Bernie Quinlan
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 21 July 1951 , |
| Recruited from | Traralgon |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | 1969, Footscray vs. , at |
| Team(s) | Footscray (1969-1977)
177 games, 241 goals Fitzroy (1978-1986) 189 games, 576 goals |
| Coaching career¹ | |
| Team(s) | Fitzroy, 1995 |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2005 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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Bernie Quinlan (born 21 July 1951), was a former Australian rules footballer and coach, who enjoyed a lengthy career with Footscray and Fitzroy in the VFL. He played 366 league games in total.
[edit] Playing career
Quinlan was recruited from Traralgon, Victoria as a 17 year old, debuting for the Bulldogs in 1969. He played 177 games for the club, playing mostly at centre half-forward (also occasionally playing as a centre half-back). Quinlan didn't find consistency in his career until he moved to Fitzroy in 1978, and wore the No. 5 guernsey. He played 189 games for the Lions, marking himself as one of their all-time greats (and also the only player to have played 150 games or more for two clubs), before retiring in 1986. He won the Brownlow Medal in 1981, tying with his former Bulldog team mate Barry Round (who had left the Bulldogs too by this stage). He also twice kicked more than 100 goals in a season: 1983 and 1984. Quinlan led a formidable forward line in the mid-1980s with the likes of Michael Conlan, Garry Wilson, David McMahon and Gary Sidebottom. Together with Paul Roos and Gary Pert in the back line, they propelled Fitzroy to their most successful years in the post-war era.
He was a prodigious kick of the football which earned him the nickname "superboot". He regularly featured in the World of Sport kicking competitions (a sports program which was popular in Melbourne for three decades) and is reported to have once kicked a goal from the wing at the Whitten Oval, Footscray (a distance approaching 100 metres). He also once appeared in an exhibition kicking challenge against the other football codes (including soccer, Rugby Union, rugby league and American Football, the latter representative actually throwing in the style of a quarter-back). He won the challenge with a kick approaching 90 metres.
He is also credited with having instigated the "Hell Ride", a cycling training ride, with two others in 1984.[1]
| Preceded by Kelvin Templeton |
Brownlow Medallist (tied) 1981 |
Succeeded by Brian Wilson |
| Preceded by Malcolm Blight |
Coleman Medallist 1983-1984 |
Succeeded by Simon Beasley |
| Preceded by Robert Shaw |
Fitzroy Football Club coach 1995 |
Succeeded by Alan McConnell |
[edit] References
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