Almanac Footy Tributes: Ron Barassi – A top bloke: an interview with Xavier Tanner
The outpouring of eulogies to Ronald Dale Barassi continue to dominate the media today (Sunday). Whatever people thought about number 31 can be boiled down to the fact ‘he was the Father of Football’ over the last 60 odd years.
I saw Barassi play on many occasions for Melbourne and on his debut with Carlton as captain and coach I went with my late parents Col and Molly Utber both Carlton tragics to watch the former ‘mongrel Barassi’ (their words) became the Saviour with George Harris’s chopsticks of the Bluebaggers.
Barassi was all things to all people.
A former student of mine Ryan Hoffman (Storm champion) said today “I grew up in Northern New South Wales, rugby country, but we all knew Ron Barassi.”
And so the story goes.
Today I caught up with former North Melbourne player Xavier Tanner, a premiership member of 1977. The famous year when they drew with Collingwood and then won the replay.
Tanner should know a lot about Ron Barassi, after all he spent 10 years of his football career under the guidance of the maestro.
He recalled that as a young boy he was glued to GM6 or GM7, the only stations they could get on TV in Albury to watch Barassi, in full football gear, chatting with boys and girls about football.
Tanner was at North in the thirds and reserves under the guidance of the eloquent ‘Slug’ Jordan before Barassi appeared on the scene. “Learnt a bit from Slug”, he said with a laugh.
Barassi arrived at the Shinboners with this great aura about him as the Messiah to bring North premierships which had not been achieved beforehand.
“We didn’t know what to expect, given the hot gospeller scenario that preceded him from Melbourne and Carlton. This fearful character who gave players spray and knocked refreshments off tables during games”.
What Barassi did demand of his players was complete attention when he addressed the team. “We had to keep our eyes on him at all times”, Tanner quipped.
The Maestro never talked to players, other than pre-game, on game day. Tanner said “he was so focussed he just walked straight into his room before the game and never spoke to anyone and I (chuckle) made sure I never spoke to him.”
Tanner said “that in my 10 years with the club I never received a spray from Ron. He reserved his sprays for what were regarded as the champions of the club. Players such as Malcolm Blight, David Dench and Keith Greig were high on the list. Keith was the quietest and humble of individuals but I guess Barass believed that he had to lift his champions even higher to drag the rest of the players along”.
When I questioned Xav about this his answer was interesting.
“I am not big noting myself but at the time I was the only player at University and I think Ron liked that. He was a person who was always inquisitive about everything in life. At social functions Ron would always spend a lot of time chatting with me about anything and everything and I was interested in a wide range of subjects”.
I suggested to him that Barassi’s second wife Cheryl also was a major factor in Ron’s thirst for knowledge. She was an artist and an activist. I was involved with her at the City of St Kilda over animal rights.
Cheryl, who was not a football lover, was always on hand to cook the players’ breakfast each Sunday morning after our early morning dips at St.Kilda baths. She was a huge influence on Ron and turned him into the best dressed coach in the VFL.
Tanner agreed and said this was true of Ron’s great desire to be well read about most things and a perfect example was his trip back to Tobruk to find out where his dad (Ron senior) was killed in the second World War.
Barassi of course was the master innovator with the Ted Hopkins and ‘handball, handball’ story well-entrenched in football folk lore. Tanner said that there were many more innovations that Barassi instigated.
He listed the following as tactics that have become part of every-day football.
Alan Jarrott , who was not the most gifted of footballers, was the probably the first player to become a tagger. At training a player would be picked out to be Kevin Bartlett and we were instructed to kick the ball to him with Alan tagging him throughout the session. This went on for weeks and Jarro became a very effective team player. Barassi believed that Bartlett was the key to Richmond’s success and to cut him out of the game was essential.
Barassi turned many ordinary players into fine team players just like he did as a young Demon.
The shifting of Darryl Sutton (centre half back) with Steven Icke (centre half forward) in the Grand Final was a master stroke. Icke had been given a hiding by Billy Picken before three quarter time. Sutton kicked a goal early in the quarter and we won the game.
Perhaps his most effective innovation was immediately after the final siren of the drawn Grand Final game against Collingwood (10-16) North (9-22).
Tanner said he called all the players, their wives, girlfriends and family into the room and said to them “give me the boys for another week, that’s all I ask.” Barassi knew that Collinwood under Tom Hafey would not change their training habits as fitness was Tommy’s mantra.
“We hardly trained at all that week and Collingwood ran out of puff early in the game but came back in the last quarter but we were fresher.” Ron had this wonderful instinct (I call it footy nous) and we didn’t have to put in another hard week to win the game. It was a brilliant tactic”
Xavier Tanner’s final words about Ronald Dale Barassi. “It was a special time to be involved in football. He was a top bloke”
Luckily I am old enough to have seen Barassi play at both Melbourne and Carlton (his first game with the Blues) and just loved him as a football person who achieved everything in the game and after from a very humble beginning.
I wrote on the weekend that the two teams he played with Melbourne (204 games) and Carlton (50 games) turned on a battle royal on Friday night and I remarked it was like there were 44 Barassi’s out on the ground.
RIP Ronald Dale Barassi
Xavier Tanner played 100 games with North Melbourne between 1976 -83 and 11 games with Melbourne under Ron Barassi. He is a teacher in Shepparton and is a great friend f Citrus Bob’s daughter Karen and family. Xav and ‘Daisy’ have taught together for over 30 years.
Many regarded him as the BOG in the 1977 Grand Final.
More stories from Citrus Bob Utber can be read Here.
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About Bob Utber
At 86 years of age Citrus Bob is doing what he has always done since growing up on a small farm at Lang Lang. Talking, watching and writing sport and in recent years writing books. He lives in Mildura with his very considerate wife (Jenny) and a groodle named 'Chloe on Flinders' and can be found at Deakin 27 every day.
Listening to a radio tribute over the weekend, do not remember which. The main thing that struck me was the number of times his teams, player or coach, beat Collingwood. For that alone, we should all be eternally grateful. Much else also, of course.
BUCKO – oh you Carringbush haters. Would love to see a book published on why we hate Collingwood>
I remember standing with Len Smith in the Richmond rooms during a finals match and he said to me “a coach does not need any inspration when we play that mob”. have never forgotten it!
That’s a great angle Bob. I enjoyed the read and Xavier’s insights.
I will forgive you for failing to mention RDB’s period in the red and white, where his influence was significant in restoring a proper footy club culture, post the Edelsten period.
As the joke at the time went
Barassi made Carlton United and left Melbourne Bitter
Xavier Tanner was a very good player , better than he modestly describes himself as .
I was lucky to meet Ronald Dale a few times after he finished with footy . Great bloke and good conversation on a wide range of topics but so unassuming given all he had achieved .
Good read Citrus
Well played CB (and Xavier). Ted Whitten always had the wrestlemania showman bravura about him. Always willing to talk up state footy and interstate rivalries.
Barassi had much more gravitas about him. Like the legendary Liverpool coach he believed football wasn’t a matter of life and death “it is much more important than that”.
I always see Malcolm Blight as the inheritor of the Barassi legacy. A lateral thinker and innovator as a coach. Barassi drove him hard as a player because he knew how gifted he was and wanted to make sure his talent wasn’t wasted with a poor attitude or work ethic.
Xavier Tanner was a beautiful balanced and talented player to watch.
He came from Wodonga in the O & M league.which proved a valuable resource
for North Melbourne including players of the calibre of Phil Baker, Ross Henshaw,
Mick Nolan, Gary Cowton, John Byrne and Slamming Sam Kekovich.
Pivotal figures who transformed North info a VFL powerhouse include Ron Joseph,
Allen Aylett, Tony Trainor, Albert Mantello and David Robb.
Barassi signed a napkin over breakfast at the Old Melbourne Inn to coach North in
front of Joseph, Aylett and Mantello.
His hunger to coach again and North’s persuasive pitch were irresistible.
Vale the genius RDB
Thanks for this, Citrus.
Xavier tanner was an important cog in that North Melbourne ’77 flag.
RIP RDB.
Really enjoyed this Citrus. I loved watching Tanner play. Unassuming and effective. Silk.
Barassi seemed to take as much from his players as they took from him. Legend.
Thanks.
BSA, HK, PB, JRS, SMOK, DIPS – loved all the comments as usual. Great that some of you went into commentating about Xavier Tanner. Could have spent hours talking to him about The Shinboners of his day. As it was he was parked on the side of the road for an hour as we chatted late into the night.
My opinion is that we should hear more from the likes of Xav and less from the blokes who are on the circuit making a dollar for themselves with the same old patter. Comments PB?
Couldn’t agree more with your perspicacious remarks CB.
Was Xav’s father called Jack?
When we crossed the border from Albury into Wodonga there was always a
fruit fly check and one of the men checking was a man called Jack Tanner.
There was probably a few Tanners around Wodonga and surrounds.
Xav the footballer was unique with his highly skilled abilities on both sides of the body.
Another underrated playerf for North in that era was John Byrne, a ruck-rover from
Wangaratta.
JRS – not sure about Xavie’s family. However do know that there is top ice-hockey player in the US of A named Xavier Tanner and I hear he is real cool.
Will check out Xav’s family and get back to you. Originally from Ireland of course!
Thanks for reading.
Thanks very much CB, what a top fellow you are.
Anyone who supports the Pivotonians has to be with all the history.
Just checked Wikipedia and it says Xavier’s Father Gerard, played one
game for Richmond in 1941.
So Jack Tanner may have been a relative.
As you said they all come from God’s own country..
Well done CB. And promoting lots of good comments. Tanner’s take on why RDB left him out of is target zone was very interesting.
Congratulations CB on your musings and being a Pivotonian.
As you recall after the GF draw in 1977, Hafey flogged his troops on the training track
while RDB nursed his.
The latter was smart enough to realise they had reached their peak.
And the rest is history.
Yet again Carringbush had been out coached,witted,foxed and flogged.
Homage again to the Master, RDB, a person possessing not only high football nous but
high emotional intelligence; unique, rare and match winning combinations.
Vale RDB
Yes, I’m curious about possible family links with Xavier Tanner, and other Tanner’s in the N E of Victoria.
The Tanner name in the N E is linked closely with the Kelly name. There was a William Tanner, and family, who lived near the Kelly’s in Greta. Allegedly after the shootings at Stringybark Creek in October 1878 the four outlaws visited the Tanner property for a change of clothes, and a bite to eat.
Subsequently during the heavy handed police crackdown of alleged Kelly Gang sympathisers in early 1879 we know that a request by William Tanner to select more land for the family farm was refused by the recommendation of the Police Department.
Is Xavier Tanner descended from this Tanner family?
Glen!