Brett Deledio

Brett Deledio
Brett Deledio photographed in August 2009
Personal information
Full name	Brett Deledio
Date of birth	18 April 1987
Place of birth	Dunolly, Victoria
Original team(s)	Kyabram (GVFL) Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
Draft	1st overall, 2004 Richmond
Height/Weight	188cm (6ft 2 in) / 88 kg (194 lbs)
Position(s)	Utility
Club information
Current club	Richmond
Number	3
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2005–	Richmond	232 (173)[1]
International team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2005	Australia	2 (0)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2015 season. ^2 State and international statistics correct as of 2005.
Career highlights
TAC Kevin Sheehan Medal winner: 2004 U-18 All Australian: 2004 TAC Cup Team of the Year: 2004 AFL AFL Rising Star: 2005 International Rules Series Player: 2005 AFLPA Best First-Year Player: 2005 2× All-Australian: 2012, 2015 AFLCA All-Australian team: 2015 Yiooken Award: 2012 2x Ian Stewart Medal: 2011, 2015 AFL Army Award: 2008 Richmond Best First Year Player: 2005 Kevin Bartlett Medal: 2007 2× Best and Fairest: 2008, 2009 2x Jack Titus Medal: 2011, 2012 Fred Swift Medal: 2013 Maurie Fleming Medal: 2015 Life Member Richmond Vice-Captain 2013-

Brett Deledio (born 18 April 1987 in Kyabram, Victoria) is an Australian rules football player currently playing for the Richmond Football Club (The Tigers) in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the club's joint vice-captain along with Ivan Maric.^[2][3]

Early life/Career/Misc

Deledio attended Kyabram High School and Caulfield Grammar School.^[4] During his youth, he was both a promising cricket and football player. David Hookes, then the coach of the Victorian Bushrangers, invited Deledio to join the state team, but he declined this offer to concentrate on any future AFL career. Brett was enrolled to attend Caulfield Grammar School, which is the same school that hosted the likes of Chris Judd and Andrew Walker. After only a handful of days at the school he pulled out and went on to study with a tutor at the football club alongside Richard Tambling and Luke McGuane.^[5] He won the AFL Rising Star award for the best young star of 2005.

His father Wayne played one game for Carlton in 1975 VFL season^[6]

Style of play

Deledio is a utility player, a very versatile player who can play very well in any position other than as a ruckman. As a junior he spent a lot of time in the forward line, but due to his pace, fitness and elite disposal, he was put in the midfield where he could make the most of his attributes. In his early years at Richmond he switched between playing as a midfielder and as a forward, playing well in both positions. In 2009 after a poor start to the season he was given a permanent midfield tagging role, where he turned his season form around and then won the 2009 Richmond best and fairest award. In 2010 and 2011 he played predominately as a half-back before moving back to a midfielder in the 2012 season. In the 2014 season after nursing an achilles injury, he was given a role where he spent more time at half forward and then had short spells in the midfield and in defence. The 2015 season started in a simialr fashion for Deledio, who continued in his new utility role once returning from injury.

Deledio is known for many of his attributes. He is very fast which has proven to be effective through the midfield and when making leads as a forward. His contested marking ability is very strong and he is also known for being able to effectively dispose of the ball on both feet and both hands even in contested situations or while under pressure from opposition players. He is also known for his goal kicking, an accurate kick both from set shots, on the run and generally from any angle. He often drags players towards him if he receives the ball within shooting range or in space in the midfield, this is due to his reputation of running at pace and kicking goals from outside the 50 metre arc.

Football career

2005

Deledio soon debuted for the Murray Bushrangers as the team's youngest squad member, before being selected with the first overall selection in the 2004 AFL Draft. On 31 August 2005, Deledio was awarded for his outstanding season with the AFL Rising Star award, receiving 43 of a possible 45 votes. Deledio followed his Rising Star Award by also winning the AFL Players' Association Best First-Year Player Award, voted by his peer players. Deledio was also considered to be one of the fastest players in the league, winning the 2005 AFL Grand Final Sprint.

Capping off his debut season, Deledio was chosen to represent Australia in the International Rules series for 2005, becoming the youngest Australian player in the competition's history.

2006

Deledio played 21 out of 22 matches in 2006 and was again a consistent performer, only missing the one game with an injured knee. He was often the target of attention from opposition taggers due to his abilities, and found it difficult to break the tag. However he still produced impressive figures, averaging 18.8 possessions and 6.5 marks a game.

2007

Deledio developed into a highly versatile player, who often provided difficult match-ups for the opposition. He often played multiple roles from the forward line to midfield to rebounding from the backline. In the forward line he used his speed and judgement well to lead into space and take strong marks, kicking 21 goals for the season. Out of defence, he often used his electric pace to provide run and carry and deliver pinpoint passes into the forward line. Deledio averaged 18.4 possessions and 5.4 marks a game.

Deledio's best game of the season was the Tigers' Round 19 win against Collingwood, where he kicked a career-high five goals and earned three Brownlow Medal votes.

2008

Deledio began the 2008 season in the forward line for the Tigers, but pushed up the ground later in the season. He surpassed 30 possessions for the first time, achieving the feat three times, in Round 6 against Hawthorn, in Round 10 against Sydney and in round 11 against Adelaide, and developed his game further, averaging 24.6 possessions and a goal per game.

Deledio won the AFL Army Award for his courage shown in round 7 against the Saints when he flew backwards into a pack to take a mark and heavily collided with a Saints player. He was also announced in the 40-man All-Australian squad for 2008.

Deledio was rewarded for his consistent season with the Richmond Best and Fairest, polling 250 votes to take out the award.

2009

Deledio had another great year in 2009. His best game for the year was against Adelaide, where he picked up 31 possessions. Deledio also signed a new 3-year contract, contracting him to Richmond until the end of the 2012 season.

Deledio was rewarded for his consistent season by winning his second consecutive Jack Dyer Medal. Deledio finished with a total of 190 votes just ahead of Daniel Jackson (175) and then-skipper Chris Newman (162), thus becoming the youngest player to win the award back-to-back (at the age of 22 years and 5 months) since Kevin Bartlett in 1967–1968, and the youngest player in the AFL to win a best-and-fairest award back-to-back since Michael Voss at Brisbane in 1995–96.

2010

2010 saw Deledio have another solid year as he become a solid defence playmaker for Richmond alongside his captain, Chris Newman, averaging 25.3 disposals. Richmond began the 2010 season horribly, losing 10 of their first 11 games, their only win being in round 10 against Port Adelaide. The Tigers soon turned their season around, however, going on to win five of their next seven games, with Deledio playing a vital role in these wins.

Deledio was included in the 40 man All-Australian Squad for the second time in his career. He unluckily missed out on selection in the side to Collingwood's Harry O'Brien.

2011

Deledio had his most consistent year to date in 2011, playing all 22 games and averaging 26.3 disposals, becoming acknowledged as an elite half back. Deledio was once again picked in the 40-man All-Australian squad.

Despite his fantastic year, Deledio unluckily missed out on an All-Australian side selection to Collingwood's Leon Davis.

Life membership

On December 21, 2011, at the Club’s Annual General Meeting, Deledio became the youngest life member in Richmond’s history. Deledio qualified for the honour when he reached the 150-game milestone in Round 24, 2011 (at 24 years and 139 days old).^[7]

Major Contract

With his contract set to expire at the end of the 2012 season, Deledio was among the very first to be able to explore free agency, with the midfielder being named by Richmond a restricted free agent prior to the 2012 season; however in March 2012, he signed a new five-year deal believed to be worth more than $3 million, keeping him contracted to the Tigers until the end of the 2017 season.^[8][9]

2012

The 2012 season saw Deledio become one of the AFL's most valuable players, averaging 28 possessions per game.^[10] In the Dreamtime at the 'G clash against Essendon in Round 8, Deledio starred for the Tigers in the loss, racking up 35 possessions to win the Yiooken Award as the best player on the ground.^[11]

Apart from early in 2009, Deledio had consistent played good football, despite some critics citing that he hasn't lived up to expectations.^[12] However, after the Round 8 "Dreamtime at the G" Clash between Essendon & Richmond, Current Tigers head coach & Former Essendon premiership player Damien Hardwick felt that Brett had finally become a true AFL elite player, quoting that: "His contested ball work has come on in leaps and bounds," [and] "That was probably the one area of his game that I thought needed work but he's just been enormous in that area this year. He's become an elite player of the competition."^[13]

2013

Deledio played all 23 games in 2013, averaging 23.8 possessions per game.^[14] He finished fourth in the club's best and fairest, winning the 'Fred Swift Medal'.^[15]

In Round 3 vs. Western Bulldogs he kicked a goal within 8.9 seconds of the match starting, making it the fastest goal in AFL history, beating the former record of 9.1 seconds held by Gary Ablett jr.

2014

Deledio had a slow start to the year due to an ongoing lower leg injury he was trying to nurse while playing, but as his fitness improved, so did he and so did Richmond as a whole. He played across the half-forward line in the latter half of the year and from round 15 and onwards he averaged 27 disposals per game, 1.4 goals per game, 6.2 marks per game, 5.5 inside 50s per game and least importantly he averaged 1.2 brownlow votes per game. His new position meant he had easier access to goals, kicked 11 goals in the last 5 Home & Away games of the year,^[16] and was a key figure in the Tigers rise from the lower rungs of the ladder to narrowly making the finals after nine consecutive wins to close out the season. He was a part of the team that lost to Port Adelaide by 57 points despite a very good individual performance of 29 disposals and 1 goal in the Elimination Final, just the second finals match of his career. He finished seventh in Richmond's best and fairest count.^[17]

2015

In January 2015, Deledio was appointed joint vice-captain for the 2015 season, along with Ivan Maric.^[3] For the second year running Deledio went into the season carrying an injury. After struggling through the team's Round 1 clash victory over Carlton he faced four weeks recovery on the sidelines. He would return to the side for the team's Round 6 match against North Melbourne.^[18]

Deledio's second match back from injury against Collingwood earned him much praise as he helped Richmond get across the line to defeaet Collingwood by 5 points, the first time they had defeated Collingwood since 2007. Deledio continued his varied role of midfield/forward, racking up 30 disposals, 13 marks and 2 goals/2 behinds, being arguably the best on ground. A talking point rose as Deledio now had 2 goals and 4 behinds for the season, fairly rare for Deledio who was known for his accurate kicking. The result of this was possibly due to a new kicking style he had been practicing in the off-season.

Deledio continued the season in fantastic form, stamping himself in as 'Richmond's most important player' as stated by many commentators, some of them being Bruce McAvaney and ex-player commentators Matthew Richardson and Matthew Lloyd. At the time of the Adelaide crows loss where Deledio was abscnt through illness, mMany experts also noted that statistics proved that Richmond had a significant winning advantage when Deledio was in the side. Stats read that Richmond played 9 games without Deledio over the 14 and 15 seasons, only managing to win 2. On the other hand, the 32 matches with Deledio had resulted in 21 wins.

Deledio's most notable performance was against in form top 4 side Hawthorn. Deledio booted 3 goals in the first quarter and then sealed the win with a goal at the start of the final quarter. It was the first time he had kicked more than 3 goals since the 2008 season, yet had many 3 goal games since then.

During the H&A season Deledio averaged 21.9 disposals, 6.2 marks, 1.5 goals, 0.9 behinds, 2.9 tackles, finishing off arguably his best season in his career despite an injury riddled start to the year.

Between Rd 7 and Rd 23, Deledio avareged 8.7 score involvements per game, ranked second in the league only to the 2015 Coleman Medal winner Joshua Kennedy.

Deledio was selected in the 2015 All-Australian team and the 2015 AFLCA All-Australian team.

Sponsorships and Side Projects

Deledio sporadically features as a guest panellist on the AFL footy show on Thursday nights.

Deledio competed in Rexona Australia's Greatest Athlete television show and finished 3rd with 1070 points, behind Jamie Whincup on 1085 points and Billy Slater on 1385.^[19]

His boot and apparel sponsor is Adidas. During Adidas' promotion for the 'Nitrocharge' boot, Deledio was painted to have his body appear to look like a machine or an engine.

Brett Deledio supports the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash Cricket League. In 2012 Deledio as well as fellow Richmond player Shaun Grigg worked with Melbourne Star's player Bobby Quiney to promote the game.

He promotes cap and clothing brand 'New Era', therefore he has a large collection of the caps. In 2012 New Era released new AFL team caps, including caps for Richmond which Deledio promoted. In 2014 Deledio and New Era released a line of limited edition 'BD3' caps for Richmond fans to purchase.

In 2015, Brett and his wife Katie worked with the AFL Players' Association to promote their new 'Team Up' application.

Personal life

On 26 October 2012, Deledio married his longtime girlfriend Katie (née Chivers), an Integration Manager at Bauer Media Group Australia.^[20] The pair had their first child, a baby girl, on July 12th 2015.^[21]

Deledio and his wife Katie own a pet Staffordshire Bull-Terrier named 'Boris'

Deledio has said that two of his favourite past times when he goes back to the family home in Kyabram are dirt bike riding and wild pig hunting.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2015 Home and Away season^[22]

Season	Team	#	Games	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
			Totals								Averages (per game)
2005	Richmond Tigers	3	22	14	10	186	159	336	86	37	0.6	0.4	8.4	6.8	15.3	3.9	1.7
2006	Richmond Tigers	3	21	5	12	241	154	395	137	35	0.2	0.6	11.5	7.2	18.8	6.5	1.7
2007	Richmond Tigers	3	19	21	10	188	161	349	102	36	1.1	0.5	9.9	8.5	18.4	5.4	1.9
2008	Richmond Tigers	3	22	28	10	255	283	538	155	48	1.3	0.4	11.6	12.7	24.4	7.0	2.2
2009	Richmond Tigers	3	22	20	15	254	279	533	118	78	0.9	0.7	11.6	12.9	24.2	5.4	3.6
2010	Richmond Tigers	3	22	2	4	302	254	556	116	54	0.1	0.2	13.7	11.6	25.3	5.3	2.4
2011	Richmond Tigers	3	22	9	11	281	282	563	91	65	0.4	0.5	12.8	12.8	25.6	4.1	3.0
2012	Richmond Tigers	3	22	17	15	339	266	605	110	102	0.8	0.7	15.4	12.1	27.5	5.0	4.6
2013	Richmond Tigers	3	23	10	15	317	230	547	118	86	0.4	0.6	13.8	10.0	23.8	5.1	3.7
2014	Richmond Tigers	3	19	20	16	258	225	483	102	52	1.0	0.8	13.6	11.8	25.4	5.4	2.7
2015	Richmond Tigers	3	17	26	15	213	159	372	105	50	1.5	0.9	12.5	9.4	21.9	6.2	2.9
Career			231	172	133	2834	2442	5277	1240	643	0.7	0.6	12.3	10.6	22.8	5.4	2.8

Legend
G	Goals	B	Behinds	K	Kicks	H	Handballs	D	Disposals	M	Marks	T	Tackles

Honours and Achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season	Votes
2005	2
2006	0
2007	5
2008	8
2009	5
2010	7
2011	5
2012	13
2013	10
2014	12
2015	8
Total	75
Key:
Green / Bold = Won

References

1. "Richmond Football Club Playerlist". Richmond Football Club. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
2. Warner, Michael (12 February 2014). "The time to shine is now for Richmond elder statesman Brett Deledio". Herald Sun. News Ltd. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
3. "Maric joins Deledio as vice-captain". Richmond Football Club. Richmond Football Club. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
4. Greenberg, Tony (10 January 2005). "Flea glee over new Tiger No. 3". richmondfc.com.au.
5. Hawthorne, Mark (6 March 2005). "Three Tigers in a class of their own". The Sunday Age.
6. Sheahan, Mike (28 June 2008) A touch of Carlton in Deledio bloodline; Herald Sun
7. "Brett Deledio the youngest Tiger life member in history". Herald Sun. News Ltd. 21 December 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
8. Ralph, Jon (27 March 2012). "Brett Deledio's done deal with Tigers". Herald Sun. News Ltd. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
9. "Deledio signs five-year deal with Tigers". ABC News. ABC. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
10. AFL Match Statistics 2012
11. Yiooken Award Winner 2012
12. "Richmond's Brett Deledio admits his 2009 form has been inconsistent at best". AAP. 14 July 2009.
13. Bowen, Nick (19 May 2012). "Deledio now elite: Hardwick". RFC. RFC. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
14. AFL Match Statistics 2013
15. Phelan, Jennifer (30 September 2013). "Top Tiger Jackson wins first Jack Dyer Medal". AFL. AFL. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
16. http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pg-richmond-tigers--brett-deledio
17. http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2014-09-30/cotchins-jack-dyer-medal-treble
18. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-05-05/deledio-could-sub-in |title=Deledio could sub in
19. "Sidelines". The Newcastle Herald. 23 March 2009. p. 44.
20. Capalbo, Abby (19 June 2013). "Byron Bay Wedding from Blumenthal Photography". Style Me Pretty. Style Me Pretty. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
21. https://instagram.com/p/5DiWf4obQn/?taken-by=brettdeledio03
22. footywire.com , footywire.com', 8 September 2015

External links

• Brett Deledio's profile on the official website of the Richmond Football Club
• Brett Deledio's statistics from AFL Tables
• Brett Deledio's statistics from Footy Wire