'Knuckles' Connolly | Former Wallabies Head Coach
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Borneo ANZAC Day Cup Tournament and Bears Sportsman’s night 2013 Special Guests John 'Knuckles' Connolly | Former Wallabies Head Coach John "Knuckles" Connolly is a rugby union coach and the former head coach of the Wallabies. Connolly has in the past worked with the Queensland Reds, Stade Francois, Swansea RFC as well as Bath Rugby. As a rugby player, Connolly played hooker for the Brothers club in Brisbane. From 1980 through to 1982, Connolly acted as a player and a coach for a rugby team in Darwin. His first major coaching position was with the Brothers club in Brisbane in 1983, acting as the reserve grade coach for three years, taking the team to two premierships. Subsequent roles came to him as he was appointed as the Under 19s and Under 21s Queensland rugby union coach. In 1989, Connolly took up a coaching position within the Queensland Rugby team. In 1991, Connolly served as an Australian selector. During his time with Queensland, the side won the Super Six in 1992 and the Super 10 Championship in 1994 and 1995. With the inception of the Super 12 competition in Australia in 1996, Connolly continued his position at the Queensland Reds. The Reds won the minor premiership that year, and Connolly went on to win the Super 12 Coach of the Year award in both 1998 and 1999, the Reds also winning the minor premiership in 1999 as well. He went over to France the following season, where he took up a position at the Stade Francois rugby club. The club won the premiership during the 1999-2000 season and were Heineken Cup finalists that same year as well as the next. In Wales he then coached at Swansea RFC. John 'Knuckles' Connolly | Former Wallabies Head Coach (cont…) He then took up a position at the Bath Rugby club in England, where Michael Foley had been signed as their forwards coach, Foley had previously played as hooker under Connolly at the Queensland Reds. Connolly was awarded the Zurich Premiership Director of the Year award as well and Bath won the minor premiership in the 2003-04 season. Bath went on to meet the London Wasps in the final, with the Wasps winning in the end. The following year they were finalists in the Powergen Cup. In early February of 2006 Connolly was appointed as the new head coach of the Australian team. In his first Test in charge, Australia defeated England in the first of two games in Australia. Australia then finished second in the 2006 Tri Nations Series. Following the defeat to England in the Quarter-Finals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Connolly's term as coach of the Wallabies had expired. He got his nickname, 'Knuckles', as a nightclub bouncer in Darwin years ago. Berto “Robert” DiPierdomenico There’s tough and then there’s TOUGH. In the first quarter of the ’89 Grand Final, DiPierdomenico was running backwards to take a mark when he was met solidly from behind by Geelong’s Gary Ablett Snr. With the stuffing knocked out of him, ‘Dipper’ looked gone as he struggled to regain his feet. But swatting away trainers, he played on despite the immense pain and unaware of the extent of the damage. Typically, ‘Dipper’ was among Hawthorn’s best players and also got reported. Collapsing shortly after the game, he was rushed to hospital. ‘Dipper’ had played almost the entire Grand Final with several broken ribs and a punctured lung! An ‘unfashionable’ (read ugly) footballer, Dipper was nonetheless highly effective as a tough, no- nonsense ball-winner, so much so that he won the Brownlow Medal in 1986. This was is no small measure due to avoiding the Tribunal that year, for ‘Dipper’ was something of a regular there. But he wasn’t a dirty player – just tough and often got as good as he gave. These days, his always smiling and jovial personality make him an ideal guest speaker. He is Italy’s greatest gift to the AFL – Robert DiPierdomenico. Berto 'Robert' DiPierdomenico, known as Dipper (born 5 May 1958) is a former 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. Born 'Berto' but later renamed Robert, to Italian immigrant parents Stefano and Antonietta, DiPierdomenico was born in Hawthorn and nearly died as a child following a bout pf pneumonia. A hyperactive child who suffered from stuttering, he later went to several school in Hawthorn and neighbouring areas including Kew High where he met his future wife Cheryl Bayley and Swinburne Tech where his Headmaster was future Hawthorn coach John Kennedy Snr. 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. The fee was 10,00 dollars and the cost of fixing four front teeth that he had knocked out whilst playing in an earlier game. AFL career Beginning his career with the Hawthorn Football Club in 1975, DiPierdomenico, or the "Big Dipper" as he is affectionately known, 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. Late in the first quarter of the 1989 VFL Grand Final, DiPierdomenico was running backwards to take a mark when he was met solidly from behind by Geelong star Gary Ablett. The force of the collision broke several of DiPierdomenico's ribs and punctured one of his lungs. Despite the pain and unaware of the extent of the damage, DiPierdomenico continued to play until the final siren. Typically, he featured among Hawthorn's best players and also got reported. He collapsed shortly after the game and was rushed to the casualty ward of St. Vincent's Hospital, where doctors found out that Dipper had punctured a lung. He recounted the gravity of the situation years later: "By this time I'd been shifted into intensive care. The doctor came in and said if they didn't gag me I was gone... So there you are. I had eight days in hospital to think about what might have happened. To tell you the truth, it scared me."[1] Media career Dipper has long been known for big persona, including his always smiling and jovial personality. After he retired, he became a popular media personality, as a boundary rider with the Seven Network. After Seven lost the rights to broadcast AFL in 2001, Dipper continued his tradition as a boundary-rider on radio station 3AW. In the 1990s, Dipper made an appearance, along with Dermott Brereton and Adrian Barich, in a charity rugby league match and scored a try, and in typical comedian style dived over the line like superman to celebrate. Dipper has appeared on advertising campaigns for Jenny Craig, Fasta Pasta, and most famously, his long association with Dimmeys & Forges in which his catchphrase in television and radio commercials is "Be there!" and "$9.99!". In 2010, he was stood down from his role in the Auskick junior development program after making a racist remark regarding Gavin Wanganeen.[2] He coached the Peres Team for Peace (Israel-Palestinian Territories) in the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. Robert also made a cameo in Neighbours in 1999. Robert is currently appearing on the Channel 9 weight loss show Excess Baggage. (2012) [edit]Career highlights Brownlow Medal 1986 (tie) Australian Football Hall of Fame 2007 VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century Gary “Bucky” Buckenara Gary Buckenara (born 3 July 1958) played Australian rules football for the Hawthorn Football Club in the VFL during the 1980s. Buckenara first played senior football for Subiaco in the WAFL from 1979 to 1981. Subiaco agreed to lease him for three years for $210,000 and after a court case began his career at Hawthorn. His kicking was highly regarded by his teammates and his reputation in football was assured when he kicked a goal after the siren in the 1987 Preliminary Final to defeat Melbourne. During his time at Hawthorn, Buckenara played 154 games, usually playing in the centre or at half- forward when he had problems with his knees. He kicked 293 goals, won four premierships and played in one losing Grand Final team. He played for his state regularly from 1979 onwards and was selected as the Western Australian captain. In 1983, 85 and 86, he was named in the All Australian Team. His career ended early due to knee injuries, and he moved in to coaching.