Daryl O'Brien

Daryl O'Brien

Personal information
Birth	10 September 1941 (1941-09-10) (age 70)
Recruited from	West Coburg
Height and weight	179 cm / 81.5 kg
Playing career¹
Debut	20 August 1960, North Melbourne v. Hawthorn, at Glenferrie Oval
Team(s)	North Melbourne (1960, 1962-69) 135 games, 8 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 1969 season
Career highlights
North Melbourne Kangaroos Night Premiership 1965, 1966 Geo. Woodbridge Memorial Trophy (runner-up for North Melbourne Best and Fairest)1964 Represented Australia in "The Galahs" Australian Football World Tour 1968 North Melbourne Deputy Vice-Captain 1969 North Melbourne Football Club life member 1969 Captain-coach of VFA side Brunswick 1972 - 1973 seasons, Grand Finalists 1973; named in Brunswick FC's "team of the century". North Melbourne match committee (team selector) for 1974 (runners-up) and 1975 (premiers) VFL seasons

Daryl Ernest O'Brien (born 10 September 1941) is a former Australian rules footballer who played 135 games for the North Melbourne Kangaroos during the 1960s.

A tenacious utility player who often started on the half-back flank, he was also considered one of the toughest and most effective "taggers" of the period^[1] and one of the hardest men to beat one-on-one in the league.^[2] Indeed, O'Brien's tagging role embodied a who's who of top players of that era, including Ron Barassi, Bobby Skilton, Peter Hudson, Alex Jesaulenko, Peter Crimmins, Darrel Baldock, Roger Dean, John Sharrock, Des Tuddenham, Ted Whitten and John Northey, to name a few.

Recruited from West Coburg, O'Brien captained North Melbourne's Under 19 side for two years before playing a handful of senior games as half-forward flanker in the 1960 season. He was dropped to the reserves for the whole of 1961, but was invited to train by both Essendon and Footscray, and shortly before the start of the 1962 season he actually formally requested a clearance to Footscray. However, O'Brien was retained in the North Melbourne line-up and reinvented himself as a half-back flanker where he excelled, justifying North's decision to refuse the transfer. He became a stalwart in the Kangaroo side for the next eight seasons, and in 1964 was runner-up to Noel Teasdale in the Syd Barker Medal, North Melbourne's Best and Fairest award.

In 1968, O'Brien was selected to represent Australia as part of the Australian Football World Tour, the second of the international rules football series against Ireland.

In 1970, O'Brien joined VFA team Brunswick, and was appointed the dual role of captain-coach at the end of the 1971 season.^[3] He led the side to a 2nd Division Grand Final appearance in 1973, after which he announced his playing days were over.

O'Brien went on to serve in the North Melbourne Match Committee as a team selector under premiership coach Ron Barassi.

While playing senior football, O'Brien studied to become a licensed realtor and auctioneer, eventually becoming a director and later partner of a real estate business in Melbourne, Victoria. He is now retired and lives in Gowanbrae, Victoria.

Notes

1. ^ "Taggers worth plenty - to a man", Mike Sheahan on Monday, The Herald, 14 June 1982
2. ^ N-O
3. ^ "O'Brien coach of Brunswick", The Age, 25 November 1971

References

• Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (1998). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: Every AFL/VFL Player Since 1897. Melbourne: Information Australia. ISBN 1-86350-243-2. 

External links

• Daryl O'Brien Playing Statistics
• Daryl O'Brien player bio (and scan of 1968 Scanlen's bubblegum "footy card")

Persondata
Name	Obrien, Daryl
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	10 September 1941
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death