Barry Round, the 1981 Brownlow medallist and one of the foremost figures in the reinvention of South Melbourne as the Sydney Swans, has died.
Round died on the Gold Coast, where he had been living, having entered palliative care recently. He was 72.
Round, who began his league football career at Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs) and was traded to South Melbourne, was captain of the Swans when they moved to the harbour city in 1982. As skipper in that tumultuous period, it is arguable that the move to Sydney – transformational for the code of Australian rules football and in the creation of a national competition – might not have eventuated if not for Round’s leadership.
Popular Sydney Swans figure Barry Round.Credit:Archives
Round was the Swans’ first captain in the Sydney era, leading the team from 1980 until 1984. A broad-shouldered and gallant ruckman, he won the Brownlow Medal in 1981 – shared with former Footscray teammate Bernie Quinlan – and played 328 games, 193 of them in red and white, in a career spanning 17 years in what was then the VFL.
Swans chairman Andrew Pridham said Round’s impact at the Swans “reaches far beyond the playing arena”.
“Barry Round was a great of our club,” Pridham said.
“Barry was a big man who leaves behind a legacy which will forever live in the folklore of our club.
“He was an outstanding player and forged such a decorated career. Barry is a true Bloods champion and will always hold a special place in the history of the Sydney Swans.”
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan described Round as “one of the most important figures” in the Swans’ history.
“Across his career at both Footscray and South Melbourne/Sydney, Round was both respected by his opponents and loved for his gregarious nature,” McLachlan said.
“He will be deeply missed and remembered as one of the cornerstones of the Swans’ success in the harbour city.”
Recruited from Warragul in Gippsland, Round played his first 135 games for Footscray, crossing to South Melbourne before the 1976 season, one of three Bulldogs who would win Brownlow medals at their second club from that period of the ’70s to early ’80s (Quinlan and Melbourne’s Brian Wilson were the others); in that period, the impecunious Bulldogs often offloaded valuable players – selling Brownlow medallists Quinlan, Round, Dempsey and Kelvin Templeton – to improve their fragile finances.
Barry Round with South Melbourne teammates in 1980.Credit:Archives
Round had been behind champion Dempsey (the 1975 Brownlow medallist) at the Bulldogs in the ruck pecking order at Whitten Oval, thus the move to the Swans enabled him to flourish in his natural role.
Round was a powerful, physically imposing durable ruckman, who was a superb mark and possessed a huge aerobic engine.
Despite an ungainly, if distinctive kicking action, he still booted 293 goals over his league football career. He went on to captain and coach Williamstown in the VFA for several years, winning premierships with the Seagulls in 1986 and 1990 and was named in Williamstown’s team of the century.
As an original Sydney Swan, Round was a highly recognised and popular player, his profile bolstered enormously by the fact that those SCG Sunday games were televised live back into Victoria in those formative years, when the footy public came to know the Swans as a cast of colourful characters via television.
As skipper, Round had backed South’s highly contentious and fiercely contested shift from the Lakeside Oval to the hitherto heathen territory of Sydney. Key Swans insiders reckon that the players might not have followed en masse if not for their skipper and his vice-captain Mark Browning’s endorsement of the move, bearing in mind that Round had the stature of reigning Brownlow winner when the club relocated.
Round and the club’s foremost old South champion, Bobby Skilton, famously ran on to the MCG when the Swans prevailed over West Coast in the 2005 grand final, breaking a 72-year drought for a club that had reclaimed its Lakeside past as “the Bloods”. He remained a devoted supporter of the Swans, and attended this year’s grand final.
AFL Hall Of Fame chair and former Swans chairman Richard Colless recalled Round’s reaction when the Swans beat the Eagles in 2005 decider.
“On the MCG immediately after the 2005 premiership win, there was Roundy with his scarf draped over his massive shoulders and the joy that he was experiencing was infectious,” Colless said.
“It was like he had finally got the success he’d been denied. The fact he hadn’t actually played wasn’t the point. The Swannies had finally prevailed.
“It’s been said by other people, but I truly believe in an all-round sense he is one of the greatest and most influential players in our nearly 150-year history.”
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
