Richmond has lost one of the greatest, most popular characters in its history, with the passing of dual premiership player Brian Roberts.
The man affectionately known as ‘The Whale’ died yesterday (Saturday, August 6) aged 70.
Roberts, a giant ruckman, at 198cm and 120kg, had played senior football for SANFL club South Adelaide, WAFL club East Fremantle, and represented both South Australia and Western Australia in State football, before transferring to the Tigers in 1971.
He went on to play 78 games with the Club from 1971-1974, including the back-to-back premierships of 1973-74.
The Whale was Richmond’s No. 1 ruckman in the ’73 premiership team and a reserve (19th man) in the ’74 flag side.
In May 1975, Roberts was one of three players – along with Graham Teasdale and Francis Jackson – the Tigers traded to South Melbourne in exchange for Swans star John Pitura.
It proved to be a dreadful deal for Richmond . . .
Pitura failed to consistently produce his best form throughout a 40-game career at Tigerland, while The Whale, in just 15 games for South during that ’75 season, polled 17 Brownlow Medal votes to finish only three behind the winner, champion Footscray ruckman Gary Dempsey.
Teasdale proceeded to win the Brownlow with the Swans in 1977 and Jackson cemented himself as a valuable member of their line-up. But it was the loss of the highly-popular clubman Brian Roberts that hurt the Tigers the most.
The Whale’s capacity to continually lighten the mood at Punt Road, amid the tough training regime of Richmond’s ‘Immortal’ coach Tommy Hafey, through practical jokes and humorous antics, was a wonderful tonic for his teammates.
He also had a significant influence in the line-up on match-days due to his top class ruckwork at the centre bounces and around the ground, as well as his marking strength.
Richmond realised, almost immediately, that the decision to let Roberts go was a mistake.
Whale had a big falling-out with his 1973 premiership teammate Ian Stewart, who had taken over as South Melbourne’s coach at the end of the 1975 season, and was sacked by the Swans.
He was keen to return to Richmond, and the Tigers subsequently offered South an attractive deal to regain his services, but the Swans refused to clear him.
So The Whale, at age 30, retired from league football to concentrate on his career as a publican (and a successful career it proved to be, too).
Here’s a snapshot of how several key Richmond figures, around that time, viewed The Whale’s importance to the Tigers, and the impact his departure had on the Club . . .
‘Immortal’ Richmond coach Tommy Hafey (from Rhett Bartlett’s book ‘Richmond F.C. A Proud History Of A Great Club’): “Losing Brian Roberts was a massive disappointment. I reckon five minutes after we swapped Brian Roberts all of a sudden we were thinking, ‘He was everybody’s friend, we laughed with him, we laughed at him, and he was a butt of a lot of jokes and he put the jokes on other people’. It was a real downer.”
Dual Richmond president Ian Wilson (from Elliot Cartledge’s book ‘The Hafey Years’): “Losing Whale really hurt us. I can’t say exactly when I thought it was a mistake, but it was after a handful of games.”
Richmond Immortal and five-time Tiger premiership hero Kevin Bartlett (from his book ‘KB A Life In Football’): “’The Whale’was not only an outstanding ruckman, but his huge personality helped galvanise the Club.”
Triple Tiger premiership star Kevin Sheedy (from his book ‘Sheeds A Touch of Cunning’): “I enjoy ‘The Whale’ and always have . . . I am sure thousands of players and supporters do, too. That is why it was such a silly thing of Richmond to send him to South Melbourne.”
Dual Richmond premiership centre half-back Robert McGhie (from ‘The Hafey Years’): “Whale leaving made a massive difference. He was a great character and had a lot of fun with everyone, including KB (Kevin Bartlett) and Francis (Bourke) . . . The Whale was always looking to play a joke on Tommy (Hafey) – they got along sensationally by the way. When he left, a lot of people were disappointed, from the boot studders to the best players. I think that was the start of the slide for a couple of years.”
Dual Richmond premiership wingman Wayne Walsh (from ‘The Hafey Years’): “Whale was very funny and made the hard yards bearable in a way. Pre-season we’d do two laps of the Tan and then the next session we’d do 10 quarters (quarter-miles) and all through it Whale would be whingeing, “Tommy’s mad, he’ll kill us, he’ll kill someone”.”
