SPROULE, Paul

Paul Sproule was a fine half-forward, rover and centreman who came from Hobart in 1967 but didn't play a senior game in that year because of a broken leg.

He finally debuted in Round 1 1968 against Hawthorn, kicking five goals in Essendon's 73 point win. He finished that year with nine games and 11 goals and was in the forward pocket and rover in the team that lost the Grand Final to Carlton.

Sproule played 17 games in 1969 and 21 games in 1970, finishing runner-up in Essendon's Best and Fairest award that year. He was also equal top Brownlow Medal vote scorer at Essendon with 7 votes, and equal third top goalkicker in that year.

Although he had been one of the key players in Essendon's player payment crisis of 1971, it was still a surprise that he was cleared to Richmond in 1972. He became a star there and played 86 games between 1972 and 1975, including in the the 1973 and 1974 premiership sides.

Sproule then went to Sandy Bay in Tasmania from 1976 to 1978 as captain-coach, winning three premierships, followed by Hobart in 1979 and 1980, winning another flag in 1980. He returned to Sandy Bay as coach in 1983 and 1984.

He coached Richmond for a season in 1985.

Sproule was an inaugural inductee in the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame in 2005 and elevated to Icon status in 2016. He is also a member of the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame.