Robert Pyman (born 6 October 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

Collingwood Collingwood, meaning "wood of disputed ownership", may refer to: Educational institutions * Collingwood College, Victoria, an Australian state Prep to Year 12 school * Collingwood College, Durham, college of Durham University, England * Collingw ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s.

Career

AFL

Woodville-West Torrens Woodville-West Torrens Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). It was formed in 1990 from an amalgamation of the neighbouring Woodville and West Torrens football cl ...

'best and fairest' winner in 1992, Pyman was secured by North Melbourne with the sixth pick of that year's

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a ves ...

, which they received after trading

Paul Spargo Paul Spargo (born 9 October 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne and the Brisbane Bears in the Australian Football League (AFL). A half forward, he is the son of Footscray's Grand Final player Bob Spar ...

to Brisbane – although Pyman was later personally fined $10,000 when it emerged that he had contacted some of the league's struggling clubs and warned them that he would stay in South Australia if one of those clubs drafted him, which contravened the AFL's draft tampering rules. He nevertheless remained eligible to play for North Melbourne, and took part in the 1993 AFL finals series. However, he managed only five senior appearances over the following two seasons and instead spent the majority of his time in the reserves. In 1996 he crossed to Collingwood but again struggled to play senior football, despite winning the Joseph Wren Memorial Trophy as the best and fairest of the reserves. Pyman's final port of call was Melbourne and for the first time in his career he was a regular in the AFL, playing 19 of a possible 22 games. He received the only Brownlow votes of his career in the same season when he was adjudged 'best on ground' in a loss to Sydney at the SCG, for getting 18 kicks and eight handballs.

SANFL

Pyman resumed at Woodville-West Torrens in 1998 and topped their goal-kicking with 33 goals. He then turned to coaching and was an assistant to

Dean Laidley Danielle May Laidley (born Dean James Laidley; 27 March 1967) is a former Australian rules football coach and player, who played for the West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1987 to 1997, includin ...

at North Melbourne before becoming South Adelaide's coach in 2004. Pyman steered the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as th ...

club to fourth position in his third year but after a string of poor performances was sacked and replaced by former Geelong player Gary Cameron late in the 2007 season. He has since lodged a civil claim against South Adelaide for unfair dismissal.

References

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyman, Robert 1971 births Living people North Melbourne Football Club players Collingwood Football Club players Melbourne Football Club players Woodville-West Torrens Football Club players South Adelaide Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from South Australia