Happy 60th birthday to Robbert Klomp

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Career : 1979 – 1983
Debut : Round 3, 1979 vs Essendon, aged 23 years, 321 days
Carlton Player No. 878
Games : 84
Goals : 17
Last game : Round 11, 1983 vs Essendon, aged 28 years, 21 days
Guernsey No. 22
Height : 183 cm
Weight : 89kg
DOB : 14 May, 1955
Premiership Player: 1979 & 1982

Mention the name Robbert Klomp to any keen Carlton supporter over the age of forty, and you will probably get a reply along the lines of; “oh yes – the bloke that won the television.” But more on this fabled subject later.

Robbert “Clippity” Klomp was born in Holland, and his family later emigrated to South Australia. He played his early football for Heathfield-Aldgate United in the Hills Football League, where he won the 1971 Under-16 Mail Medal. A year later he awarded the Best All Round Player Award for Sturt Colts in the SANFL, and by 1975 he was representing Sturt at senior level. After captaining his state’s Under-21 team, he made his senior interstate debut for South Australia in 1977 against Western Australia, while he was a chemical engineering student.

In the summer of 1978-79 – aged 23 – Klomp arrived at Princes Park with a reputation as one of the best defenders in the country. Strong, courageous and a willing competitor, Klomp was no speedster – but he read the play beautifully, stuck like glue to his opponent and was rarely beaten. Along with fellow debutants Peter Francis, Wayne Johnston and Alex Marcou, Klomp made his VFL debut in Carlton’s first game of 1979 against Essendon, and by the end of that extraordinary season had become Carlton’s Best First Year Player in a Premiership team.

Wearing guernsey number 22, Klomp did not miss a match all season, and showed his qualities under finals pressure with a superb game in the Semi Final against North Melbourne at VFL Park, Waverley – when he thrashed an old foe from Port Adelaide; Russell Ebert. Then in the Grand Final against Collingwood, he was assigned to the Magpies’ powerhouse Rene Kink, and although Klomp racked up only a few possessions, Kink had even fewer, and was hardly sighted after quarter time.

Injury kept Klomp out of the 1981 flag side, but he was back for the 1982 triumph over Richmond. The following year, after 84 games and 17 goals for the Navy Blues, he was cleared to Footscray, where he managed just 9 more games and 3 more goals in two seasons. Klomp then went back home to South Australia, and played out his career with his original club Sturt. Now, about that television set.

On a cold, wet night in 1979 at VFL Park, Carlton played Fitzroy in a pre-season night match. Commentators Lou Richards and Bob Skilton noted on a couple of occasions throughout the game that Carlton’s new SA recruit was keeping a tight rein on Fitzroy’s livewire half-forward Mick Poynton. Carlton won the game comfortably, but Richards was apparently caught unprepared when host Peter Landy asked him to name his best player. “I’d have to give it to..er…Klomp,” said Lou – followed by an awkward silence as Robbert’s statistics flashed up on the screen; 6 kicks, 0 marks, 6 handballs. Klomp won a Thorn 18 inch colour television for his night’s work, while Richards was lampooned for years afterward for rewarding a player with so few possessions. However he and Skilton stuck to their guns, saying that Klomp was indeed a worthy winner, because he had cut a dangerous opponent out of the match.

In mid-2005, Robbert was quoted as saying that after all that time, he was still regularly asked about his performance on that cold night at Waverley – and the colour TV. Apparently by then it was at his daughter’s house, where it was still working well. Even later, in a radio interview on the ABC pre-match in 2007, Klomp claimed his actual stats from Waverley – as recorded by Carlton’s statisticians, were 9 kicks and 9 handballs, and he still maintains a healthy sense of humour about the incident.

In 2010, having returned to Victoria, Klomp was appointed coach of the Donvale Under-18’s in the strong Eastern Football League.

Milestones

50 Games: Round 3, 1981 Vs Fitzroy

Career Highlights

1979 – 5th Best & Fairest
1979 – Best First Year Player
1979 – Premiership Player
1982 – Premiership Player