‘He saved the club’: Vale Coburg football great Robbie Evans, gone at age 63 after cancer battle

Brad Nimmo. Gary Sheldon. Vin Taranto. Allen Eade. Adrian Bassett. Jeff Angwin. Brendan Littler.

And Robbie Evans.

Nimmo, Sheldon, Angwin, Taranto, Littler and Eade all played in Coburg’s 1988-89 VFA premierships.

Evans, a dashing full-back, would have too if not for a suspension late in the 1988 season.

The four-match ban he received still rankles his former teammates; they insist it was for a fair hip-and-shoulder bump rather than a strike.

“So sad he missed out on the ’88 grand final. He was sticking up for his teammates. You have to do that in footy,’’ Taranto says.

“Apart from being a great player, Robbie was a great teammate.’’

There is great sadness at the City Oval after Evans’ death last Friday at the age of 63.

He had been fighting cancer for some time.

Regarded as a forward when he joined Coburg from Tullamarine in 1984, Evans flourished when coach Phil Cleary switched him to defence, winning the best and fairest in his second season.

The following year he was given a splash in The Sun.

In it, he explained that he took an attacking approach from full-back because he could count on the back-up of teammates like Nimmo and Sheldon.

“The good thing about playing in the backline is that you can have a run,’’ he said.

“If you can stop your opponent getting a kick, then you start picking them up yourself.’’

That year, league club Footscray recruited the leading Lion.

His only senior appearance for the Doggies came in round 18, against Geelong at Waverley. He was 26 when he made his debut.

Evans returned to the Burgers in 1987 and that year represented the VFA against the ACT.

Late in the 1988 season, the long-kicking right-footer was suspended for striking against Prahran, putting him out of the grand final against Williamstown.

But he was part of the 1989 premiership, again won over Willy.

Cleary maintains that Coburg would also have taken the 1986 flag had Evans played the entire season.

“If Robbie had not been recruited by Footscray, we would have won the premiership, there’s no question about that … he would have played on (Mark) Fotheringham,’’ he says.

He says Evans was an outstanding footballer.

“I reckon he stood about 6’3 … great hands, lovely movement over the ground, a good leap, the capacity to spoil, but just as importantly, he was a very competitive player,’’ Cleary says.

“He loved a challenge and as a defender, he got to play on top-end players.’’

He says Evans played a “flawless’’ game on Brunswick’s Mark Jackson in 1986, prompting Footscray to sign him.

Cleary is adamant Evans could have played much more league football, believing the Dogs decided to develop young players rather than persist with a 26-year-old.

“If he’d gone there when he was 20, he might have played 150 games,’’ he says.

Taranto saw a teammate who “took everything by the horns’’.

“He wasn’t scared to take them on, take a run and make the full-forward do some work,’’ he says.

“I just remember his tenacity in 1989, because he’d missed out in 1988. We were like a little community down there.’’

Evans set off for the WAFL in 1991, having a stint with Subiaco.

He returned to Coburg to serve on the committee, becoming president in 1998.

It was a tough time for the Lions, who had lost sponsors in the “recession we had to have’’ and were making considerably less money out of their bingo operation.

In 2000, Coburg entered the revamped VFL as Coburg-Fitzroy, having joined forces with the remnants of the old league Lions.

In 2001, the Burgers formed an alignment with AFL club Richmond to become the Coburg Lions.

Some at Coburg would have preferred the historic club to go on under its own steam but economic realities kicked in.

Taranto says he has no doubt the alignment kept the Lions afloat.

“Robbie saved the club. That will go down in history. He saved the club, made the hard decision, put his head on the line,’’ he says.

“I remember him coming to ask me at the time. I said, ‘Robbie, if we don’t join Richmond, we’re history’.

“I said, ‘Robbie, don’t worry what anyone says, they’ll sit back in 20 years’ time and they’ll thank Robbie Evans because we’ll still be here’.

“I’d argue that with anyone who says any different.’’

Taranto adds: “That’s what I’d say about Robbie, whether it was on the field or off the field, he got the job done.’’

Des Ryan, who served as general manager of Coburg Lions, says Evans was one of a number of people who kept the club operating before the alignment.

He calls Evans a “great Coburg player and person’’.

Last year, in declining health, Evans made the trip to the Gold Coast to watch the Lions play Southport.

He spoke to then Coburg GM Sebastian Spagnuolo, remarking how difficult it was for the Lions as a VFL stand-alone club.

But he said he was proud Coburg was still competing.

Robbie Evans is survived by his wife, Sylvia, and children Finbar, Tom and Marli.

Funeral arrangements are being finalised.