Robert Pyman (born 6 October 1971) 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 for

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 ...

, Collingwood and

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 ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) during the 1990s.

Career

AFL

Woodville-West Torrens Woodville-West Torrens Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). It was formed in 1990 from an amalgamation of the neighbouring Woodville and West Torrens football clu ...

'best and fairest' winner in 1992, Pyman was secured by North Melbourne with the sixth pick of that year's

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

, which they received after trading

Paul Spargo Paul Spargo (born 9 October 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne and the Brisbane Bears in the Australian Football League (AFL). A half forward, he is the son of Footscray's Grand Final player Bob Sparg ...

to Brisbane – although Pyman was later personally fined $10,000 when it emerged that he had contacted some of the league's struggling clubs and warned them that he would stay in South Australia if one of those clubs drafted him, which contravened the AFL's draft tampering rules. He nevertheless remained eligible to play for North Melbourne, and took part in the 1993 AFL finals series. However, he managed only five senior appearances over the following two seasons and instead spent the majority of his time in the reserves. In 1996 he crossed to Collingwood but again struggled to play senior football, despite winning the Joseph Wren Memorial Trophy as the best and fairest of the reserves. Pyman's final port of call was Melbourne and for the first time in his career he was a regular in the AFL, playing 19 of a possible 22 games. He received the only Brownlow votes of his career in the same season when he was adjudged 'best on ground' in a loss to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

at the SCG, for getting 18 kicks and eight handballs.

SANFL

Pyman resumed at Woodville-West Torrens in 1998 and topped their goal-kicking with 33 goals. He then turned to coaching and was an assistant to

Dean Laidley Danielle May Laidley (born Dean James Laidley; 27 March 1967) is a former Australian rules football coach and player, who played for the West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1987 to 1997, including ...

at North Melbourne before becoming

South Adelaide The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadium SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

club to fourth position in his third year but after a string of poor performances was sacked and replaced by former Geelong player

Gary Cameron Gary Cameron (born 14 June 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian (VFL) and Australian Football Leagues. Cameron, a Katamatite recruit, who won the Tungamah Football League best and fairest awar ...

late in the 2007 season. He has since lodged a civil claim against South Adelaide for unfair dismissal.

References

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyman, Robert 1971 births Living people North Melbourne Football Club players Collingwood Football Club players Melbourne Football Club players Woodville-West Torrens Football Club players South Adelaide Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from South Australia