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Carl Ditterich
Personal information
Full name Carl Robert Ditterich
Date of birth (1945-10-10) 10 October 1945 (age 79)
Original team(s) East Brighton
Debut Round 1, 20 April 1963, St Kilda vs. Melbourne, at Junction Oval
Height 194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 96 kg (212 lb)
Position(s) Ruckman
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1963–1972 St Kilda 153 (123)
1973–1975 Melbourne 53 (35)
1976–1978 St Kilda 50 (33)
1979–1980 Melbourne 29 (8)
Total 285 (199)
Coaching career
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1979–1980 Melbourne 43 (11–32–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1980.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Carl Robert Ditterich (born 10 October 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also coached Melbourne for two years, as a playing coach.

Ditterich, known as the "Blonde Bombshell", made an impressive debut as a 17-year-old for St Kilda against Melbourne in the opening round of the 1963 VFL season, with his speed, high leaping and endurance noted.[1][2]

He became a tough ruckman and often appeared at the VFL Tribunal, in particular missing St Kilda's only premiership victory in 1966 through suspension.[3]

In 1973, he transferred to Melbourne under the VFL's short-lived "10-year rule",[4] which allowed players with ten years' service at one club to move to another club without a clearance,[5] before returning to St Kilda in 1976, due to his six-year deal being too expensive for Melbourne to continue.[6]

In 1979 he switched again to Melbourne to become their captain-coach for two years;[7] during this period, the Demons suffered the worst defeat in VFL/AFL history, losing to Fitzroy by 190 points in Round 17, 1979.[8]

After football

Ditterich purchased a wheat farm near Swan Hill, Victoria. He coached nearby Woorinen (Mid Murray FL) for two seasons 1983 and 1984. Eighteen years later he coached Boort in the North Central Football League in 2002 and 2003.

Ditterich unsuccessfully stood as an independent candidate for the seat of Swan Hill in the 1999 Victorian state election.

In April 2024, Ditterich was charged with historical child sex offences.[9]

Statistics

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
H/O
 Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
1963 St Kilda 10 17 3 — — — — — — — 0.2 — — — — — — —
1964 St Kilda 10 17 5 — — — — — — — 0.3 — — — — — — —
1965 St Kilda 10 13 8 13 199 28 227 70 — — 0.6 1.0 15.3 2.2 17.5 5.4 — —
1966 St Kilda 10 12 9 13 167 36 203 41 — 116 0.8 1.1 13.9 3.0 16.9 3.4 — 10.5
1967 St Kilda 10 12 18 18 169 19 188 49 — 185 1.5 1.5 14.1 1.6 15.7 4.1 — 15.4
1968 St Kilda 10 20 5 9 317 71 388 123 — 335 0.3 0.5 15.9 3.6 19.4 6.2 — 16.8
1969 St Kilda 10 8 16 8 90 20 110 39 — 59 2.0 1.0 11.3 2.5 13.8 4.9 — 7.4
1970 St Kilda 10 16 14 13 202 56 258 94 — 96 0.9 0.8 12.6 3.5 16.1 5.9 — 6.0
1971 St Kilda 10 16 23 12 233 50 283 91 — 137 1.4 0.8 14.6 3.1 17.7 5.7 — 8.6
1972 St Kilda 10 22 22 14 317 101 418 127 — 241 1.0 0.6 14.4 4.6 19.0 5.8 — 12.0
1973 Melbourne 10 22 5 13 256 44 300 96 — 298 0.2 0.6 11.6 2.0 13.6 4.4 — 13.5
1974 Melbourne 10 19 12 9 214 78 292 79 — 8 0.6 0.5 11.3 4.1 15.4 4.2 — 8.0
1975 Melbourne 10 12 18 6 114 57 171 34 — 18 1.5 0.6 10.4 5.2 15.5 3.1 — 3.6
1976 St Kilda 10 18 11 3 154 72 226 51 — 203 0.6 0.2 8.6 4.0 12.6 2.8 — 11.3
1977 St Kilda 10 11 6 4 83 39 122 27 — 99 0.5 0.4 7.5 3.5 11.1 2.5 — 9.0
1978 St Kilda 10 21 16 13 172 80 252 60 — 197 0.8 0.7 8.2 3.8 12.0 2.9 — 10.4
1979 Melbourne 10 17 6 4 178 103 281 70 — 175 0.4 0.2 10.5 6.1 16.5 4.1 — 10.3
1980 Melbourne 10 12 2 6 76 76 152 28 — 122 0.2 0.5 6.3 6.3 12.7 2.3 — 10.2
Career 285 199 158 2941 930 3871 1079 — 2289 0.7 0.6 11.8 3.7 15.5 4.3 — 11.0

References

  1. ^ "Ditterich the Star Among League Recruits". The Age. 22 April 1963. p. 22.
  2. ^ Carter, Ron (22 April 1963). "Courageous Saints Show Up Several Demon Faults". The Age. p. 20.
  3. ^ "Ditterich Suspended: 6 games". The Age. 24 August 1966. p. 1.
  4. ^ "Carl will lift us into the five". The Age. 12 February 1973. p. 20.
  5. ^ The 10-year rule was introduced by the VFL in August 1972, in order to render it immune from the sorts of "restraint of trade" difficulties that were being experienced, at the time, in New South Wales in relation to Rugby League footballers. Although twenty-two VFL players were eligible under the rule, only George Bisset, Barry Davis, Ditterich, John Rantall, Adrian Gallagher, and Doug Wade, took advantage of it — transferring to Collingwood, North Melbourne, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Footscray, and North Melbourne (respectively). The rule was rescinded in May 1973.
  6. ^ Sheahan, Mike (30 December 1975). "Ditterich may lead Saints". The Age. p. 18.
  7. ^ Sheahan, Mike (18 January 1979). "Carl on way to coach Demons". The Age. p. 28.
  8. ^ Brodie, Will (1 August 2011). "Demon legends disappointed by coach sacking". The Age. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  9. ^ "AFL great Carl Ditterich charged with historical child sex offences". ABC News.net.au. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
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