Introduction
Carl Ditterich (born 10 October 1945) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda and Melbourne in the VFL. He also coached Melbourne for two years, as a playing coach.
Ditterich, known as the "Blonde Bombshell", made an impressive debut as a 17-year-old for St Kilda against Melbourne in the opening round of the 1963 VFL season, with his speed, high leaping and endurance noted.
He became a tough ruckman and often appeared at the VFL Tribunal, in particular missing St Kilda's only premiership victory in 1966 through suspension. He transferred to Melbourne under the short-lived 10-year rule in 1973, before returning to St Kilda in 1976, due to his six-year deal being too expensive for Melbourne to continue. In 1979 he switched again to Melbourne to become their captain-coach for two years; during this period, the Demons suffered the worst defeat in VFL/AFL history, losing to Fitzroy by 190 points in Round 17, 1979.
Statistics
| Legend | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Goals | B | Behinds | K | Kicks | H | Handballs | D | Disposals | M | Marks | T | Tackles | H/O | Hit-outs |
| Season | Team | # | Games | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | H/O | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | H/O |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1963 | St Kilda | 10 | 17 | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1964 | St Kilda | 10 | 17 | 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1965 | St Kilda | 10 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 199 | 28 | 227 | 70 | N/A | N/A | 0.6 | 1.0 | 15.3 | 2.2 | 17.5 | 5.4 | N/A | N/A |
| 1966 | St Kilda | 10 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 167 | 36 | 203 | 41 | N/A | 116 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 13.9 | 3.0 | 16.9 | 3.4 | N/A | 10.5 |
| 1967 | St Kilda | 10 | 12 | 18 | 18 | 169 | 19 | 188 | 49 | N/A | 185 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 14.1 | 1.6 | 15.7 | 4.1 | N/A | 15.4 |
| 1968 | St Kilda | 10 | 20 | 5 | 9 | 317 | 71 | 388 | 123 | N/A | 335 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 15.9 | 3.6 | 19.4 | 6.2 | N/A | 16.8 |
| 1969 | St Kilda | 10 | 8 | 16 | 8 | 90 | 20 | 110 | 39 | N/A | 59 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 11.3 | 2.5 | 13.8 | 4.9 | N/A | 7.4 |
| 1970 | St Kilda | 10 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 202 | 56 | 258 | 94 | N/A | 96 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 12.6 | 3.5 | 16.1 | 5.9 | N/A | 6.0 |
| 1971 | St Kilda | 10 | 16 | 23 | 12 | 233 | 50 | 283 | 91 | N/A | 137 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 14.6 | 3.1 | 17.7 | 5.7 | N/A | 8.6 |
| 1972 | St Kilda | 10 | 22 | 22 | 14 | 317 | 101 | 418 | 127 | N/A | 241 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 14.4 | 4.6 | 19.0 | 5.8 | N/A | 12.0 |
| 1973 | Melbourne | 10 | 22 | 5 | 13 | 256 | 44 | 300 | 96 | N/A | 298 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 11.6 | 2.0 | 13.6 | 4.4 | N/A | 13.5 |
| 1974 | Melbourne | 10 | 19 | 12 | 9 | 214 | 78 | 292 | 79 | N/A | 8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 11.3 | 4.1 | 15.4 | 4.2 | N/A | 8.0 |
| 1975 | Melbourne | 10 | 12 | 18 | 6 | 114 | 57 | 171 | 34 | N/A | 18 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 10.4 | 5.2 | 15.5 | 3.1 | N/A | 3.6 |
| 1976 | St Kilda | 10 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 154 | 72 | 226 | 51 | N/A | 203 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 8.6 | 4.0 | 12.6 | 2.8 | N/A | 11.3 |
| 1977 | St Kilda | 10 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 83 | 39 | 122 | 27 | N/A | 99 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 11.1 | 2.5 | N/A | 9.0 |
| 1978 | St Kilda | 10 | 21 | 16 | 13 | 172 | 80 | 252 | 60 | N/A | 197 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 8.2 | 3.8 | 12.0 | 2.9 | N/A | 10.4 |
| 1979 | Melbourne | 10 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 178 | 103 | 281 | 70 | N/A | 175 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 10.5 | 6.1 | 16.5 | 4.1 | N/A | 10.3 |
| 1980 | Melbourne | 10 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 76 | 76 | 152 | 28 | N/A | 122 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 12.7 | 2.3 | N/A | 10.2 |
| Career | 285 | 199 | 158 | 2941 | 930 | 3871 | 1079 | N/A | 2289 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 11.8 | 3.7 | 15.5 | 4.3 | N/A | 11.0 | ||