Peter Dalwood
(1945 to 1954)
Peter Dalwood’s senior career commenced with Fitzroy in 1945 when he was posted to Melbourne on military service. In his fourth VFL game he kicked seven goals in a winning team against Collingwood. He played seven games for Fitzroy before returning to Norwood in the latter part of 1945.
At 6’4” (193cm) tall and weighing 15 stone (90kgs), Peter Dalwood was a giant, particularly when matched against the typical physiques on the football fields of his era. Possessed of a prodigious high mark, he was all but unbeatable in the air but, unsurprisingly, lacked agility at ground level.
For most of his career he played a crucial role for Norwood as a key forward or as a ruckman with the ability to score goals resting up forward. He was versatile and even positioned at fullback for a number of games. He often used his long, accurate drop kick for goal-kicking, and was a spectacularly successful scorer of goals. Peter kicked 12 of Norwood’s 20 goals in a game against Glenelg on Saturday, 6 September, 1952 at Kensington Oval where he was invincible, out-marking all opposition as the ball was consistently delivered high into the forward lines. For his 12 goal achievement Peter was presented with the football after the game. He was the season’s leading goal scorer for Norwood on three occasions, and topped the SANFL goal-kicking in 1946.
Peter played in five grand finals between 1946 and 1952, and Norwood were successful in three of these. His efforts in the losing 1947 Grand Final as described in a report in The Chronicle typify his significant contributions to the Norwood successes in those years … ‘Dalwood battled with determination all day in ruck and in attack and he did not spare himself in a great effort to lift his side to within striking distance.’
In retirement he was a regular volunteer at the club assisting with maintain links with the past players and officials of Norwood.
Peter was also a talented cricketer and played in the Adelaide grade competitions as a powerful batsman who could be relied on to score quickly. He was commandeered for cricket matches by the ironworkers at his father’s iron foundry and in one match at Morphett Vale scored 37 from one over. In 2015 Peter Dalwood became Norwood’s 57th Hall of Fame inductee.
Games: 147
Goals: 282
Debut: v Port Adelaide (Adelaide) 15th September 1945
Finale: v South Adelaide (Norwood) 8th May 1954
Premierships: 1946, 1948, 1950
Life Member
Leading Goalkicker: 1946, 1949, 1952
South Australia: 6 games
VFL Club: Fitzroy
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