| Jack Dyer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | John Raymond Dyer Sr. | ||
| Nickname | Captain Blood | ||
| Born | (1913-11-15)15 November 1913 Oakleigh, Victoria | ||
| Died | 23 August 2003(2003-08-23) (aged 89) Box Hill, Victoria | ||
| Original team | St. Ignatius | ||
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Weight | 89 kg (196 lb) | ||
| Position | Ruck/ruck-rover/forward | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1931–1949 | Richmond | 311 (443) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| Victoria | 16 | ||
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1941–1952 | Richmond | 222 (134–86–2) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1949. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1952. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
VFL
Representative
Coaching | |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
John Raymond Dyer Sr.OAM (15 November 1913[1] – 23 August 2003), nicknamedCaptain Blood, was anAustralian rules footballer who played for theRichmond Football Club in theVictorian Football League (VFL) between 1931 and 1949. One of the game's most prominent players, he was one of 12 inaugural "Legends" inducted into theAustralian Football Hall of Fame. He later turned to coaching and work in the media as a popular broadcaster and journalist.
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(December 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Dyer was born inOakleigh, now a south-eastern suburb ofMelbourne, but grew up in the small farming hamlet ofYarra Junction on theYarra River, approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) east of the city. His parents, Ben and Nellie, were ofIrish descent. The second of three children, Dyer had an elder brother, Vin, and a younger sister, Eileen. Dyer first played football at the Yarra Junction primary school. For his secondary education, Dyer was sent by his parents to St Ignatius inRichmond. He boarded in the city with an aunt. One of the brothers running the school offered Dyer a sporting scholarship toDe La Salle College, Malvern. After leaving school with several sporting trophies, Dyer played with St Ignatius on Saturdays and with Richmond Hill Old Boys in a mid-week competition. Dyer's desire was to play for Richmond in the VFL as he admired one of the Tigers' players,George Rudolph.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(December 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 1930, Dyer won the Metropolitan League's award for the best player at the age of 16. Richmond officials had not yet attempted to sign him, and Dyer applied for a clearance to play with the Tigers' main rival, Collingwood. The Richmond officials wanted to see him in action before any decision was made and Dyer was in training with Richmond for the start of the 1931 season. Richmond's coach'Checker' Hughes pitting Dyer against veteranJoe Murdoch in a practice session. Dyer hardly touched the ball and was disheartened about his prospects until Hughes consoled him by explaining the pairing with Murdoch was a trial of courage, not skill.
Hughes selected him for his debut in just the second game of the season, againstNorth Melbourne. Dyer was made a reserve while the team achieved a VFL record score of 30.19 (199) in one of the biggest wins in VFL/AFL history. Hughes left Dyer on the bench. It was the height of theGreat Depression and the going rate for the players was 3 pounds per match, but Richmond only paid half that for unused reserves, so Hughes saved the club thirty shillings on the day. Dyer got another couple of chances and showed some form, but by mid-season found himself in the seconds team, with players who were not quite league standard, but wanted to stay on at the club and earn an extra few shillings per week to support their families.
At one point, Dyer walked away from Richmond for a few weeks and returned to suburban football. Club secretaryPercy Page persuaded him back by promising to clear any recalcitrant players. In the run up to the finals, with Richmond sitting second on the ladder, ruckmanPercy Bentley went down with an injury that ended his season. Hughes included Dyer in the Tigers' team for the second semi final againstGeelong. Playing mainly up forward, the unknown Dyer played a successful game, kicking three goals. In the Grand Final a fortnight later, again against Geelong, Geelong used their player and coach"Bull" Coghlan playing on Dyer. Coghlan played roughly against Dyer; Dyer had only four touches for the day and admitted many years later to being intimidated.
In 1932, partnering Bentley in the ruck, Dyer played successfully in the first half of the season before suffering a serious knee injury that put him out for the rest of the year. In ten matches, Dyer received 12 Brownlow medal votes[2] for four best afield performances. He was chosen for Victoria after fewer than a dozen league matches. On Grand Final day, Dyer was back in reserve as his teammates won Richmond's third premiership after several finals failures.
Dyer did reappear in 1933, wearing a dirty knee bandage. In his own phrase, Dyer was unable to "turn off" or "pull up" and he sometimes collected a teammate if his timing was out. In the Grand Final againstSouth Melbourne, Richmond lost by eight goals, but Dyer achieved thirty touches. In the following year's Grand Final, the Tigers won in a rematch with the Swans. Richmond's successfully used a ruck combination of Bentley, Dyer and rover Ray Martin.
The number of on-field incidents grew and after a particularly difficult game during 1935, newspaper cartoonistJohn Ludlow inThe Age drew a picture of Dyer as a pirate and a journalist nicknamed him 'Captain Blood', after theErrol Flynn filmCaptain Blood. Initially, Dyer was angry at the connotation and the implied slur on his sportsmanship. Dyer preferred the 'hip and shoulder' method of meeting an opponent rather than grabbing him in a tackle. The force of being hit by the athletic, 89 kg frame of Dyer was often enough to leave a player prostrate and not wanting to re-enter the fray for a while. Occasionally, the hip and shoulder could go awry and Dyer's forearm would come into play, which was a reportable offence. In a nineteen-year career, he was reported five times and suspended once.
Dyer was keen to take on a coaching role, and had reportedly been promised the position of playing coach by the Richmond committee at the end of 1939 before it reneged and re-appointedPercy Bentley. As a consequence, Dyer announced that he would not play for Richmond in 1940.[3] He received a lucrative offer to become captain-coach of theYarraville Football Club in theVictorian Football Association (which, at the time, was aggressively recruiting VFL stars to play under its newthrow-pass rules), and he lodged a request with Richmond for a clearance to the VFA club.[4] Richmond rejected the clearance, and Dyer was unwilling to transfer without a clearance (even though one was not required at the time).[5] Dyer ultimately decided to remain with Richmond as a player in 1940, and he was appointed captain-coach in 1941.
He went on to play 312 games for Richmond, being voted the club's best and fairest player in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, and 1946. He played in sevenGrand Finals for two premierships in1934 and1943, one as captain and playing coach of the side.
Dyer was aruckman; and, at 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), was not particularly tall for that position. Possessed of great strength, he was adept at punching the ball out of a pack contesting a mark, often sending the ball more than 40 yards.[6]
In 1947, Dyer crashed into Melbourne'sFrank Hanna in round 15. The umpire cleared him for rough conduct, though Hanna was knocked unconscious.Don Cordner checked his pulse and Hanna was covered with a blanket, including his head, and was carried off on a stretcher. Dyer thought he had killed Hanna. By three-quarter time, he still believed he had killed him until he asked a Demon player about Hanna's condition, and Hanna had recovered.
He was selected as an interchange player in the AFL's 1996Team of the Century". He gradually played less as a ruckman and more as a forward later in his career. He invented thedrop punt, a kicking style that gradually gained popularity over the intervening decades and is now almost universal, and has now spread toRugby union,rugby league andAmerican football. He kicked 443 goals, fifth on Richmond's list of all-time goalkickers.
In 2009,The Australian nominated Dyer as one of the 25 greatest footballers never to win aBrownlow medal.[7]
The "Jack Dyer Medal" is awarded each season to the winner of theRichmond Football Club'sbest and fairest count. Since the 2000s, the Richmond captain has automatically switched to wearing guernsey number 17, the number worn by Dyer throughout his career. But when Trent Cotchin took over the captaincy of the Tigers in 2013, he continued wearing his number 9.
Following a 19-year investigation undertaken by members of the Historical Committee, no evidence was found to have any winner of a "Best and Fairest Award" for Richmond in 18 of the seasons between1911 and1936. It is thought that the awards in question were retrospectively added in 1988 and 1991 in error. As a consequence, he now shares his Richmond best and fairest tally record of 5 with fellow AFL LegendKevin Bartlett.
| External images | |
|---|---|
 Caricature of Jack Dyer by Alex Gurney.Source: The Australian Cartoon Museum. | |
| Jack Dyer's Milk Bar, 394 Church Street, Richmond. Source: The Richmond Library. |
He married Sybil Margaret McCasker, the cousin ofKeith "Bluey" Truscott,[8] on 25 November 1939 atSt Ignatius' Church, Richmond.[9]
After an assortment of jobs in his early adulthood, Dyer joined the police force in July 1935. Dyer served in the police for nine years, before he resigned to conduct amilk bar,The Tiger Milk Bar and Newsagency at 394 Church Street, Richmond.[10] In 1949 he became the publican at theForesters' Arms Hotel in Port Melbourne,[11] and in 1952, the publican at thePost Office Hotel in Prahran.[12]
On 8 March 1940, Richmond announced that they had refused the recently married Dyer a clearance to coach VFA clubYarraville; and Dyer stated that he would not cross to Yarraville without a clearance.[13]
He and his wife Sybil had two children,Jack Jr (Jackie, born 15 December 1940) and Jill (married name Devine). Jackie had a brief career at Punt Road from 1959 to 1961, playing three games, but retired from all football aged just 23.
Following Sybil's sudden death in 1968,[14] Dyer met Dorothy Eskell, with whom he spent 25 years. Dorothy supported him in his media career, and they lived together inFrankston. In his final years, Dyer lived in a nursing home.
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(December 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
After retiring from coaching, Dyer turned to the media, where he became a commentator and football media personality. He contributed to two sports/comedy offerings on Melbourne television:World of Sport, a Sunday morning panel show; and, later,League Teams, a Thursday-night variant which later inspiredAFL Footy Show. He also had a regular column which went under the name "Dyer 'ere" (a pun ondiarrhoea) in Melbourne'sTruth newspaper.
His media work began after resigning from the coaching position at Richmond. Dyer, along with formerCollingwood captainLou Richards, became an early television commentator on Australian football after the medium was introduced to Australia in 1956.
Dyer also was a radio broadcaster – for many years, he andIan Major called football matches for radio station3KZ (KZ-FM after the station converted to FM in 1990) asThe Captain and The Major.
According to various historical articles, videos, quotes on the official Richmond website, and press obituaries, Dyer was responsible for manymalapropisms,witticisms, and comicalgaffes, including:
Other memorable quotes include:[15][16]
Retiring from the media in the early 1990s, when KZ-FM stopped broadcasting football, Dyer successfully led opposition to an AFL proposed merger of his old club with St Kilda in 1989.[17]
A photograph was taken of Richmond captain-coach Dyer, aged 30 and playing his 222nd game, wearing white strapping on his left thumb and a dirty knee bandage on his left knee, breaking away from the pack, with his eyes fixed on thelake-end goals (Dyer went on to kick a goal) in the last quarter of the 1944 Preliminary Final, held at theJunction Oval on Saturday 23 September 1944, in which Richmond defeatedEssendon, primarily due to Dyer's nine goals.
Led by a four-goal burst by Dyer, who was playing at full-forward,[18] Richmond scored 8.2 (50) to 0.5 (5) in the first quarter (kicking against the wind); and, although Essendon outscored Richmond in the last three quarters, Richmond won the match 16.12 (108) to 12.15 (87).[19]
Dyer's performance that day was one of the best individual performances by a Richmond player in the club's history.[20] A match reporter forThe Argus, in an article titled "Dyer's Grand First Quarter", wrote:[21]
Rarely has a higher standard of play been seen in a first quarter in second-round games. Clapping on the pace, and with the ball the objective all through, Richmond played a strong, concerted game. With Dyer the spearhead after the first few minutes, the strong captain-coach played one of the finest games in his career to kick four of the eight goals scored [in that quarter] and take a hand in at least three others. He showed dash, cleverness, anticipation, and good marking to outwit the opposition, and, with[Leo] Merrett darting in and out of the packs to lead attacks from the wing, and the rucks functioning well, the bombardment was so intense that Essendon wilted.
The photograph, which also appeared on the cover of the Australian Post's $4.50 booklet of ten "Richmond Tigers" postage stamps issued in 1996 as part of the "centenary of the AFL" celebrations,[22] has also been the basis for:
John Raymond Dyer was awarded theMedal of the Order of Australia in the General Division (OAM), in the1990 Queen's Birthday Honours List, "for service to Australian Rules Football".[27]
Dyer's switch to full forward was a master stroke, his effectiveness in that position practically won the game for Richmond in the first quarter
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
