David Dench

Last updated

David Dench
Personal information
Full name David Dench
Date of birth (1951-08-23) 23 August 1951 (age 72)
Original team(s) West Coburg (EDFL) [1]
Height 191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 89 kg (196 lb)
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
1969–1984 North Melbourne 275 (29) [1]
Representative team honours
YearsTeamGames (Goals)
Victoria 4 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1984.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

David Dench (born 23 August 1951) [2] is a former Australian rules footballer in the (then) Victorian Football League. He played his whole career with North Melbourne Football Club during one of its most successful periods.

Contents

VFL career

Dench played full-back. He was recruited from the West Coburg. Dench won the North Melbourne club's best and fairest award, the Syd Barker Medal, on four occasions - 1971, 1976, 1977, 1981. [1] In 1972 David Dench at the age of 21 he became one of the youngest captains appointed in the Kangaroos' history. He also captained the 1977 premiership team, due to Keith Greig's absence because of an injury. In the 1977 VFL Grand Final, Ron Barassi moved him to the forward line, where he sparked North Melbourne Football Club's revival by contributing to the forward line and kicking goals, to draw with Collingwood Football Club.

A graphic and comical photograph of Dench smothering of a kick by South Melbourne's John Roberts was made in 1981 by Michael Rayner of The Age which won the Nikon Awards Best Sports Photograph of the Year. [3]

In 1984 Dench was told by his coach Barry Cable that his playing days were numbered and was going to play out the season in the reserves. Dench was not happy with this so he grabbed his gear and went home and retired. His relationship with Cable has been fractured ever since, with Dench refusing to speak to Cable again.

When John (Kanga) Kennedy was appointed coach he tried to convince Dench to play again but the condition of his knees was poor and he stayed as an assistant coach.

Post AFL career and personal life

In 2000 Dench was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. [2]

His daughter, Michelle is a distinguished Australian sportswoman. She played high level basketball before taking up Australian football playing over 100 games for her club Melbourne University. She also represented Victoria and Australia as well as captaining her club to a premiership.

In 2008, Dench served 4 months in jail for his minor role in a scheme to defraud Victoria University out of millions of dollars. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Barassi</span> Australian rules footballer (1936–2023)

Ronald Dale Barassi was an Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the greatest and most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a "Legend", and he is one of four Australian rules footballers to be elevated to the same status in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Blight</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1950

Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also coached the Geelong Football Club, Adelaide Football Club and St Kilda Football Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Matthews</span> Australian rules footballer (born 1952)

Leigh Raymond Matthews is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions in the VFL and renamed Australian Football League (AFL).

Barry James Round was an Australian rules footballer. He played for Footscray and South Melbourne/Sydney in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1969 and 1985. He played 328 games, won a Brownlow Medal in 1981 and was the Swans' first captain during the Sydney era. Round's height and weight was 193 cm and 108 kg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Madden</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1957

Simon Madden is a former Australian rules footballer who played his entire 19-season career with the Essendon Football Club from 1974 until 1992. Madden is one of the most decorated players in the club's history and widely regarded as one of the finest ruckmen to ever play the game.

Dale Weightman is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Michael Tuck is a seven-time premiership-winning player, Australian rules footballer with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) / Australian Football League (AFL).

Oleksandr Vasiliovych "Alex" Jesaulenko is a former Australian rules footballer and who played for the Carlton Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also served as a coach at both clubs.

David Alexander Parkin, OAM is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the Subiaco Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL).

David Cloke is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Francis William Bourke is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who represented Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1967 and 1981, and coached the club in 1982 and 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Neale</span> Australian rules footballer (1945–2023)

Kevin Neale was an Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Later in his career, he was a player-coach or captain-coach for a number of teams in the Australian Capital Territory, before eventually becoming a full-time coach.

Stephen Scott Kernahan is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and for the Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also played 16 State of Origin games for South Australia and gained selection as an All-Australian five times. He later served for six years as president of the Carlton Football Club.

Brian Francis Peake OAM is a former Australian rules footballer who played for East Fremantle and Perth in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), and Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also played State of Origin football for Western Australia from 1978 to 1987, captaining the side in 1979, 1980, 1986 and 1987. Peake was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1990 and was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2004, and into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

Graham Studley CornesOAM is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, as well as a media personality. From 1995 until early 2013, Cornes co-hosted a weekday drivetime sports program that he hosts on Adelaide radio station 5AA, first with Ken "KG" Cunningham and, following Cunningham's retirement in 2008, with Stephen Rowe. In 2012 he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Barry Thomas Cable MBE is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Considered one of the greatest rovers in the sport's history, he played in 379 premiership games in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the Victorian Football League (VFL), and later coached in both competitions. However, his reputation was left in tatters after convictions of historical sex crimes, including a code-first revocation of his Hall of Fame status as well as his removal from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2023.

Harold Peter "Hassa" Mann is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and captained Melbourne in the VFL during the 1960s. He earned the name Hassa when he was a toddler, from his cousin and future Melbourne footballer Len Mann.

Gordon James Hynes is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL during the 1960s.

The 1977 VFL grand final was a series of two Australian rules football matches between the North Melbourne Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club. Together they are considered the 80th and 81st grand finals of the Victorian Football League and were staged to determine the premiers for the 1977 VFL season. The premiership is usually decided by a single match; however, as the first grand final ended in a draw, a grand final replay was played the following week and was won by North Melbourne. Both grand finals were held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The first was held on 24 September 1977. The game was attended by 108,224 spectators and ended in a draw, with both teams scoring 76 points. This was the second time a draw had occurred in a VFL grand final, the first being in 1948.

Michael Francis Nolan was an Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Because of his weight of 135 kg and height of 194 cm, Nolan was dubbed "The Galloping Gasometer" by commentator Lou Richards. Until the emergence of Aaron Sandilands in the early 2000s, Nolan was the heaviest ruckman to play VFL/AFL football. He was nevertheless surprisingly agile and regarded as one of the best "palm" ruckmen of the 1970s. Nolan had a long kick and was unusually effective, for a big man, in picking up the ball at ground level.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "David Dench". Past Players. North Melbourne Football Club. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  2. 1 2 "AFL Hall of Fame Players". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 21 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  3. ↑ The Age, Saturday, 07 Mar 1981, p.3
  4. ↑ Rout, Milanda (9 July 2008). "David Dench jailed for role in fraud". The Australian . Retrieved 15 December 2010.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.