should be.”
Former AFL player and coach Mick Malthouse said Barassi was “such a delightful bloke” and a “true gentleman”.
“We see a lot of his toughness on TV remonstrating with players, but he had a really soft spot for people in the community,” he told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“I never played against him but I coached against him and he always had time for me. He certainly looked after young coaches. He was a true gentleman.
“A lot of young people won’t know everything about him. Unfortunately, in death, through testimonials, people will get some idea as to the man he was.
“(He was) certainly the most important player. There’s no doubt about it.”
Footy legend Kevin Sheedy said he was a “quality style person who took the game to the edge and when he was at his best he made others get better”.
“The Ron Barassi brand is there forever,” he said.
“He was a great leader in trying things different, that’s what I liked about him.
“He was the best tactical coach I ever played against. Every time you played against Ron Barassi you knew something different was going to happen. In those days others wouldn’t take the risks he did. He took the first steps towards professionalism and learning how to get the best out of yourself.
“I really believe he was a major part of taking the game out of being amateurish and moving it to a new direction.
“He was an extremely fair player for the legend he was. He believed that was the spirit.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Ron Barassi was a “legend in every sense of the word”.
“There is no more famous name in football than Ron Barassi and there is no-one who gave more to the game that millions love,” he said.
“A fearless player and leader, a visionary coach and a tireless champion for the growth and success of Australian rules football.
“Ron’s name and his legacy will be remembered as long as footy is played.
“May he rest in peace.”
Opposition leader John Pesutto said Barassi’s many achievements are “the stuff of legend”.
“A titan of Australian rules football whose influence crossed generations and inspired millions over the decades,” he said.
“May he Rest in Peace and his family find comfort knowing he was much loved.”
Richmond Football Club chief executive Brendon Gale expressed his condolences on behalf of the club.
“A true giant of the game, Ron’s impact on the AFL and Australian Rules Football generally, is immeasurable, and he will be dearly missed. Rest in peace,” he said.
Melbourne Football Club chief executive Gary Pert said everyone at the club was “extremely saddened” to hear of Ron’s death.
“Ron was a much-loved character and friend to so many of us around the club which is why he will be so deeply missed,” he said.
“Ron was more than a player and coach. He was an icon of the game, and a true Melbourne person. His legacy will forever be etched in the history of the game.
“The entire football community has lost a giant, but Ron’s spirit and impact will live on through the game that he loved so dearly.”
North Melbourne Football Club president Sonja Hood said Ron will always remain a club legend.
“Ron was a giant of the game and for a time he was ours,” Dr Hood said.
“He famously guided us to our first-ever VFL/AFL premiership with a win over Hawthorn in 1975 and he backed that up with another flag in 1977, this time with a win over Collingwood.
“But he was much more than a coach – he was a man of the game and the game will forever owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.
“He gave his all for every club he represented – first Melbourne, then Carlton, North Melbourne and finally at Sydney.
“For us, Ron will always be our first premiership coach and he’ll always be a North Melbourne legend.”
AFL Commission Chairman Richard Goyder said Ron Barassi was the most important figure in Australian football of the last 70 years since the Second World War.
Mr Goyder said Barassi was “constantly ahead of his time pushing for national development and a national league”.
“A champion of Victoria who relished the battles against SA, WA and Tasmania at state level, Barassi saw the potential ahead if the game could unlock interest in New South Wales and Queensland and constantly pushed the game’s administrators to dream big, plan bigger and be prepared to risk dramatic steps into the unknown,” he said.
“He revolutionised the game as a player – created the position of ruck rover – built premiership success at clubs as a coach and then was our first great evangelist to take the game north and grow it to become what we have today,” Mr Goyder said.
“He was known all across Australia when football wasn’t always known.”
Footy icon Robert DiPierdomenico said he was “just a pioneer of everything”.
“I remember my first grand final in 1978 and I was 17 or 18 and he said to me ‘what’s your name’ and I said you’ll find out tomorrow, Mr Barassi,” he told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“And after Hawthorn won he said I’m always going to remember you now aren’t I. I got voted best on ground.
“When he turned 70 he invited me to do Kokoda with him and a few others and it was a beautiful part of my life. Ron was either leading us or came in first or last.
“He was just a pioneer of everything, the way he played and coached. He always looked to the future and now we do play around the world because he had a vision and I spent a lot of time with him abroad in Israel for the peace game.
“I hope on Brownlow night, even though he didn’t win one, I hope we can send him off beautifully and then at the grand final, there’s a real opportunity to say goodbye.”
Former AFL star Sam Newman said Barassi was one of a kind.
“Great Australians: Sir Weary Dunlop and Ron Barassi, daylight the rest of the field,” he told the Herald Sun.
“I have too many great memories playing against and with Ron on the football field and sitting in a commentary box with him.”
Hawks champion Shaun Burgoyne said: “Not only a champion of our game, a legend of our game, but an outstanding Australian. He will be missed.”
Former Carlton player Robert Walls said Ron Barassi was his hero.
Walls, who played in Carlton’s 1968, 1970 and 1972 premiership teams, recalled Barassi as tough, hard, fair, charismatic and stylish.
“He would have been the most significant person in the lives of hundreds of footballers who played through the VFL in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, even into the ‘90s,” Walls told 3AW.
“His career as a player and coach stretched so far.
“When I first went to Carlton, I was only 15 and it was just unbelievable to think you were training on the ground with Ron Barassi, the biggest name in football.
“If you talk to all the Carlton players who played under him, every one of them just loved the man.”
Walls said Barassi was also a pioneer in the footy space.
“He was tough, he was hard, he was fair, and he was also a pioneer in lots of the things he did,” he said.
“We (Carlton) were the first team to watch vision of the opposition. He would take us down to Channel 7 on Thursday night after training and we would sit in a room and if we were playing St Kilda, we would watch their last game and he would stop the video and point things out.
“He encouraged you to be bold and be daring, to take the game on, to take risks.
“He had charisma, he had style, he had flair, people warmed to him.
“It is an enormously sad day because he has had such an impact on so many people.
“I am in my 70s now and he is still my hero.”
Retired footy player David Neitz said: “RIP Ron. A true icon of the game and legend of our club. What an honour to be able to spend some time with this great man over the years. Vale Ronald Dale.”
Former Melbourne teammate Harold Peter “Hassa” Mann told 3AW Barassi was “one of a kind.”
“He was an outstanding player but above all an outstanding competitor, teammate and friend,” he said.
“This is a very very sad day for the football public.”
Mann said Barassi was fiercely competitive at everything.
“We would play table tennis and if you beat Ron he would want another game. I would have to throw a game so I could go home.”
Melbourne Football Club’s 1968 Best and Fairest Ray Groom told the Sunday Herald Sun it was an honour to play alongside Ron at the Dees 1960s.
“I think he was one of the great Australians, as well as a fantastic footballer, family member and friend.
“It’s so sad that he has moved on and he will be deeply deeply missed by all his old teammates.
“If you were out with Ron Barassi in central Melbourne he was like a rock star.
“They would all swarm around him like bees in a honey pot. He was a brilliant player, but he was also a fantastic team player,” he said.
“He was absolutely magnificent on the field, so energetic. He would always give some good advice to the younger players.
“On and off the field he was a great leader. He was one of the most courageous players to play the game.
“He was such a dynamic player.
“He took me under his wing to some extent.
“We kept in close contact over the years.”
AFL commentater and journalist Hamish McLachlan said: “He was one of the original twelve legends in the Australian football Hall of Fame.
“His career is peerless in so many ways. When he signed his name, he signed seventeen, four, ten. Seventeen grand finals, four clubs, ten premierships.
“He changed so much.”
“Team of the century, which is just a huge honour.
“He was a massive part of the Channel Seven team.
“He was a big part of the Dees and the Blues, who played last night.
“That would have been the final game that he saw.
“To the Barassi family, our thoughts are with you.”
Daisy Pearce said:
“There weren’t many corners of the game that he didn’t touch.
“He is the fabric of the club that I was lucky enough to be a part of at the Melbourne footy club.
“Not only his on-field history as player and coach but the fact that he made the competition truly national.
“The hand he had in bringing Irish players to the game and the introduction of the father-son rule all revolved around Ron.”
Brownlow medallist Neil Roberts said he and Barassi were fearsome competitors on the football field but became close friends off field.
“He did not know he was Ron Barassi, he was so humble,” Roberts said.
“He brought about social change with the young. Nobody would ever dream he would leave Melbourne and when he did it caused a social volcano.
“I don’t know if it freed people up or what happened but it was a huge social force.
“He was the perfect coach for that era.”
Roberts said Barassi was “absolutely and totally unique and dedicated” as a footballer and coach.
“He was a revolution, he was a revelation and of course he was so compelling, and he led from the front,” he said.
“He was not the greatest technician of all time, but he was the greatest in terms of enthusiasm.
“Every time we met socially, we were in the same lunch club, we would run at each other and try to bowl each other over.
“We struck up a real friendship, I could not shake the tag in the finish.”
Roberts said there would never be another football force like Barassi.
“He did it his way, he was the Frank Sinatra of football,” he said.
In April 1976 Barassi lost control of a car he was driving on a road in country Victoria and smashed into a tree.
He was seriously injured as was Roberts, who won the 1958 Brownlow Medal while playing for St Kilda, who was the passenger in that vehicle that night.
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