Andrew Bennett (born 30 March 1955) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played 110 games for South Adelaide Football Club in the SANFL from 1974 to 1979 and 35 games for

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

and St Kilda in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) from 1980 to 1985. Bennett played six games for South Australia in 1979 and 1980 including two State-of-Origin carnivals in Adelaide in 1979 and Perth in 1980. Playing as a ruck-rover he was named South Australia's best player for his performance against Victoria at Football Park in mid 1979. He kicked 4 goals against Victoria in the State-of-Origin carnival played later that year in Perth. Bennett was a regular at Hawthorn in the

1980 VFL season The 1980 VFL season was the 84th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 29 March until 27 September, and comprised a ...

, but had the rest of his time at the club ruined by injury. After crossing to St Kilda in 1985 he managed to add a further 14 games to his tally and the following season became captain-coach of

Tasmanian Football League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian ru ...

club Sandy Bay and won the 1986

William Leitch Medal The William Leitch Medal, named after the highly regarded former Australian rules player and Tasmanian Football Administrator William Douglas Leitch (1863-1943), was an annual award which was presented to the best and fairest player in the TANFL ...

. In 1986 Bennett guided his team to its first Grand Final appearance since 1978 but was unsuccessful. He coached and played at Sandy Bay for three years including another finals appearance in 1988, his final year as captain-coach. From 1986 to 1988 Bennett represented Tasmania five times including captaining the side for three games in 1986. He coached the Tasmanian representative side in three games in 1987. In 1989 Bennett returned to South Australia where he coached West Torrens Football Club for two seasons until the Club amalgamated with the Woodville Football Club for the 1991 season. Bennett then returned to Tasmania and played for Sandy Bay Football Club for 1991 and part of the 1992 season when a serious facial injury ended his playing career. In total Bennett played 65 games for Sandy Bay. In 2006 he was named as one of Sandy Bay's best ever 25 players in a celebration of the club's time in Tasmanian Football. Bennett took up a position as a boundary-rider for

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's TFL broadcasts in the latter part of 1992 before he returned to coaching in 1993, taking up the senior coaching position with

North Hobart North Hobart is a suburb of the city of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. As its name suggests, it lies directly north of the CBD. The main street of North Hobart is Elizabeth Street, which extends northward from the Elizabeth Street Mall in the ...

for two seasons, guiding them to a Preliminary Final in his first season followed by a disappointing 1994 season whereby he retired as coach at season's end. Bennett, was in charge of the Tasmanian interstate team between 1995 and 1998 and steered them to wins over WAFL, SANFL and VFL representative teams. The 1995 game against South Australia is to be inducted into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame as a memorable game in 2014. He coached the State Under 18 team in the National Championships in Melbourne in 2000. A teacher and school principal Bennett contested the 1998 state election as a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate for Denison but was unsuccessful. In 2007 he was inducted into the

Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame The Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame was established to help recognise outstanding services and overall contribution made to the sport of Australian rules football in Tasmania. Any participant of the sport, including players, umpires, media person ...

, for his achievements as a coach. Bennett was a commentator with

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

for 17 years, commentating on Tasmanian Devils VFL matches and

Tasmanian State League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian r ...

broadcasts. He was also a columnist with the ''

Hobart Mercury ''The'' ''Mercury'' is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd (DBL), a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. The weekend issues of the paper are called ''Mercury on ...

'' newspaper.

References

Sources

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Andy 1955 births Living people Hawthorn Football Club players St Kilda Football Club players South Adelaide Football Club players Sandy Bay Football Club players Sandy Bay Football Club coaches North Hobart Football Club coaches William Leitch Medal winners Australian rules footballers from New South Wales Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees South Australian State of Origin players West Torrens Football Club coaches