Robert Withers is a former Australian rules footballer who played in Tasmania and for

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...

, noted for his selection in the 1961

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 b ...

team. Withers was a regular member of the Port Melbourne side during the 1950s and represented the VFA in 1957, 1958, and 1959. He moved to Tasmania in 1960 and joined NTFA club North Launceston as captain-coach, steering the club to premierships in 1961 and 1963. In his first year at North Launceston he played in the Tasmanian interstate team that scored its first-ever win against a VFL team on 13 June 1960.Devaney, J., "Big V humbled in the Apple Isle", ''australianfoootball.com''.
/ref> He represented Tasmania on 15 occasions in total and was an All-Australian at the

1961 Brisbane Carnival The 1961 Brisbane Carnival was the 15th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It was the last carnival to be held in Queensland. It was one of the most competitive carnivals to ...

. Twice, in games against the VFA, Withers captained Tasmania and he won a Lefroy Medal in 1963. His coaching career continued after he has retired as a player; and he was in charge of Launceston when they won the 1969 premiership. Withers also served as assistant coach of Essendon in 1970, and later was coach of both Devonport and East Devonport.

Footnotes

External links

Bob Withers: ''australianfoootball.com''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Withers, Bob North Launceston Football Club players Port Melbourne Football Club players North Launceston Football Club coaches Launceston Football Club coaches All-Australians (1953–1988) Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Devonport Football Club coaches