BORN in Mount Barker in regional South Australia, Robert "Bobbie" Barnes, with his parents, moved to Broken Hill when he was young.

Barnes started played his early football for West Broken Robins Hill Football Club in the Barrier Ranges Football Association, winning the Kenwrick Medal for best and fairest player in the competition in 1918.

A rover, he was recruited by West Adelaide of the 1921 s...