Robert DiPierdomenico
"Dipper" coaching the Peres Team for Peace
in the 2008 International Cup
Personal information
Full name Berto DiPierdomenico
Nickname(s) Dipper
Date of birth (1958-05-05) 5 May 1958
Place of birth Hawthorn, Victoria
Original team(s) North Kew (Vic)
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 93 kg (205 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1975–1991 Hawthorn 240 (130)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
Victoria ? (?)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1991.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Berto "Robert" DiPierdomenico (born 5 May 1958) is a retired Australian rules footballer who represented Hawthorn in the Australian Football League (AFL) from the 1970s to the 1990s. Popularly known by his nickname "Dipper", DiPierdomenico is one of the most successful Italian Australians to play Australian football, and his contribution to the game was recognised by selection in the VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century.

Early life

DiPierdomenico was born in Hawthorn to parents Stefano and Antonietta, who had emigrated to Australia from Abbateggio, Italy. DiPierdomenico's parents were married by proxy, meaning they were married over the phone.[1] A hyperactive child who had a stutter, Dipper attended numerous schools in Hawthorn and neighbouring areas, including Kew High, where he met his future wife Cheryl Bayley, and Swinburne Tech, where his headmaster was his future Hawthorn coach, John Kennedy Senior, DiPierdomenico began playing football in his early teens for local clubs East Hawthorn and North Kew before signing for VFL club Hawthorn as an eighteen-year-old. As a youngster, DiPierdomenico played cricket and would bowl left arm over the wrist.

AFL career

Beginning his career with the Hawthorn Football Club in 1975, DiPierdomenico started slowly, playing 99 reserve-grade games as he flitted between first team and reserve-grade football. He kick-started his career in 1978, culminating in a best-on-ground performance in the 1978 VFL Grand Final.[2]

DiPierdomenico was initially assigned guernsey number #53, but subsequently wore number #9. Typically, he was considered one of Hawthorn's best players.

He was known for his toughness (which led to many trips to the Tribunal), and the moustachioed Dipper was one of the much-loved, and most media-covered characters in the VFL during the 1980s. DiPierdomenico won the Brownlow Medal, in 1986 tying with Greg Williams, who was playing for Sydney at the time.[3] During that season, DiPierdomenico was considered very fortunate to have avoided the VFL tribunal, and consequent ineligibility for the Brownlow. Later in the week, he would win his third Premiership medallion as the Hawks defeated Carlton by 42 points.[4]

Late in the first quarter of the 1989 VFL Grand Final, DiPierdomenico was running backwards to take a mark when he was met solidly from behind by Geelong star Gary Ablett. The force of the collision broke several of DiPierdomenico's ribs and punctured one of his lungs.[5] Despite the pain, and being unaware of the extent of the damage, DiPierdomenico continued to play until the final siren, and Hawthorn won by a goal in one of the most famous grand finals of all time.[5] He collapsed shortly after the game and was rushed to the casualty ward of St. Vincent's Hospital, where doctors found out that DiPierdomenico had punctured a lung.[5] He recounted the gravity of the situation years later:

"By this time I'd been shifted into intensive care. The doctor came in and said if they didn't gag me I was gone... So there you are. I had eight days in hospital to think about what might have happened. To tell you the truth, it scared me."[6]

DiPierdomenico went on to play 240 games and kick 130 goals with the Hawks, retiring in 1991, and participating in five day and four night premierships during one of the most successful eras that a VFL/AFL club has ever achieved.

Playing statistics

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1975 Hawthorn 381004040—0.00.04.00.04.00.0—
1976 Hawthorn 380——————————————
1977 Hawthorn 380——————————————
1978 Hawthorn 921121797525432—0.00.18.53.612.11.5—
1979 Hawthorn 915121708725749—0.10.111.35.817.13.3—
1980 Hawthorn 916221919628743—0.10.111.96.017.92.7—
1981 Hawthorn 912541274517236—0.40.310.63.814.33.0—
1982 Hawthorn 9932673710423—0.30.27.44.111.62.6—
1983 Hawthorn 9177142058929468—0.40.812.15.217.34.0—
1984 Hawthorn 9242330335166501112—1.01.314.06.920.94.7—
1985 Hawthorn 91712202279732462—0.71.213.45.719.13.6—
1986 Hawthorn 9252317360211571101—0.90.714.48.422.84.0—
1987 Hawthorn 9241618317201518120670.70.813.28.421.65.02.8
1988 Hawthorn 921131535111246389660.60.716.75.322.04.23.1
1989 Hawthorn 924191835314249596700.80.814.75.920.64.02.9
1990 Hawthorn 913551807625661180.40.413.85.819.74.71.4
1991 Hawthorn 910311415020.03.011.04.015.00.02.0
Career[7] 240 130 152 3077 1438 4515 892 223 0.5 0.6 12.8 6.0 18.8 3.7 2.7

Media career

After DiPierdomenico retired, he became a popular media personality as a boundary rider with the Seven Network. After Seven lost the rights to broadcast AFL in 2001, DiPierdomenico continued his tradition as a boundary-rider on radio station 3AW. DiPierdomenico also worked at Sky News Australia as their AFL expert in the mid 2000s.

In the 1990s, DiPierdomenico made an appearance, along with Dermott Brereton and Adrian Barich, in a charity rugby league match and scored a try, and in comedic fashion dived over the line in a fashion similar to Superman to celebrate.

In 2010, he was stood down from his role in the Auskick junior development program after making a racist remark regarding Gavin Wanganeen.[8]

DiPierdomenico made a cameo in the TV series Neighbours in 1999, and he appeared on the Channel 9 weight-loss show Excess Baggage in 2012. Since 2019, he has been hosting the TV series Dipper's Backyard BBQ Wars.

Dipierdemenico appeared in adverts for department store Dimmeys in the 1990s.

Dipper was the 7th person evicted on the seventh series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2021. He is the first celebrity to bowl a strike in a sushi eating challenge.

Career highlights

Bibliography

  • Butler, Ben and Binnie, Craig (2007). "Dipper's tax bill nightmare." Herald Sun. 5 September.
  • Cometti, Dennis (2004). Centimetre Perfect. London: Allen and Unwin.
  • (1991). "Dipper Decides to Call it Quits." The Advertiser. 4 October.
  • Edwards, Mike (2007). "Time of the essence for kids, says Dipper." Herald Sun. 13 August.
  • Kartal, Y (1992). "The club a party to Dipper's debut." Northern Territory News. 7 June.

References

  1. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Open Mike - Robert DiPierdomenico (2010)". YouTube.
  2. ↑ Anderson, Jon (24 September 2008). "1978 VFL Grand Final: A lesson in positive thinking". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "1986 Brownlow Medal". AFL Tables.
  4. ↑ Stephen Rodgers, Ashley Browne (2 March 1998). Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897-1997. ISBN 9780670908097.
  5. 1 2 3 Staff Writers (28 July 2014). "Robert DiPierdomenico playing with broken ribs, ironmen crawling across the line – they are among sport's bravest moments". Herald Sun. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "Lords of War". Herald Sun.
  7. ↑ "Robert DiPierdomenico's player profile at AFL Tables". AFL Tables.
  8. ↑ Australian Associated Press (18 June 2010). "Dipper offers apology for 'Abo' remark". ABC News.

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