Barrie Robran: Graham Cornes remembers footy star’s incredible legacy

From his immense talent honed in Whyalla to the grudge against Leigh Matthews he never really got over, Graham Cornes remembers the incredible legacy left by Barrie Robran.

The combination of exquisite talent and sublime humility in elite athletes is extremely rare. Superiority is usually accompanied by some degree of hubris.

Barrie Robran’s modesty was palpable to all who knew him. He shied away from praise as if he was shielding himself from the glare of the spotlights.

It wasn’t that he lacked confidence in his abilities. He simply never proclaimed them to the outside world or was comfortable with effusive compliments.

There is a difference between modesty and shyness. I suspect he was aware of his talents. How could he not be? In any discussion about South Australia’s greatest ever footballer his name is at the forefront.

We can argue about Robran, Russell Ebert, Malcolm Blight, Lindsay Head, Bob Quinn, Neil Kerley and others, but his name will always be first or second in that debate.

Footballer Barrie Robran at South Australian training in 1974.

Footballer Barrie Robran leading out teammates at North Adelaide in 1975.

The skills honed on Bennett Oval in Whyalla set him apart from the rest. Tall and lanky, there was a balletic artistry about his movements.

Those movements were fluid rather than powerful. Whereas the rest of us were always rushed and under pressure, he created time and space with an ease that rarely saw him tackled.

He graduated from the junior ranks at North Whyalla and was immediately a star. Of course, the SANFL league teams came calling but he was only ever going to play for North Adelaide. His boyhood hero was Don Lindner, a unique, spectacular star for the Roosters who would later be awarded the Magarey Medal retrospectively.

Robran would have played for them for nothing, and he may well have in those early years. It seems unbelievable now but he was paid only five dollars a game in 1967. His cheque at the end of the season was for $100, all but five dollars of which he spent on a new suit.

Nobody epitomised the spirit of “fairest and most brilliant” more than Barrie Robran. Despite the antagonism and intimidation, he faced almost weekly, he played the game within the bounds of sportsmanship.

Robran wearing the Big V. TS Hill trophy.

Footballer Barrie Robran talking to children at football practice in 1987.

Rarely did he react, although I remember clearly one incident at Prospect Oval when he kneed me in the buttocks. We laughed about it later. He explained he was acting under coach Mike Patterson’s instructions. And to be fair I had stood on his toes a couple of times.

He was extraordinarily versatile. He could have played on any position on the field but mostly in the centre or at centre half forward.

He had won his third Magarey Medal before he was 27, before that knee injury in 1974. That knee injury! Sustained, of all places, on the Sydney Cricket Ground in a state game between South Australia and Victoria, it was before today’s medical wonders can have players recovering from anterior cruciate ligament damage in less than a year.

Gallery: Barrie Robran in action

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He wasn’t a vindictive person but had an acute sense of sportsmanship. He never really forgave Leigh Matthews who hit him late after he had taken a mark. The mire of the SCG clamped his foot and his knee bore the full brunt of the collision.

It was a career-ending injury but, determined to play his 200 games for North, he did eventually make a comeback wearing a cumbersome brace. The comeback proved, more than anything, that Barrie Robran on one leg was a better player than the rest of us on two.

He sadly retired as a player in 1980 after 201 games and three Magarey Medals. It is only conjecture now, but how many Magarey Medals could he have won if not for that injury?

He was an all-round sportsman. He played Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia and was a talented basketball player. The open-air basketball courts of Whyalla which overlooked the shipyards, the blast furnace and the steel works were a summer ritual.

Football Legends Greg Phillips, Barrie Robran, Russell Ebert and Graham Cornes. Picture: CATHY MUNDY

It was there that he and a star women’s basketballer, Taimi Vestel from Port Augusta, connected. Married in 1970, they have been inseparable since.

He never forgot he was from Whyalla, never forsake his old mates from the North Whyalla Football Club. They would meet at least once a year to reconnect and tell the same old stories. That he was still one of them and never forgot his origins was a source of immense pride. Those lunches will not be the same.

Barrie Robran passed suddenly and unexpectedly. He was scheduled to have a long overdue knee replacement today and had spoken with close friends about the improved movement he was anticipating. Sadly he won’t experience it.

Barrie Robran and Russell Ebert, two of our greatest, gave willingly of their time and their fame to The Crippled Children’s Association (now Novita) charity.

It is an invaluable legacy. Now they are both gone. Such sadness.

Originally published as Barrie Robran: Graham Cornes remembers footy star’s incredible legacy