Australian sporting icon Ron Barassi has died, aged 87

"Barassi (was) the most important figure in Australian football of the last 70 years since the Second World War. He revolutionised the game as a player - created the position of ruck rover - built premiership success at clubs as a coach and then was our first great evangelist to take the game north and grow it to become what we have today. He was known all across Australia when football wasn't always known." - AFL chairman Richard Goyder

"Ron Barassi always wanted to see the next development, the next step and the next achievement for footy, while loving the game and what it took to play at the highest level. He was fierce, challenging and determined and he loved most of all, the next contest for the ball, and watched games with an eye for the skills of the game and the courage and desire to play it well." - AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan

"There is no more dangerous man in football than Ron Barassi with his back to the wall." - Richmond great Royce Hart, 1977, The Coach

"I've come to this conclusion about Barassi. I played under Jock McHale, who was the prince of coaches. Then I saw 'Checker' Hughes, possibly the duke of coaches. Then there was Norm Smith, one of the geniuses of coaches. Then there was Reg Hickey, the general of coaches. Then we had Phonse Kyne - possibly the gentleman of coaches. Then we had Jack Dyer, to a lesser degree, the court jester of coaches. But Ron Barassi, to my way of thinking, is the greatest coach that football has ever know". - Lou Richards on Channel Seven's World Of Sport, 1977, The Coach

"Ron was a much-loved character and friend to so many of us around the club which is why he will be so deeply missed. Ron was more than a player and coach. He was an icon of the game, and a true Melbourne person. His legacy will forever be etched in the history of the game. The entire football community has lost a giant, but Ron's spirit and impact will live on through the game that he loved so dearly." - Melbourne chief executive Gary Pert

"Arguably our game's greatest name, a giant of Australian Football, who left a legacy at every club whose doors he walked through the doors of, none more so than our own. How fitting that just last night, two clubs in which he left such an impact should play out a final that typified the toughness, ferocious competitiveness and passion that symbolised so much that was great about Ron." - Carlton president Luke Sayers

"Ron was a giant of the game and for a time he was ours ... he was much more than a coach - he was a man of the game and the game will forever owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. Ron will always be our first premiership coach and he'll always be a North Melbourne legend." - North Melbourne president Dr Sonja Hood

"Ron was a wonderful person and had a huge influence on the Swans, for which we are forever grateful." - Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham

Australian Associated Press