Carl Ditterich

Carl Ditterich
Personal information
Full name	Carl Robert Ditterich
Date of birth	(1945-10-10) 10 October 1945 (age 78)
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	053 0(35)
1976–1978	St Kilda	050 0(33)
1979–1980	Melbourne	029 00(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
Trevor Barker Medallist: 1968 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist: 1973 St Kilda captain: 1976–1977 Melbourne captain/coach: 1979–1980
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.

External links

• Carl Ditterich's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Carl Ditterich's coaching statistics from AFL Tables
• Carl Ditterich at AustralianFootball.com
• "St Kilda Hall of Fame Profile". Archived from the original on 27 June 2004. Retrieved 2006-01-16.
• Demon Wiki profile
• Carl Ditterich: Boyles Football Photos.