Daryl Ernest O'Brien (born 10 September 1941) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played 135 games for the

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) during the 1960s. A tenacious

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

who often started on the

half-back flank In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-back ...

, he was also considered one of the toughest and most effective " taggers" of the period and one of the hardest men to beat one-on-one in the league. O'Brien's tagging role embodied a

who's who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

of top players of that era, including

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 into ...

, Bobby Skilton,

Peter Hudson Peter John Hudson AM (born 19 February 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the New Norfolk Football Club and Glenorchy Football Club in the Ta ...

Alex Jesaulenko Oleksandr "Alex" Jesaulenko ( ; uk, Олександр Васильович Єсауленко, Oleksandr Vasiliovych Yesaulenko, ; born 2 August 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer and who played for the Carlton Football Club and t ...

Peter Crimmins Peter Crimmins (8 July 1948 – 28 September 1976) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). "Crimmo" was known as a lightly-built but courageous and skilful rover whose ...

Darrel Baldock Darrel John Baldock AM (29 September 1938 – 2 February 2011) was an Australian sportsman and state politician. He played Australian rules football for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), East Devonport Footba ...

, Roger Dean,

John Sharrock John Sharrock (born 16 February 1944) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL during the 1960s. Football Sharrock played most of his career as a half forward flanker and was a premiership player in 1963, hi ...

Des Tuddenham Desmond Vincent Tuddenham (born 29 January 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. Early years and football career Tuddenham was born and raised in Ro ...

Ted Whitten Edward James Whitten Sr. OAM (27 July 1933 – 17 August 1995) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Born and raised into a working-class family in Footscray, Whit ...

and

John Northey John Neville Northey (born 29 June 1943) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played from 1963 to 1970 with the Richmond Football Club. Northey was a dual premiership player with Richmond, winning flags in 1967 and 1969. H ...

. Recruited from West Coburg, O'Brien captained North Melbourne's under-19 side for two years before playing a handful of senior games as a half-forward flanker in the 1960 season. He was dropped to the reserves for the whole of 1961. In the lead-up to the 1962 season, O'Brien was invited to train by both

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

and Footscray. O'Brien formally requested a clearance to Footscray, seeing that as an opportunity to again play at the senior level. This prompted a re-think by North Melbourne and he was retained, reinventing himself as a half-back flanker and utility player. He excelled in these roles, justifying North's decision to turn down the transfer. O'Brien became a stalwart in the Kangaroo side for the next eight seasons, and in 1964 was runner-up to

Noel Teasdale Noel Teasdale (born 2 January 1938) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL/AFL, Victorian Football League (VFL) and the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Originally from Daylesford Football Club, Daylesf ...

in the

Syd Barker Medal The Syd Barker Medal is awarded to the North Melbourne Football Club player who has been judged the best and fairest of the footy season. The award has been given out continuously since 1937. Before then it was known as the Syd Barker Memorial Tr ...

, North Melbourne's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award. In 1968, O'Brien was selected to represent Australia as part of the

Australian Football World Tour The Australian Football World Tour was a series of international rules football matches, organised by football sports broadcaster and former VFL umpire Harry Beitzel and Irish born Melburnian, James Harkin in 1967 and 1968. First tour The first ...

, the second of the

international rules football 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 develope ...

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 ...

. In 1970, O'Brien joined

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFA) team Brunswick, and was appointed the dual role of captain-coach at the end of the 1971 season."O'Brien coach of Brunswick",

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

, 25 November 1971 He led the side to a Second Division Grand Final appearance in 1973, after which he announced his playing days were over. O'Brien went on to serve in the North Melbourne match committee as a team selector under premiership coach

. While playing senior football, O'Brien studied to become a licensed realtor and auctioneer, eventually becoming a director and later partner of a real estate business in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Victoria. He is now retired and lives in Gowanbrae, Victoria.

Notes

References

External links

*
Daryl O'Brien player bio
(and scan of 1968 Scanlen's bubblegum "footy card")
Super8 film taken during the 1968 'Galahs' Football World Tour by Daryl O'Brien
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Daryl 1941 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) North Melbourne Football Club players Brunswick Football Club players Brunswick Football Club coaches Australian auctioneers Living people