Rodney 'Balls' Grinter (born 26 May 1965) is a former

Australian rules 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 ...

footballer who played for

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 VFL and AFL. Grinter is most remembered for an incident in Round 2 of the

1988 VFL season The 1988 VFL season was the 92nd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition and administrative body in Victoria, and by reason of it featuring clubs from New South Wales, Queensl ...

when he punched Footscray defender

Terry Wallace Terry Wallace (born 13 December 1958) is a former professional Australian rules football player and coach. As a player, his career spanned three VFL/AFL clubs; most notably Hawthorn where he played in three premierships. After one season with ...

in the face, rendering Wallace unconscious. Both field umpires failed to report Grinter for the incident, but he received a six-week suspension for the incident after a VFL investigation. Later that season he appeared in Melbourne's losing Grand Final side against Hawthorn. He was also suspended for nine matches in 1990 following a number of incidents in a game against Richmond at the MCG. Grinter was part of the famous finish to the 1987 Preliminary Final when Hawthorn defeated Melbourne with a goal kicked after the final siren. Melbourne led by 4 points with only a few seconds remaining when Grinter conceded a free kick to

Gary Buckenara Gary William Buckenara (born 3 July 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Subiaco Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). R ...

fifty metres from goal. As Grinter stood on the mark, his teammate

Jim Stynes James Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become o ...

ran between him and Buckenara and the siren sounded. This resulted in a 15-metre penalty and brought the Hawthorn forward within range. Buckenara kicked the decisive goal (his 5th for the match) and eliminated Melbourne. After playing most of his career in defence, Grinter was moved into the forward line in 1993 and rejuvenated his career kicking 21 goals. He managed only 9 games the following year, Grinter stayed on the list as a supplementary player in 1995 serving as reserves captain mentoring the younger players. He was later employed by the Demons as a match day runner. Grinter was coach of

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 Statewide Football League during the 1996, 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 11 , , 13 , , 9 , , 81 , , 39 , , 120 , , 31 , , 0 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 7.4 , , 3.5 , , 10.9 , , 2.8 , , 0.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 11 , , 9 , , 10 , , 96 , , 45 , , 141 , , 40 , , 0 , , 0.8 , , 0.9 , , 8.7 , , 4.1 , , 12.8 , , 3.6 , , 0.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 18 , , 2 , , 3 , , 230 , , 48 , , 278 , , 67 , , 12 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 12.8 , , 2.7 , , 15.4 , , 3.7 , , 0.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 19 , , 0 , , 4 , , 169 , , 72 , , 241 , , 48 , , 25 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 8.9 , , 3.8 , , 12.7 , , 2.5 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 19 , , 4 , , 4 , , 160 , , 74 , , 234 , , 47 , , 22 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 8.4 , , 3.9 , , 12.3 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 13 , , 5 , , 2 , , 103 , , 48 , , 151 , , 36 , , 17 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 7.9 , , 3.7 , , 11.6 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 16 , , 1 , , 2 , , 129 , , 32 , , 161 , , 34 , , 20 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 8.1 , , 2.0 , , 10.1 , , 2.1 , , 1.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 3 , , 0 , , 0 , , 29 , , 8 , , 37 , , 8 , , 4 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 9.7 , , 2.7 , , 12.3 , , 2.7 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 15 , , 21 , , 6 , , 96 , , 41 , , 137 , , 49 , , 8 , , 1.4 , , 0.4 , , 6.4 , , 2.7 , , 9.1 , , 3.3 , , 0.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 9 , , 2 , , 0 , , 44 , , 16 , , 60 , , 9 , , 7 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 4.9 , , 1.8 , , 6.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 134 ! 57 ! 40 ! 1137 ! 423 ! 1560 ! 369 ! 115 ! 0.4 ! 0.3 ! 8.5 ! 3.2 ! 11.6 ! 2.8 ! 1.0

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

*
Demon Wiki profile

Rod Grinter Player Profile bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grinter, Rod 1965 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Melbourne Football Club players New Norfolk Football Club players New Norfolk Football Club coaches