Norm Smith - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Meanwhile, Ron Barassi was creating a stir in the football world. After his immensely successful stint at Carlton, he had been lured to work his magic on North Melbourne, the only team without a premiership. Smith planned to assist Barassi at North when his health again deteriorated. He died of a cerebral tumour on 29 July 1973 in his home at Pascoe Vale, survived by his wife and son.

Smith's influence was wide-ranging. He increased the importance of the coach in Australian football with innovations such as using a runner for sending messages to his players (in 1955). He raised the standards of fitness and team discipline, which enable the evolution of the so-called "running game" in the 1970s. Although his blunt manner of speaking and intolerance for fools sometimes led him to conflict, he was universally admired and respected for his insightful thinking on the game and his mantra that teamwork was all. Although he was known as a great orator and a stern taskmaster, he was a quiet and retiring man away from the game. Paradoxically, he played and coached largely for the love of the game yet did as much as anyone else to move it forward from a semi-professional sport.