Peter Rohde (born 19 November 1964) is a former

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) player and coach.

Playing career

Carlton

Rohde came from the Bendigo region and made his

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) debut for

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

in 1985. He played total of 46 games and kicked six goals for the club from 1985 until 1987. Rohde left Carlton at the end of the 1987 season, because the Carlton coach

Robert Walls Robert Walls (born 21 July 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. In a playing career that spanned three decades Robert played a combined 259 gam ...

had a low opinion of Rohde's playing ability and dropped him from the side during the 1987 finals campaign, when Carlton ended up winning the premiership.

Melbourne

Rohde transferred to

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

, where he played 117 games and kicked 22 goals from 1988 until he retired in 1995. The Melbourne coach

John Northey John Neville Northey (born 29 June 1943) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played from 1963 to 1970 with the Richmond Football Club. Northey was a dual premiership player with Richmond, winning flags in 1967 and 1969. ...

had a high opinion of Rohde's playing ability, but Rohde was plagued by injury.

Coaching career

Norwood

Rohde achieved success as senior coach of Norwood in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

, taking the club to a premiership in 1997.

Western Bulldogs

Rohde became assistant coach at the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

. Towards the end of the 2002 season, the resignation of senior coach

Terry Wallace Terry Wallace (born 13 December 1958) is a former professional Australian rules football player and coach. As a player, his career spanned three VFL/AFL clubs; most notably Hawthorn where he played in three premierships. After one season with ...

led to Rohde being made caretaker coach for the final-round clash with Collingwood at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

in Round 22, 2002, which the Bulldogs won. Rohde was then appointed to the position of full-time senior coach. In the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, the Bulldogs under Rohde struggled and 16th, for the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

with three wins, eighteen losses and one draw. In the 2004 season the Bulldogs under Rohde struggled again and finished 14th with five wins and seventeen losses. Rohde was sacked towards the end of the 2004 season, with four matches to go, but he agreed to stay and coach for the rest of the season. Rohde coached Western Bulldogs in 45 games with nine wins and 35 losses and one draw, a winning percentage of 20 per cent. Rohde then replaced by

Rodney Eade Rodney Eade (born 4 April 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach in the Australian Football League. He is a former coach of the Sydney Swans, the Western Bulldogs and the Gold Coast Football Club. He has, to date, coached 37 ...

as Western Bulldogs senior coach.

Port Adelaide Football Operations Manager

Rohde then went to

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

, serving as Football Operations Manager from the end of 2004 until the end of the 2014 season.

Personal life

Rohde has three children, Matthew, Ashleigh and Ella, and is married to Robyn.

References

External links

Blueseum profile

Demon Wiki profile
1964 births Living people Melbourne Football Club players Carlton Football Club players Western Bulldogs coaches Norwood Football Club coaches Sandhurst Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) {{AFL-bio-1960s-stub