Dermott Brereton

Dermott Brereton (born August 19, 1964) is a former champion Australian Rules Football player in the Australian Football League. In a 211 game career, Brereton kicked 464 goals. Dermott is of Irish descent, and a known supporter of the IRA.

AFL career

Dermott, nicknamed The Kid, played most of his career (187 games and 427 goals) in the centre half forward position at the Hawthorn Football Club, where he formed part of a potent forward line that included champion players such as Jason Dunstall.

While he played the game he had a reputation as a tough man, 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, 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1991).

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 status in 1985, 1986 and 1988.

Having bulked up over his career, Brereton became a football punisher and was known for his aggressive hip and shoulder bumps on running players.

In a famous incident in 1988 involved Hawthorn's rival Essendon at Waverley Park. Brereton ran through the three quarter time huddle much to the suprise of the Bomber players causing a scuffle to break out.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of his career was the 1989 AFL Grand Final. 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 before jogging back into the play. Later in the game he marked and kicked an inspirational goal.

During his career at Hawthorn, Brereton was selected to play representative State of Origin football for Victoria 9 times and kicked a total of 18 goals.

Brereton's physical style of game came at a cost. By the end of 1992, Brereton was suffering from crippling chronic hip pain and struggled to make a regular appearance. At the advice of his club, he retired that year.

Sydney Swans

During 1993, Dermott began to recover from the injuries that plagued his career at Hawthorn and expressed his intention to make a return to the game. The struggling Sydney Swans, in need of a big name player capable of making an instant impact on the teams performance, drafted him for the 1994 season. Moving to New South Wales, his following 7 games and 7 goals were largely uninspirational and injuries prevented him from regaining peak form. His fame in Victoria was not equalled in New South Wales and he also failed to have any off-field impact on the Swans fortunes. The Swans delisted Brereton the same year.

Collingwood

Still itching to stay involved in competitive football and keen to prove his worth, Brereton worked on his fitness and once again made himself available for the draft. Hawthorn rival Collingwood took a gamble on the former champion player. The Collingwood experiment was slightly more successful than his innings at Sydney and in 15 games he kicked a total of 30 goals.

Post-football

After a lack of success in his returns from retirment, Brereton announced his intention to retire from football in 1995.

Brereton was inducted into the Hawthorn Team of the Century.

Media Personality

A prominant media personality, Brereton once hosted a radio show on SEN 1116 with Anthony Hudson and Matthew Hardy, but left due to a payment dispute; in previous years he has also co-hosted the breakfast show on Gold 104, and been a commentator for Triple M. He currently commentates games on the Nine Network's AFL coverage, and appears on the AFL The Footy Show.

In 2005, he appeared in a Toyota Memorable Moments advertisement featuring Stephen Curry, in a re-enactment of the infamous 1989 Grand Final incident with Geelong player Mark Yates.

In 2005 Brereton was involved in an incident with a pack of New Zealanders, apparently fighting over his girlfriend.