Kevin Bartlett (Australian rules footballer)

Kevin Bartlett
Personal information
Full name Kevin Charles Bartlett
Nickname(s) KB, Hungry
Date of birth (1947-03-06) 6 March 1947
Place of birth Carlton, Victoria
Original team(s) Richmond 4ths
Height / weight 175 cm / 71 kg
Position(s) Rover / Half forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1965–1983 Richmond 403 (778)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
Victoria 20 (32)
International team honours
1968 Australia
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1988–1991 Richmond 88 (27–61–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1983.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1991.
Career highlights

Club

Representative

Kevin Charles Bartlett AM (born 6 March 1947) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who played in the Victorian Football League between 1965 and 1983 for the Richmond Football Club. He has played the third highest number of games in VFL/AFL history. He won five premierships with Richmond, and won their best and fairest medal five times.

Following his retirement as a player, Bartlett developed a successful career as a sports commentator and broadcaster on both television and radio. He was a member of the AFL's rules committee for many years until he retired on 4 March 2014.[1] as well as the selection panel for the All-Australian Team and AFL Rising Star awards. On 1 September 1987 he was appointed coach of Richmond, but his sacking after four unsuccessful seasons led to Bartlett not returning to the club for the following 16 years.

Playing career

Bartlett was a rover and goalkicker who was known as 'Hungry' due to his unwillingness to handball. He is known for great evasiveness and stamina, he could win a game off his own boot. A winner of five premierships with Richmond, he also won the Norm Smith Medal in 1980 after kicking seven goals in the Grand Final. With 403 games, only Michael Tuck of Hawthorn & Brent Harvey of North Melbourne have played more VFL/AFL games. Bartlett was renowned for his skill and concentration on the game and was instrumental in many Tiger wins.

The "Kevin Bartlett Medal" is awarded each season to the player who finishes fifth in the Richmond Football Club's best and fairest count, with places one to four being the Jack Dyer, Jack Titus, Maurie Fleming, and Fred Swift Medals respectively.

Bartlett grew up barracking for the Footscray Football Club, and watched their only premiership in 1954. As a teenager, he walked from his home in Lennox St, Richmond to the Punt Road Oval, where he was greeted by Richmond's Fourth coach Bill Boromeo. It was this chance meeting that set in the motion for Bartlett to eventually play at Richmond. He began his career with the under 17's side where he won the goalkicking and the best and fairest in 1962. In 1963, he won the best and fairest in the under 19's and Richmond made the under 19's final series. Bartlett however was injured seconds into the first final against Geelong, which resulted him being taken to the Prince Henry Hospital where it was revealed that a cyst was embedded in his hip. It was while waiting for the ambulance to collect him in the MCG change rooms, that he first met Jack Dyer. Dyer had appeared at the match on advice of Richmond under 19's coach Ray Jordon – and visited Bartlett in the rooms to tell him he will be okay. The following year for Bartlett (1964) involved rehabilitation, as he still experienced pain around his hip area.[2]

Playing statistics

[3]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Led the league for the season only
Led the league after finals only
Led the league after season and finals
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
1965 Richmond 29 14 13 15 183 21 204 17 N/A 0.9 1.1 13.1 1.5 14.6 1.2 N/A
1966 Richmond 29 14 19 17 222 9 231 23 N/A 1.4 1.2 15.9 0.6 16.5 1.6 N/A
1967 Richmond 29 20 38 35 415 32 447 42 N/A 1.9 1.8 20.8 1.6 22.4 2.1 N/A
1968 Richmond 29 20 38 53 481 32 513 48 N/A 1.9 2.7 24.1 1.6 25.7 2.4 N/A
1969 Richmond 29 22 30 43 547 47 594 79 N/A 1.4 2.0 24.9 2.1 27.0 3.6 N/A
1970 Richmond 29 22 34 32 569 30 599 79 N/A 1.5 1.5 25.9 1.4 27.2 3.6 N/A
1971 Richmond 29 24 53 46 512 41 553 59 N/A 2.2 1.9 21.3 1.7 23.0 2.5 N/A
1972 Richmond 29 21 34 35 441 21 462 48 N/A 1.6 1.7 21.0 1.0 22.0 2.3 N/A
1973 Richmond 29 23 31 40 634 38 672 44 N/A 1.3 1.7 27.6 1.7 29.2 1.9 N/A
1974 Richmond 29 22 47 50 607 40 647 48 N/A 2.1 2.3 27.6 1.8 29.4 2.2 N/A
1975 Richmond 29 23 42 50 465 70 535 37 N/A 1.8 2.2 21.1 3.2 24.3 1.7 N/A
1976 Richmond 29 22 27 31 512 63 575 72 N/A 1.2 1.4 23.3 2.9 26.1 3.3 N/A
1977 Richmond 29 23 55 33 585 80 665 111 N/A 2.4 1.4 25.4 3.5 28.9 4.8 N/A
1978 Richmond 29 22 44 39 474 70 544 83 N/A 2.0 1.9 21.5 3.2 24.7 3.8 N/A
1979 Richmond 29 22 36 43 447 79 526 66 N/A 1.6 2.0 20.3 3.6 23.9 3.0 N/A
1980 Richmond 29 25 84 67 415 59 474 61 N/A 3.4 2.7 16.6 2.4 19.0 2.4 N/A
1981 Richmond 29 22 58 48 313 47 360 61 N/A 2.6 2.2 14.2 2.1 16.4 2.8 N/A
1982 Richmond 29 23 58 56 266 48 314 53 N/A 2.5 2.4 11.6 2.1 13.7 2.3 N/A
1983 Richmond 29 19 37 44 205 31 236 55 N/A 1.9 2.3 10.8 1.6 12.4 2.9 N/A
Career 403 778 777 8293 858 9151 1086 N/A 1.9 1.9 20.6 2.1 22.8 2.7 N/A

Honours and achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
1965 —
1966 —
1967 4
1968 10
1969 14
1970 10
1971 1
1972 4
1973 8
1974 22
1975 4
1976 2
1977 45
1978 19
1979 5
1980 9
1981 3
1982 —
1983 —
Total 160
Key:
Green / Bold = Won

Coaching career

Bartlett was the Tigers' coach from 1988 to 1991. Controversy surrounding his dismissal as coach left him estranged from the football club for many years. However, on 30 March 2007 he attended his first official club function since 1991.

Administrative career

Kevin Bartlett was a key member and public face of the AFL "Laws of the Game" or Rules Committee until 4 March 2014.[1][4] He was a selector of the Australian Football Hall of Fame from its inauguration in 1996 until his resignation in 2009,[5] and is a selector of the yearly All-Australian team.[6]

Media career

Bartlett joined Channel 7 in Melbourne immediately after his playing retirement, appearing regularly on World of Sport and hosting the Junior Supporters Club. In 1984, Bartlett was crowned King of Moomba.[7] He also wrote for the Sun News Pictorial. His media commitments were put on hold during his four-year stint as Richmond coach. He has great all-round interest in most sports, and is one of the few ex-Australian football players who has carved out a career commentating on all manner of sports. Since 2004, he has hosted Hungry for Sport, a radio show playing on his nickname of "Hungry", on Melbourne's dedicated sports radio station, SEN and commentates Saturday and Sunday matches for them. He previously had hosted the breakfast program on Sport 927 until 2003. He commentated on cable-TV for Fox Footy and was the host of the popular nostalgia show Grumpy Old Men on Fox Footy until the channel's closure at the end of the 2006 season.

On 13 September 2008, he appeared in a Toyota Memorable Moments advertisement. The advertisement includes Bartlett recreating his seven goals from the 1980 VFL Grand Final, as well as his famous 'comb-over' hair style, which comedian Dave Lawson recreates by shaving his own hair on camera. Geelong's Matthew Scarlett impersonated the haircut, at his 'Mad Monday' celebrations after the 2008 Grand Final [8]

Return

Bartlett's refusal to return to any Richmond Football Club function, or an official club arrangement lasted from the end of 1991– until 2007. In 2007, he attended a Tommy Hafey Club Function – in support of his lifelong friend Tom Hafey and on 22 November 2007, walked into the Punt Road ground (Richmond's Home Ground) to launch the centenary publication 'Richmond F.C: A Century of League Football', which was written by his son Rhett. It was the first time KB had stepped foot into Punt Road, since his sacking at the end of 1991.

Recognition

Bartlett was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1981, and was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame and Richmond Hall of Fame in 1996 and 2002, respectively; he was promoted to "legend" status in the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2000 and to "immortal" status in the Richmond Hall of Fame in 2004. He was also named as part of Richmond's team of the century. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2006.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Guthrie, Ben (4 March 2014). "Worsfold joins Laws of the Game committee". AFL. AFL. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  2. ↑ ,Bartlett, Rhett: Richmond F.C : A Century of League Football- 2008.
  3. ↑ Kevin Bartlett's player profile at AFL Tables
  4. ↑ Denham, Greg (8 June 2012). "AFL's Leigh Matthews, Kevin Bartlett want interchange overhaul". The Australian.
  5. ↑ Denham, Greg (7 July 2009). "Kevin Bartlett quits AFL Hall of Fame selection in protest". The Australian.
  6. ↑ Landsberger, Sam (19 September 2012). "Kevin Bartlett won't back down from West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui's All-Australian selection". Herald Sun.
  7. ↑ Craig Bellamy, Gordon Chisholm, Hilary Eriksen (17 Feb 2006) Moomba: A festival for the people.: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/rsrc/PDFs/Moomba/History%20of%20Moomba.pdf PDF pp 17–22
  8. ↑ http://buubuustar.blogspot.com/2008/09/ms-becomes-kb.html
  9. ↑ "Kevin Bartlett AM". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
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