Vale Russell Ebert

[Frank Thring]

Lost his battle with leukemia.
Only played the one year at North as a 31 year old and he had a great year in 1979.

Condolences to his family.

RIP.

 

[GMAN63]

That he did . Was great in 79 and flew in to train and play on the Saturday before flying home each week .

 

[DocSholl]

A magnificent player and by all accounts a wonderful person as well.

 

[outwecome2play]

Only played for us for one year but what a player.

 

[Mav]

Not too many better blokes than Russ, and not too many better footballers either. Will be greatly missed by a lot of people he has touched.

 

[gokangas]

Sad news. Excellent player. Quality. Vale Russ.

 

[JimmyBC]

That he did . Was great in 79 and flew in to train and play on the Saturday before flying home each week .

Yea it's a fair effort to be Norths leading possession winner that year at his age and flying in & out each week.

 

[PowerBaz]

Great thread.

 

[Bertie22]

Did not know him personally, but saw him up close in 1979. Silky smooth. What if he came over a few years earlier, well, who knows? That's life.
Vale.

 

[Portmagpies36]

Lucky enough to see Russell play during the 70's and 80's at Port Adelaide, he was one of football's greatest of all time and an even greater human being.
Ron Joseph tried luring Russell to North Melbourne year after year until finally he agreed in 1979 (Mark Dawson came to Port Adelaide as part of the deal)
Russell spoke just recently how much he had enjoyed his year at North Melbourne.
His 25 games for North Melbourne was and is still the record for a player playing just one season in the VFL.
He was also the highest possesion winner and received 9 brownlow votes, at the time North was a team full of superstars from around Australia. Had he moved to Arden St a few years earlier he would have been an absolute superstar in the VFL.
Thanks to the North Melbourne supporters who have remembered Russell, to us Port Adelaide people he is God.
RIP

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Congratulations on recognition for Russell for his time at North.

Russell only played the one season with North, training with Port during the week and travelling to Melbourne to play on weekends. Russell (who turned 30 years of age during the 1979 season) had a stellar year with North. In his first and only year at VFL level. Russell played 25 games for North Melbourne, kicked 15 goals, polled 9 Brownlow Medal votes (3rd highest for North that year, behind Gary Dempsey and Ross Glendinning and ahead of North’s recognised VFL stars such as Malcolm Blight, Keith Greig, Stan Alves and Wayne Schimmelbusch), and accumulated 534 possessions for the season back when that was a measure of impact on a game, especially for a player with Russell’s sublime skills. Ron Barassi had no doubt that had Ebert joined the VFL at a younger age he would have been a champion of that competition, just as he was at Port Adelaide.

He will be sadly missed by many many people irrespective of their team allegiance.

 

[Mr north man]

Congratulations on recognition for Russell for his time at North.

Russell only played the one season with North, training with Port during the week and travelling to Melbourne to play on weekends. Russell (who turned 30 years of age during the 1979 season) had a stellar year with North. In his first and only year at VFL level. Russell played 25 games for North Melbourne, kicked 15 goals, polled 9 Brownlow Medal votes (3rd highest for North that year, behind Gary Dempsey and Ross Glendinning and ahead of North’s recognised VFL stars such as Malcolm Blight, Keith Greig, Stan Alves and Wayne Schimmelbusch), and accumulated 534 possessions for the season back when that was a measure of impact on a game, especially for a player with Russell’s sublime skills. Ron Barassi had no doubt that had Ebert joined the VFL at a younger age he would have been a champion of that competition, just as he was at Port Adelaide.

He will be sadly missed by many many people irrespective of their team allegiance.

A medel should be struck in his name for the player that gets BOG in every Port vs North game from now on a champion of the PAFC a champion of the NMFC and a champion of Australian football it would be a nice touch from both clubs

 

[Marstermind]

Shinboner #709

One of the 23 NMFC players in the Australia Football Hall of Fame.

Vale Russell Ebert. Respect to him, his family, and the Port Adelaide Football Club.

 

[franjon]

Only played for us for one year but what a player.

We tried though. He wouldn't leave Port Adelaide. A fantastic man and an even better footballer.

 

[franjon]

Great thread.

It's not really hard when we're talking about one of the great's.

 

[Groucho]

RIP Russell. Remember him fondly for his ‘79 season. Didn’t have anything to prove when he came over, think he just wanted to show that he could play well at VFL. Loved the way he could pick the ball up with one hand and not miss a beat, one of the greats.

 

[Yianni]

A medel should be struck in his name for the player that gets BOG in every Port vs North game from now on a champion of the PAFC a champion of the NMFC and a champion of Australian football it would be a nice touch from both clubs

Um YES. Make this happen.

 

[Portmagpies36]

Vale Russell Ebert.

 

[Hojuman]

All class. One of the games greats.

 

[kangaroo7]

Gave his all in his one season at North. Played every match I believe and,like several South Australian champions, he waited until late in his career to come to the VFL.

 

[70sDinosaur]

I don't normally post on opposition boards but given the circumstances I thought I'd share a personal story from 1979.

Early in that year, before the start of the football season, my mother took me to the sports store that Russell Ebert had with Paul Weston in the Adelaide CBD to buy me a tracksuit for my birthday. This was not long after it had been announced that Port were going to "lease" Russell to North Melbourne for the coming season.

We were served in the store by Russell himself and he was very generous with his time and talked footy with us at some length. We said we were disappointed about losing him for 1979 and then Paul Weston jumped in and said don't worry he'll be back and made a joke about Russell only being "leased" because no-one would want to "buy" him.

I walked out of the store with my new tracksuit and an impression that Russell Ebert in person was every bit the humble champion and generous individual that he was publicly believed to be and that he was clearly loved and respected by all those he worked, played and interacted with.

I make this point because in the 1970s, like the majority of Port supporters, I followed Collingwood in the VFL and I was pissed off when they lost the GF replay to North in 1977 and then the PF in 1978. But with Russell Ebert in their side, I just couldn't bring myself to barrack against North Melbourne in 1979 and have to admit to being a little disappointed when Collingwood finally did knock them off in the 1979 PF, denying Russell the opportunity to play on the biggest stage in the game.

Anyway, as an old timer, I'm just glad there's enough other old timers around here to remember Russell's time at North Melbourne and his contribution to your club.

 

[Marstermind]

You could argue that the side we had in 1979 was just about the strongest in the club's history. We had nine players who are currently in the Hall of Fame (Ebert, Cornes, Murphy, Dempsey, Greig, Schimma, Blight, Dench and Glendinning) - the 1975 side had 8, 1977 had 5, and the 90s teams had 4. We had 20 Premiership players still on the list. We beat every other team at least once - the only season we've ever done that. Our H&A record of 17 wins and a percentage of 123 is the club record. We were 1st or 2nd after 17 of the 22 rounds - never falling below 4th. We entered the finals having won 8 of the previous 9 games - the last 4 all by over ten goals.

But we blew it in the finals. We comfortably won the Qualifying Final against Collingwood although the Pies blew their chance in the first half leading by 1.12 at half time and us scoring 10.2 to 1.6 in the third quarter. Carlton trounced us in the Second Semi by 4.14 and were behind all day in the Preliminary Final.

Having played every game that year, Russell Ebert holds the club record for most games per season (albeit in just 1 year). The only ones above 22 are

Russell Ebert - 25 games per year (1 year)
Peter Bell - 24.6 (5)
Barry Davis - 23.7 (3)
John Rantall -23.3 (3)
John Blakey - 22.4 (10)
Graeme Melrose - 22.2 (5)
[PLAYERCARD]Shannon Grant[/PLAYERCARD] - 22.1 (11)

 

[ferball]

RIP Russell. Remember him fondly for his ‘79 season. Didn’t have anything to prove when he came over, think he just wanted to show that he could play well at VFL. Loved the way he could pick the ball up with one hand and not miss a beat, one of the greats.

I used to try and copy that when I was a kid. Once it worked and I kicked a goal, my first ever goal. I was in grade 3 or 4. I really didn't know who he was back then but loved that.

 

[70sDinosaur]

You could argue that the side we had in 1979 was just about the strongest in the club's history. We had nine players who are currently in the Hall of Fame (Ebert, Cornes, Murphy, Dempsey, Greig, Schimma, Blight, Dench and Glendinning) - the 1975 side had 8, 1977 had 5, and the 90s teams had 4. We had 20 Premiership players still on the list. We beat every other team at least once - the only season we've ever done that. Our H&A record of 17 wins and a percentage of 123 is the club record. We were 1st or 2nd after 17 of the 22 rounds - never falling below 4th. We entered the finals having won 8 of the previous 9 games - the last 4 all by over ten goals.

But we blew it in the finals. We comfortably won the Qualifying Final against Collingwood although the Pies blew their chance in the first half leading by 1.12 at half time and us scoring 10.2 to 1.6 in the third quarter. Carlton trounced us in the Second Semi by 4.14 and were behind all day in the Preliminary Final.

Having played every game that year, Russell Ebert holds the club record for most games per season (albeit in just 1 year). The only ones above 22 are

Russell Ebert - 25 games per year (1 year)
Peter Bell - 24.6 (5)
Barry Davis - 23.7 (3)
John Rantall -23.3 (3)
John Blakey - 22.4 (10)
Graeme Melrose - 22.2 (5)
Shannon Grant - 22.1 (11)

Graham Cornes is an anti-Port campaigner but I will freely acknowledge that he was a very good footballer in his time.

It didn't work out for him at North. I think that was because he was too old and his body couldn't stand up to the weekly rigours of Victorian football. If he had gone over five years earlier and bulked up a bit, I'm sure he would have been a very good player for North.

You certainly had a great side in that era. One other interesting statistic that I came across recently was that North Melbourne are the only side in history to play 27 games in a season, which they did in 1977 as a result of playing five games in the finals series.

 

[Bertie22]

Graham Cornes is an anti-Port campaigner but I will freely acknowledge that he was a very good footballer in his time.

It didn't work out for him at North. I think that was because he was too old and his body couldn't stand up to the weekly rigours of Victorian football. If he had gone over five years earlier and bulked up a bit, I'm sure he would have been a very good player for North.

You certainly had a great side in that era. One other interesting statistic that I came across recently was that North Melbourne are the only side in history to play 27 games in a season, which they did in 1977 as a result of playing five games in the finals series.

Yes, and I have posted elsewhere that John Cassin played in every one of them, plus the first SOO match at season's end. However this one was not counted in official records. It's a great effort if you think about it. Thanks for posting.