Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Key Facts

Full name
Ronald Irwin

Known as
Ron Irwin

Born
23 October 1923

Died
18 August 2009 (aged 85)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 19y 288d
Last game: 23y 192d

Height and weight
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 80 kg

Senior clubs
Melbourne

Jumper numbers
Melbourne: 3

Ron Irwin

Advanced stats
ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
MelbourneV/AFL1943-19475100.0047%———0
Total1943-19475100.0047%———0

AFL: 5,241st player to appear, 4,259th most games played, 11,495th most goals kickedMelbourne: 626th player to appear, 327th most games played, 1,232nd most goals kicked

Originally from VAFA side Glen Ormond, Ron Irwin overcame a slow start to his Melbourne career to develop into a useful defender. From 1943 to 1947 he played 51 VFL games for the Demons without scoring a goal. He can be adjudged somewhat unfortunate in that Melbourne won premierships just before and after his career but none during it.

A knee injury prevented Irwin from playing any matches at all in 1948-9 and he was then cleared to VFA side Yarraville, where he had been offered the position of captain-coach, ahead of the 1950 season. His sole year at the helm produced only two wins which consigned the team to the wooden spoon. Irwin himself played in 16 out of 19 matches for the season and scored 18 goals.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Publications

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.