Bob is St Kilda Football Club’s oldest living player and also the oldest living Morrison medallist in the Goulburn Valley League.
One of the congratulatory calls on reaching the marvellous milestone came from St Kilda player James Frawley, nephew of Saints great the late Danny Frawley.
Frawley will wear number 24 in 2021, the number Bob wore in his four games in the 1941 VFL (now AFL) season as a 20-year-old.
Enlistment in the Australian Army and consequent war service in Borneo kept Bob away from football for four years and ended his days at the elite level.
When he made his debut with St Kilda against Melbourne in round four of the 1941 VFL season, he had never seen the famous MCG ground - or even a photo of it.
A superbly fit, skilful, quick rover-wingman standing 169cm (5ft 7in) and renowned for his blind turn, Bob began playing senior football in the strong Bendigo Football League at his home town of Elmore at the age of 16.
The 1925 Brownlow medallist and St Kilda Hall of Fame member Col Watson - who later farmed at Cooma near Kyabram and is buried in the Kyabram Cemetery - recommended Bob to the Saints after watching him play a game in the Bendigo league.
After the war Bob returned to country football where he proceeded to gain legendary status, winning best and fairest awards in three different Victorian country leagues.
In 1946, the same year he returned from the war, he played for his home town of Elmore, winning the BFL's highest individual honour, the Michelsen Medal.
Elmore switched to the Echuca District Football League in 1947 and he was runner-up for the league’s Cook Medal.
He went one better in 1948, winning the medal.
Moving to coach Tongala in the Goulburn Valley Football League, he shared Tongala's best and fairest in its premiership year of 1949 with captain-coach and former Collingwood and Melbourne player Dave Newman, grandfather of Kyabram’s triple premiership coach Paul Newman.
In the 1950 season he won the Tongala best and fairest award again and also the league’s Morrison Medal.
After his playing days, Bob was behind a push to establish the GVL thirds competition and he coached Tongala junior teams for almost two decades.
He also ran a successful family Friesian dairy farm on the outskirts with his late wife Nance and they raised three children - Peter, Kaye and Robert.
Bob was also very active in the local RSL sub-branch.
These days Bob is living out his days at the Rocky McHale Hostel in Tongala where he provides a visible reminder of being one of the true greats of country football.
19°C