[4] At the end of his suspension in 1974, Muir returned to play for Ballarat and on the strength of seven "astonishing" games for the club, he was recruited by St Kilda mid-season.
St Kilda's official history says "[Muir] played football with a cyclonic power that was allied to one-touch skills".
Former AFL coach John Northey, who mentored Muir in Ballarat, was very critical of the name, saying "I think Robert is more maligned than any player who's ever played the game.
[4] Muir's time at St Kilda was marred by constant racial abuse from opposition players and supporters and a lack of understanding of his predicament from his own club.
"[1] Towards the end of his first spell at St Kilda in 1978, Muir was reported for kicking his opponent in a reserves game against South Melbourne for which he received an eight-week suspension.
Journalist for The Age, Alan Attwood described the supporters as "hyenas round a cornered prey" while "baiting and abusing [Muir] in the lowest manner".
Muir required a police escort to leave the ground but this did not stop his windshield being broken by a thrown bottle.
[4] An anonymous teammate told the Truth "It isn't only Collingwood ... [racial abuse] happens to Robert all the time, and we're powerless to do anything to help him ... they're ruining a fine player".
Despite Muir's misgivings, St Kilda and his advocate at the tribunal chose to use a defence of provocation by the racist abuse.
Muir's defence included an impassioned plea from Mollie Dyer from the Aboriginal Advancement League and fellow Aboriginal player Maurice Rioli spoke in Muir's defence stating "Robert can't accept [racial abuse] as a tactic [by opponents] like myself.
[2] Muir's mother Myrtle later spoke to The Sun News-Pictorial: I've heard some of the things [Aboriginal players] have hurled at them during a match.
I never dreamed this sort of thing would go on in major league football.Muir told the same newspaper later "We do hear the supporters [make racist remarks] a bit, but it hurts when it comes from the players themselves.
In Woodville's away match against his former team West Torrens at Thebarton Oval, Muir again retaliated violently to repeated racial attacks.
At the end of the game, after again being hit by a thrown can, Muir took the matters into his own hands; he jumped the fence and repeatedly punched the offender.
Both the AFL and the St Kilda Football Club issued unreserved apologies for the despicable way Muir was treated.
St Kilda chief executive Matt Finnis issued a statement Reading about the impact of racism on Robert Muir's life in today's ABC article will no doubt be confronting for everyone involved in football, as it was for me personally.
We admire Robert's courage to speak out about the racism he has endured and lack of support provided by our club when he needed it most.
Today we celebrate the contribution Indigenous players have made to our game as part of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
However, we must face the reality that the St Kilda Football Club has made grave errors in the past and may still be failing to grasp the full impact of the hurt felt by individuals, their families and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.Similarly, the AFL issued their own apology that echoed that of St Kilda's.