It saddens me how criminally underrated Dermott Brereton's career has become.

[Mitchell Madness]

No one underrated dermie, it's just now the professional era has been going so long that he isn't mentioned in discussions

Let's not forget, he was on the decline by the early 90's, whilst others from his era kept going strong

 

[cryptor]

Same thing is happening to Crawf. Due in no small part to his antics on The Footy Show. People are already beginning to associate him with his clownish media persona than they do his 300+ game career.

Newman, Brownless and to a lesser degree Lyon also have suffered the same effect.

 

[arupist]

How I miss the old days with great names like Skeeter Coghlan, Chicken Smallhorn and the great Jack Dyer.

 

[Lord Mud of Glenferrie]

Some may remember that I used to have the unbeatables as my signature. The current crop of champions made it too hard to pick a team that was not a best ever 22 so I gave up.

I comfortable rate the top four as in order
Peter Hudson
Leigh Mathews
and Peter Dunstall/Jason Knights ( I can't separate them)

Picking in order anybody after those four is almost impossible. So, I thought who would I be most devastated by any player who was unavailable through injury or suspension. In other words the loss of which player is just about irreplaceable. Some names came quickly - Don Scott, Kelvin Moore, Shane Crawford, Luke Hodge and several others but the one who stood out was Dermot Brereton.

Dermie was irreplaceable. How can any one rate the current bunch of stiffs above this dominating hard man genius?

 

[Brishawk]

For me moving to Victoria in 1989 I was already a Hawk fan due to my family heritage but had never really being immersed in footy. Dermie was footy. I wanted to eat tiptop bread because of him haha. My first GF I watched in full was 1989. I love the story of Yabby sending out the runner and telling him to pull Dermie off the ground, dermie telling him to get lost and then going to FF and taking a mark and bagging the goal. Yabby then sends the runner back out with a one word message, 'INSPIRATIONAL!'.

Dunstall - Hudson - Matthews
Franklin - Roughy - Brereton

That is like the fantasy forward line to beat all fantasy forward lines and we still have plenty of stars sitting on the side line! We have been a lucky club.

 

[Stard Picket]

Let me first say i wore fluro adidas football boots as a kid and worshipped The Kid but Derms problem is his stints at sydney and the pies were woeful his ego got in the way of him finishing a one club superstar.

 

[Rushed_Behind]

It doesnt matter what others think and how they rate him. Everyone on this board who saw him play knows how good he was and how much punishment his body copped for the betterment of this club and the teammates he played with.

When he played it didn't matter who we were up against. I knew we were always a shot and wouldn't give an inch.

He will always be a legend of this club officially recognised or not.

 

[Furn2]

didnt he actually only win 4 night premierships ?

 

[Great 2008]

If Dermott was not held in high regard, someone would have put an end to his 'special' comments/commentary career years ago.

 

[MrFujiMoto]

...

But yeah...'The Kid' was likely our best BIG game player.... Alongsides of "The Big Dipper though!

Gary Ayres was an awesome big game player. That's why that team made so many GF's and won so many flags. Ayres, Dipper, Brereton, Pritchard, Platten, COndon, Collins and a host of other were all supreme big game players.

 

[MrFujiMoto]

didnt he actually only win 4 night premierships ?

He won 10. 5 day and 5 night. Ask him, he'll tell you.

 

[MrFujiMoto]

.....

Then Andy Collins tackled Tony Hall...

Repressed memories rising. I can still see that tackle very clearly in my mind. that is, when someone like yourself reminds me of it. Thanks for that. Hall would have been a much better player than Jarman could have ever dreamed of. If only Andy C didn't drag him down.

 

[Crock]

All of Bremner, Matthews, Bussell & Scott wouldn't take an ounce of s**t off 'The Kid'!...Hell, Big Al would just sit on him.

Derm would not be out of place in that company.
Would have held his own.

 

[cryptor]

He won 10. 5 day and 5 night. Ask him, he'll tell you.

He'll tell you even if you don't ask.

 

[walhawk]

Don't think Derm is under-rated at all.
Was around 30ish in the AFL's top 150 players announced in 1996.
As a Hawk he sits below only Dunstall, Matthews and Hudson.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

He's a bit like Cyril in a way. Stats didn't do his impact on games justice.

His off field carry on hasn't helped though.

Best CHF i've seen behind Carey.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Don't think Derm is under-rated at all.
Was around 30ish in the AFL's top 150 players announced in 1996.
As a Hawk he sits below only Dunstall, Matthews and Hudson.

Ahead of all of Ayres, Langford, Mew, Knights, Mitchell, Hodge....

 

[Procrastinator35]

Gary Ayres was an awesome big game player. That's why that team made so many GF's and won so many flags. Ayres, Dipper, Brereton, Pritchard, Platten, COndon, Collins and a host of other were all supreme big game players.

Yep Conan for sure....Bucky, Dunstall & Langers also!

Derm had already played most of his best football prior to 1990, so I can actually understand why Mike Sheehan has left him out of his Top 50 list, over these past 25 seasons.

 

[Stratton24]

Derm did not play 100 games after 1990 so he was ineligible for Mikes Top 50.

 

[walhawk]

Ahead of all of Ayres, Langford, Mew, Knights, Mitchell, Hodge....

Similar level to Ayres, Knights, Platten, Mitchell, Franklin, Hodge.
I would say Mew, Mitchell and Ayres are the under-rated champion Hawks.

 

[walhawk]

Derm did not play 100 games after 1990 so he was ineligible for Mikes Top 50.

I reckon he played only half a dozen really good games after 1989 GF.
11 goals v Richmond and 91 GF the standouts.

 

[TheFourPillars]

To Quote Alan Jeans after he took THAT mark in the forward line in the 89 Grand Final
"INSPIRATIONAL"

Dermie was the epitome of the big game player. He literally bled for the club. The man is a legend of our Club and in the top 2 or 3 CHFs to ever play the game and he was 186cms tall. A Collosus.

 

[andrew coombs]

For the relatively few VFL/AFL players who have gone on to become Media personalities there is a definite trade off of reputation and public esteem. The football following public have never been more parochial about their clubs and players, usually at the expense of clear headed rational thought. When the general public are given a voice through such mediums as talk back radio,twitter,SMS or forums like BF it is patently clear that people don't like it one bit if they feel their club is being disrespected. Blokes like Bartlett,Lloyd,Matthews,Dunstall,Healy etc are some of the greatest players the game has seen and warrant significant respect but that is in short order if the passionate footy fan feels his club or players have been slighted by a less than positive opinion from them. Easier to dismiss KB as an old fool or claim an obvious bias from Jason,Matthew or Gerard toward their old team or against a rival of that team than to consider some merit in what they have said. Dermott suffers from this more than most. His Peter Pan persona endures and too often masks a razor sharp football analysts brain. He tends to prattle a bit but his knowlege of the game is second to none. His style and preparedness to be a bit of an iconoclast ( see highly critical comments about media fav Brent Harvey ) can and does put many people offside. He also too easily falls in the trap of reverting to his old schoolyard bully persona at times which damages his more "serious" image. I doubt he gives a stuff but the media Derm is more recognisable to many, many people than the champion footballer Derm ( as it is with JD I'm afraid ) which is a great shame as he was indeed a superstar player.

 

[kolchak]

He's a bit like Cyril in a way. Stats didn't do his impact on games justice.

His off field carry on hasn't helped though.

Best CHF i've seen behind Carey.

He had the ability even when having a bad day to turn it on in one quarter and win the game.

He played CHF but played it unlike any other CHF.

He's a bit like Cyril in that regard.

 

[Gorry]

Repressed memories rising. I can still see that tackle very clearly in my mind. that is, when someone like yourself reminds me of it. Thanks for that. Hall would have been a much better player than Jarman could have ever dreamed of. If only Andy C didn't drag him down.

Tony Hall was close to being the best player in the comp at the time... Could have been anything...