Tony Liberatore (born 11 February 1966) 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 represented the 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). Liberatore is the only player to have won league best-and-fairest medals in all three grades of

VFL/AFL 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 ...

football (under 19s, reserves and seniors). Liberatore is one of the shortest players to have played in the VFL/AFL competition and the shortest player to have won a

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

. Playing as a

rover Rover may refer to: People Name * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Stage name * Rover (musician), French singer-songw ...

, Liberatore was a long-time holder of the VFL/AFL record for most career tackles. Liberatore was born in Australia to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

parents.

Playing career

Footscray/Western Bulldogs

Liberatore played junior football for Brunswick City. He was recruited by , where he played both under-19s and reserve grade football. After winning the

Morrish Medal The Morrish Medal is an award presented to the best and fairest player in the premier Victorian underage Australian rules football competition during the home-and-away season. Boasting an uninterrupted lineage from 1947 onwards, the medal is cu ...

in 1984, he called , and in the hope of playing senior football.

Mick Malthouse Michael Raymond Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After finishing his playing career, ...

, who was Footscray senior coach at the time, invited Liberatore to train but made no guarantees that he would get a game. At his first training session with the club, Liberatore was teased by full-forward

Simon Beasley Simon Francis Beasley (born 26 July 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Swan Districts Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League ...

, who said that due to his lack of height he would have been better off training to be a jockey at the nearby

Flemington Racecourse Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is the world's richest handicap and the world's richest 3200-metre horse race. The race ...

. Although Liberatore made his senior level debut in 1986, he mainly played in the reserves that season, winning the VFL reserves' Gardiner Medal in both 1986 and 1988. He was a member of the team that won the 1988 VFL reserves premiership. Standing at 163 cm, Liberatore played only 18 senior games until the 1990 season, when he played 19 games and won the

for the best and fairest senior AFL player. Despite missing the final 3 games of the season, his tally of 18 votes narrowly beat

Graham Wright Graham Wright (born 6 June 1968) is an Australian rules football administrator and former player. Wright played for in the Australian Football League, and is the current deputy CEO of the Carlton Football Club. Playing career Wright was selec ...

(Collingwood) with 17 votes and Stephen Silvagni (Carlton) on 16 votes. Liberatore played a total of 283 senior games for Footscray/Western Bulldogs in a career that included 13 finals, life membership of the club, and selection on the interchange bench in the club's Team of the Century. Liberatore was noted for his ability to read the play and his prolific tackling. Throughout his senior career, he made 1,225 tackles in his career; an average of 4.39 per game. In 1992 he became the first VFL/AFL player to exceed 100 tackles in a season, and then exceeded 100 tackles each season until 1996. His season tally of 142 tackles in 1994 stood as the VFL/AFL record until 2006, when James McDonald bettered it by one. Liberatore garnered an unwanted reputation following the 1999 Season Round 10 game against Brisbane at the Gabba. Whilst he denied eye gouging, his hand contact with the face of

Craig McRae Craig McRae (born 22 September 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer and the current senior coach of the Collingwood Football Club. Playing career Glenelg Football Club McRae played for Glenelg Football Club in the SANFL from 1993 unti ...

was deemed excessive, and he was suspended for 3 weeks. It was the first time he had been suspended for the act after previous incidents with Steven Lawrence (Brisbane) and

Craig Kelly Craig Kelly (born 29 September 1963) is an Australian conservative politician who represented the division of Hughes as a Liberal Party (and later United Australia Party) MP from 2010 until his defeat at the 2022 federal election. Kelly in ...

(Sydney). Liberatore was responsible for an ugly off-the-ball incident against

Matthew Knights Matthew Knights (born 5 October 1970) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the West Coast Eagles. Knights played in the midfield for the Richmond Football Club from 1988 t ...

in Round 2 of the 2001 season, which resulted in a suspension for five matches. The nature of the incident led many football pundits such as

Robert Walls Robert Walls (21 July 1950 – 15 May 2025) was an Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. In a playing career that spanned three decades, Walls played a combined 2 ...

to call for his retirement.

Playing statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 60 , , 4 , , 1 , , 1 , , 19 , , 22 , , 41 , , 5 , , , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 4.8 , , 5.5 , , 10.3 , , 1.3 , , , - ! 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;", , 39 , , 12 , , 7 , , 11 , , 102 , , 70 , , 172 , , 10 , , 23 , , 0.6 , , 0.9 , , 8.5 , , 5.8 , , 14.3 , , 0.8 , , 1.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 4 , , 6 , , 10 , , 1 , , 1 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , , 6.0 , , 10.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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;", , 39 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 12 , , 2 , , 14 , , 1 , , 3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 12.0 , , 2.0 , , 14.0 , , 1.0 , , 3.0 , - style="background:#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;", , 39 , , 19 , , 13 , , 8 , , 249 , , 245 , , 494 , , 33 , , 82 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 13.1 , , 12.9 , , 26.0 , , 1.7 , , 4.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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;", , 39 , , 22 , , 13 , , 9 , , 301 , , 296 , , 597 , , 29 , , 62 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 13.7 , , 13.5 , , 27.1 , , 1.3 , , 2.8 , - style="background:#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;", , 39 , , 25 , , 14 , , 4 , , 326 , , 286 , , 612 , , 47 , , 136 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 13.0 , , 11.4 , , 24.5 , , 1.9 , , 5.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 20 , , 12 , , 8 , , 250 , , 238 , , 488 , , 27 , , 115 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 12.5 , , 11.9 , , 24.4 , , 1.4 , , 5.8 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! 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;", , 39 , , 24 , , 6 , , 9 , , 280 , , 211 , , 491 , , 26 , , 142 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 11.7 , , 8.8 , , 20.5 , , 1.1 , , 5.9 , - ! 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;", , 39 , , 23 , , 9 , , 6 , , 304 , , 234 , , 538 , , 36 , , 116 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 13.2 , , 10.2 , , 23.4 , , 1.6 , , 5.0 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 22 , , 6 , , 6 , , 250 , , 232 , , 482 , , 24 , , 111 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 11.4 , , 10.5 , , 21.9 , , 1.1 , , 5.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 24 , , 8 , , 4 , , 237 , , 196 , , 433 , , 40 , , 95 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 9.9 , , 8.2 , , 18.0 , , 1.7 , , 4.0 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 9 , , 0 , , 3 , , 49 , , 51 , , 100 , , 16 , , 25 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 5.4 , , 5.7 , , 11.1 , , 1.8 , , 2.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 21 , , 2 , , 3 , , 197 , , 154 , , 351 , , 28 , , 69 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 9.4 , , 7.3 , , 16.7 , , 1.3 , , 3.3 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 23 , , 3 , , 6 , , 204 , , 230 , , 434 , , 56 , , 99 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 8.9 , , 10.0 , , 18.9 , , 2.4 , , 4.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 17 , , 1 , , 3 , , 120 , , 150 , , 270 , , 26 , , 90 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 7.1 , , 8.8 , , 15.9 , , 1.5 , , 5.3 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 39 , , 16 , , 0 , , 2 , , 60 , , 90 , , 150 , , 22 , , 56 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 3.8 , , 5.6 , , 9.4 , , 1.4 , , 3.5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 283 ! 95 ! 83 ! 2964 ! 2713 ! 5677 ! 427 ! 1225 ! 0.3 ! 0.3 ! 10.5 ! 9.6 ! 20.1 ! 1.5 ! 4.4

Honours and achievements

Individual *

: 1990 * Charles Sutton Medal (Footscray F.C. Best & Fairest): 1991 * Victorian Representative Honours * Gardiner Medal ( VFA/VFL Best & Fairest): 1986, 1988 *

: 1984 * Footscray F.C. Team of the Century - Interchange * Italian Team of the Century - Interchange

Post-football and coaching career

Early coaching career

Liberatore coached the

Box Hill Hawks The Box Hill Hawks Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill, currently competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFL Women's (VFLW). Since 2000, Box Hill has had a reserves a ...

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 ...

in 2003, taking them to the Grand Final.

Carlton Football Club assistant coach (2004-2007)

Between 2004 and 2007, he held an assistant coaching position at under senior coach

Denis Pagan Denis Leslie Pagan (born 24 September 1947) is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the VFL/AFL. Pagan is a dual AFL premiership coach, and he also won the prestigious Victoria derby in 2020 as a trainer and owner of the horse ...

before Pagan was replaced by fellow Carlton assistant coach

Brett Ratten Brett Ratten (born 11 July 1971) is an Australian rules football coach and former player in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played 255 games for the Carlton Football Club between 1990 and 2003, including the club's 1995 premiership. He ...

as caretaker senior coach with six matches remaining in the 2007 season. However, as part of the changeover, Liberatore then departed the Carlton Football Club at the end of the 2007 season.

Other coaching roles

In 2008, he was the senior coach of the Sunbury Lions Football Club in the

Ballarat Football League The Ballarat Football League (BFL) is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria (state), Victoria. The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat F ...

. In 2009, he became the senior coach of the West Footscray Roosters, a team playing in the Melbourne suburban

Western Region Football League The Western Football Netball League (WFNL) is a semi-professional Australian rules football and netball league, based in the western suburbs of Melbourne. History The league was formed in 1931 as the Footscray District Football League (FDFL). ...

2008 radio interview controversy

In a radio interview in the 2008 pre-season, Liberatore accused then Bulldogs CEO Campbell Rose of causing dissension at the club and being more concerned with making money than winning football matches. His comments saw him briefly banished from the club until he came to apologise to the president

David Smorgon David Smorgon (born 8 May 1947) is an Australian businessman and member of the Smorgon family. Business career David joined the family business at the age of 23. David advanced to be a senior executive at Smorgon Consolidated Industries, which ...

later in the year.

Family

Liberatore married his wife Jane, a schoolteacher, in 1991. Together, they had two sons,

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * ''Tom'' (2002 film) ...

and Oliver Liberatore, and a daughter named Meg. News of a divorce between Liberatore and his wife became public in April 2008 when Jane demanded the sale of Liberatore's medals during the legal proceedings, with the intention of using the money to create a trust fund for their children's education. Liberatore was present at the

2016 AFL Grand Final The 2016 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between and the at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2016. It was the 121st annual AFL Grand Final, Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the V ...

with his daughter and his mother, and was seen celebrating the Bulldogs' victory with his son Tom after the game.

Footnotes

:1. The true number of tackles is likely slightly higher than 1225, as tackle statistics were not recorded during 1986, in which Liberatore played the first four of his 283 games.

References

External links

Western Bulldogs player profile – Tony Liberatore
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberatore, Tony Brownlow Medal winners 1966 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Western Bulldogs players Box Hill Football Club coaches Australian people of Italian descent Victorian State of Origin players Charles Sutton Medal winners Sportspeople of Italian descent