| Robert Wiley | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Robert John Wiley | ||
| Date of birth | (1955-03-24)24 March 1955 (age 69) | ||
| Place of birth | Kalgoorlie, Western Australia | ||
| Original team(s) | Manning JFC /Scotch College | ||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Rover | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1974–78, 1984–88 | Perth | 174 (407)[note 1] | |
| 1979–1983 | Richmond | 95 (127) | |
| 1987 | West Coast | 18(24) | |
| Total | 287 (558) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 1974–1986 | Western Australia | 14 (27) | |
| Victoria | 2 | ||
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1988–89 | Perth | 42 (20–22–0) | |
| 1998 | Western Australia | 1 (0–1–0) | |
| 2016–2018 | East Fremantle | 58 (14–44–0) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1989. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2018. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Robert John Wiley (born 24 March 1955) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who played for thePerth Football Club in theWest Australian Football League (WAFL) and for theRichmond Football Club andWest Coast Eagles in theVictorian Football League (VFL).
An inaugural member of theWest Australian Football Hall of Fame, Wiley is regarded as one of the finest rovers of his era. He later coached Perth andEast Fremantle, and was an assistant coach at West Coast.
Born inKalgoorlie, and educated atScotch College, Wiley waszoned toPerth in the WANFL, making his debut for them in 1974 at the age of 19. He won the Butcher Medal as Perth'sbest and fairest in his first season. He was a member of premiership sides in 1976 and 1977, and in that latter season kicked over eighty goals despite missing nine weeks through injury before the Grand Final. Remarkably for a rover, Wiley twice kicked ten goals in a match in 1977, including once againstWest Perth where he had forty-two possessions for ten goals and four behinds.[1] An exceptionally pacy rover, Wiley played with Perth before and after his VFL stint and won a club record eight best and fairest awards in total. He finished with 174 senior games and coached the club in 1988 and 1989. In 2015, Wiley was inducted into the Perth Hall of Fame, as one of its four inaugural members of its elite 'Mighty Demons' category.[2]
Richmond had recruited Wiley in 1979 and he played in their1980 VFL Grand Final winning side. He kicked forty goals in 1982 and left the club the following season, returning to Western Australia where in 1987 he would return to the VFL for a season with the newly formed West Coast.
In 2021, Wiley was inducted into theAustralian Football Hall of Fame and was inducted by former teammate and close friendMick Malthouse.[3]
After his season with West Coast, Wiley returned as coach of his old club Perth, succeedingMal Brown. In his first season (1988), Wiley took the Demons to their second season with more wins than losses since the1978 WANFL season, and they were unlucky not to make the finals, losing out only when South Fremantle and East Fremantle beat top two sides Claremont and Subiaco in the final round after having been third for most of the season.[4] The following year, however, Perth fell away to sixth after being last for a substantial period and Wiley's contract was not renewed. He still has the best win–loss record, however, of any coach of Perth sinceKen Armstrong retired. Wiley later was the last State of Origin coach for Western Australian in 1998. He was for many years an assistant coach with former club West Coast, being a runner for the clubs first two premierships in1992 and1994 under his 1980 Richmond premiership teammateMick Malthouse, he was an assistant to John Worsfold in the2006 premiership win. At the end of 2012, Wiley reunited with Malthouse atCarlton. He was appointed to the role of director development and coaching.[5]
After leaving Carlton, Wiley was appointed the coach ofEast Fremantle in the WAFL, for 2016 to 2018 seasons. In 2021, Wiley returned to West Coast as its WAFL team coach from the 2022 season, he is also the Eagles number 1 ticket holder for the 2021 and 2022 AFL seasons.
