Australian Football

Walter Dittmar was, in Jeff Pash’s view, “a highly accomplished footballer; technically........ at least as well equipped as the best”¹ - which immediately begs the question, why was he so often little better than a fringe player at Port Adelaide during his league career which spanned twelve seasons, and yet saw him play just 79 senior games (plus half a dozen for the state)? When given a concerted run in the senior side, as he was in 1959-60, he proved himself to be arguably the most effective full forward in the SANFL; at any rate, with tallies of 74 and 69 goals, he topped the league’s goal kicking list in both seasons.

For the most part, however, Dittmar was given only sporadic opportunities at the top level, for reasons which will probably always remain a mystery, although perhaps Jeff Pash’s wry observation that he had “not the flashing eyes and floating hair, and in fact the gritted teeth so beloved of those who see football as a battle”² hints as closely at the truth of the matter as we are ever likely to get. Sometimes, at least as far as clubs like Port Adelaide, which pride the team ethic above all else, are concerned, it is paradoxically possible to be too audaciously gifted for one’s own good.

Author - John Devaney