Brett Ratten

Brett Ratten (born 11 July 1971) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. From 2019 he has been the senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).[1] He was previously the senior coach of the Carlton Football Club, the club he also played for.

Brett Ratten
Ratten as a Hawthorn assistant coach in April 2017
Personal information
Full name Brett Ratten
Nickname(s) Ratts
Date of birth (1971-07-11) 11 July 1971
Place of birth Yarra Glen, Victoria
Original team(s) Yarra Glen (YVFL)
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 90 kg (198 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1990–2003 Carlton 255 (117)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2000 Australia 2
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
2007–2012 Carlton 120 (60–59–1)
2019–present St Kilda 23 (13–10–0)
Total 143 (73–69–1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2003.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Playing career

Originally from Yarra Glen, Ratten made his debut for Carlton in the fifteenth round of the 1990 season.

In a career lasting 14 years, Ratten played mainly as an in-and-under midfielder. His unobtrusive style often escaped the attention of media and umpires early in his career. Famously, he won Carlton's best and fairest award in the record-breaking premiership season of 1995, including a game in round 17 against Fitzroy when he amassed 44 disposals, but failed to poll a single Brownlow vote from the umpires for the entire season.[2] In the 1999 season, Ratten was credited with 265 clearances, which (as of 2019) remains the highest on record by a considerable margin – the next-highest is only 192.[3]

Ratten won the Robert Reynolds Trophy (Carlton best and fairest) on three occasions: 1995, 1997, and in a tie with Scott Camporeale in 2000. Ratten was a part of Carlton's premiership team in 1995. He played for Victoria in the State of Origin games in 1996 and 1997. He was awarded All-Australian selection in 1997, 2000 and 2001, firmly cementing his skill in the centre. Ratten was inducted into the Carlton Hall of Fame in 1999.[4] In 2009, statistical analysis company Champion Data announced that Ratten averaged 126.1 ranking points per game during the 2000–2009 decade, the highest of any player in the league.[5]

Ratten's career was plagued by injury. During his time in football, he had eight arthroscopes on his right knee, three arthroscopes on his left knee and a medial ligament. His shoulder was also badly damaged in 2003, which ultimately led to Ratten announcing his retirement in the middle of the 2003 season.[6]

After the retirement of Craig Bradley, Ratten was awarded the club's captaincy in 2002, a position he held until his own retirement. After his retirement, in the middle of the 2003 season, the captaincy was passed to Andrew McKay for the rest of the season.

Coaching career

Melbourne Football Club assistant coach and Norwood Football Club

After retirement from playing, Ratten spent two years as an assistant coach at the Melbourne Football Club before leaving to take a head coaching role at the Norwood Football Club in the Eastern Football League's Second Division. He coached there for two seasons.

Carlton Football Club

Ratten returned to Carlton as an assistant coach for the 2007 season. On 24 July 2007, senior coach Denis Pagan was sacked and Ratten was appointed as caretaker coach for the remainder of the season. On 20 August 2007 he signed a contract as Carlton senior coach until the end of 2009.

Under Ratten's coaching, Carlton returned to the finals after a long period of poor performances under Pagan. Carlton reached the finals in 2009, Ratten's second season, finishing seventh and ending a seven year finals drought, the longest in club history. His contract was extended until the end of 2011.

Late in the 2010 season, Ratten came under scrutiny as a coach when Carlton had several big losses, but the club nevertheless reached the finals again, finishing eighth. Ratten began coaching from the boundary line rather than the coaches' box during the season. In 2011, he took the team to fifth and an elimination final victory against Essendon, the club's first finals win for 10 years. There had been speculation that renewal of Ratten's contract beyond 2011 was contingent on the club winning a final and his contract was extended to the end of 2013 after the season.

Carlton's on-field performance in 2012 was inconsistent and the club missed the finals after setting pre-season expectations of a top four finish, and there was constant speculation during the year that Ratten would be sacked as a result.[7] After the second-last round of the season, in which Carlton suffered an upset loss against Gold Coast and was mathematically eliminated from finals contention, the club confirmed that Ratten's contract would be terminated at the end of 2012, one year early.[8] Including his six games as caretaker coach, Ratten coached 120 games for Carlton, recording 60 wins and a draw.[9] He was the third person to both play and coach over 100 senior games for the Carlton Football Club, after Ken Hands and Norm Clark.[10]

Hawthorn Football Club assistant coach

On 5 October 2012, Ratten accepted an assistant coaching position at the Hawthorn Football Club. He commenced in November 2012 and subsequently was part of the club's 2013, 2014 and 2015 premiership coaching panel.[11]

St Kilda Football Club

In 2018, St Kilda appointed Ratten as an assistant coach to his former Carlton assistant Alan Richardson. Upon Richardson's resignation in 2019, Ratten assumed the caretaker coaching role.[12] In September 2019, after the end of the season, Ratten was appointed as senior coach.[13]

In his first full season as St Kilda coach, the competition was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the season first suspended between March and June, then largely relocated to Queensland as the pandemic took hold in Victoria. Despite being based in Noosa for the length of the season, Ratten took the Saints to their first finals series since 2011, winning their elimination final against the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba by 3 points before losing to Richmond in the semi final.

Personal life

Ratten's 16 year old son Cooper was killed in a car crash on 16 August 2015.[14][15][16]

Statistics

Playing statistics
[17]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Led the league after finals only
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1990 Carlton 4011012214201.00.012.02.014.02.00.0
1991 Carlton 7203920220740950410.20.510.110.420.52.52.1
1992 Carlton 7192116310626930220.10.18.65.614.21.61.2
1993 Carlton 7212220614334949340.10.19.86.816.62.31.6
1994 Carlton 711221157018524210.20.210.56.416.82.21.9
1995 Carlton 725121532025157178750.50.612.810.022.83.13.0
1996 Carlton 7248829725855574650.30.312.410.823.13.12.7
1997 Carlton 7216825526151666680.30.412.112.424.63.13.2
1998 Carlton 72191026523750258670.40.512.611.323.92.83.2
1999 Carlton 72614535032067068990.50.213.512.325.82.63.8
2000 Carlton 7252518395300695115751.00.715.812.027.84.63.0
2001 Carlton 7222111300273573831031.00.513.612.426.03.84.7
2002 Carlton 7129512513526033580.80.410.411.321.72.84.8
2003 Carlton 7734824612818240.40.611.76.618.32.63.4
Career 255 117 98 3087 2609 5696 748 752 0.5 0.4 12.1 10.2 22.3 2.9 2.9

Coaching statistics
[18]
Legend
 W  Wins  L  Losses  D  Draws  W%  Winning percentage  LP  Ladder position  LT  League teams
Season Team Games W L D W % LP LT
2007* Carlton 60600.0%1516
2008 Carlton 221012045.5%1116
2009 Carlton 231310056.5%716
2010 Carlton 231112047.8%816
2011 Carlton 24158164.6%517
2012 Carlton 221111050.0%1018
2019* St Kilda 853060.0%418
2020 St Kilda 19118057.9%618
Career totals 143 73 69 1 51.2%

* = Caretaker coach

References
  1. "Brett Ratten - Senior Assistant Coach". saints.com.au. St Kilda Football Club. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  2. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2002). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 540. ISBN 1-74095-001-1.
  3. "Player Season and Game Records". AFL Tables. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  4. Carlton Hall Of Fame Archived 27 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Clark, John (30 December 2009)Statistics reveal Carlton great Brett Ratten the No.1 AFL player of decade; foxsports.com.au
  6. Tearful Ratten calls it quits (15 July 2003)
  7. Phelan, Jason (18 August 2012). "Ratten calls for apology". Carlton Football Club. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  8. "Brett Ratten to coach his final game with Carlton on Sunday". Carlton Football Club. 30 August 2012. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  9. "Brett Ratten - Coaching Record". AFL Tables. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  10. de Bolfo, Tony (4 April 2012). "Ratts on cusp of unique (sic) Carlton double". Carlton Football Club. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  11. Ryan, Peter (2 August 2018). "Brett Ratten to depart Hawthorn at season's end". Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  12. Gabelich, Josh (19 July 2019). "Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton says new St Kilda caretaker coach Brett Ratten is the best coach looking for a second chance". Fox Sports.
  13. "AFL 2019: Brett Ratten to be named St Kilda's new senior coach, becoming third caretaker to win top job". Fox Sports. 5 September 2019.
  14. "Condolences to the Ratten family". hawthornfc.com.au. Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  15. "Brett Ratten's son dies in car accident". afl.com.au. Australian Football League. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  16. "Yarra Glen car crash claims life of 16yo son of Brett Ratten, two others seriously injured". abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  17. Brett Ratten's player profile at AFL Tables
  18. Brett Ratten's coaching profile at AFL Tables
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