| Robert Oatey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Robert Reginald Oatey | ||
| Date of birth | (1942-08-16)16 August 1942 | ||
| Date of death | 17 September 2019(2019-09-17) (aged 77) | ||
| Place of death | Adelaide, South Australia | ||
| Position(s) | Rover | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1961–1973 | Norwood | 232 (365) | |
| 1974–1978 | Sturt | 69(67) | |
| Total | 301 (432) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| South Australia | 9 (?) | ||
| Coaching career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1968–1973 | Norwood | 126 (51–71–4) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1978. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Source:AustralianFootball.com | |||
Robert Reginald OateyOAM (16 August 1942 – 17 September 2019)[1][2] was anAustralian rules footballer who played withNorwood andSturt in theSouth Australian National Football League (SANFL). He was a member of theSouth Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Oatey, the son of South Australian football greatJack Oatey, captained the first eighteen at Norwood Boy's High School winning the Hone Medal for Fairest and Best in the High School competition in 1959 and 1960. In 1960 Robert was invited to join the Norwood thirds (U19) for 4 games as a Reserve after playing for his school. He then played in the SANFL second semi and Grand Final which Norwood won by defeating North Adelaide FC 13 goals to one with Robert winning the prize of $10 as best player on the ground.[3]
A rover, Oatey kicked a goal with his first kick in league football for Norwood, in the 1961 season.[4] He was amongst Norwood's best players in the loss toWest Adelaide in the 1961 SANFL Grand Final.[5]
Oatey won Norwood'sbest and fairest award for the first time in 1967 and was also the club's leading goalkicker.[6] The following season he began a six-year tenure as Norwood's captain-coach, during which time he played his best football.[3] He was runner up toBarrie Robran in the 1968Magarey Medal count, in his first year as coach, a season when Norwoodfinished last on the ladder.[4] He won another club best and fairest that year, then again in 1971 and 1972. Under Oatey, Norwood improved to fifth in 1970 and were fourth in both 1972 and 1973, but he would be replaced as coach by former North Adelaide playerBob Hammond in 1974.[7]
From 1974 to 1978, Oatey played for Sturt, which were coached by his father.[3][6] He was a Sturt premiership player in 1974, when the club defeatedGlenelg in thegrand final.[3]
His nine interstate appearances forSouth Australia includes games at the1966 Hobart and1969 Adelaide Carnivals.[8][9]
While at Norwood, Oatey played with his brotherPeter, who also played tennis at theAustralian Championships in the 1960s.[10]
Following his retirement from playing, Robert Oatey became a television commentator for SANFL games, working with Adelaide'sChannel 7 andChannel 9 alongside others such asBruce McAvaney,Ian Day,Peter Marker, Rick Keegan andGraham Campbell.
In 2000, Oatey was named as aforward pocket in Norwood's Team of the Century.[11]
Oatey was an inaugural inductee into theSouth Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2002.[6]
He received theMedal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2008, for his "service to Australian Rules football as a coach and as a contributor to the development of younger players."[12]