Robert "Robbie" Dykes 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 ...

player and coach. He played for Glenorchy and

New Norfolk New Norfolk is a town on the Derwent River (Tasmania), River Derwent, in the south-east of Tasmania, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2011, 2011 census, New Norfolk had a population of 5,543. Situated north-west of Hobart on the Lyell Hi ...

in the

Tasmanian Australian National Football League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian ru ...

. Dykes made his debut for Glenorchy in 1970 at the age of 16. He won a premiership in 1975, and played in twelve consecutive

grand finals Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

from 1975 to 1986. He played for New Norfolk as a

captain-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

from 1981 to 1983, winning the premiership in 1982, before returning to Glenorchy and winning further premierships with them in 1985 and 1986. Dykes won the

William Leitch Medal The William Leitch Medal, named after the highly regarded former Australian rules player and Tasmanian Football Administrator William Douglas Leitch (1863-1943), was an annual award which was presented to the best and fairest player in the TANFL ...

for the league'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 ...

in 1981, as well as the Glenorchy best and fairest in 1985. He was named 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 ...

in both Glenorchy's Team of the Century and New Norfolk's Best Team of 1947–2001. Dykes was inducted into the

Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame The Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame was established to help recognise outstanding services and overall contribution made to the sport of Australian rules football in Tasmania. Any participant of the sport, including players, umpires, media person ...

in 2008. Dykes' father

Jimmy Dykes James Joseph Dykes (November 10, 1896 – June 15, 1976) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a third and second baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Philadelph ...

was a Scottish international soccer player, while his son Andrew Dykes was a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er for

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dykes, Robbie Living people 1950s births Glenorchy Football Club players New Norfolk Football Club players New Norfolk Football Club coaches Australian people of Scottish descent Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees