Thomas Francis Liberatore (born 16 May 1992) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the in the Australian Football League (AFL). At and , 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 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 and a dual-member of the 22 Under 22 team. He has polled a total of 22 Brownlow Medal votes in his career. Early life and career Liberatore was born in Melbourne, Victoria. 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. 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. 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. AFL career 2011—2014: Early career 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