Gus Dobrigh

Gus Dobrigh
Personal information
Full nameLaurence Augustine Dobrigh
Date of birth11 February 1893
Place of birthHuntly, Victoria
Date of death21 September 1982 (aged 89)
Place of deathFerntree Gully, Victoria
Original teamTrafalgar
Height/Weight175 cm / 75 kg
Position(s)Utility
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
1914–1921Collingwood88 (33)
Coaching career
YearsClubGames (W–L–D)
1925
1926–1927
1934
Northcote
Preston
Port Melbourne
1 Playing statistics correct to end of 1921 season.

Laurence Augustine "Gus" Dobrigh (11 February 1893 – 21 September 1982)[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[2]

A half forward flanker in Collingwood's 1917 premiership team, Dobrigh was also a three time losing Grand Finalist. He was suspended by his club in 1919 over a payment dispute, but there were incorrect rumours at the time that it was because he had been suspected of playing dead in a game. After finishing with Collingwood at the end of 1921, Dobrigh moved to Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), where he captained the club to a premiership in 1922; he was again caught up in a bribery scandal, being offered and turning down a significant sum of money by former Footscray player Vern Banbury to play dead in the Grand Final.[3][4] He was playing coach at Northcote in 1925, then with Preston, for the club's inaugural VFA season in 1926. He would later return to Port Melbourne once his playing days were over, as coach.[5]

References

  1. "Gus Dobrigh". Collingwood Forever. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  2. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2009). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (8th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921496-00-4.
  3. "Football "Squaring" – serious allegations". The Argus (Melbourne, VIC). 25 September 1922. p. 11.
  4. "Victorian Football – the charge of bribery". The Mercury (Hobart, TAS). 28 October 1922. p. 7.
  5. Fiddian, Marc (2013). The VFA – A History of the Victorian Football Association 1877 – 1995. Melbourne Sports Books.

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