Robert DiPierdomenico
| Robert DiPierdomenico | |||
|---|---|---|---|
"Dipper" coaching the Peres Team for Peace
in the 2008 International Cup |
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| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Berto DiPierdomenico | ||
| Nickname(s) | Dipper | ||
| Date of birth | 5 May 1958 | ||
| Place of birth | Hawthorn, Victoria | ||
| Original team(s) | North Kew | ||
| Height / weight | 185 cm / 93 kg | ||
| 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.
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| Career highlights | |||
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| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Berto "Robert" DiPierdomenico (born 5 May 1958) is a retired Italian-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 recognized by selection in the VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century.
DiPierdomenico was born in Hawthorn to parents Stefano and Antonietta, who had emigrated to Australia from Abbateggio, Italy. A hyperactive child who suffered from stuttering, 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, Sr. 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.
Beginning his career with the Hawthorn Football Club in 1975, DiPierdomenico, started slowly making some 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. He went on to play 240 games and kick 130 goals with the Hawks, retiring in 1991, including 5 day and 5 night premierships with one of the most successful eras of domination a club has ever seen.
DiPierdomenico was initially assigned guernsey number #53, but subsequently wore number #9.
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 somehow managed to avoid the Tribunal in 1986 to win the Brownlow Medal, tying with Greg Williams, who was playing for Sydney at the time. Later in the week, he would win his third Premiership medallion as the Hawks defeated Carlton by 42 points.
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