Matthew Rendell (18 April 1959 – 28 June 2023) was an
Australian rules footballer who played in the
Australian Football League and
South Australian National Football League
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 ...
(SANFL).
Rendell played as a
ruckman and made his debut with the
West Torrens Football Club
West Torrens Football Club was an Australian rules football club that competed in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 1897 to 1990. In 1991, the club merged with neighbouring Woodville Football Club to form the Woodville ...
in the SANFL in 1977 where he played 79 games. He left South Australia in 1981 to play with the
Fitzroy Football Club
The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of Fitzroy, the club was a member of the ...
in the VFL, wearing the No. 9 guernsey. In his first year, he played mainly at full forward and kicked forty-five goals, but he admitted in later years he did not enjoy it. With the return of
Ron Alexander
Ronald James Alexander (born 10 December 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the East Perth Football Club and East Fremantle Football Club in th ...
to Western Australia, however, Rendell was to make the ruck position his own, barring injuries, until 1987. Rendell did have quite a number of injuries, however, after 1983, with the result that he played only 26 of 43 games in 1984 and 1985.
Rendell won Fitzroy's 1982 and 1983
best and fairest
In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...
awards, and was appointed captain from 1985 to 1987. In one game, Rendell, who had not kicked a goal in his previous seventeen games for Fitzroy, was used as a seventh forward to counter
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 ...
's
Gary Dempsey's habit of marking in the last line of defence; as a result of this strategy, Rendell kicked eight goals and the Lions won the game by 150 points, which at the time more than doubled the previous biggest loss by a minor premier.
Rendell played just one game with the Lions in 1988, the rest of the year spent in the reserves, which Rendell put down to a misunderstanding with coach
David Parkin
David Alex Parkin, OAM (born 12 September 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the Subiaco Football Club in the Western Australian Nat ...
. He played 18 games in 1989 and played well enough throughout the season to secure four Brownlow votes in a drive to the finals that was deflated by an injury to top forward
Richard Osborne
Richard Osborne (born 16 June 1964) is a retired Australian rules footballer who enjoyed a lengthy career in the VFL/AFL. He played a total of 283 games in 17 seasons, and played with four clubs, as well as representing Victoria 7 times in in ...
.
Rendell retired at the end of 1991 after 164 games and 101 goals with Fitzroy. However, he soon reversed that decision and moved to the
Brisbane Bears
The Brisbane Football Club, nicknamed the Bears, was a professional Australian rules football club based in Queensland on the Gold Coast (relocated to Brisbane in 1993). The club participated in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL ...
, who persuaded him to continue playing. He did so in his final year in 1992, playing 13 games and booting 7 goals for the Bears before retiring for good.
Rendell was an
assistant coach
A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete.
History
The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hung ...
and match-day
tactician with the
St Kilda Football Club
The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league.
The club's name originates fr ...
, alongside
Grant Thomas, until he was sacked at the end of 2006 with the appointment of
Ross Lyon
Ross Lyon (born 8 November 1966) is a former Australian rules football player and the senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously coached St Kilda from 2007 to 2011 and the Fremantle Footb ...
. In 2007, he returned to South Australia, joining the
Adelaide Football Club
The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...
as their recruitment manager. Rendell resigned as Adelaide's recruiting manager on 16 March 2012 following issues around reported comments in relation to the recruitment of Indigenous players. He was later, with the AFL's permission, hired by Collingwood as part of their recruiting department. In 2015 he also took up the part-time task of coaching Collingwood's ruckmen.
Rendell's brother Tim was a promising ruckman who also played for West Torrens and was recruited by Fitzroy but did not play a game due to chronic injury.
Matt Rendell died on the afternoon of 28 June 2023, after suffering a cardiac arrest on 25 June while walking his dog. He was 64.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rendell, Matt
1959 births
2023 deaths
Australian rules footballers from South Australia
Fitzroy Football Club players
Brisbane Bears players
West Torrens Football Club players
Mitchell Medal winners
All-Australians (1953–1988)
South Australian State of Origin players