I wasn't old enough to see him in his prime as a player, but the character and passion of the man was just so evident anytime you would hear him speak.
Arguably the greatest single person to impact the game.
Player: 6 flags (Melbourne)
Coach: 4 flags (2 Carlton, 2 North)
Resurrected Melbourne from the doldrums in the 80s through standards and culture leading to 80s-90s era.
Resurrected Sydney through standards and culture, leading to late 90s relative success.
Played and coached across 5 decades.
I hope you don’t mind me intruding but wanted to pay my respects to one of our absolute legends of the game.
I’m not quite old enough to remember him playing at Melbourne but I certainly do when he coached Carlton and North. He’s one of those people like the Queen and Bert Newton who’ve just always been around your whole life and you can’t quite believe they’re gone.
RIP Ron. Admit to feeling quite emotional about this. Will forever be an icon and legend of our game and a huge presence in my childhood. Best wishes to his family and all Melbourne fans on his passing.
Man, this hurts more than last night's loss. This puts everything into perspective. Not just THE legend of our club, but THE legend of this sport. This one's gonna take a little while to get over. RIP Legend
I met Ron once in the Demons shop under the MCG. I was accompanied by my two kids, one of whom shook his hand - and RDB urged to do it a second time with a firmer grip. We were alone. I got him to sign the famous photo from 57 where he is being tackled by Bob Sutter. I should have asked him if it was Dr Cullen who had mocked him at the 1964 MFC Christmas Party, thereby causing him to accept the Carlton offer. I let it go. I am so glad that he lived to see 2021 and the greatest Third Quarter in history.
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