Anthony "Tony" Russell (born 13 January 1961) 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 Collingwood 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). He is also the most prolific forward in the history of the

Hampden Football League The Hampden Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league based in South-Western Victoria, with clubs located in towns along or near the Princes Highway from Camperdown to Portland. The league is a major country l ...

, with a record 1020 goals.''Warrnambool Standard''
"South Warrnambool puts Russell up for top honour"
7 July 2011, Greg Best

Career

Originally from

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

, Russell was only a teenager when he kicked over 100 goals in a season for

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

in the

Western Border Football League The Western Border Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Lower South East region of South Australia, and south-western border region of Victoria. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Foo ...

.''

The Weekly Times The Herald and Weekly Times Pty Ltd (HWT) is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by News Pty Ltd, which as News Ltd, purchased the HWT in 1987. Newspapers The HWT's newspaper interests date b ...

'
"Bush legend: Tony Russell"
27 September 2012,

Ken Piesse Kendrick Bruce Piesse (born 1955) is a Melbourne-based Australian sports journalist, commentator, after-dinner speaker and bookseller. He has written or edited many books and other publications, mostly focusing on cricket and Australian rules foot ...

At the time Hamilton was tied in the VFL Country zone to . Russell played seven VFL games in three seasons at Collingwood.AFL Tables: Anthony Russell
/ref> He kicked four goals when he made his debut, against

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 ...

, in the

1982 VFL season The 1982 VFL season was the 86th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 20 March until 25 September, and comprised a ...

, but his best haul came the following year, with six goals, four of them in the final quarter, against the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

. He crossed to

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 ...

club Preston during 1984 and was a member of their premiership team that year. Although he was kept quiet by the Frankston defenders in the grand final, Russell had played a large role in getting them there, with 10 goals in Preston's semi final win over

Geelong West Geelong West is a commercial and residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. When Geelong was founded, the area was known as Kildare but its name was changed to Geelong West in 1875. The main street is Pakington Street. At the 2016 c ...

.''

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 ...

'
"Russell's 10 goals seal Preston win"
10 September 1984, p. 23 He left Preston at the end of 1984 and was linked to Williamstown during the pre-season. He finished the 1985 season playing for Cavendish in the South West DFL. In 1986 he signed with Beaufort in the Ballarat FL, but a disagreement with the coach and board lead him to request a clearance to South Warrnambool, where he would kick 792 goals, averaging over six a game. He played in three premiership teams and was the Hampden Football League leading-goalkicker every season from 1986 to 1991, then for a seventh time in 1994. During 1992 Russell was unhappy with the way things were being run at the so he decided to seek a clearance to local district club South Rovers in 1993, Russell set a

Warrnambool District Football League Warrnambool District Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the region of rural of Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of ...

record with 165 goals in a season. That tally included a 25-goal haul against Merrivale. Lured back to South Warrnambool for the 1994 season Russell realised the people he had issue with were still there. In 1995 he was lured to Caramut in the Mininera League because of his friendship of Jason Misfud. He kicked 171 goals for Caramut. In 1996 Misfud was appointed Captain-Coach of Hampden club

Koroit Koroit is a small rural town in western Victoria, Australia a few kilometres north of the Princes Highway, north-west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area located amidst rolling green pastur ...

, recruiting Russell to play under him. 3 seasons at Koroit then Russell became captain-coach at

Port Fairy Port Fairy (historically known as Belfast) is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the S ...

, where he brought up his 1000th league goal. He finished his career playing for the

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

sharks in the

Warrnambool & District Football League Warrnambool District Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the region of rural of Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of ...

. Russell, who retired aged 43, is believed to have kicked in excess of 2000 goals over the course of his career and played in 15 grand finals, from which he finished on the premiership winning team nine times. He now works in Broome as a Prison Officer at Broome Regional Prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Tony 1961 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Collingwood Football Club players South Warrnambool Football Club players Koroit Football Club players Port Fairy Football Club players Preston Football Club (VFA) players Coleraine Football Club players Hamilton Football Club players Living people People from Coleraine, Victoria