Russell "Robbo" Robertson (born 24 November 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who last played for the Melbourne Football Club. Robertson is one of the Melbourne's great goalkickers, being one of just four players in the club's history to have led the goalkicking in four or more seasons. Robertson is well known for his ability to take regular

spectacular mark A spectacular mark (also known as a specky, speckie, speccy, screamer or hanger) is a mark (or catch) in Australian rules football that typically involves a player jumping up on the back of another player. The spectacular mark has become a muc ...

s. Late in his career he was also known outside the football community, through

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

appearances, modelling and

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung accompaniment, wi ...

Early life

Robertson grew up in the small town of

Penguin, Tasmania Penguin is a town on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is in the Central Coast Council local government area and on the Bass Highway, between Burnie and Ulverstone. At the , Penguin had a population of 4,132. History Penguin ...

, where he attended high school between 1991 and 1994. He played his early football in nearby

Burnie, Tasmania Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban pop ...

and recruiters first spotted him in a home video featured on The Footy Show's "Almost Footy Legends" segment. He was added to the Melbourne Football Club rookie list and seen as a potential player.

AFL career

Robertson made his debut in the 1997 season. He did not take long to find his feet and became known as one of the game's most exciting forwards, taking numerous "Marks of the Week" (putting him in the running for

Mark of the Year The annual Australian Football League Mark of the Year competition (currently also known as the Four'N Twenty AFL Mark of the Year) is a sporting award that celebrates each season's best mark. A mark is the action of a player cleanly catchi ...

, however he never won the award). Robertson is known for his sometimes miraculous snap shots at goal as much as his accurate set shot kicking and was a regular feature in the Melbourne's senior side for well over a decade. It was not until the 2005 season that Robertson became one of the Demons star players and regularly among the leading goalkicker list. Despite being short for a full-forward, Robertson became the second option in the key position to

David Neitz David Neitz (born 22 January 1975), is a retired Australian rules footballer. The strongly built centre half back who became a full forward was the longest-serving captain in the history of the Melbourne Football Club and the first Melbourne ...

. In 2005, he played for Australia in his first

International Rules International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was develop ...

series against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was unlucky to miss

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led by ...

selection despite finishing third in the

Coleman medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most ...

. In that year he took out the Demons' leading goalkicker award. In the same season he achieved a personal best haul of 7 goals against Geelong in round 20. Robertson's 2006 season was hampered by soft tissue injuries. In 2007, he started the season strongly, kicking a handful of goals against the

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

in the Demons 31-point loss, including a miraculous snap shot whilst sitting on the ground in the goal square. In Round 2 against the Hawks on Easter Monday, Robertson landed awkwardly while trying to take one of his trademark high flying marks and injured the medial ligament in his knee, along with David Neitz who suffered the same injury, and missed up to 7 weeks of football. However he still finished the season as the club's leading goalkicker, for the third time. Returning from injury, Robertson hit back to his best, kicking 7 goals against

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 ...

in the traditional

Queen's Birthday The King's Official Birthday (alternatively the Queen's Official Birthday when the monarch is female) is the selected day in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those ...

game at the MCG in Round 11. On 1 June 2008, Robertson snapped his

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

in what could have been a season-ending, and a career threatening, injury. He was added to the veterans list by the club in an effort to extend his career. Robertson returned for Melbourne playing against

Geelong Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon ...

on 3 May,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

. Robertson performed well in his return, kicking three goals. On 20 August 2009, Robertson announced that he would be playing his last match with the Demons in season 2009 having been advised that his contract would not be renewed. After 13 seasons and 226 games, the 30-year-old and the club agreed to part ways. Robertson also announced that he would nominate for the 2009 AFL National Draft and 2010 pre-season draft, saying that he felt he still had some good footy left in him and as keen to play on for at least one more year. He played most of the 2010 season in the Goulburn Valley League, one of the top country leagues in Australia and kicked a record 106 goals for Shepparton Swans. In 2010 he signed to be the playing-coach for St Josephs in the

Geelong Football League The Geelong Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria, Australia. It is widely regarded as the highest standard Australian rules football league in regional Victoria, with several former AFL player ...

. In 2012 and 2013, he signed to be a fly-in player for

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban pop ...

in the

Tasmanian Football League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian r ...

. Russell played in the 2013 Grand Final against South Launceston. In 2016, Russell signed on to play at the Kangaroo Flat Football Club of the Bendigo Football Netball League. In the second half of 2016 and the start of 2017, he is currently playing for the Toora and District Football Club.

Statistics

, - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 42 , , 3 , , 5 , , 3 , , 19 , , 13 , , 32 , , 10 , , 6 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , 6.3 , , 4.3 , , 10.7 , , 3.3 , , 2.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 16 , , 15 , , 16 , , 90 , , 58 , , 148 , , 41 , , 11 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , 5.6 , , 3.6 , , 9.3 , , 2.6 , , 0.7 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 13 , , 11 , , 11 , , 65 , , 38 , , 103 , , 36 , , 3 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 5.0 , , 2.9 , , 7.9 , , 2.8 , , 0.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 25 , , 44 , , 31 , , 225 , , 100 , , 325 , , 131 , , 21 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , 9.0 , , 4.0 , , 13.0 , , 5.2 , , 0.8 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 22 , , 42 , , 26 , , 194 , , 69 , , 263 , , 101 , , 17 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , 8.8 , , 3.1 , , 12.0 , , 4.6 , , 0.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 21 , , 32 , , 28 , , 186 , , 51 , , 237 , , 114, , 28 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , , 8.9 , , 2.4 , , 11.3 , , 5.4 , , 1.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 22 , , 41 , , 29 , , 220 , , 89 , , 309 , , 125 , , 23 , , 1.9 , , 1.3 , , 10.0 , , 4.0 , , 14.0 , , 5.7 , , 1.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 22 , , 30 , , 29 , , 214 , , 99 , , 313 , , 113 , , 36 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , 9.7 , , 4.5 , , 14.2 , , 5.1 , , 1.6 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 23 , , 73 , , 30 , , 207 , , 58 , , 265 , , 134 , , 28 , , 3.2 , , 1.3 , , 9.0 , , 2.5 , , 11.5 , , 5.8 , , 1.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2006 , style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 23 , , 44 , , 28 , , 190 , , 52 , , 242 , , 106 , , 28 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , 8.3 , , 2.3 , , 10.5 , , 4.6 , , 1.2 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 15 , , 42 , , 28 , , 139 , , 30 , , 169 , , 85 , , 10 , , 2.8 , , 1.9 , , 9.3 , , 2.0 , , 11.3 , , 5.7 , , 0.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 10 , , 20 , , 13 , , 96 , , 20 , , 116 , , 57 , , 8 , , 2.0 , , 1.3 , , 9.6 , , 2.0 , , 11.6 , , 5.7 , , 0.8 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 24 , , 13 , , 29 , , 21 , , 97 , , 22 , , 119 , , 59 , , 18 , , 2.2 , , 1.6 , , 7.5 , , 1.7 , , 9.2 , , 4.5 , , 1.4 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 228 ! 428 ! 293 ! 1942 ! 699 ! 2641 ! 1112 ! 237 ! 1.9 ! 1.3 ! 8.5 ! 3.1 ! 11.6 ! 4.9 ! 1.0

Non-football activities

Outside of football, Robertson is a musician, who has abilities in singing and playing guitar, modelling and has become somewhat of a television personality. He was featured in The Footy Show ''Screamers'' talent quest competition. Robertson released an album titled ''Higher'' in 2008. On 26 October 2006 Robertson married former

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998 ...

cheerleader Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

and aspiring

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

Brooke Aust. In February 2008 he was a contestant on the Australian television show

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a.k. ...

. Robertson also made an appearance in 2008 singing on the Australian television show It Takes Two with partner

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song "Pash" received a gold sa ...

in which they were runners-up. In 2012, Robertson re-joined the Melbourne Football Club produced his own show "The Robbo Show" for the Melbourne website and is a regular MC at Home matches at the MCG. He took over the role of Club Development Manager after the suspension and subsequent sacking of Chris Connolly for his role in the tanking scandal. In 2012, Robertson starred in Barassi - The Stage Show, about

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. (born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated int ...

. In 2018 Robertson sung a drawn out and off key version of the Australian National Anthem at the VFL Grand final. In September 2018, Robertson was a football consultant, and appeared in Season 1, episode 2 on the Australian drama, '' Playing for Keeps''.

Discography

References

External links

* *
Russell Robertson Music website Uncle Jimmy's Pool Room
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Russell 1978 births Living people Melbourne Football Club players Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Tassie Mariners players Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Burnie, Tasmania Casey Demons players Burnie Dockers Football Club players People from Penguin, Tasmania Australia international rules football team players