Frank Dunell

Last updated

Frank Dunell
Personal information
Date of birth (1958-03-17) 17 March 1958 (age 65)
Original team(s) Windsor-Zillmere (QAFL)
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 85 kg (187 lb)
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
1979–1986 Essendon 100 (57)
1987–1988 Brisbane Bears 015 0(4)
Total115 (61)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1988.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Frank Dunell (born 17 March 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Essendon Bombers and the Brisbane Bears in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Originally from Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL) club Windsor-Zillmere, Dunell was recruited by the Essendon Bombers and made his senior VFL debut in 1979.

Dunell played in many positions during his career, including half back, the wing, forward pocket and at full forward. He was first recruited as a high flying forward from Windsor Zillmere however his mosT consistent form was found when he played down back. He missed the 83 grand final against the Hawks along with Ron Andrews and both played major roles in winning the reserve grade final against Collingwood that day. It was in the forward pocket where he played in Essendon's 1984 premiership. That year he also was a member of Essendon's night premiership team. In 1985 he incurred an injury to his knee just before seasons end missing the all conquering performance against the Hawks. He played more games than anyone else in the bombers most successful era (1983-86) and he remained with the club until the end of the 1986 VFL season when he returned home to Brisbane and became a member of the Brisbane Bears original squad for the 1987 VFL season. Dunell spent two injury interrupted seasons with Brisbane before retiring at the end of the 1988 season. He was the first Queenslander to win a VFL premiership and was later recognised as a member of the QLD Origin team of the century.

Dunell has coached in the VAFA since his retirement firstly as a player coach with St Bernards in 1991-1993 where he took them to A Grade after winning the B-Grade premiership. He then coached various sides in North Old Boys, Old Essendon, Old Melbournians and finally Old Geelong. He was the senior coach of the VAFA State under 23 team and in 2005 took the All Australian Amateur team to Ireland to play against the All Ireland team as the head coach. [1]

Dunell's son Sam played for Australian Football League (AFL) club St Kilda. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essendon Football Club</span> Australian rules football club

The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their Ascot Vale home "Alisa", and while the exact date is unknown, it is generally accepted to have been in 1872. The club's first recorded game took place on 7 June 1873 against a Carlton Second 20. From 1878 until 1896, the club played in the Victorian Football Association, then joined seven other clubs in October 1896 to form the breakaway Victorian Football League. Headquartered at the Essendon Recreation Ground, known as Windy Hill, from 1922 to 2013, the club moved to The Hangar in near Tullamarine in late 2013 on land owned by the Melbourne Airport. The club currently plays its home games at either Docklands Stadium or the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Zach Merrett is the current club captain.

The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of Fitzroy, the club was a member of the Victorian Football Association (VFA), before becoming a foundation member of the breakaway Victorian Football League (VFL/AFL) in 1897.

The 2004 AFL season was the 108th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 26 March until 25 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1899 VFL season</span> Third season of the Victorian Football League (VFL)

The 1899 VFL season was the third season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured eight clubs, ran from 13 May until 16 September, and comprised a 14-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring all eight clubs.

The Wangaratta Rovers, officially known as the Wangaratta Rovers Football & Netball Club, is an Australian rules football club based in Wangaratta, Victoria and play in the Ovens & Murray Football League. Their nickname is the Hawks. Their home ground is W.J. Findlay Oval in Wangaratta. Their playing guernsey consists of gold and brown stripes on the front and gold on the back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mal Michael</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1977

Malcolm Robert Michael is a Papua New Guinean-born former Australian rules footballer. He is notable for his successful professional career in the Australian Football League. In a career spanning 238 games and three clubs in two Australian states he is best known as a triple premiership full-back with the Brisbane Lions. Michael is recognised as being one of the best Queensland produced Australian rules footballers of all time, being named on the AFL Queensland Team of the 20th Century.

Rivalries in the Australian Football League exist between many teams, most of which typically draw large crowds and interest regardless of both teams' positions on the ladder. The AFL encourages the building of such rivalries, as a method of increasing publicity for the league, to the point of designating one round each year as "Rivalry Round" when many of these match-ups are held on the one weekend. Whilst some rivalries, such as between teams from adjacent areas, are still strong, the designation of an entire round of fixtures as a Rivalry Round is often criticised due to some arbitrary match-ups, or ignoring stronger and more recent rivalries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zillmere Eagles Australian Football Club</span>

Zillmere Eagles Australian Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Zillmere in the northern suburbs of Brisbane.<vr />The team plays in the QAFA Division 4.

The 1995 AFL season was the 99th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989.

The 1984 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 1984. It was the 88th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1984 VFL season. The match, attended by 92,685 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 24 points, marking that club's 13th premiership victory.

Peter Charles Banfield is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon and the Brisbane Bears in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1980s, and with West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) during the early 1990s.

Larry John Watson is a former Australian rules football player who played with Essendon and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

The AFL Australian Football League is the top professional Australian rules football league in the world. The league consists of eighteen teams: nine based in the city of Melbourne, one from regional Victoria, and eight based in other Australian states. The reason for this unbalanced geographic distribution lies in the history of the league, which was based solely within Victoria from the time it was established in 1897, until the time the league expanded through the addition of clubs from interstate to the existing teams starting in the 1980s; until this expansion, the league was known as the VFL (Victorian Football League).

John Blair is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the South Melbourne Football Club, Fitzroy Football Club and St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He has since become a successful coach in Queensland.

Craig Brittain is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Brian J. Winton is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond, Essendon and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Townsend</span> Australian rules footballer

Jacob Townsend is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played 28 matches over four seasons with the Greater Western Sydney Giants and 20 matches over four seasons at Richmond. He won an AFL premiership with Richmond in 2017 while also winning the VFL's J. J. Liston Trophy that season as the league's best and fairest player during matches played with Richmond's reserves side, before winning a VFL premiership with the same reserves side in 2019. At the conclusion of the 2019 season, he was signed to the Essendon Football Club, and was delisted after one season, before being rookie-listed again, this time by Gold Coast.

Samuel Luke Dunell is an Australian rules football player who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and then played for Williamstown in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 2015-2019 where he played 100 games for them, kicking 158 goals. He played for Victoria against SA in 2016 and was twice named in the VFL Team of the Year. He finished 2nd in the VFL Liston trophy in 2015 capping off the season with an all conquering premiership win against Box Hill at Docklands. At one stage he was considered the best player in the VFL. He was Club leading goalkicker in 2015 with 41 majors and 2016 with 37 goals, and was runner-up in the Club best and fairest in 2015 and in third place in 2016. He received life membership in 2019 after his final game for Williamstown in the 2019 grand defeat defeat by Richmond.

Stuart Barclay is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitch Hannan</span> Australian rules footballer

Mitchell Hannan is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been initially drafted to the Melbourne Football Club. A forward, 1.90 metres tall and weighing 87 kilograms (192 lb), Hannan has the ability to play as a forward and in the midfield. After failing to play in the TAC Cup as a junior, he joined the St Bernard's Football Club in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) where he won a premiership and the best on ground in the 2015 VAFA Grand Final. The next year, he played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL) where he won his second premiership in as many years. His performances in the VAFA and VFL saw him recruited by the Melbourne Football Club in the 2016 AFL draft and he made his debut in the opening round of the 2017 season.

References

  1. Paul Daffey. "Five talking points: St Kilda v Western Bulldogs". afl.com.au. Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  2. Gallagher, Breanna. "Dunell elevated". saints.com.au. St Kilda Football Club. Retrieved 12 July 2012.