Quinlan had recently moved to Baxter and complained that he had not been notified in time by Fitzroy, but the VFL's administration manager Alan Schwab dismissed these as "inadequate excuses".
[5] In December 1979, the Lions and the football public were shocked when it was announced by club president Frank Bibby that Quinlan had told the committee he wanted to devote more time to his farm.
With a year remaining on his contract, Fitzroy were desperate to retain his services and made Quinlan a substantial financial offer to stay.
Quinlan led a formidable forward line in the mid-1980s with the likes of Michael Conlan, Garry Wilson, David McMahon and Gary Sidebottom.
Quinlan was picked up in the January 1972 national service intake and posted to Puckapunyal with Footscray teammate Peter Welsh.
[12] Quinlan was then replaced by Alan McConnell as caretaker senior coach of Fitzroy Football Club for the rest of the 1995 season.
[citation needed] In 2017, Quinlan joined former footballers Don Scott and Tony Jewell to form a landscaping and gardening crew, doing odd jobs around the Mornington Peninsula.