Dench played full-back. He was recruited from the West Coburg. Dench won the North Melbourne club's best and fairest award, the Syd Barker Medal, on four occasions - 1971, 1976, 1977, 1981.[1] In 1972 David Dench at the age of 21 he became one of the youngest captains appointed in the Kangaroo's history. He also captained the 1977 premiership team, due to Keith Greig's absence because of an injury. In the 1977 VFL Grand Final, Ron Barassi moved him to the forward line, where he sparked North Melbourne Football Club's revival by contributing to the forward line and kicking goals, to draw with Collingwood Football Club.
A graphic and comical photograph of Dench smothering of a kick by South Melbourne's John Roberts was made in 1981 by Michael Rayner of The Age which won the Nikon Awards Best Sports Photograph of the Year.[3]
In 1984 Dench was told by his coach Barry Cable that his playing days were numbered and was going to play out the season in the reserves. Dench was not happy with this so he grabbed his gear and went home and retired. His relationship with Cable has been fractured ever since, with Dench refusing to speak to Cable again.
When John (Kanga) Kennedy was appointed coach he tried to convince Dench to play again but the condition of his knees was poor and he stayed as an assistant coach.
His daughter, Michelle is a distinguished Australian sportswoman. She played high level basketball before taking up Australian football playing over 100 games for her club Melbourne University. She also represented Victoria and Australia as well as captaining her club to a premiership.
In 2008, Dench served 4 months in jail for his minor role in a scheme to defraud Victoria University out of millions of dollars.[4]
References
^ abc"David Dench". Past Players. North Melbourne Football Club. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
david, dench, born, august, 1951, former, australian, rules, footballer, then, victorian, football, league, played, whole, career, with, north, melbourne, football, club, during, most, successful, periods, personal, informationfull, namedate, birth, 1951, augu. David Dench born 23 August 1951 2 is a former Australian rules footballer in the then Victorian Football League He played his whole career with North Melbourne Football Club during one of its most successful periods David DenchPersonal informationFull nameDavid DenchDate of birth 1951 08 23 23 August 1951 age 71 Original team s West Coburg EDFL 1 Height191 cm 6 ft 3 in Weight89 kg 196 lb Playing career1YearsClubGames Goals 1969 1984North Melbourne275 29 1 Representative team honoursYearsTeamGames Goals Victoria4 0 1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1984 Career highlightsNorth Melbourne premiership player 1975 North Melbourne premiership captain 1977 North Melbourne Team of the Century Syd Barker Medal 1971 1976 1977 1981 North Melbourne captain 1972Sources AFL Tables AustralianFootball com Contents 1 VFL career 2 Post AFL career and personal life 3 References 4 External linksVFL career EditDench played full back He was recruited from the West Coburg Dench won the North Melbourne club s best and fairest award the Syd Barker Medal on four occasions 1971 1976 1977 1981 1 In 1972 David Dench at the age of 21 he became one of the youngest captains appointed in the Kangaroo s history He also captained the 1977 premiership team due to Keith Greig s absence because of an injury In the 1977 VFL Grand Final Ron Barassi moved him to the forward line where he sparked North Melbourne Football Club s revival by contributing to the forward line and kicking goals to draw with Collingwood Football Club A graphic and comical photograph of Dench smothering of a kick by South Melbourne s John Roberts was made in 1981 by Michael Rayner of The Age which won the Nikon Awards Best Sports Photograph of the Year 3 In 1984 Dench was told by his coach Barry Cable that his playing days were numbered and was going to play out the season in the reserves Dench was not happy with this so he grabbed his gear and went home and retired His relationship with Cable has been fractured ever since with Dench refusing to speak to Cable again When John Kanga Kennedy was appointed coach he tried to convince Dench to play again but the condition of his knees was poor and he stayed as an assistant coach Post AFL career and personal life EditIn 2000 Dench was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame 2 His daughter Michelle is a distinguished Australian sportswoman She played high level basketball before taking up Australian football playing over 100 games for her club Melbourne University She also represented Victoria and Australia as well as captaining her club to a premiership In 2008 Dench served 4 months in jail for his minor role in a scheme to defraud Victoria University out of millions of dollars 4 References Edit a b c David Dench Past Players North Melbourne Football Club Archived from the original on 30 December 2012 Retrieved 15 December 2010 a b AFL Hall of Fame Players Australian Football League Archived from the original on 21 January 2009 Retrieved 15 December 2010 The Age Saturday 07 Mar 1981 p 3 Rout Milanda 9 July 2008 David Dench jailed for role in fraud The Australian Retrieved 15 December 2010 External links EditAFL Hall of Fame This Australian rules football biography of a person born in the 1950s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title David Dench amp oldid 1111229109, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
