Robert "Bob" Bonnett (1933 – 11 May 2018 ^[1]) was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Port Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in the 1950s and 1960s.

A full-forward from the Port Melbourne area, Bonnett attracted the attention of senior recruiters while playing for the Melbourne Sunday Amateur Football League in 1950, with both South Melbourne ( VFL) and City ( NTFA) interested in securing his services; ^[2] but in 1951, at the age of 18, he began playing with Port Melbourne in the VFA. ^[3] In 1951, he was a leading full-forward in the VFA seconds, kicking 112 goals for the season, ^[4] and he made his senior debut for Port Melbourne in 1952.

Over the following twelve years, Bonnett was a prolific goalkicker for Port Melbourne, kicking a then-VFA record of 933 goals through his career, passing the previous mark of 880 goals set by Frank Seymour in the 1930s; as of 2014, he is the third-highest goalkicker in VFA history, behind only Fred Cook and Rino Pretto. ^[5] He was the VFA's leading goalkicker on four occasions: in 1956 (95 goals), 1957 (97 goals), 1958 (84 goals) and 1961 (a career-best 111 goals); many sources also credit him with a fifth title, in 1963 (44 goals), ^[6] although contemporary sources suggest he was second behind Yarraville's Robert Evans that year. ^[7] Bonnett was club captain from 1958 to 1959 and in 1962, won a premiership with the club in 1953, represented the VFA in interstate competition on a number of occasions, and was named in the Port Melbourne Football Club team of the century. ^[6] He spent his entire senior career with Port Melbourne.

Bonnett retired from the seniors at the end of 1963, but continued playing as the captain-coach of the Port Melbourne Seconds team; ^[8] over the following three seasons, he kicked another 301 goals in the seconds. ^[9] He coached the Port Melbourne senior team from 1969 until 1971, ^[6] then returned to coaching the seconds in a non-playing capacity, giving more than thirty continuous years of service to Port Melbourne across his playing and coaching roles. ^[10]

Bonnett was known by the nickname 'Bonox' from his junior days, named after the beef extract product of the same name. ^[10] Bonnett's younger brother Barry also spent time at full forward at Port Melbourne after Bob's retirement. ^[8] In 2014, the Williamstown Rd end of North Port Oval was renamed the Bonnett End in honour of Bonnett's goalkicking achievements. ^[11]