1. Brett Edward Deledio was born on 18 April 1987 and is an Australian representative Kabbadi player and former professional Australian rules footballer who played 243 games over 12 seasons with the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League, and a further 32 matches over three seasons with the Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Brett Deledio was a two-time All-Australian, two-time Richmond best and fairest winner and recipient of the league's Rising Star award in his debut year in 2005.
Brett Deledio was born in Kyabram, Victoria, in 1987 to Judy and Wayne Brett Deledio.
Brett Deledio's father played a single game for Carlton in 1975, then spent a season with Brunswick in the Victorian Football Association before heading back to the country.
At age 15, Brett Deledio played his first game of senior football for the Kyabram Bombers in the Goulburn Valley Football League.
Brett Deledio won best-afield honours for his performance in the match.
In 2003 Brett Deledio was a joint winner of the Kevin Sheehan Medal as the best player in the under-16 national championships.
Brett Deledio played for the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup in 2003 and 2004, the leading junior competition in the country.
Brett Deledio was named as a half-forward in the 2004 TAC Cup team of the year.
Brett Deledio went on to represent the Victorian Country side at the under-18 national championships, winning All-Australian honours in the process.
Brett Deledio attended Kyabram High School prior to his AFL draft selection and subsequent move to Melbourne.
Brett Deledio enrolled at Caulfield Grammar School to complete his year 12 studies in 2005, but pulled out after just two days.
Brett Deledio was highly capable with the bat, scoring an 85 in the competition's final and leading the Victorians to a national championship.
Brett Deledio was selected by the Richmond Football Club with the first overall pick in the 2004 National Draft.
Brett Deledio made his debut at age 17 years and 343 days in Round 1 the following year, in a Richmond loss to Geelong.
Brett Deledio recorded 9 disposals and 6 marks for the match.
Brett Deledio kicked his first career goal in a Round 4 game at the MCG against Fremantle.
Brett Deledio was nominated for the Rising Star award following his Round 8 match against Collingwood in which he recorded 13 disposals.
Brett Deledio played all 22 games in his debut season and on 31 August 2005, he was rewarded with the AFL Rising Star award, receiving 43 of a possible 45 votes.
Brett Deledio followed this by winning the Richmond Best First-Year player award and AFL Players' Association Best First-Year Player Award as voted by his peers.
Brett Deledio represented the club at the 2005 AFL Grand Final Sprint and won.
Brett Deledio played 21 out of 22 matches in 2006 and was again a consistent performer, only missing the one game with an injured knee.
Brett Deledio was often the target of attention from opposition taggers due to his abilities, and found it difficult to break the tag.
In 2007 Brett Deledio developed into a highly versatile player, who often provided difficult match-ups for the opposition.
Brett Deledio played multiple roles across the season, including stints in the midfield and on both the forward and back flanks.
Brett Deledio averaged 18.4 possessions and 5.4 marks a game for the season and placed fifth in the club's best-and-fairest, earning the Kevin Bartlett Medal.
Brett Deledio began the 2008 season in the forward line for the Tigers, but pushed up the ground later in the season.
Brett Deledio surpassed 30 possessions for the first time in Round 6 against Hawthorn before doing so again in Round 10 against Sydney and in round 11 against Adelaide.
Brett Deledio won the AFL Army Award for his courage shown in round 7 against the Saints when he flew backwards into a pack to take a mark and heavily collided with a Saints player.
Brett Deledio topped the club for inside 50s that year, and averaged a club second 24.6 disposals per game.
Brett Deledio was rewarded for his consistent season with his first Jack Dyer Medal as the club's best-and-fairest player, polling 250 votes to take out the award.
Brett Deledio was announced in the 40-man All-Australian squad for 2008 though did not make the final team.
Brett Deledio was the club leader for disposals and inside 50s that year, as well as placing second in tackles and third in clearances.
Brett Deledio was rewarded with a second consecutive Jack Dyer Medal.
Brett Deledio signed a new 3-year contract in 2009, keeping him at Richmond until the end of the 2012 season.
The Tigers soon turned their season around going on to win five of their next seven games, with Brett Deledio playing a vital role in these wins.
Brett Deledio was included in the 40 man All-Australian Squad for the second time in his career.
Brett Deledio unluckily missed out on selection in the side to Collingwood's Harry O'Brien.
Brett Deledio had his most consistent year to date in 2011, playing all 22 games and averaging 26.3 disposals, becoming acknowledged as an elite half back.
Brett Deledio was picked in the 40-man All-Australian squad.
On 21 December 2011, at the club's Annual General Meeting, Brett Deledio became the youngest life member in Richmond's history.
The 2012 season saw Brett Deledio become one of the AFL's most valuable players, averaging 28 possessions per game.
Apart from early in 2009, Brett Deledio had consistently played good football, despite some critics citing that he hasn't lived up to expectations.
Brett Deledio played all 23 games in 2013, averaging 23.8 possessions per game.
Brett Deledio finished fourth in the club's best and fairest, winning the 'Fred Swift Medal'.
In Round 3 against the Western Bulldogs, Brett Deledio kicked a goal within 8.9 seconds of the match starting, making it the fastest goal in AFL history, beating the former record of 9.1 seconds held by Gary Ablett, Jr.
Brett Deledio's 194-match wait until a maiden final is the longest of any current player in the AFL.
Brett Deledio had a slow start to the year due to an ongoing lower leg injury he was trying to nurse while playing, but as his fitness improved, so did he and so did Richmond as a whole.
Brett Deledio played across the half-forward line in the latter half of the year and from round 15 and onwards he averaged 27 disposals per game, 1.4 goals per game, 6.2 marks per game, 5.5 inside 50s per game and least importantly he averaged 1.2 brownlow votes per game.
Brett Deledio was a part of the team that lost to Port Adelaide by 57 points despite a very good individual performance of 29 disposals and 1 goal in the Elimination Final, just the second finals match of his career.
Brett Deledio finished seventh in Richmond's best and fairest count.
In January 2015, Brett Deledio was appointed joint vice-captain for the 2015 season, along with Ivan Maric.
Brett Deledio continued the season in fantastic form, stamping himself in as 'Richmond's most important player' as stated by many commentators, some of them being Bruce McAvaney and ex-player commentators Matthew Richardson and Matthew Lloyd.
At the time of the Adelaide crows loss where Brett Deledio was absent through illness, many experts noted that statistics proved that Richmond had a significant winning advantage when Brett Deledio was in the side.
Brett Deledio booted 3 goals in the first quarter and then sealed the win with a goal at the start of the final quarter.
Between Rd 7 and Rd 23, Brett Deledio averaged 8.7 score involvements per game, ranked second in the league only to the 2015 Coleman Medal winner Joshua Kennedy.
Brett Deledio was selected in the 2015 All-Australian team and the 2015 AFLCA All-Australian team.
Brett Deledio was nursed through the 2016 pre-season, only making a half-game appearance against Port Adelaide in the NAB CUP.
Brett Deledio suffered a quad injury that put him out until Round 6 vs Port Adelaide.
Brett Deledio continued to play good football, making the most of his versatility and playing numerous roles throughout the season.
Brett Deledio sat out the remainder of the 2016 season as a precaution, deciding to rest and concentrate on remaining healthy for the 2017 season.
Brett Deledio finished 2016 as the club's then all-time career tackles record holder, with 688 recorded across his 243 games.
Brett Deledio ranked 11th for games played for the club at this time.
Brett Deledio struggled to overcome a calf injury early in the season, failing to play a match at any level through the first 19 matches until finally making his debut for the Giants in round 20 where he kicked a goal.
In 2019, Brett Deledio began serving as a development coach with the Giants' AFL Women's team.
Brett Deledio is a utility, a very versatile player who adept at any position from half-back through half-forward.
In 2012 though, Brett Deledio was moved again into the midfield where he earned All-Australian selection for the first time.
Since 2014 Brett Deledio has been contained to a mostly half-forward role.
Brett Deledio won All-Australian selection on half-forward after a 1.5 goal per game season in 2015.
Brett Deledio is an elite ball user and was rated as Richmond's best kick by his peers and by numerous media pundits.
On 26 October 2012, Brett Deledio married his longtime girlfriend Katie, an integration manager at Bauer Media Group Australia.
In 2009, Brett Deledio appeared alongside other AFL footballers in an AFL television advertisement titled "AFL: In a League of its Own", which featured prominent AFL players playing Australian rules football at famous sporting venues around the world, and in the middle of other sports being played, including basketball, Association football and American football.
Brett Deledio has sporadically featured as a guest panellist on the AFL footy show on Thursday nights and on the AFL Tom show, Triple M Rush Hour show.
Brett Deledio competed in Rexona Australia's Greatest Athlete television show and finished 3rd with 1070 points, behind Jamie Whincup on 1085 points and Billy Slater on 1385.