Dermott Brereton
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Dermott Hugh Brereton (born 19 August 1964) is a former
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
er who played for the
Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...
,
Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...
and
Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...
in the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
(AFL). Born to Irish immigrant parents, Brereton is regarded as one of key members of Hawthorn's era of dominance in the 1980s. A centre half-forward with strong marking skills and a reliable kick for goal, Brereton was renowned for his flamboyant style and rugged on-field conduct, which resulted in frequent visits to the Tribunal. He also represented Victoria in State of Origin matches, and both played for and coached Australia in the
International Rules Series The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team ...
. He was recognised for his on-field achievements when he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1999. He has since become a respected member of the football media, working for various TV and radio stations in Melbourne covering the AFL as a commentator and analyst.


Early years and family

Brereton's parents, Dermott Joseph Brereton and Jean Nancy Austin, were both born in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
and emigrated to Australia. Dermott arrived in 1958 and Jean a year later. They had three sons. In an article published by the ''
Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...
'' in 2010, Brereton revealed to journalist Mark Robinson about his father's dark past, cocaine addiction and 1993 suicide. Dermott's brother Paul also committed suicide. (He has another brother, David.) Brereton revealed the physical abuse he suffered from his father, who was himself abused by the Christian Brothers.


VFL/AFL career


Hawthorn (1982–1992)

Dermott Brereton featured on the cover of the ''Inside the Battle of '89'' DVD in a memorable-moment pose after recovering from a solid Mark Yeates shirtfront. Brereton, nicknamed "The Kid", played most of his career (189 games and 427 goals) in the centre half forward position at the
Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...
, where he formed part of a potent forward line that included champion players such as Jason Dunstall. His debut was against North Melbourne in the 1982 finals series—he kicked five goals and assisted in a few more. Brereton had a reputation as a tough player, and as a big-game performer was an important player in a number of Hawthorn's grand final teams during the 1980s (including premierships in
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
, 1986, 1988,
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
and
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
). Brereton was known for his bustling style and strong marking abilities and off-the-ball scuffles. He won Hawthorn's best-and-fairest award in 1985 and was the team's leading goalkicker in the same year. He achieved
All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...
status in 1985. Having bulked up over his career, Brereton became a football punisher and was known for his aggressive hip-and-shoulder
bump Bump or bumps may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Bump (dance), a dance from the 1970s disco era * ''BUMP'' (comics), 2007-08 limited edition comic book series Fictional characters * Bobby Bumps, titular character of a series of American si ...
s on running players. His targeting of other players by this method led to the charging rule being instigated to protect players whose intention was to focus on the ball. A famous incident in 1988 involved Hawthorn's rival Essendon at Waverley Park. Brereton ran through Essendon's three-quarter-time huddle, much to the surprise of the Bomber players, causing a scuffle to break out. This incident was in retaliation to a free kick paid against Brereton for kissing Essendon's Billy Duckworth while Jason Dunstall lined up for goal. Dunstall kicked the goal; however, due to Brereton's indiscretion, the goal was disallowed. Brereton, fuming, ran through Essendon's huddle as an act of retaliation. Post-match, Essendon's coach, Kevin Sheedy, shrugged off the event as insignificant, quipping: "Just another mad Irishman!" Perhaps the most memorable moment of his playing career was the 1989 VFL Grand Final, which was featured in a Toyota Memorable Moments television commercial. In one of the toughest grand finals in the league's history, Brereton was lined up at the centre bounce by Geelong Football Club's Mark Yeates and hit with a solid shirtfront. Severely winded and concussed, he was attended to by trainers. He began to
vomit Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pregna ...
before jogging back into the play. Only minutes later in the game, he marked and kicked an inspirational goal. He would finish with three goals in a game that Hawthorn would win by six points. He was later diagnosed with broken ribs. During his career at Hawthorn, Brereton was selected to play representative State of Origin football for Victoria nine times and kicked a total of 18 goals in this format. His physical style of play came at a cost. By the end of
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
, he was suffering from crippling chronic hip pain and struggled to make regular appearances. He didn't play a game in
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
; and, at the end of the season, when offered a minimum-wage contract, decided to leave the club. Brereton walked out on Hawthorn in October 1993 following a pay dispute, stating that the offer made by the club insulted him.


Sydney Swans (1994)

The struggling
Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...
under coach Ron Barassi were in need of a big-name player capable of helping to turn around the team's performance as well as draw crowds to their home games at the SCG. In November 1993 the club offered Brereton a 3 year contract which would make him one of its highest paid players. The club drafted him for the 1994 season and he was considered to replace Paul Kelly as club captain. However Brereton's time in Sydney was marred by multiple tribunal appearances including 6 and 7 week bans. He infamously stomped on Hawthorn player Rayden Tallis's head while Tallis was on the ground in a pre-season game, earning him a seven-match suspension. He received another seven-week suspension in that same year when Richmond's Tony Free had his jaw broken with an alleged karate chop. While he starred in some upset wins he spent more time off the field than on it resulting in Barassi labeling the experiment a disappointment and not offering Brereton a contract extension. Brereton was delisted at the end of the 1994 season.


Collingwood (1995)

Still wanting to perform at the highest level, Brereton worked on his fitness over the 1994–95 off-season and once again made himself available for the national draft. While clubs are generally loath to recruit players above the age of 30, especially during Brereton's era, Collingwood nonetheless took a gamble on him. The Magpies' experiment was slightly more successful than his stint at Sydney, and in 15 games he kicked a total of 30 goals, ending his career at the end of 1995.


Statistics

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1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
, style="text-align:center;", , 47 , , 2 , , 5 , , 4 , , 16 , , 4 , , 20 , , 6 , , , , 2.5 , , 2.0 , , 8.0 , , 2.0 , , 10.0 , , 3.0 , , , - , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
† , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 17 , , 22 , , 19 , , 133 , , 95 , , 228 , , 92 , , , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , 7.8 , , 5.6 , , 13.4 , , 5.4 , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 25 , , 50 , , 34 , , 263 , , 99 , , 362 , , 130 , , , , 2.0 , , 1.4 , , 10.5 , , 4.0 , , 14.5 , , 5.2 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 25 , , 58 , , 37 , , 273 , , 109 , , 382 , , 136 , , , , 2.3 , , 1.5 , , 10.9 , , 4.4 , , 15.3 , , 5.4 , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;", 1986† , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 21 , , 44 , , 34 , , 229 , , 85 , , 314 , , 124 , , , , 2.1 , , 1.6 , , 10.9 , , 4.0 , , 15.0 , , 5.9 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...
, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 23 , , 64 , , 34 , , 273 , , 112 , , 385 , , 164 , , 46 , , 2.8 , , 1.5 , , 11.9 , , 4.9 , , 16.7 , , 7.1 , , 2.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;", 1988† , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 17 , , 47 , , 26 , , 189 , , 55 , , 244 , , 123 , , 21 , , 2.8 , , 1.5 , , 11.1 , , 3.2 , , 14.4 , , 7.2 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
† , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 18 , , 35 , , 24 , , 187 , , 51 , , 238 , , 103 , , 23 , , 1.9 , , 1.3 , , 10.4 , , 2.8 , , 13.2 , , 5.7 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 18 , , 54 , , 22 , , 220 , , 65 , , 285 , , 121 , , 25 , , 3.0 , , 1.2 , , 12.2 , , 3.6 , , 15.8 , , 6.7 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
† , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 17 , , 39 , , 28 , , 171 , , 64 , , 235 , , 98 , , 25 , , 2.3 , , 1.6 , , 10.1 , , 3.8 , , 13.8 , , 5.8 , , 1.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 6 , , 9 , , 6 , , 35 , , 14 , , 49 , , 18 , , 8 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 5.8 , , 2.3 , , 8.2 , , 3.0 , , 1.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 7 , , 7 , , 5 , , 30 , , 20 , , 50 , , 21 , , 9 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 4.3 , , 2.9 , , 7.1 , , 3.0 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
, style="text-align:center;", , 3 , , 15 , , 30 , , 12 , , 95 , , 51 , , 146 , , 43 , , 13 , , 2.0 , , 0.8 , , 6.3 , , 3.4 , , 9.7 , , 2.9 , , 0.9 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 211 ! 464 ! 285 ! 2114 ! 824 ! 2938 ! 1179 ! 170 ! 2.2 ! 1.4 ! 10.0 ! 3.9 ! 13.9 ! 5.6 ! 1.4 † Premiers


Post-football

After a lack of success in his returns from retirement, Brereton announced his intention to retire from elite football in 1995. In 1996, he returned to Frankston Rovers (now Frankston Bombers), where he had his cheekbone broken by a Dromana player in the second round of the season. He played a handful of games before going into playing retirement proper at the conclusion of the season. After his playing career, Brereton was inducted into the Hawthorn Team of the Century as well as the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League Hall of Fame. His desire to continue playing football actively has seen him participate in the AFL Legends Match on several occasions. Each time, his lack of fitness is the focus of much mirth by the commentary team. On 8 December 1997, he was appointed as a director of the Hawthorn Football Club and served in the role for just over eight years before retiring on 29 March 2006. One of the most notable incidents during his term as director was his alleged involvement in the run-up to a bench-clearing brawl between Hawthorn and Essendon in a 2004 encounter that became known as the Line in the Sand Match. During half-time, just before the brawl, Brereton had reportedly told Hawthorn players to "draw a line in the sand" and take a physical stand against Essendon; he denied making that particular remark, but he admitted to telling senior players "to stand up to any Essendon aggression". After Brereton's success in Ireland, the AFL reappointed him for the 2001 series, but in July 2001 it was reported that Brereton had notified the AFL of his intention to relinquish the job for personal reasons. In 2006, he began playing in the
Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League The AFL Yarra Ranges was an Australian rules football and netball organisation based in the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges within Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The organisation operated the Yarra Ranges Senior Football league and the Yarra ...
with Division 1 club Woori Yallock alongside his 1995 Collingwood teammate Damian Monkhorst, kicking two goals on debut.


Commentary career

From quite early in his playing career, Brereton pursued media appearances in anticipation of joining the media full-time when he retired. During the 1980s, he had a six-year stint on a morning show hosted by veteran television performer
Ernie Sigley Ernest William Sigley (2 September 1938 – 15 August 2021) was an Australian Gold Logie award winning television host, comedian, variety performer, radio presenter and singer. Known as a pioneer of radio and television in Australian, he was o ...
, who mentored the ambitious Brereton. In the early 1990s, he joined Channel Nine when the network began showing interest in Australian football for the first time in more than twenty years. He was one of the original panellists when the long-running '' AFL Footy Show'' began in 1994, and he also wrote in ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
''. In 2000, he moved to the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
to provide match commentary on AFL matches and host the ill-fated show ''The Game''; he stayed at Seven until they relinquished the rights at the end of 2001. In 2002, he returned to the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
to provide match commentary on AFL matches when the network commenced its AFL coverage. He continued to be a regular panellist for ''The AFL Footy Show''. In 2004, Brereton hosted ''The Run Home'' radio show on Melbourne AM radio station
SEN 1116 1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria, Australia. Owned and operated by Sports Entertainment Group, it broadcasts a sports radio format. It commenced broadcasting on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently ...
with Anthony Hudson and Matthew Hardy, but he left due to a payment dispute. In previous years, he has also co-hosted the breakfast show on Melbourne FM station Gold 104.3 with Greg Evans, and he had also been a commentator on another FM station,
Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...
. In 2005, he appeared in a
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
''Memorable Moments'' advertisement featuring
Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player and point guard for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Chef Curry", he is widely regarded as the ...
that satirised the famous 1989 Grand Final incident with
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
player Mark Yeates. In November of that year, Brereton was involved in an altercation with a group of young men. In 2006, he made an appearance on '' Torvill and Dean's Dancing on Ice''. Brereton left the show early after injuring his biceps. In 2006, Brereton was sacked from Triple M due to low ratings. In 2007, Brereton rejoined 1116 SEN to broadcast football, the same station he left two years earlier. In 2007, Brereton started as a presenter on Channel 9's '' Getaway'', a tourism and travel TV show, which was a position he held until 2011. In 2011, he ended his 20-year association with the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
and announced he would be joining
Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...
for the 2012 season. From 2012 onwards, he has provided match commentary for Foxtel and hosted the '' Fox League Teams'' show on Thursday nights on Foxtel's 24-hour AFL channel,
Fox Footy Fox Footy (stylised as FOX FOOTY) is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Australia operated out of its Melbou ...
, which launched on 17 February 2012.


Other work


Films

He featured in a minor role in the critically panned 2002 film '' Trojan Warrior''.


Video games

Brereton has been a voice-over commentator for the ''AFL'' video game series since 2002.


TV

Brereton competed in the 5th season of the Australian version of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. He was eliminated on 5 February 2019 and finished in tenth place.


References


External links

* *
Profile
at Collingwood Forever
Biography at Hawthorn FC

Toyota memorable moment video featuring Dermott Brereton in the 1989 Grand Final
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brereton, Dermott Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Collingwood Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club premiership players Hawthorn Football Club administrators Sydney Swans players All-Australians (1953–1988) Victorian State of Origin players Peter Crimmins Medal winners Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules football commentators Australian television presenters Australian people of Irish descent 1964 births Living people Australia international rules football team coaches Australia international rules football team players Radio personalities from Melbourne VFL/AFL premiership players Irish players of Australian rules football