Rod Grinter
| Rod Grinter | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth | 26 May 1965 | ||
| Original team | Katandra | ||
| Height/Weight | 182 cm / 85 kg | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1985–1994 | Melbourne | 134 (57) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to end of 1994 season. | |||
Rodney 'Balls' Grinter (born 26 May 1965) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the VFL and AFL.
Grinter is most remembered for an incident in Round 2 of the 1988 VFL season when he punched Footscray defender Terry Wallace in the face, rendering Wallace unconscious. Both field umpires failed to report Grinter for the incident, but he received a six-week suspension for the incident after a VFL investigation. Later that season he appeared in Melbourne's losing Grand Final side against Hawthorn. He was also suspended for nine matches in 1990 following a number of incidents in a game against Richmond at the MCG.
Grinter was involved in another famous incident in the previous season's Preliminary Final against the same opponents. He was the man on the mark when Jim Stynes ran between him and Gary Buckenara (he was the one that gave away the free kick to Bukenara) which resulted in a 15-metre penalty and goal to win after the siren from Buckenara.
After playing most of his career in defence, Grinter was moved into the forward line in 1993 and rejuvenated his career kicking 21 goals. He managed only 9 games the following year, Grinter stayed on the list as a supplementary player in 1995 serving as reserves captain mentoring the younger players.
He was later employed by the Demons as a match day runner.
Grinter was coach of New Norfolk in the Tasmanian Statewide Football League during the 1996, 1997 and 1998 seasons.
References
- Rod Grinter's statistics from AFL Tables
- Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.