John Rantall

John "Mopsy" Rantall (born 9 December 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.

John Rantall
Personal information
Full name John Rantall
Date of birth (1943-12-09) 9 December 1943
Original team(s) Cobden
Height 182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 77 kg (170 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1963–72, 1976–79 South Melbourne 260 0(8)
1973–1975 North Melbourne 070 0(2)
1980 Fitzroy 006 0(0)
Total 336 (10)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1980.
Career highlights
  • North Melbourne Best & Fairest 1974
  • North Melbourne premiership 1975
  • South Melbourne/Sydney Swans Team of the Century
  • North Melbourne Team of the Century
  • Victorian representative (5 games, 0 goals)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Originally from Cobden, Rantall moved to the South Melbourne Football Club, where he debuted in 1963.

In 1973, he moved to North Melbourne Football Club under the VFL's short-lived "10-year rule", which allowed players with ten years' service at one club to move to another club without a clearance,[1] with the intention of playing in a premiership side. He got his wish, winning in 1975; and, then, moving back to South Melbourne for 1976. A reliable defender who worked tirelessly to repel opposition attacks, Rantall had magnificent skills.

He moved to Fitzroy for one last season in 1980, where he played 6 games and broke Kevin Murray's VFL games record.

In total, Rantall played 336 games—260 for South Melbourne (a VFL/AFL club record until 2007), 70 for North Melbourne, and 6 for Fitzroy.

In 1996, Rantall was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Footnotes
  1. The 10-year rule was introduced by the VFL in August 1972, in order to render it immune from the sorts of "restraint of trade" difficulties that were being experienced, at the time, in New South Wales in relation to Rugby League footballers. Although twenty-two VFL players were eligible under the rule, only George Bisset, Barry Davis, Carl Ditterich, Rantall, Adrian Gallagher, and Doug Wade, took advantage of it — transferring to Collingwood, North Melbourne, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Footscray, and North Melbourne (respectively). The rule was rescinded in May 1973.

References
  • Ross, John (1999). The Australian Football Hall of Fame. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 110. ISBN 0-7322-6426-X.
  • Australian Football Hall of Fame


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