Bernie Quinlan

Bernie Quinlan (born 21 July 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Footscray and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s and 1980s.

Bernie Quinlan
Personal information
Full name	Bernie Quinlan
Nickname(s)	Superboot
Date of birth	(1951-07-21) 21 July 1951
Original team(s)	Traralgon
Height	193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	97 kg (214 lb)
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1969–1977	Footscray	177 (241)
1978–1986	Fitzroy	189 (576)
Total		366 (817)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
	Victoria	4 (6)
Coaching career^3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1995	Fitzroy	19 (2–17–0)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1986. ^3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1995.
Career highlights
Brownlow Medal: 1981 Coleman Medal: 1983, 1984 Fitzroy leading Goal Kicker: 1981–1985 Footscray leading Goal Kicker: 1971 Australian Football Hall of Fame Fitzroy Team of the Century: (Centre Half Forward) Brisbane Lions Hall of Fame.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Renowned for his prodigious long kicking, which earned him the nickname "Superboot", Quinlan played his best football late in his career, earning most of his individual accolades after he had turned 30.

Playing career

Quinlan was recruited from Traralgon, which was in Footscray's zone, and arrived at Footscray halfway through the 1969 VFL season.[1] Teammate Barry Round also made his debut in the same year, and coincidentally they would tie for the Brownlow Medal 12 years later in 1981, both by that time playing at different clubs.

Quinlan played 177 games for the club, playing mostly at centre half-forward (also occasionally playing as a centre half-back). The 1970s were a tough time financially for the Bulldogs, and many quality players were cleared to other clubs. Quinlan was cleared to Fitzroy in 1978 for 70,000 dollars.[2] In December 1979, the Lions and the football public were shocked when it was announced by club president Frank Bibby that Quinlan had told the committee he wanted to devote more time to his farm. With a year remaining on his contract, Fitzroy were desperate to retain his services and made Quinlan a substantial financial offer to stay.[3] Quinlan relented and returned for the 1980 VFL season.

Fitzroy had an ordinary season in 1980. He played 189 games for the Lions, marking himself as one of their all-time greats (and the first player to have played 150 games or more for two clubs[4]), before retiring in 1986. He won the Brownlow Medal in 1981, tying with his former Bulldog teammate Barry Round (who had left the Bulldogs too by this stage). He also twice kicked more than 100 goals in a season: 1983 and 1984. Quinlan led a formidable forward line in the mid-1980s with the likes of Michael Conlan, Garry Wilson, David McMahon and Gary Sidebottom. Together with Paul Roos and Gary Pert in the back line, they propelled Fitzroy to their most successful years in the post-war era.

He was a prodigious kicker of the football which earned him the nickname "superboot". He regularly featured in the World of Sport kicking competitions (a sports program which was popular in Melbourne for three decades).

Quinlan holds the record for having played the largest number of VFL/AFL matches of anyone who never appeared in a grand final.[5]

Playing statistics

[6]

Legend

G

Goals

B

Behinds

K

Kicks

H

Handballs

D

Disposals

M

Marks

T

Tackles

Led the league after season and finals

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1969	Footscray	2	9	18	16	99	7	106	46	N/A	2.0	1.8	11.0	0.8	11.8	5.1	N/A
1970	Footscray	2	21	12	25	292	26	318	109	N/A	0.6	1.2	13.9	1.2	15.1	5.2	N/A
1971	Footscray	2	21	48	47	343	61	404	168	N/A	2.3	2.2	16.3	2.9	19.2	8.0	N/A
1972	Footscray	2	21	37	41	304	79	383	112	N/A	1.8	2.0	14.5	3.8	18.2	5.3	N/A
1973	Footscray	2	20	20	23	301	83	384	115	N/A	1.0	1.2	15.1	4.2	19.2	5.8	N/A
1974	Footscray	2	18	9	7	272	44	316	80	N/A	0.5	0.4	15.1	2.4	17.6	4.7	N/A
1975	Footscray	2	22	36	17	285	46	331	100	N/A	1.6	0.8	13.6	2.2	15.8	4.8	N/A
1976	Footscray	2	23	34	39	311	83	394	109	N/A	1.5	1.7	13.5	3.6	17.1	4.7	N/A
1977	Footscray	2	22	27	38	311	92	403	126	N/A	1.2	1.8	14.1	4.2	18.3	5.7	N/A
1978	Fitzroy	5	14	18	15	198	62	260	77	N/A	1.3	1.1	14.1	4.4	18.6	5.5	N/A
1979	Fitzroy	5	22	48	39	313	106	419	116	N/A	2.2	1.8	14.2	4.8	19.0	5.3	N/A
1980	Fitzroy	5	22	27	29	325	110	435	123	N/A	1.2	1.3	14.8	5.0	19.8	5.6	N/A
1981	Fitzroy	5	24	73	32	332	116	448	152	N/A	3.0	1.3	13.8	4.8	18.7	6.3	N/A
1982	Fitzroy	5	21	53	35	289	96	385	108	N/A	2.5	1.7	13.8	4.6	18.3	5.1	N/A
1983	Fitzroy	5	24	116	70	268	62	330	155	N/A	4.8	2.9	11.2	2.6	13.8	6.5	N/A
1984	Fitzroy	5	23	105	44	228	48	276	121	N/A	4.6	1.9	9.9	2.1	12.0	5.3	N/A
1985	Fitzroy	5	22	84	58	229	45	274	127	N/A	3.8	2.6	10.4	2.0	12.5	5.8	N/A
1986	Fitzroy	5	17	52	37	149	34	183	73	N/A	3.1	2.2	8.8	2.0	10.8	4.3	N/A
Career			366	817	612	4849	1200	6049	2017	N/A	2.2	1.7	13.3	3.3	16.6	5.5	N/A

Post Playing career

Quinlan first joined the ABC football commentary team when they had the broadcasting rights in 1987, and then switched to the Seven Network when they regained the rights in 1988. He commentated with Seven up until the mid-1990s.

The Brisbane Lions mascot Bernie "Gabba" Vegas is partially named as a tribute to Quinlan.

He has worked as a weights coach with VFL team Port Melbourne.[7]

References

1. Johnson, Lyall (19 September 2004). "THE TWO OF US – BARRY ROUND / BERNIE QUINLAN". The Sunday Age.
2. Carter, Ron (22 September 1981). "Quinlan, Round tie with 22". The Age.
3. "Quinlan quits". The Age. 13 December 1979.
4. Subsequently emulated by Shaun Burgoyne, and if the Brisbane Bears and Brisbane Lions are considered separate entities, Marcus Ashcroft
5. AFL Tables - Grand Finals
6. Bernie Quinlan's player profile at AFL Tables
7. Butler, Steve (15 June 2007). "Lloyd can finish with grand total: Quinlan". The Age.

External links

• Bernie Quinlan's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Profile at Australian Football
• AFL Hall of Fame - Players
• Hall of Fame Inductee: Bernie Quinlan on YouTube