Robert 'Chopper' Handley (born 8 January 1965) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn and St Kilda in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...

(VFL) during the late 1980s. Handley, who could play both as a wingman and on the ball, debuted with Hawthorn in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and finished the year in their losing

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

team. He struggled to hold his place in a strong Hawthorn side the following two seasons and left the club to play for

Central District Football Club Central District Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Based at Elizabeth in the City of Playford about 25 km to the north of Adelaide, South Australia the club' ...

in the

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) in 1988. After one year he returned to

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 ...

and signed on with St Kilda, with whom he could only manage four senior appearances. He finished his career back in South Australia at Central District, playing 135 games and topping their goal-kicking in 1992 with 40 goals.

References

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Handley, Robert 1965 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Hawthorn Football Club players St Kilda Football Club players Central District Football Club players