Kevin Bartlett (Australian rules footballer)

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Kevin Bartlett
Personal information
Birth March 6, 1947 (1947-03-06) (age 61), Carlton, Victoria
Recruited from Richmond 4ths
Height and weight 1.75 m / 71 kg
Playing career¹
Debut 1965, Richmond vs. St Kilda, at MCG
Team(s) Richmond (1965-1983)

403 games, 778 goals
Coaching career¹
Team(s) Richmond (1988-1991)

88 games - 27 wins, 61 losses
¹ Statistics to end of 2005 season
Career highlights

For the Australian touring car racing driver, see Kevin Bartlett (race driver).

Kevin Charles Bartlett AM (born March 6, 1947) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League between 1965 and 1983 for the Richmond Football Club.

Contents

[edit] 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 has 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.

[edit] 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 March 30, 2007 he attended his first official club function since 1991.

[edit] Administrative career

Kevin Bartlett is a key member and public face of the AFL "Laws of the Game" or Rules Committee, a committee which has been consistently criticised for constantly tampering with the rules of the game.

[edit] 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. [1] 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. Currently, he hosts 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 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.

[edit] The Return

Bartlett 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 Footballer', 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ 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
Preceded by
Neville Crowe		 Richmond Best and Fairest winner
1967 - 1968		 Succeeded by
Royce Hart
Preceded by
Royce Hart		 Richmond Best and Fairest winner
1973 - 1974		 Succeeded by
Kevin Morris
Preceded by
Kevin Sheedy		 Richmond Best and Fairest winner
1977		 Succeeded by
Geoff Raines
Preceded by
Wayne Harmes		 Norm Smith Medallist
1980		 Succeeded by
Bruce Doull