John Rantall

1963-1972; 1976-1979
260 games
8 goals
Captain 1969, 1972
Swans Team of the Century
AFL Hall of Fame

Bio 

Even in the rough and tumbled world of country footy, a 12-year-old boy playing in the seniors is rare. But, for John Rantall, filling in for his local team, Scott's Creek, that was a reality. He told Jim Main, "I was bloody petrified as I was small and skinny and playing against these big hairy men who did not care who or what got in their way to win the ball."

That daunting introduction instilled a great sense of judgment, and when he came up against kids his age, Rantall began to shine. At 16, his Dad drove a group of young Scott's Creek boys to nearby Cobden twice a week to develop their skills in the tougher Hampden League. Playing in Cobden's Under 18s, Rantall won the competition's best and fairest, placing him firmly on the radar of numerous VFL clubs.

Ahead of the 1963 season, Geelong, Carlton, Footscray and South Melbourne showed interest. As a Cats supporter, Rantall had a clear favourite, but eventually, the Swans won his signature. He debuted at 19, wearing number five, and after only six games in the red and white, Victorian selectors chose the impressive youngster to play on a half-back flank for the state team.

It wasn't all rosy, though. In Australian Football Action, Rantall told Howard Leigh of his first confrontation with Swans coach Noel McMahon. Slight in stature, Rantall stood before his new coach, who asked, 'What position do you play, son?'.

"I'm a half-back flanker, sir, I said, and he grabbed me by the shoulders and said, 'Gee son, you have got skinny legs; I don't think you will make it," Rantall recalled.

Despite that dire prediction, 'Mopsy' Rantall quickly became a South Melbourne mainstay and a Lake Oval favourite. For the Swans, though, the 1960s were plagued by a lack of experience and inconsistency. Although Bob Skilton won his second Brownlow Medal in Rantall's debut season, the team only won four games. In fact, for the entire decade, South didn't finish higher than eighth.

Throughout his formative seasons, Rantall impressed with the consistency and quality of his all-round skills. Still, when the AFL's Coach of the Century, Norm Smith, arrived at South Melbourne in 1969, he truly began to reach his potential. In Red Fox, author Ben Collins describes how the newly-appointed Smith berated Rantall and teammate Paul Harrison for their off-field behaviours.

Rantall said, "If I hadn't come across Smithy, I reckon I might have played only 130-140 games and then disappeared. I've got him to thank for turning my whole life around—not just football. I was burning the candle at both ends, and I had this opportunity with my football, and I wasn't respecting it, but Norm taught me that respect."

Knuckling down, Rantall vowed to become the best player he could be, and when Skilton succumbed to a knee injury, Rantall became Swans captain for the '69 campaign. After a solid season that Smith called an 'assessment year', the Swans of 1970 were an altogether stronger outfit, hungry to end a 25-year finals drought.

Smith started playing Rantall in roles that required high levels of defensive accountability. Performing in the fullback and centre half-back positions, he was assigned tasks the magnitude of stopping Hawthorn's Peter Hudson. Despite conceding considerable height, weight and speed, Rantall regularly outplayed his opposition forwards by supreme application and tenacity.

His willingness to embrace a challenge helped set a platform for South's attacking players to launch. The young Swans finished fourth and faced St Kilda in a semi-final that drew 104,329 to the MCG. However, South Melbourne's first finals match since 1945 didn't go to plan, and the Saints prevailed by 53 points. Sadly, it would be the only September appearance for Bloods Legends Bob Skilton and Peter Bedford.

After Skilton's retirement in 1971, Rantall was appointed captain of the Swans for the 1972 season. However, it wasn't a happy one, and by the end of the year, the club parted ways with Smith, and Rantall, being pursued by North Melbourne – looking to exploit a loophole in the VFL's short-lived 10-year rule – entertained a move that would change his life.

Rantall was 30 and married, with a young child. He'd just purchased a home in Mulgrave and managed a chemical company by day. "I hadn't had the house very long when Ron Joseph, Albert Mantello and Allen Aylett (North Melbourne officials) came in and said, 'we want to sign you up'," Rantall later said.

"They're sitting there on the lounge, and all of a sudden, they open this bag, and they pull out this great, big square box of money. There was $10,000 there, all $20 bills. They threw it across, and it bounced off the couch. I had just bought a house for $12,250. I had two mortgages on it. I thought I'd never pay the thing off because, in those days, that's a lot of money."

The lure of premiership success also influenced Rantall's decision to join North. With Ron Barassi in charge, the Kangaroos recruited for a flag, and Rantall played a critical role in the club securing the 1975 VFL premiership. Barassi described Rantall as 'irreplaceable' and said the star defender would be 'the first player he would pick for any football side'.

All along, Rantall promised a South Melbourne homecoming once he'd won a premiership. Upon his return in 1976, he said, "I had a great time at North, but I went there to do a job, which we did, and now I'm back where I belong."

Triple Brownlow Medallist Ian Stewart joined the Swans as senior coach in 1976 and quickly built a reputation as one of the game's finest tacticians. He moulded a competitive young team around experienced players like Rantall, Greg Lambert, Gary Brice and captain Ricky Quade. For just the second time in 32 years, the Swans played a final.

In The Football Record's pen-pix for that game, Rantall is described as "The veteran of the side, but still a great player who knows all the tricks of the trade. His dashes from the half-back line or the covering of a star opponent are still not beyond this topliner."

Unfortunately, Richmond proved too strong, defeating South by 34 points. In 1978, Rantall passed Skilton's club games record, and after the 1979 season, he'd played 260 games for the Swans – a record that stood for almost 30 years – until surpassed by Michael O'Loughlin in 2007. Rantall presented O'Loughlin with his guernsey that day, saying, "It was a moment I really cherish."

Along with the 70 games he played with North, Rantall was jettisoned on 330 career games – four short of the all-time VFL record – when he was told that he was no longer in South's best side. Fitzroy provided the opportunity to play on, and he set a new benchmark on May 10, 1980, when he passed Kevin Murray's 333. He retired two weeks later, on 336.

In 1981, Rantall briefly took charge of the Swans as coach during the relocation turmoil. He selflessly stepped aside as the club ultimately moved to Sydney. Summing up his incredible career, Rantall told Mike Sheahan, "It was all an adventure. I wanted to play one game. In my wildest dreams, coming down from the bush, I never thought I'd end up playing 336."