70 Facts About Tom Liberatore

Thomas Francis Liberatore was born on 16 May 1992 and is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League.

Tom Liberatore is the eldest son of former Bulldogs player Tony Liberatore.

Tom Liberatore was drafted with the 40th selection of the 2010 AFL draft.

Tom Liberatore made his AFL debut in the 2010 AFL season.

Since then, Tom Liberatore has been a AFL Premiership player, a Charles Sutton Medallist, a two-time Doug Hawkins Medallist, a two-time Gary Dempsey Medallist, a dual-member of the 22 Under 22 team, and the Western Bulldogs' vice-captain as of 2024.

Tom Liberatore has polled a total of 50 Brownlow Medal votes in his career.

Tom Liberatore grew up in the suburb of Essendon and played junior football for St Bernard's Football Club.

Tom Liberatore has a younger brother, Oliver, and a younger sister, Meg.

Fellow schoolmate and friend Mitch Wallis was drafted ahead of Tom Liberatore at pick 22, after the two had played together for St Bernard's Junior Football Club, St Kevin's College and Calder Cannons since a young age.

Tom Liberatore graduated school with a 94 on his ATAR score.

Tom Liberatore was selected in the junior All-Australian team after the 2010 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, where he had averaged 22 disposals at 72 per cent efficiency, five clearances and four tackles.

Tom Liberatore made his debut in the Western Bulldogs' round one defeat to Essendon, collecting 19 disposals, one behind and seven clearances in front of a 42,617 person crowd.

Tom Liberatore gathered 28 disposals in just his second senior game ever, laying 10 tackles, a glimpse of the high pressure player he was going to become.

The Western Bulldogs' 35 point win over Richmond in Round 8 showed the power Tom Liberatore could bring to a game, after he collected 25 disposals, kicked two goals and laid six tackles.

Tom Liberatore played 16 games in his debut season, averaging over 18 possessions per game and winning the Chris Grant Best First Year Player Award after an 'impressive' debut season.

Tom Liberatore had a controversial 2012 season, being sanctioned by the club for drug offences after just 17 games for the season.

Tom Liberatore had one of his best games for the season in the Western Bulldogs' 38 point win over Gold Coast in round eight of the 2012 AFL season, kicking the team's opening goal and collecting 24 disposals and six tackles.

Tom Liberatore broke his record for most disposals in a game after a 29 disposal haul against the Brisbane Lions in Round 13 of the 2012 AFL season.

On 5 August 2012, after a heavy loss to the Kangaroos in Round 19, Tom Liberatore was found by police unconscious on King Street and was questioned about drug offences relating to the possession of what was believed to be ecstasy.

Tom Liberatore was suspended for the remainder of the season by the Bulldogs.

Tom Liberatore improved in the following season, establishing himself as one of the AFL's most statistically dominant inside midfielders; he ranked first in the league for clearances and second in contested possessions, behind only Sydney's Josh Kennedy.

Tom Liberatore had one of his career-best games against Melbourne in the final round of the 2013 AFL season, kicking one goal, collecting 26 disposals, and 11 tackles, just one tackle off his record at the time.

Tom Liberatore was named as best on ground for that game.

Tom Liberatore had another best on ground performance against Essendon, collecting 33 disposals, a goal, 6 tackles and 4 marks.

Tom Liberatore signed a three-year contract extension with the Bulldogs in August, tying him to the club until 2016.

Tom Liberatore was recognized for his impressive efforts for the season with selection in the AFL Players' Association's inaugural 22 Under 22 team.

Tom Liberatore was named as a follower alongside Tom Nicholls and Jaeger O'Meara.

Tom Liberatore claimed the Doug Hawkins Medal, after polling 242 votes, just 31 votes behind winner Ryan Griffen.

Tom Liberatore won the Tony Liberatore Most Improved Player award at the Bulldogs' best-and-fairest count, and polled 14 votes at the Brownlow Medal count.

Tom Liberatore had an outstanding performance against Melbourne in round eight of the 2014 AFL season, kicking two goals, collecting 27 disposals and getting a career-high 14 tackles.

Tom Liberatore had a great game against Collingwood in Round 13, leading the game in tackles, contested possessions, and disposals.

Tom Liberatore was recognised for having his most successful season yet, winning his first Charles Sutton Medal.

Tom Liberatore polled 235 votes, a 67 votes ahead of second placed Jack Macrae.

Tom Liberatore won a plethora of other club awards, including the Scott West Most Courageous Player Award, the John Van Groningen Team First Award, and the Brad Johnson Best Team Player.

Tom Liberatore was named in the initial 40 man squad of the 2014 All-Australian team.

Tom Liberatore had an unfortunate 2015 AFL season, missing the entire season due to a shock knee injury after Richmond player Ty Vickery tackled him and his leg buckled under the weight of the tackle in the Western Bulldogs's 22 point victory over Richmond in Round 1 of the 2015 pre-season.

Tom Liberatore was a key driving force in the 2016 AFL season as the Bulldogs broke their 62-year premiership drought, playing 21 games over the course of the season.

Tom Liberatore kicked 14 goals over the course of the season, the most goals he kicked in a season.

Tom Liberatore tied the AFL record for most tackles in one game in the Western Bulldogs's 32 point victory against Melbourne in the 8th round of the 2016 AFL season, collecting an astonishing 19 tackles over the course of the game due to the absence of running half-backs such as Bob Murphy and Jason Johannisen.

Tom Liberatore's record has only been matched by Jack Ziebell and Jude Bolton.

Tom Liberatore went down with a syndesmosis injury in the Western Bulldogs's 25 point loss to Geelong in the 19th round of the 2016 season, alongside teammate Jack Macrae who suffered a hamstring injury.

Tom Liberatore played every game in the 2016 finals series, during that time collecting a total of 79 disposals, 22 tackles, 23 clearances and 5 marks.

Tom Liberatore played in the 2016 AFL Grand Final despite an ankle injury suffered in the preliminary final the previous week, during his celebrations.

Tom Liberatore just missed out on the Top 3 of the Charles Sutton Medal voting, placing 4th behind winner Marcus Bontempelli, runner up Dale Morris and third placed Lachie Hunter.

Tom Liberatore won the Scott West Most Courageous Player Award.

Tom Liberatore's form dropped off in what was to be a disappointing 2017 season for both him and the Western Bulldogs.

Tom Liberatore's pressure was one of the few things keeping him in the team, averaging 6.5 tackles per game, the second best season for tackles in his career.

Tom Liberatore did not make the Top 10 of the Charles Sutton Medal voting for only the third time in his career, missing out in his debut season and in 2015.

Tom Liberatore had another hapless season in 2018, after he suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee in the Western Bulldogs' 82 point loss to Greater Western Sydney in the opening round of the season.

Tom Liberatore signed a one-year contract extension at the conclusion of the season.

Tom Liberatore had one of his best games for the season in the Western Bulldogs's 5 point loss against Gold Coast in the third round after a solid start to the season, where he collected 30 disposals, 9 tackles and 12 clearances, named the Bulldogs' second best behind Marcus Bontempelli.

Tom Liberatore had another great game against Hawthorn the previous round, collecting 28 disposals, one goal and seven tackles.

Tom Liberatore was named as one of their best on ground.

Tom Liberatore signed a two-year contract extension which kept him at the club until at least the end of 2021.

Tom Liberatore began to improve upon his form after a chaotic year for the AFL due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tom Liberatore missed out on the first two rounds of the 2020 AFL season with knee soreness, the Bulldogs not taking any chances after Liberatore's history with knee injuries.

Tom Liberatore missed the first two rounds, but came back in for the team's four goal win over Greater Western Sydney in the third round of the season.

Tom Liberatore was named as one of the team's best on ground.

Tom Liberatore played a similarly impressive game in the final round of the home and away season which saw him named the Bulldogs' best on ground, gathering 25 disposals, 8 tackles and 7 clearances.

Tom Liberatore collected multiple awards at the conclusion of the season, including the Gary Dempsey Medal for third place in the Charles Sutton Medal voting, where he finished 45 votes behind winner Caleb Daniel and 30 votes behind captain Marcus Bontempelli.

Tom Liberatore won the John Van Groningen Domestique Award, which honours the player who puts the team above all else on the field.

Tom Liberatore obtained the Brad Johnson Best Team Player Award for the second time in his career.

The 2021 AFL season saw Tom Liberatore reach his best form since the 2014 season.

Tom Liberatore played his 150th game in the team's thrilling seven-point victory over West Coast in round 2.

Just three weeks into the season, it was revealed that Tom Liberatore was second in the league for generating scores, behind West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui.

Tom Liberatore was named one of the Bulldogs' finest players in their win over Greater Western Sydney, their sixth consecutive victory of the season.

Tom Liberatore was named the Western Bulldogs vice-captain in 2024 after a vote by his teammates.

Tom Liberatore has volunteered for a charity called Ladder, which aims to improve life for young people in Australia by working with AFL players to mentor young people.

Tom Liberatore was going through the process of setting up an app called "Busket", which aims to help buskers in the city, in order to help reduce homelessness.

Tom Liberatore owns two pubs in Melbourne: the Ascot Vale Hotel and the Mona Castle Hotel.