Peter Russo (born 29 October 1959) is a former

Australian rules 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 ...

footballer who played for Hawthorn in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL) during the 1980s. After a 1988 season where he played only eight senior games, Russo, alongside Paul Harding and Robert Handley, was traded to St Kilda in exchange for the first choice in the 1988 VFL Draft. Russo spent three seasons with the Saints, although he did not play a single game in 1991 due to a knee reconstruction and retired in June of that year. Mostly used as a ruck-rover and in the forward pocket, Russo could also play in the

back pocket Vulfpeck is an American funk/soul music, soul band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2011. Founded by multi-instrumentalists Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss, and bassist Joe Dart, the band has released four extended plays, six studio a ...

and wing. He started his career with Hawthorn in

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and was a member of their 1978 premiership side. Russo missed out on Hawthorn's 1983 premiership through injury but was a premiership player again in 1986. In 1985 he represented Victoria at interstate football.

Coaching and teaching career

Post-retirement from football, he became a PE teacher at schools including Mentone Grammar School and Firbank Girls' Grammar School. Peter coached the

Dandenong Stingrays The Dandenong Southern Stingrays are an Australian rules football team in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. 1992 saw the birth of the Southern Stingrays, developed under the leadership of Steve Kennedy (Regiona ...

in their inaugural TAC Cup season in 1992. Following this, he also had stints at

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, where he coached the reserves to a premiership in 1993, and St Kilda.Almanac Footy Life - The Russo Dynasty
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Family

Russo's father Felix Russo was a VFL footballer for St Kilda. He also has three nephews who have played league football, Josh Kennedy (son of John Kennedy Jr. and Bernadette Russo), and brothers Luke and Matthew Ball (sons of Ray Ball and Jenny Russo).

References

External links

* * 1959 births Living people St Kilda Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club premiership players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent VFL/AFL premiership players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1950s-stub