| Des Tuddenham | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Desmond Vincent Tuddenham | ||
| Date of birth | (1943-01-29)29 January 1943 (age 82) | ||
| Place of birth | Ross Creek, Victoria | ||
| Original team(s) | Ballarat YCW | ||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 84 kg (185 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1962–1971 | Collingwood | 169 (234) | |
| 1972–1975 | Essendon | 69 (66) | |
| 1976–1977 | Collingwood | 13 (17) | |
| Total | 251 (317) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| Victoria | 5 (2) | ||
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1972–1975 | Essendon | 90 (47–43–0) | |
| 1978 | South Melbourne | 22 (9–13–0) | |
| Total | 112 (56–56–0) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1977. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1978. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Desmond Vincent Tuddenham (born 29 January 1943) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who played forCollingwood andEssendon in theVictorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Tuddenham was born and raised inRoss Creek, Victoria, a country town nearBallarat.[1] He and his twin brother, Basil, were two of a large family consisting of nine children (seven boys and two girls) to parents William and Anne Tuddenham.[1]
Tuddenham's upbringing was typical of country footballers who came from farming families. Before and after school and during weekends, he had to help with various farm chores. Sport, usually football orcricket, was played on Saturday, and the family attended church on Sundays.[1] The daily grind of farm work helped to strengthen Tuddenham's shoulders and arms, and a fanatical attitude to fitness hardened his body.
Tuddenham played cricket with five of his brothers for Ross Creek, and football for the Young Christian Worker's club in Ballarat. In the space of three seasons, he went from the under-14s to the under-19s side, and won the league's best and fairest trophy at 16.[1] This attracted the attention of several VFL clubs.
Tuddenham made his VFL debut in1962 againstNorth Melbourne atArden Street Oval. His brand of football was fearless and tough, with a habit of grasping the football to his chest with his elbows sticking out dangerously.[citation needed] In recognition of his toughness and skills, Tuddenham was appointed Collingwood captain in1966. In the semi-final againstSt Kilda, he kicked seven goals onDaryl Griffiths in a tense 10-point win to advance to the grand final. But St Kilda reversed the result two weeks later to take out the1966 VFL grand final by one point, winning their first and only premiership so far.
Collingwood were eliminated from the1967 finals by eventual runner-upGeelong in the first semi-final. The Magpies trailed by one point at three-quarter time, but the Cats kicked six goals to one in the final quarter to win by 30 points. Tuddenham was reported for striking Geelong defenderGeoff Ainsworth on the head with his forearm in the last quarter by field umpireJeff Crouch. He was found guilty and suspended for four matches.[2]
In February 1970, Tuddenham and his deputyLen Thompson were involved in a pay dispute after they learned that Collingwood had recruited its first interstate player,Peter Eakins, from Western Australian clubSubiaco for a sign-on fee ofA$5,000 and A$5,000 a season for three years. That was A$2,000 more than Tuddenham was receiving as captain.[3] Tuddenham asked for A$8,000 over three seasons, and Thompson A$30,000 over five seasons, threatening to walk out if their demands were not met. Three weeks later, during which time there had been no negotiations, both players returned. Although their demands had not been met they did obtain a slightly improved salary; under the clubs terms, Tuddenham would receive A$125 per match plus VFL provident fund payments, and Thompson would earn A$105 per match.[4]
Although Tuddenham was confident the little episode would not affect his chances of retaining the captaincy, the Magpies committee announcedTerry Waters as captain for the1970 VFL season and Tuddenham accepted the decision. Collingwood finished on top of the ladder with 18 wins and defeated arch-rivalsCarlton in a semi-final by 10 points to advance to the grand final. However, as had happened four years earlier against St Kilda, Carlton would reverse the result in the1970 VFL grand final, coming from 44 points down at half-time to overrun Collingwood in the second half. Tuddenham was regarded among Collingwood's best players on the day. During the game he accidentally floored teammatePeter McKenna in the second quarter with a hip-and-shoulder bump meant for a Carlton player. McKenna had kicked five goals up to that stage of the game and would only add one more for the rest of the match.
In an interview 40 years later, Tuddenham cited a lack of fitness, as well as inaccurate kicking for goal, as the main reason Collingwood lost:
"I suggested to (coach)Bob Rose after we lost the1966 Grand Final to St Kilda by a point that he do the coaching and I look after the fitness along with my friend John Toleman. The idea was that I would be an assistant coach, and I'll tell you what, I would have got the buggers fit."[5]
In1971, Tuddenham became the first player to be named captain of theVFL representative team whilst not captain of his own club. When asked about this, state coachTom Hafey replied bluntly: "We are not here to talk about Collingwood's mistakes."[1]
Tuddenham stayed with the club for a further season before moving toEssendon as captain-coach. He played four seasons for the Bombers before returning to Collingwood for his final two seasons.
In 1978, Tuddenham was appointed senior coach ofSouth Melbourne for a season, replaced byIan Stewart when he failed to take the club to the finals. He coachedVFA second division clubWerribee to the finals in 1988, but left after he and the club concluded a playing coach would be better suited to the club's needs.[6]
Tuddenham ran a plastics manufacturing business, which he sold in 1979. He later worked as a scrap-metal dealer.[1] Tuddenham recently appeared on Sam Newman’s You Cannot Be Serious podcast.https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/episode-295-part-3-des-tuddenham/id1474582435?i=1000691253460
Since retirement, Tuddenham has been in trouble with the law on several occasions.
Tuddenham has four children. One of them,Paul, played 40 games forCollingwood from 1987 to 1991.
Tuddenham was inducted into theAustralian Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
In 2009,The Australian nominated Tuddenham as one of the 25 greatest footballers never to win aBrownlow Medal.[11]