Tom Liberatore

Despite missing out on five games, Liberatore came 7th in the Charles Sutton Medal voting and polled 81 votes, 87 votes behind winner Matthew Boyd.

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 's Josh Kennedy.

Thomas Francis Liberatore (born 16 May 1992) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the in the Australian Football League (AFL).

At 1.84 m and 85 kg, he plays as a contested ball-winning midfielder who applies high amounts of pressure.

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

He was born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria while attending St Kevin's College, and played top-level junior football with the Calder Cannons in the NAB League.

Liberatore represented Victoria at under-16 level in 2008.

Although he put time into cricket, playing with his school and St.Bernard's Cricket Club.

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

He made his AFL debut in the 2010 AFL season.

Since then, 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.

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

Liberatore was born in Melbourne, Victoria.

He grew up in the suburb of Essendon and played junior football for St Bernard’s Football Club.

He was educated at St Kevin’s College .The son of Tony Liberatore, former player, and Brownlow Medallist, and mother Jane, he was the eldest of three children.

He has a younger brother, Oliver, and a younger sister, Meg.

He was eventually drafted to the Bulldogs from the Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup with the 40th selection in the 2010 AFL Draft as a father-son selection, after Sydney nominated their intention to draft him with second-round pick if available.

Fellow schoolmate and friend Mitch Wallis was also drafted ahead of 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.

He graduated school with a 94 on his ATAR score.

He 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.

In the 2010 TAC Cup Grand Final, he had 28 disposals in the Cannons' 58-point defeat of Gippsland Power.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

On 5 August 2012, after a heavy loss to the Kangaroos in Round 19, 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.

He was subsequently suspended for the remainder of the season by the Bulldogs.

In addition, he was issued a $5,000 suspended fine, required to undergo club-driven counselling and education, and be engaged in full-time employment for the following six weeks.

Liberatore issued a public apology for his actions.

Liberatore had one of his career-best games against 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.

He was named as best on ground for that game.

He also had another best on ground performance against, collecting 33 disposals, a goal, 6 tackles and 4 marks.

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

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

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

He also claimed the Doug Hawkins Medal (best and fairest runner up), after polling 242 votes, just 31 votes behind winner Ryan Griffen.

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