Duje Tomy "Tom" Grljusich (born 13 August 1940) 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 for South Fremantle in the

Western Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

and Central District 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 ...

. Three of his brothers played league football –

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

and

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

for South Fremantle and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

for

East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

Playing career

Taking up playing football as an 18-year-old in 1958 for Cockburn Ex Scholars, he won the

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award in his first year. After receiving offers from South Fremantle and East Fremantle, he joined South Fremantle before the 1959 season. Grljusich made his league debut in round one of the 1960 season alongside his brother George. In 1965 he joined South Australian team Central District. At Central he won the club fairest and best award in 1966. He rejoined South Fremantle in 1968, playing until 1976. His 258 games for South Fremantle stood as the club's games played record for 27 years until it was exceeded by Marty Atkins in 2003.

Post retirement

After retiring as a player, Grljusich remained involved in football, acting as a

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

for then-South Fremantle coach

Mal Brown Malcolm Gregory "Mal" Brown (born 26 October 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League and West Australian National Football League. He is described as "one of the most colourful and controversial character ...

. He has also worked as a

real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grljusich, Tom Living people 1940 births Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia South Fremantle Football Club players Central District Football Club players Australian people of Croatian descent West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees