Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Dermott Hugh Brereton

Known as
Dermott Brereton

Born
19 August 1964 (age 59)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 18y 23d
Last game: 31y 15d

Height and weight
Height: 186 cm
Weight: 89 kg

Senior clubs
Hawthorn; Australia; Sydney; Collingwood

Jumper numbers
Hawthorn: 47, 23
Sydney: 2
Collingwood: 3

Recruited from
Hawthorn (1994); Sydney (1995)

Dermott Brereton

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
HawthornV/AFL1982-19921894272.2675%10.523.985.9025
AustraliaIR19862
SydneyAFL1994771.0014%4.292.863.000
CollingwoodAFL199515302.0033%6.333.402.872
V/AFL1982-1992, 1994-19952114642.2070%10.023.915.5927
IR19862
Total1982-1992, 1994-19952134642.18

AFL: 9,391st player to appear, 551st most games played, 73rd most goals kickedHawthorn: 686th player to appear, 44th most games played, 9th most goals kickedSydney: 1,254th player to appear, 952nd most games played, 559th most goals kickedCollingwood: 959th player to appear, 637th most games played, 243rd most goals kicked

AFL forward Dermott Brereton quit Hawthorn yesterday over a pay dispute and is expected to play for the Sydney Swans from next season. Brereton may be just one of several players to quit the Hawks after the club’s recent decision to introduce pay cuts and performance based contracts ..... It is believed Brereton was offered only a standard player contract with a base salary of only $7500 plus match payments for 1994, terms which apparently ‘insulted’ him. Negotiations between Brereton and the club broke down late this afternoon.¹

There have been better all round footballers than Dermott Brereton, but few who have possessed both his flamboyance and his big game temperament. Both traits were evident from the moment he made his Hawthorn debut in the VFL first semi final of 1982: Brereton booted five goals that day in a near best afield performance that helped the Hawks overcome North Melbourne, and over the years it would be his performances in finals that would do most to etch his name among the all time greats of the code.

Much of Dermott Brereton's best football was played while he was suffering from injuries that other players would have found grossly incapacitating. He played for a couple of years with a cracked ankle bone, for instance, while his heroic performance in the 1989 Grand Final - won by Hawthorn over Geelong - came after he had been pole-axed by Mark Yeates at the opening bounce. Popularly known as 'The Kid', Brereton's body eventually sustained more in the way of pummelling than even he could take.

After missing the whole of the 1993 season with a serious hip injury Brereton crossed to Sydney in 1994, but neither there (seven games) nor at Collingwood (15 games in 1995) was he able to recapture his former brilliance, although the support he gave to the younger brigade while with the Magpies was invaluable.

Between 1982 and 1992 Dermott Brereton played 189 senior games for Hawthorn, winning a best and fairest award in 1985. He was a member of premiership teams in 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1991, and represented Victoria in state of origin matches nine times, gaining All Australian selection once. Few if any players today come close to matching either the ferocity with which he attacked the football, or the level of dedication which he conferred on the Hawthorn cause.

Author - John Devaney

Footnotes

1. “The Canberra Times”, 15/10/93, page 30.

Sources

Full Points Footy Publications, Crème de la Crème

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.