John Dimmer (coach)

John Robert Dimmer (born 19 November 1954[2]) is a former Australian rules football coach and player from Western Australia. He spent the majority of his playing and coaching careers in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), winning one premiership in the league as a player and four as a coach. He retired from state‐league coaching at the end of the 2011 season, during which he had coached the South Fremantle Football Club.

John Dimmer
Dimmer after South Fremantle's Grand Final win in September 2005
Personal information
Full name John Robert Dimmer[1]
Date of birth (1954-11-19) 19 November 1954
Original team(s) Karrinyup/Scarborough
Position(s) Centre half-back
Other occupation Schoolteacher
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1973–1979 Subiaco 90 (24)
1980–1983 East Perth 81 (29)
Total 171 (53)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
19??–19?? Western Australia 5[lower-alpha 1] (?)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1995–1999 West Perth/Joondalup 111 (73–38–0)
2004–2011 South Fremantle 172 (108–64–0)
WAFL club total
283[lower-alpha 2] (181–102–0)

1996; 2010		 Representative
WAFL
2 (0–2–0)
Total 285[lower-alpha 2] (181–104–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1983.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 1983.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2011.
Career highlights

Playing career

Dimmer played as a centre half-back, first playing WAFL reserves–grade football in 1972 for Subiaco. After winning a reserves premiership with the team, he began playing senior football the following season. That year, he won the only senior WAFL premiership of his playing career in a 32-point win over West Perth.

He continued to play for Subiaco until 1979, when he left to East Perth having scored 24 goals in his 90 Lions games. At his new club, he continued to play regular senior football, making 81 appearances from 1980 to 1983. He captained the team in his final season as they achieved a fifth-place finish.[3]

During his WAFL career, he represented Western Australia five times in interstate matches, one of which was a State of Origin game.

Coaching career

After stints with junior and school teams, he joined Claremont's coaching staff in 1987, remaining there until 1993. During his time there, he coached the reserves team to two premierships. In 1994, he coached the West Coast Amateur Football Club, winning the WAAFL A Grade premiership and receiving the JJ Leonard Medal as a personal achievement.

The following year, he was appointed head coach of West Perth, leading them to a WAFL premiership in his first year. He continued coaching the Falcons until the end of the 1999 season, during which he led them to a second Grand Final win, defeating South Fremantle in the third year in which the competition was known as "Westar Rules".

In the 2000 season, Dimmer worked as an assistant coach to Damian Drum at Fremantle in the AFL, before returning to the WAFL as West Perth's director of coaching in 2002 and 2003.

In 2004, he began coaching South Fremantle, leading them to a premiership the following year in a convincing Grand Final win over Claremont after finishing second during the home-and-away season. In 2009, he won the fourth and last premiership of his career, ending Subiaco's run of three consecutive flags.[4]

In 2011, he retired from coaching to focus on a teaching job at Christ Church Grammar School, also coaching the school's first XVIII football team.[5]

Outside of club coaching, he led the WAFL representative side in matches in 1996 and 2010.[6]

Legacy

Dimmer was awarded an Australian Sports Medal on 24 October 2000 for service to Australian rules football. He received life membership of the South Fremantle Football Club in 2016, and the same honour in 2018 of the West Australian Football Commission. In 2017, he received the AFL Coaches Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognises "an individual who has made an outstanding contribution" to the sport of Australian rules football.[7]

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References
  1. Forrest, Bill; Carter, Peter; Sansalone, James (eds.). "Every Player, Every Game, Every Goal". East Perth Football Club Yearbook 2016. East Perth Football Club: 43. Archived from the original on 22 May 2017.
  2. "Know Your Team Royals". Westside Football. 2 (1): 17. 3 April 1980.
  3. "Christ Church footballers learning from the best". Christ Church Grammar School. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  4. Washbourne, Michael (22 November 2011). "Multiple WAFL premiership coach John Dimmer quits South Fremantle". PerthNow. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. Duffield, Mark (26 November 2011). "School bell rings changes for Dimmer". The West Australian. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  6. Pike, Chris (22 May 2010). "John Dimmer calls for more state football". PerthNow. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  7. Schmook, Nathan; Navaratnam, Dinny (26 September 2017). "Dimma edges Don for coach of the year". Australian Football League. Retrieved 13 January 2019.

Notes
  1. Some sources state he played four interstate games.
  2. Some sources state he coached 284 WAFL games, and therefore 286 games overall.
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