Haydn Bunton Jr. | |||
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Personal information | |||
Full name | Haydn Austin Bunton | ||
Date of birth | 5 April 1937 | ||
Place of birth | Caulfield, Victoria, Australia | ||
Position(s) | Rover, forward pocket | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
1954–1956 | North Adelaide | 54 (72) | |
1958–1960, 1965–1967 | Norwood | 97 (88) | |
1961–1964 | Swan Districts | 89 (112) | |
1968–1970 | Subiaco | 59 (41) | |
Total | 299 (313) | ||
Representative team honours | |||
Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
1961–64 | Western Australia | 11 (9) | |
unknown | South Australia | 11 (unknown) | |
Coaching career3 | |||
Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
1957–1958, 1965–1967 | Norwood | 101 (52–48–1) | |
1959 | Launceston | 16 (6–10–0) | |
1961–1964 | Swan Districts | 92 (55–35–2) | |
1968–1972, 1984–1992 | Subiaco | 314 (168–145–1) | |
1975–1982 | South Adelaide | 179 (84–93–2) | |
1993–1994 | Sturt | 42 (9–33–0) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1970.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1994.
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Career highlights | |||
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Haydn Austin Bunton (born 5 April 1937) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. The son of the legendary Haydn Bunton Sr., Bunton Jr. played for North Adelaide and Norwood in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as well as Swan Districts and Subiaco in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL).
Bunton was regarded as a tough and skilful player in both South Australia and Western Australia, but it was as a coach that he cemented a reputation alongside his father as one of Australian football’s greatest identities.
Bunton was inducted into the coaches section of the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, as well as the Western Australian Institute of Sport Hall of Champions in 2003 and was made an inaugural member of the WA Football Hall of Fame in 2004 and the SA Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
Born in Caulfield, Victoria, Bunton Jr. moved with his father first to Western Australia and then to South Australia. Bunton was hospitalised for two years from the age of three due to a fractured pelvis and Perthes disease in his hip. He wore leg braces and used crutches until he was aged ten.
Haydn Bunton junior made his debut for North Adelaide at the age of 17, and two years seasons later was named an All-Australian player. In 1955, Bunton senior was killed in a car crash, but the following year, the younger Bunton showed his class as a player by finishing runner-up for the Magarey Medal to Dave Boyd. The following year, Haydn "stood out" as a player due to a transfer dispute with North Adelaide, who would not clear him, but amazingly served as a non-playing coach of Norwood. From 1958 to 1960, he played for Norwood, in spite of a serious knee injury sustained in a car accident in Tasmania in 1959.