Frank Dunin, the CSIRO scientist who was Richmond’s key position player in the 1950s, and member of the demonstration football match at the Melbourne Olympics, has died.

Dunin died May 14th 2025, his son Ben told Rhett Bartlett.

In 1953 and 1955-1959, the right-footer played 69 senior games as a centre-half-forward, centre half-back and ruckman, kicking 30 goals. He also played 13 Reserves games and kicked nine goals.

For the 1954 season, however, he undertook National Service, played one Reserve game on May 1st, before the Club issued him a permit for the Dookie College football team, allowing him to complete the second year of his Agriculture studies at Melbourne University. 

Despite kicking four goals for Dookie in their Grand Final, they lost to Burramine by nine points.

Upon his return to Tigerland the following year, he finished fourth in Richmond’s Best and Fairest.

Above: Dunin leaves for Dookie College. The Sun News-Pictorial, May 3 1954.

In 1956 when Melbourne hosted the Olympics Games, Dunin was the highest goalscorer with three for the combined VFL/VFA side against the VAFA.

The demonstration match was played at 4.15pm on the day before the Closing Ceremony, after the completion of the bronze medal soccer match between Bulgaria and India.

Dunin can be glimpsed in the brief footage of the match wearing the number five in the green guernsey.

Coached by football administrator Bruce Andrews, Dunin had three Tiger teammates in his VFL/VFA side – Ray Allsopp, Brian Davie, and Vic Naismith.

“It was fair dinkum. Surprisingly we were overwhelmed by the Amateurs,” he said.  

Dunin dubbed himself a ‘Sham-ateur’, because despite having played for University Blues, here he was playing against the VAFA.

Above: The results of the 1956 Olympic demonstration game as printed in The Argus.

Born in East Melbourne on June 29th 1935, Dunin’s passion for Agriculture came from an unlikely source, the Polio epidemic scare of the late 1940s.

“In the immediate post-war there was a polio scare and there was talk of evacuation,” he told Rhett Bartlett in 2021. 

“It was suggested that children be quarantined out in the regions rather than the cities, and my mother’s bridesmaid married a farmer at Boorhaman, so we went up there to explore the possibilities.

“I fell in love with the place eventually, spent my holidays there and one time, as an 11-year-old, I was helping sow a crop and I watched it emerged, and I wanted to study more about it.”

That passion turned into 38 years working for the CSIRO as a scientist and four years for The Soil Conservation Authority.

Standing 6'3 and weighing 14 stone, Dunin started as a ruckman under Alan Killigrew at CBC St Kilda, and trained with the Melbourne Football Club as he resided in their district. 

Rather than play with Melbourne Thirds, he fronted up for University Blues and it was there that former Richmond champion-turned recruiter Jack Baggott spotted him. After a successful training run at Punt Road under the eye of coach Alby Pannam, the Tigers grabbed him in exchange for their full-forward Peter Schofield.

His Tigerland debut came a week after his 18th birthday, against Hawthorn at Punt Road, replacing champion centre-half forward Ray Poulter in the side.

“I cringed. Cause Joey Poulter was one of our icons. I didn’t feel worthy,” Dunin said. 

Playing on Clive Philp, the Victorian centre-half back, Dunin kicked a goal, and remembered Hawthorn captain (and policeman) Ted Fletcher, “went past me and turned around to Clive and snarled at him ‘hit him behind the ears, he’s still wet there Clive!’”.

Because of the tarnished boots he wore, Dunin came out of that game with an infected blistered foot, and sought out the help of Louis Zachariah of Arena Sporting Footwear (whose clients later included Ron Barassi, Lionel Rose, and Max Walker).

The two became close associates, and when Dunin was coach of Victorian Amateur side at the 1967 Carnival in Hobart, Lou was his manager.

As is often the case with players of that era, Dunin’s Tiger career ended with a knee injury, when teammate Herb Sawatzky fell across it in a practice match of 1960.

Dunin’s better memory of that day is nipping into Caulfield Racecourse on the way to the match, and placing a large amount of money the Club had pooled on ‘Declaree’ in the first race at the juicy odds of 14-1. It got up.

Bad news above, and good news below, all on the same day. Dunin does his knee, but the club's horse bet gets up!

After Richmond, Dunin played for University Blacks, was Australian National Universities Coach and Chairman of Selectors, coached at St Edmund’s College, and Manuka Under 19s.

The Richmond Football Club sends its sympathy to Dunin’s family and friends.

Below is the January 7, 2021 interview he conducted over the phone with Rhett Bartlett.