George Ned Grljusich (15 January 1939 – 6 November 2007) was an Australian sports journalist, commentator and former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er. Born in Wiluna,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, he played 12 games of football for the

South Fremantle Football Club South Fremantle Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Fremantle, Western Australia. The club plays in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the WAFL Women's (WAFLW), commonly going by the nickname the ''Bulldogs ...

in the Western Australian National Football League in 1960, before quitting football to pursue a media career. Grljusich later became a radio broadcaster, commentating for

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

-based radio stations 720 ABC Perth and 6PR. He died in 2007 at the age of 68, from lung cancer.

Education

Grljusich studied

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, where he graduated in the same year as the future Chief Justice David Malcolm, Crown Solicitor (WA), Peter Panegyres and Governor of Western Australia,

Malcolm McCusker Malcolm James McCusker (born 6 August 1938) is an Australian barrister and philanthropist who was the 31st Governor of Western Australia, serving from July 2011 to June 2014. Born in Perth, McCusker was educated at Hobart High School (in Hob ...

, but decided to remain in the media rather than practice law. In 1977 Grljusich stood unsuccessfully for the state Seat of Cockburn.

Playing career

Grljusich made his West Australian National Football League debut for South Fremantle in 1960 on the same day as his brother Tom. While Tom went on to play over 200 matches for the ''Bulldogs'', George quit football at the end of the 1960 season to pursue a media career. Two more of his brothers also played at WANFL league level - Don for South Fremantle and John for East Fremantle.

Media career

His journalistic career focused on

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

commentary including a long running stay as the main sports announcer at 720 ABC Perth. From 1996 he worked at commercial radio station 6PR. In radio he commentated mainly on harness racing, soccer and football, as well as hosting weekly sports talkback radio, where his abrasive style often polarised his listeners. Grljusich provided ABC coverage of six

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: 1980 at Moscow, 1984 at Los Angeles, 1988 at Seoul, 1992 at Barcelona, 1996 at Atlanta and 2000 at Sydney, as well as ten

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

. In 2004, the media box at the Fremantle Oval was officially renamed the George Grljusich Media Box in honour of the veteran broadcaster. In October 2007, Grljusich retired from broadcasting after being diagnosed with terminal

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He died at St John of God Hospital in Murdoch on 6 November 2007, aged 68. In November 2007, Radio 6PR announced the establishment o
The George Grljusich Sport Broadcasting Award
for students of the WAAPA Broadcasting course.

References

External links

Obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grljusich, George 1939 births 2007 deaths Australian people of Croatian descent Australian radio personalities Australian rules football commentators Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Deaths from lung cancer in Australia People from Wiluna, Western Australia South Fremantle Football Club players West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees