Ronald Charles Eric Bywater (8 January 1919 – 18 May 1975) was an

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 with South Melbourne 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). A key position player, Bywater missed many games early in his career due to his war service. He made just two appearances from 1942 to 1945. During the 1946 season, in July, Bywater announced his retirement, due to heart problems. He however returned the following year and in what was his first full season came within five votes of winning the 1947

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

, finishing equal third and was runner up to Bill Williams in the 1947 club best and fairest award. As a result of a broken ankle, Bywater was out of action for much of the 1948 season. He was used up forward in 1949 and kicked 25 goals from his 16 appearances. Only Dick Jones kicked more goals for South Melbourne that year. Bywater left South Melbourne midway through the 1950 season and joined Corowa, a club which he would later coach? He was reunited with former teammate Billy King, the then captain-coach. Bywater transferred to the Rutherglen Football Club in 1951.

References

1919 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Sydney Swans players Corowa Football Club players Corowa Football Club coaches Australian Army personnel of World War II 1975 deaths Australian Army soldiers Military personnel from Melbourne {{AFL-bio-1919-stub