Brett Deledio

His father played a single game for Carlton in 1975, then spent a season with Brunswick in the Victorian Football Association before heading back to the country.

Playing well above his age bracket, Deledio starred alongside future Richmond teammate Troy Chaplin, who was one year his senior, in the local under-13 competition.

[2] Deledio attended Kyabram High School prior to his AFL draft selection and subsequent move to Melbourne.

Instead, he would complete his studies at Richmond, in private tutoring sessions alongside fellow underage club recruits Richard Tambling and Luke McGuane.

[7] Following this performance, the then coach of the Victorian Bushrangers David Hookes invited Deledio to join the state men's team.

Deledio would however decline the offer, instead leaving cricket behind to focus on the prospect of a future career in the AFL.

[8][9] He played all 22 games in his debut season and on 31 August 2005, he was rewarded with the AFL Rising Star award, receiving 43 of a possible 45 votes.

Capping off his debut season, Deledio was chosen to represent Australia in the International Rules series for 2005, becoming the youngest Australian player in the competition's history.

In the forward line he used his speed and judgement well to lead into space and take strong marks, kicking 21 goals for the season and placing third on the club's goal-kicking tally.

[12] Out of defence, he often used his electric pace to provide run and carry and deliver pinpoint passes into the forward line.

Deledio's best game of the 2007 season came in Tigers' Round 19 win against Collingwood, where he kicked a career-high five goals and earned three Brownlow Medal votes.

[13] Deledio averaged 18.4 possessions and 5.4 marks a game for the season and placed fifth in the club's best-and-fairest, earning the Kevin Bartlett Medal.

[15] Deledio was rewarded for his consistent season with his first Jack Dyer Medal as the club's best-and-fairest player, polling 250 votes to take out the award.

Deledio finished with a total of 190 votes just ahead of Daniel Jackson (175) and skipper Chris Newman (162), thus becoming the youngest player to win the award back-to-back (at the age of 22 years and 5 months) since Kevin Bartlett in 1967–1968, and the youngest player in the AFL to win a best-and-fairest award back-to-back since Michael Voss at Brisbane in 1995–96.

Deledio had his most consistent year to date in 2011, playing all 22 games and averaging 26.3 disposals, becoming acknowledged as an elite half back.

[20] In the Dreamtime at the 'G clash against Essendon in Round 8, Deledio starred for the Tigers in the loss, racking up 35 possessions to win the Yiooken Award as the best player on the ground.

[21] Apart from early in 2009, Deledio had consistently played good football, despite some critics citing that he hasn't lived up to expectations.

[22] However, after the Round 8 "Dreamtime at the G" Clash between Essendon and Richmond, Former Tigers head coach Damien Hardwick stated that he felt that Brett had finally become a “true AFL elite player” and was quoted as saying that: "His contested ball work has come on in leaps and bounds," [and] "That was probably the one area of his game that I thought needed work but he's just been enormous in that area this year.

[28] Deledio had a slow start to the year due to an ongoing lower leg injury he was trying to nurse while playing, but as his fitness improved, so did he and so did Richmond as a whole.

[32] Between Rd 7 and Rd 23, Deledio averaged 8.7 score involvements per game, ranked second in the league only to the 2015 Coleman Medal winner Joshua Kennedy.

In this match he kicked a 9-point Super goal, meaning $500 worth of Sherrin footballs were donated to his junior club.

[34] In his return match he showed similar form to previous seasons, racking up 22 disposals, laying 6 tackles and kicking a goal.

During the Rd 17 match vs. the Essendon Bombers his potential best on ground performance was cut short at half time due to a sharp pain in his calf muscle – a problem that had hindered his fitness for the third season straight.

Upon Damien Hardwick's arrival in the 2010 season, Deledio had a move to the half-back line to make use of his elite kicking and prolong his career.

[7] On 26 October 2012, Deledio married his longtime girlfriend Katie (née Chivers), an integration manager at Bauer Media Group Australia.

In the advertisement, Deledio receives a hitout from David Hille on a basketball court, where after evading a number of defending players, he handballs the ball to Aaron Davey.

Deledio in August 2009
Deledio in August 2009