Biography
Robert Alan Flower was born on 5 August 1955 in Melbourne, Victoria, and grew up in the suburb of Murrumbeena where he developed his football through the local club of the same name. He was recruited by Melbourne and debuted in Round 10 of the 1973 season against Geelong at the MCG at just 17 years of age, winning the club’s Best First Year Player award.
Flower operated primarily as a wingman and half-forward flanker, bringing to those roles an elegance and technical precision that set him apart from his contemporaries. He was not a bulldozing physical presence but a player who read the game exceptionally well, used the ball with accuracy in both directions, and maintained an extraordinarily high standard of performance week after week for a club that gave him very little in return.
His individual record was exceptional by any measure. He won Melbourne’s best and fairest award in 1977 and finished second in the award on four separate occasions. He led the club’s goalkicking in 1979, 1983 and 1987 – remarkable returns for a wingman. He was named All-Australian in 1980 and 1983 and was named in the VFL Team of the Year on three occasions. He represented Victoria 15 times and captained the state in 1983.
He was appointed Melbourne captain in 1981 and held the role until the end of his career in 1987. As the 1986 season drew to its close, Melbourne placed newspaper advertisements asking the public for donations to allow the club to recruit a high-profile player – the headline “Please give Robbie one last chance to play in a final” capturing the depth of respect and sympathy the football world held for a player who had given everything to a club that had consistently fallen short. Melbourne did reach the 1987 finals – their first appearance since 1964 – and Flower played brilliantly, kicking five goals against North Melbourne in the Elimination Final and four against Sydney the following week. His final game came against Hawthorn in the Preliminary Final, when Gary Buckenara’s goal after the siren ended both Melbourne’s season and Flower’s career.
He retired with 272 games and 315 goals, all for Melbourne. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame and named on the wing in Melbourne’s Team of the Century. Robert Flower passed away on 2 October 2014 at the age of 59 – a loss mourned throughout the football world and a reminder of the immense goodwill he had earned across four decades in and around the game.
