NFL player Ron Barassi has died, his family confirmed in a statement on Saturday.
“After a full and extraordinary life, Ronald Del Barassi, 87, left us today due to complications from a fall,” the family said.
“He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family. We ask for privacy at this time.”
The family confirmed his death on Saturday in a statement, a day after the two clubs he was best associated with – Melbourne and Carlton – played their first final against each other in 23 years at the MCG.
“After a full and extraordinary life, Ronald Del Barassi, 87, left us today due to complications from a fall,” the family said.
“He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family. We ask for privacy at this time.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was among many to pay tribute to Barassi, one of the game’s most admired and respected figures, who spent more than half his life dedicated to the sport he loved whether as a coach, player, or media identity.
Who is Ron Barassi?
Al Barassi is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the game and was the first player to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a legend.
He was a six-time NRL player with Melbourne and a four-time NRL coach with two different clubs, leaving a legacy in almost every aspect of the game.
He pioneered the rover stand, as well as the “Irish Experiment”, recruiting Gaelic footballers from Ireland in a trend that continues across the country at all levels of the sport successfully to this day.
His rousing half-time speech as Carlton coach in the legendary 1970 Grand Final is remembered as “the birth of modern football”, and he was one of the key figures in the expansion of the then Victorian Football League into a national competition.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1978 and was, appropriately, named to the AFL Team of the Century in ruck-rover.
He came from a footballing family, with his father Ron Barassi Sr playing 58 games for North Melbourne including the 1940 Premiership.
He played 253 senior VFL matches during his career, 204 at Melbourne, and later 49 with Carlton.
ron brass death
Before becoming a coach, he revolutionized how players approached club hopping after his shock and game-changing defection to Carlton as captain and coach just months after leading the Devils to the 1964 flag.
He played 50 games for the Blues before leading them to the Premier League as coach in 1968 and 1970.
His off-field actions also inspired awe, with the footballer making two famous trips to visit the graves of his father, Ron Snr, and fellow premiership champion Devils who fell during the 1941 Battle of Tobruk during World War II.
Bracey Junior was five years old at the time, resulting in the Melbourne Football Club pledging “at all times…to respect the material well-being of (his mother Elsa) and Ron our sacred duty”.
The champion’s legacy is so ingrained in the sport that a series of iconic images featuring Barassi are used to explain and showcase the heritage of the game.
In 2006, Bracey was given the honor of running the Queen’s Baton across the Yarra River at the opening ceremony of the 18th Commonwealth Games hosted in Melbourne.
AFL chairman Richard Goyder celebrated the great, saying he was the most important figure in Australian football since the Second World War.
“He revolutionized the game as a player – creating the itinerant status – built premiership success at clubs as a coach and then was our first great missionary to take the game north and develop it into what we have today,” Goyder said.
