Club History Bob Quinn - Port Adelaide champion

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One of my dad's uncles was a rat during the siege. He never ever spoke of what happened, and by all reports, returned a shell of a man. Amazing that Bob Quinn managed to return and have a life after going through that experience.
 
RangaInTeal said:
I played cricket against his Grandson and Great Grandson this year and you could tell he was from a driven family, success at any cost was evident, at the ripe old age of ?50? Playing A2 Cricket and holding his own, that doesn't just happen!
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Greg was always a very fit, and driven, person. He gave his all in everything he did (even when he played the celebrity DJ wearing his red pants dancing around to Split Enz). I am not surprised he is still playing at a decent level at his age.
 
Garibaldi Red said:
Greg was always a very fit, and driven, person. He gave his all in everything he did (even when he played the celebrity DJ wearing his red pants dancing around to Split Enz). I am not surprised he is still playing at a decent level at his age.
Click to expand...
Yeah, not his Grandson but rather his Son. I am getting my generation's confused
 

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RussellEbertHandball said:
Good thing I saved it when it was reproduced on portmagpies.com.au


28th Apr 2008
In a tribute to Anzac Day and also Club Legend Bob Quinn, the Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club wishes to acknowledge Ashley Porter for his wonderful feature on Bob Quinn in last week’s Independent Weekly – thanks to Ashley and the Independent Weekly for releasing this article for use by the Club.


Bob Quinn is a legend of South Australian league football; a dual Magarey Medallist. He was also a war hero; earning a Military Medal. Now 93, he is enduring his greatest battle. On this ANZAC Day we reveal the other story behind his remarkable act of bravery on August 3, 1941. Ashley Porter reports.

Pull-out quote:
"For all of Dad's rough and tough stuff on the football field, and what he did in war, he has been such a compassionate man. His friendship with people has always been paramount. He taught me that you can't have enough friends or mates.

The Port River lapped only yards from the back door of the Quinn family home, and twice weekly Bob and his father, Jack, rowed across where the Birkenhead Bridge has since been built, climbed up a ladder to the wharf, and walked to Alberton Oval.

Along the way, Jack, who played for Port Adelaide early last century when the club had a magenta-coloured jumper – he was captain in 1904-05 and also represented the state – stopped at the Alberton Hotel. Bob went on to training, picked up his dad on the way back, listened to him tell his football yarns yet again, and then rowed him back home.

Jack must have been a sentimental bloke – for a wharfie – because he gave his son a middle name after the troop ship S.S. Berrima that visited shortly before Bob was born in 1915.

These marvellous clips of Bob Quinn, a South Australian football legend, and a war hero, were shared again by those who closely surround him, when he turned 93 on April 9.

For almost two years, Quinn, who lives in a war veterans' home, has been bed-ridden and unable to speak. On a good day, and there are few, he will nod to his devoted children, Robert jun, Greg, and daughters Pam and Margaret, but only when he can recognise them. It has been the cruellest, certainly the most personal, battle of Quinn's life.

His refusal to give up is typical of a man whose courage and tenacity as a footballer and a soldier enabled him to win a Magarey Medal in 1938, earn a Military Medal during the Second World War and win another Magarey Medal, in 1945. It made him the original "Triple M".

At just 5ft 6in, and less than 11 stone, Quinn, a rover like his father, played 186 SANFL games – many as captain and coach – and kicked 386 goals for Port between 1933 and 1947. He won two best-and-fairest awards before World War II and two after, played in three premiership sides and represented SA 15 times – and was state captain-coach in 1945, '46 and '47. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

His champion qualities have been well documented, but key parts of the legend of R.B. Quinn, war hero, have never been released. The archives tell us he earned his Military Medal at Tobruk on August 2-3, 1941, for "courage, leadership and devotion". But he has always shied away from talking publicly about the medal – and, pertinently, the reasons for his silence.

It was 20 years ago this week that Quinn agreed to tell this then young, brash reporter his story. "After I tell you this, you won't write it until you think the time is right," he said. The time has come.

That day, he peered into my eyes and said, with immense pride, he was a member of the 2/43rd battalion stationed in Tobruk, Libya. He was one of the legendary Desert Rats, Australians, who against all odds, fought the Germans and ultimately stood in the way of them invading Egypt, and taking control of the Suez Canal.

Our Diggers were protected by fortresses of barbed-wire fences. On August 3, at precisely 03.25 hours, 70 artillery guns of various calibres, mortars and grenades, lit up the sky, and the firing of 16 enemy machine guns was deafening. It was later described in a meticulously documented book on the history of the 2/43rd as the heaviest artillery battering of that Middle East campaign.

After one of three sections was wiped out, acting Warrant Officer Quinn was ordered to take command of the 10th platoon and blow up a barbed-wire barrier and attack an enemy post from which a machine gun was inflicting heavy casualties.

Quinn took seven men with him, and, typically, he not only packed ammunition and bully beef for them, but cigarettes, even though he never smoked. To blow up the barbed wire they had to jump out of a trench and lay a Bangalore torpedo, an explosive charge placed on the end of a long, extendable tube.

Under an unrelenting hail of fire, Quinn looked at his men in the trench and told them they were probably facing death, and how he would lay the last pipe, the most difficult of all because it was the closest to the machine gun.

One by one, Quinn ordered his men to jump from the trench and place a pipe under the wire. Only three of the seven came back. It was then Quinn's turn, and he was hit by shrapnel which put a hole in the top of his right thigh, but he still put the last pipe down, which ultimately made this crucial mission successful.

On his way back to the trench, Quinn picked up a wounded mate, and was hit again, this time in the face, prompting another to say: "Hell, Bob, half your face is blown away." Quinn responded: "Any change would be a … improvement."

Through this immense act of bravery, and with such a humorous gem, an indelible bond of mateship was formed.

On this day in 1988, I asked Quinn why he never wanted to talk about it; after all, it was one of the many heroic deeds of our famed Desert Rats.

With glistening eyes, he looked at me and said: "Because some of the men refused to jump." He then grabbed my arm, and said: "But they were brave men, all of them. They had done things like this before, knowing that death faced them, but on this night their bodies froze.

"Imagine what it's like for those who didn't go, every time there is a story about Bob Quinn and his Military Medal. It has been an incredible burden for them to carry for all these years. They saw themselves as cowards, but I tell you they weren't. They had no idea where they were, and what they were doing. The noise was deafening. But no matter what you say, they still feel that sense of guilt for not jumping the line. Son, war is not made up of feel-good stories."

The tragedies of the Middle East during World War II always cut deeper into Quinn's heart because his younger brother, George Urban Quinn, who lied about his age to enlist in the army, was killed in action in Egypt in July, 1942.

Those brave souls of the 2/43rd alongside Quinn in that trench have passed away. The story is special and should be told, not only because of Quinn's courage, leadership and devotion, but for his amazing determination to protect his mates who considered themselves as not being brave by not leaping to what they believed was a certain death.

To risk his life for his country was brave; to protect the honour of his mates for 67 years has been remarkable, and typical of this genuine bloke.

The constant shelling during that fateful conflict on August 3, 1941 in the desert sands of Tobruk lasted until seven o'clock that morning when a padre tore up a pillow case, made red dye, and painted it with a symbol of the Red Cross. The Germans saw him, and there was a cease fire so both sides could surface to collect their dead and wounded.

Of the 137 Australians who fought the battle, 106 were casualties – 29 dead, 73 wounded, and four missing in action. That makeshift Red Cross flag is now displayed in the War Memorial in Canberra.

Quinn's younger son, Greg, 53, related this week how his dad was sent to a hospital base, and, as he lay on the table virtually bleeding to death, he asked the doctor whether he would able to play football again. "There was a stern reply that he doubted whether he would be able to save Dad's leg," Greg said.

Quinn recovered and insisted on returning to active duty, in New Guinea. Greg said his dad told him how one night there was gunfire at close quarters. "It's hard to imagine what it was like," Greg said. "One of his mates was standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and got hit, screaming for help from Dad. In pitch darkness, and not knowing where he was, Dad crawled along the ground and dragged him 100 metres, although Dad said it felt like a mile. When they were in the clear, Dad turned around and his mate was dead. There was little left of him.

"Dad has never gone out of his way to tell these stories, but whenever he was trying to express something about looking after other people, and the situations you get into in life, he told me something like this. It was always about helping your mates out, no matter what, whether at war, on the footy field, or wherever.

"For all of Dad's rough and tough stuff on the football field, and what he did in war, he has been such a compassionate man. His friendship with people has always been paramount. He taught me that you can't have enough friends or mates. That was the lesson my dad taught me. You have to maintain friendships, he'd say."

Quinn was wounded in action again, in New Guinea, but soon after was back playing for Port and SA. He won his second Magarey Medal in 1945 – a year before he was discharged as a lieutenant.

"Dad has been through an amazing journey, but I can honestly say he has never thought of himself as more special than anyone else," Greg said. "He has always been a wonderful dad to all of us, and a terrific grandfather, and most of all, a great mate to so many.

"My brother, Robert, played league football for Port and South Adelaide, and I played reserves for Port, although I was more into cricket. Dad always encouraged and led us, but not once did he ever make us feel that we had to live up to him as a footballer."

Quinn's wife, May, or "Maysie" as she was better known, died 13 years ago. She was a state netballer, and her brother, C.W. (Charlie or "Chilla") Walker, was the SA cricket team's wicketkeeper for 12 seasons from 1928-29 and the Australian team's deputy 'keeper on the 1930 and 1938 tours of England. He was understudy to NSW's Bert Oldfield in 1930 and lost his chance to play in the 1938 Tests – ahead of Victorian Ben Barnett - by breaking his left forefinger before the first tour match.

Jack Pollard records in his book, Australian Cricket, The Game And The Players, that Walker "died in an air battle over Germany (in 1942) while serving as a Flying Officer with the RAAF, aged 33".

The SA Cricket Association's annual trophy for the best wicketkeeper in the grade (formerly district) competition is named after Walker. Greg Quinn, an accomplished 'keeper with West Torrens and East Torrens in more than 400 matches, won it seven times.

"Dad has a heart like an ox," Greg said. "He has no quality of life now, which is incredibly sad. He just won't let go. It is hard for all of us, but we are fortunate to have so many wonderful memories of a man who was a mate to so many."

Greg is employed by the SACA as a fielding and wicketkeeping coach. On his desk is a photo of his father being carried off Adelaide Oval by Ted McMahon after Quinn coached and captained Port to its 16.28 (124) to 11.11 (77) victory over West Torrens in the 1939 SANFL grand final.

"I look at that photo every day, and I see a strong man, a businessman, a publican, and the greatest dad anyone could wish for," Greg said. "He said he didn't stop laughing for 20 years when he had the pub at Kadina when it came six o'clock swill time. He just loved the company of his mates. He will always be my hero."

For the sixth successive year, Greg, and his 14-year-old son, Mitchell, will present the Robert B. Quinn Medal to the best player in the Anzac Day match - today's battle between last year's grand finalists, Central District and North Adelaide, at Adelaide Oval.

Quinn's family intends to one day give Bob's two Magarey Medals and his Military Medal to Port, on loan to display in the social club within the grandstand named after him.

Robert Berrima Quinn has always been special – just ask his grandson, Mitchell Berrima Quinn, who bears his middle name with immense pride.

Edit web archive link

https://web.archive.org/web/2014022...ewsarchive.php?mnth=4&season=2008&news_id=269
Click to expand...
Thank you REH. My daughter has a copy of this article pasted on her bedroom wall. I was thinking of scanning and posting it in this thread yesterday but had no idea of the legal ramifications of doing so. I'm no Ashley Porter fan but this is a great piece of football-related writing.
R. B. Quinn was a truly heroic person.
 
scoobydid said:
My family background is finnish, and there is a not easily translated word that exists that is used to describe those of Mr Quinn's character & life achievements, not really found in other languages. The word is Sisu.

Bob Quinn had this in spades.

Thank you for the post, i will be sharing this story with people cos it deserves to be told.

It makes me proud.


Sisu: determination, bravery, and resilience. Taking action against the odds and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity. Deciding on a course of action and then sticking to that decision. After a second wind is needed. That's as good as i can translate it
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A lot of people are brave, and have courage. Few are leaders. Fewer still would 'protect the honour of their men for 67 years'. That was the part that got me
 
RussellEbertHandball said:
I don't know if they were ever stolen but they have been sitting at the Port Club for a few years. Come ANZAC Day Round in a few weeks time - his war medals including his Military Medal, his Military Medal award citation and his Magarey medals will be properly displayed and encased in a prominent position at The Port Club.
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Endorsed.

Have arrived in my quarters in Woodcroft and will be at the Port Club in a couple of hours.

Last night was able to hold Bob's Magarey Medals in the palm of my hand, one after the other. It felt a little like I was shaking the Man's hand.

The two Medals (1938 and 1945) are unique, very different from each other, and having been refurbished are bright and shining and quite priceless.

As REH says, during ANZAC Round all of Bob's medals, including his military awards, will be encased and specially mounted at a spot to be chosen by the Club.
Meanwhile the medals are being guarded, slept with if you like, by trained killers.

It's a joint project between 9RAR Association, the Club and the Quinn Family.

Edit: Add BigFooty to the participants in the project.
REH, his brother-in-law and FF are also involved. Many thanks, all.
 
Last edited:
Garibaldi Red said:

Greg used to play this as his intro when he did a show
Click to expand...


Funny you brought that song up GR, I was thinking when reading some of the posts in this thread that when I was little and heard this song, I had heard of Bob Quinn and always thought this song was about him
 
RussellEbertHandball said:
Good thing I saved it when it was reproduced on portmagpies.com.au


28th Apr 2008
In a tribute to Anzac Day and also Club Legend Bob Quinn, the Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club wishes to acknowledge Ashley Porter for his wonderful feature on Bob Quinn in last week’s Independent Weekly – thanks to Ashley and the Independent Weekly for releasing this article for use by the Club.


Bob Quinn is a legend of South Australian league football; a dual Magarey Medallist. He was also a war hero; earning a Military Medal. Now 93, he is enduring his greatest battle. On this ANZAC Day we reveal the other story behind his remarkable act of bravery on August 3, 1941. Ashley Porter reports.

Pull-out quote:
"For all of Dad's rough and tough stuff on the football field, and what he did in war, he has been such a compassionate man. His friendship with people has always been paramount. He taught me that you can't have enough friends or mates.

The Port River lapped only yards from the back door of the Quinn family home, and twice weekly Bob and his father, Jack, rowed across where the Birkenhead Bridge has since been built, climbed up a ladder to the wharf, and walked to Alberton Oval.

Along the way, Jack, who played for Port Adelaide early last century when the club had a magenta-coloured jumper – he was captain in 1904-05 and also represented the state – stopped at the Alberton Hotel. Bob went on to training, picked up his dad on the way back, listened to him tell his football yarns yet again, and then rowed him back home.

Jack must have been a sentimental bloke – for a wharfie – because he gave his son a middle name after the troop ship S.S. Berrima that visited shortly before Bob was born in 1915.

These marvellous clips of Bob Quinn, a South Australian football legend, and a war hero, were shared again by those who closely surround him, when he turned 93 on April 9.

For almost two years, Quinn, who lives in a war veterans' home, has been bed-ridden and unable to speak. On a good day, and there are few, he will nod to his devoted children, Robert jun, Greg, and daughters Pam and Margaret, but only when he can recognise them. It has been the cruellest, certainly the most personal, battle of Quinn's life.

His refusal to give up is typical of a man whose courage and tenacity as a footballer and a soldier enabled him to win a Magarey Medal in 1938, earn a Military Medal during the Second World War and win another Magarey Medal, in 1945. It made him the original "Triple M".

At just 5ft 6in, and less than 11 stone, Quinn, a rover like his father, played 186 SANFL games – many as captain and coach – and kicked 386 goals for Port between 1933 and 1947. He won two best-and-fairest awards before World War II and two after, played in three premiership sides and represented SA 15 times – and was state captain-coach in 1945, '46 and '47. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

His champion qualities have been well documented, but key parts of the legend of R.B. Quinn, war hero, have never been released. The archives tell us he earned his Military Medal at Tobruk on August 2-3, 1941, for "courage, leadership and devotion". But he has always shied away from talking publicly about the medal – and, pertinently, the reasons for his silence.

It was 20 years ago this week that Quinn agreed to tell this then young, brash reporter his story. "After I tell you this, you won't write it until you think the time is right," he said. The time has come.

That day, he peered into my eyes and said, with immense pride, he was a member of the 2/43rd battalion stationed in Tobruk, Libya. He was one of the legendary Desert Rats, Australians, who against all odds, fought the Germans and ultimately stood in the way of them invading Egypt, and taking control of the Suez Canal.

Our Diggers were protected by fortresses of barbed-wire fences. On August 3, at precisely 03.25 hours, 70 artillery guns of various calibres, mortars and grenades, lit up the sky, and the firing of 16 enemy machine guns was deafening. It was later described in a meticulously documented book on the history of the 2/43rd as the heaviest artillery battering of that Middle East campaign.

After one of three sections was wiped out, acting Warrant Officer Quinn was ordered to take command of the 10th platoon and blow up a barbed-wire barrier and attack an enemy post from which a machine gun was inflicting heavy casualties.

Quinn took seven men with him, and, typically, he not only packed ammunition and bully beef for them, but cigarettes, even though he never smoked. To blow up the barbed wire they had to jump out of a trench and lay a Bangalore torpedo, an explosive charge placed on the end of a long, extendable tube.

Under an unrelenting hail of fire, Quinn looked at his men in the trench and told them they were probably facing death, and how he would lay the last pipe, the most difficult of all because it was the closest to the machine gun.

One by one, Quinn ordered his men to jump from the trench and place a pipe under the wire. Only three of the seven came back. It was then Quinn's turn, and he was hit by shrapnel which put a hole in the top of his right thigh, but he still put the last pipe down, which ultimately made this crucial mission successful.

On his way back to the trench, Quinn picked up a wounded mate, and was hit again, this time in the face, prompting another to say: "Hell, Bob, half your face is blown away." Quinn responded: "Any change would be a … improvement."

Through this immense act of bravery, and with such a humorous gem, an indelible bond of mateship was formed.

On this day in 1988, I asked Quinn why he never wanted to talk about it; after all, it was one of the many heroic deeds of our famed Desert Rats.

With glistening eyes, he looked at me and said: "Because some of the men refused to jump." He then grabbed my arm, and said: "But they were brave men, all of them. They had done things like this before, knowing that death faced them, but on this night their bodies froze.

"Imagine what it's like for those who didn't go, every time there is a story about Bob Quinn and his Military Medal. It has been an incredible burden for them to carry for all these years. They saw themselves as cowards, but I tell you they weren't. They had no idea where they were, and what they were doing. The noise was deafening. But no matter what you say, they still feel that sense of guilt for not jumping the line. Son, war is not made up of feel-good stories."

The tragedies of the Middle East during World War II always cut deeper into Quinn's heart because his younger brother, George Urban Quinn, who lied about his age to enlist in the army, was killed in action in Egypt in July, 1942.

Those brave souls of the 2/43rd alongside Quinn in that trench have passed away. The story is special and should be told, not only because of Quinn's courage, leadership and devotion, but for his amazing determination to protect his mates who considered themselves as not being brave by not leaping to what they believed was a certain death.

To risk his life for his country was brave; to protect the honour of his mates for 67 years has been remarkable, and typical of this genuine bloke.

The constant shelling during that fateful conflict on August 3, 1941 in the desert sands of Tobruk lasted until seven o'clock that morning when a padre tore up a pillow case, made red dye, and painted it with a symbol of the Red Cross. The Germans saw him, and there was a cease fire so both sides could surface to collect their dead and wounded.

Of the 137 Australians who fought the battle, 106 were casualties – 29 dead, 73 wounded, and four missing in action. That makeshift Red Cross flag is now displayed in the War Memorial in Canberra.

Quinn's younger son, Greg, 53, related this week how his dad was sent to a hospital base, and, as he lay on the table virtually bleeding to death, he asked the doctor whether he would able to play football again. "There was a stern reply that he doubted whether he would be able to save Dad's leg," Greg said.

Quinn recovered and insisted on returning to active duty, in New Guinea. Greg said his dad told him how one night there was gunfire at close quarters. "It's hard to imagine what it was like," Greg said. "One of his mates was standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and got hit, screaming for help from Dad. In pitch darkness, and not knowing where he was, Dad crawled along the ground and dragged him 100 metres, although Dad said it felt like a mile. When they were in the clear, Dad turned around and his mate was dead. There was little left of him.

"Dad has never gone out of his way to tell these stories, but whenever he was trying to express something about looking after other people, and the situations you get into in life, he told me something like this. It was always about helping your mates out, no matter what, whether at war, on the footy field, or wherever.

"For all of Dad's rough and tough stuff on the football field, and what he did in war, he has been such a compassionate man. His friendship with people has always been paramount. He taught me that you can't have enough friends or mates. That was the lesson my dad taught me. You have to maintain friendships, he'd say."

Quinn was wounded in action again, in New Guinea, but soon after was back playing for Port and SA. He won his second Magarey Medal in 1945 – a year before he was discharged as a lieutenant.

"Dad has been through an amazing journey, but I can honestly say he has never thought of himself as more special than anyone else," Greg said. "He has always been a wonderful dad to all of us, and a terrific grandfather, and most of all, a great mate to so many.

"My brother, Robert, played league football for Port and South Adelaide, and I played reserves for Port, although I was more into cricket. Dad always encouraged and led us, but not once did he ever make us feel that we had to live up to him as a footballer."

Quinn's wife, May, or "Maysie" as she was better known, died 13 years ago. She was a state netballer, and her brother, C.W. (Charlie or "Chilla") Walker, was the SA cricket team's wicketkeeper for 12 seasons from 1928-29 and the Australian team's deputy 'keeper on the 1930 and 1938 tours of England. He was understudy to NSW's Bert Oldfield in 1930 and lost his chance to play in the 1938 Tests – ahead of Victorian Ben Barnett - by breaking his left forefinger before the first tour match.

Jack Pollard records in his book, Australian Cricket, The Game And The Players, that Walker "died in an air battle over Germany (in 1942) while serving as a Flying Officer with the RAAF, aged 33".

The SA Cricket Association's annual trophy for the best wicketkeeper in the grade (formerly district) competition is named after Walker. Greg Quinn, an accomplished 'keeper with West Torrens and East Torrens in more than 400 matches, won it seven times.

"Dad has a heart like an ox," Greg said. "He has no quality of life now, which is incredibly sad. He just won't let go. It is hard for all of us, but we are fortunate to have so many wonderful memories of a man who was a mate to so many."

Greg is employed by the SACA as a fielding and wicketkeeping coach. On his desk is a photo of his father being carried off Adelaide Oval by Ted McMahon after Quinn coached and captained Port to its 16.28 (124) to 11.11 (77) victory over West Torrens in the 1939 SANFL grand final.

"I look at that photo every day, and I see a strong man, a businessman, a publican, and the greatest dad anyone could wish for," Greg said. "He said he didn't stop laughing for 20 years when he had the pub at Kadina when it came six o'clock swill time. He just loved the company of his mates. He will always be my hero."

For the sixth successive year, Greg, and his 14-year-old son, Mitchell, will present the Robert B. Quinn Medal to the best player in the Anzac Day match - today's battle between last year's grand finalists, Central District and North Adelaide, at Adelaide Oval.

Quinn's family intends to one day give Bob's two Magarey Medals and his Military Medal to Port, on loan to display in the social club within the grandstand named after him.

Robert Berrima Quinn has always been special – just ask his grandson, Mitchell Berrima Quinn, who bears his middle name with immense pride.

Edit web archive link

https://web.archive.org/web/2014022...ewsarchive.php?mnth=4&season=2008&news_id=269
Click to expand...

Rather unfortunate to have something in both eyes at the minute.
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #35
Bump.
As part of a Christmas work function, I went on a tour of Adelaide Oval today. At one point the guide spoke glowingly of Bob Quinn and told of his 2 Magarey Medals. The first won as a speedy, dynamic footballer before the Second World War and the second won while playing with an arm guard and a pronounced limp, the result of football injuries and war wounds. He also mentioned Bob thanking the war surgeon (who at one point thought Bob's leg might have to be amputated), while shaking his hand over the arena fence at the end of a game at Adelaide Oval, for the fine medical work in saving his leg.

I thought of this thread and especially of the article by Ashley Porter RussellEbertHandball posted on this thread's first page. For diegodcg and any other Aussie Rules enthusiast, the interview shows what an extraordinary person Bob Quinn is - an essential part of the fabric that is the Port Adelaide Football Club.

Additional info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Quinn_(Australian_footballer)
 
Last edited:
HaroldOliver said:
Bump.
As part of a Christmas work function, I went on a tour of Adelaide Oval today. At one point the guide spoke glowingly of Bob Quinn and told of his 2 Magarey Medals. The first won as a speedy, dynamic footballer before the Second World War and the second won while playing with an arm guard and a pronounced limp, the result of football injuries and war wounds. He also mentioned Bob thanking the war surgeon, who at one point thought Bob's leg might have to be amputated, while shaking his hand over the arena fence at the end of a game at Adelaide Oval for the fine work in saving his leg.

I thought of this thread and especially of the article by Ashley Porter RussellEbertHandball posted on this thread's first page. For diegodcg and any other Aussie Rules enthusiast, the interview shows what an extraordinary person Bob Quinn is - an essential part of the fabric that is the Port Adelaide Football Club.

Additional info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Quinn_(Australian_footballer)
Click to expand...
His son played second 11 cricket for SA and is now coaching Para Hills. Grandson also playing out there, ripping men, Bob would be a proud man.
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #38
I was talking to Martin Haese the Lord Mayor of Adelaide at the Proclamation Day ceremony today. He has Quinns in his family history and I said he might find out he is related to Bob Quinn. He didn't know about Bob Quinn so I gave him the potted history and he was amazed. He shook his head and said They bred them tough back then.

Former Norwood and Collingwood rover Stephen Patterson is the Mayor of Holdfast Bay.
 

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Russell Ebert is the best Port player I've seen, but I do not know if he or Bob Quinn is the best Port player ever.
 
It's a generational thing. My father used to talk about Bob Quinn, Shine Hosking, Harold Oliver and Bull Reval as his pre-war champions whom I of course never saw play. Post-war in my time came Fos Williams, Geof Motley, John Cahill and Russell Ebert; I went absent after that. If we were to unveil a series of statues around Alberton Oval in 2020 for the 150th Anniversary, who would they be in honour of? Perhaps it's worth asking the question again later via the '2020 Vision' thread.
 
Lockhart Road said:
It's a generational thing. My father used to talk about Bob Quinn, Shine Hosking, Harold Oliver and Bull Reval as his pre-war champions whom I of course never saw play. Post-war in my time came Fos Williams, Geof Motley, John Cahill and Russell Ebert; I went absent after that. If we were to unveil a series of statues around Alberton Oval in 2020 for the 150th Anniversary, who would they be in honour of? Perhaps it's worth asking the question again later via the '2020 Vision' thread.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's definitely a generational thing, my grandfather who was born in 1899 and went to his first game at Alberton as a 6 or 7 yo used to say Harold Oliver was the best Port player he had ever seen, until Russell Ebert came along.
He always spoke highly of the Dayman brothers, and of course Bob Quinn as well.
 
1954 said:
Yeah it's definitely a generational thing, my grandfather who was born in 1899 and went to his first game at Alberton as a 6 or 7 yo used to say Harold Oliver was the best Port player he had ever seen, until Russell Ebert came along.
He always spoke highly of the Dayman brothers, and of course Bob Quinn as well.
Click to expand...
My grandfather, born in 1916, always rated Bob Quinn as the best he had ever seen. He might have been biased though as his brother was a team mate in 3 premierships in the 30s. Unfortunately, unlike Quinn, his brother didn't make it home from the war.

I know I will never see a footballer better than Russell and I reckon Chad Wingard will be the greatest ever in my son's eyes.
 
From last night's AFL Record. Apologies for the quality but my scanner doesn't like AFL Records thin paper with printing of the other side and it scans in lots of grey as a result. Plus I'm decreasing the size then having to expand it in Word to re-size it. Might have another go later and might do half page a time to see if resolution improves.


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I put this video on the main Port board but given the historical info in this thread it fits in here as well.


Bob's son Greg Quinn and Timmy G talking about Bob at the 150th.

 
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