Australian Football

An imposing key position player at either end of the ground, Paul Roos enjoyed a spectacularly successful 17-season career at the top level. He joined Fitzroy from Beverley Hills and made his VFL debut in 1982 as a wingman, but it was when moved to centre half back that he truly blossomed. The fact that he was also capable of doing a 'pinchhitting' job up forward is clearly evidenced by his accomplishment in averaging a goal a match over the course of his 269 game stint with the Lions (he actually finished with 270 goals).

Roos was a warm pre-count favourite for the 1986 Brownlow Medal, but ultimately finished second. He did pick up numerous other trophies and accolades, however, including five Fitzroy best and awards, All Australian selection in 1985, 1987 and 1988, and AFL All Australian selection in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1997. Crossing to Sydney in 1995 he continued to play fine football in 87 games over his final four seasons, mainly at centre half back.

A Victorian representative on 14 occasions, Roos was a dual winner of the EJ Whitten Medal. He remained at Sydney as a member of the coaching staff when he retired as a player, and in 2002 he took over from Rodney Eade as the club's senior coach. To the delight of long-suffering Swans' fans, particularly those who were supporters of the club in its original guise as South Melbourne, Roos' coached Sydney to a flag in 2005, ending the longest premiership drought in VFL/AFL history, 72 years.

He continued to coach the Swans until handing over the reins to John Longmire at the close of the 2010 season. A testament to Paul Roos the coach is the fact that, in eight full seasons under his coaching leadership, the Swans missed the finals only once. Roos then became a television commentator, and his ability to analyse the game in that role was highly-respected.

Throughout his time in the media, Roos continued to be linked with various AFL clubs as a potential coach, before eventually being enticed to Melbourne, a club enduring its poorest era. Taking over a side that had finished second-last with just two wins in 2013, Roos doubled the Demons win tally in 2014 (although they again finished only one place away from the bottom of the ladder) and took them to seven wins and a 13th-placed finish in 2015.

Author - John Devaney and Andrew Gigacz