Jack Dyer
Encyclopedia
John Raymond Dyer Sr. OAM (13 November 1913 – 23 August 2003), always known as Jack Dyer, was one of the colossal figures of Australian rules football
during two distinct careers, firstly as a player and coach of the Richmond Football Club
in the Victorian Football League between 1931 and 1952, and later in the broadcast media for more than four decades.
During his lengthy career, he came to symbolise not just the Richmond Football Club, but the entire working class area of Richmond, during the privations of the Great Depression
and World War II
.
His genial nature shone through in his media work, which he began after resigning from the coaching position at Richmond. Dyer, along with former Collingwood
captain Lou Richards
, became a pioneer of television commentating on Australian football after the medium was introduced to Australia in 1956. Combining television, radio and newspaper work, Dyer and Richards set the style for the modern coverage of football and created a template for many ex-players to emulate when they attempted to re-create themselves as media celebrities.
, now a south-eastern suburb
of Melbourne
, but grew up in the small farming hamlet of Yarra Junction
on the Yarra River
, approximately 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) east of the city. His parents, Ben and Nellie, were of Irish
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 in Richmond
. He boarded in the city with an aunt. Dyer's sporting ability was instantly noticed by the brothers running the school, and one of them offered Dyer a sporting scholarship to De La Salle College, Malvern. After leaving school with a swag of sporting trophies, Dyer played with St Ignatius on Saturdays and with Richmond Hill Old Boys in a mid-week competition. Dyer's burning desire was to play for Richmond in the VFL as he idolised one of the Tigers' star players, George Rudolph
.
In 1930, Dyer won the Metropolitan League's award for the best player at the age of 16. This was a significant achievement for a player so young, and must have come to the attention of every VFL scout. Growing impatient as Richmond officials had not yet attempted to sign him, Dyer applied for a clearance to play with the Tigers' arch rival, Collingwood. The gambit worked; the Richmond hierarchy wanted to see him in action before any decision was made and Dyer was in training with his heroes for the start of the 1931 season. He had the task ahead of him as he was joining one of the league's strongest clubs with a very tough culture. Richmond's coach 'Checker' Hughes
pitted the youngster against hardened veteran Joe 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. No one doubted Dyer's skill.
Hughes was confident enough about the teenager to select him for his debut in just the second game of the season, against North Melbourne
. Dyer was made a reserve and he looked on as the team racked up a VFL record score of 30.19 (199) in one of the biggest wins in VFL/AFL history. With his team cruising to the easiest of wins, Hughes decided to save some money by leaving Dyer on the bench all day. It was the height of the Great Depression
. 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 a bit of form, but by mid-season found himself in the seconds. The seconds team was filled with players who were not quite league standard, but desperate to stay on at the club and earn an extra few shillings per week to support their families. They were not so amenable to sharing the ball with the new wonderboy. Dyer felt ostracised by their attitude.
At one point, Dyer walked away from Richmond for a few weeks and returned to suburban football. Club secretary Percy 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, star ruckman Percy Bentley
went down with an injury that ended his season. Hughes decided to take a gamble with his young protege, and included Dyer in the Tigers' team for the second semi final against Geelong
. Playing mainly up forward, the unknown Dyer sneaked under the Cats' radar and played a great game, kicking three goals. However, circumstances were different in the Grand Final a fortnight later, again against Geelong. This time Geelong used their veteran hard man and coach "Bull" Coghlan
playing on Dyer. Coghlan roughed up the youngster and gave him a footballing lesson – Dyer had only four touches for the day and admitted many years later to being totally intimidated. It was an experience he would not forget.
Dyer did reappear in 1933, sporting what would become one of the game's most famous pieces of apparel – his dirty knee bandage. Hardened by the tribulations of his early career, a new Dyer emerged. Physical and ferocious, he became renowned as a man who did not deviate regardless of what was in his path, an approach that Dyer attributed to the knee injury. In his own phrase, Dyer was unable to "turn off" or "pull up" and he sometimes collected a teammate if his timing was out. Dyer was a key player in the Tigers' push for back to back flags. In the Grand Final against South Melbourne
, Richmond was found wanting and lost by eight goals, but Dyer managed thirty touches in a fighting effort. In the following year's Grand Final, the Tigers gained revenge in a rematch with the Swans. Dyer was one of the stand out players in his first premiership side. Richmond's ruck combination of Bentley, Dyer and rover Ray Martin was by now considered the best in the business.
movie of the same name. The name quickly stuck. Initially, Dyer was furious 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. However, in a nineteen year career, he was reported only five times and suspended just once. Undoubtedly, in the modern era, Dyer's style would not be tolerated, but the same can be said of many past champions. In the main, Dyer won admiration from opposition players for his vigor and, in particular, his protection of smaller teammates.
He went on to play 312 games for Richmond, being voted the club's best and fairest player in 1932, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, and 1946. He played in seven Grand Finals
for two premierships in 1934
and 1943
, one as captain and playing coach of the side.
Dyer was a ruckman
; and, at 6'1" (185 cm), he was not particularly tall for that position, even in that era.
His on-field characteristics were summed-up in the nickname "Captain Blood", which he received from cartoonist John Ludlow
in The Age
in 1935, after the title character in an Errol Flynn
film of the same name.
In an era where football was considerably rougher than today he was regarded as a "hard at the ball" player – a football euphemism for a player who is prepared to use strength, size, and momentum to simply run through and flatten an opponent to get the ball. Perhaps tongue-in-cheek, Dyer always attributed his style of play to a severe knee injury that reduced his ability to make quick turns. Despite this reputation, he was only reported five times in a long career, and only suspended once.
In 1947, Jack Dyer crashed into Melbourne's Frank Hanna
in round 15. The umpire cleared him for rough conduct. Hanna was out cold. 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. He had actually recovered.
He was not simply a "tough man", but also a very talented footballer. Most of those who had seen him play at his peak assert that he was one of a very small number of players from his extended era that would still have been picked to play in the 1990s (this view is supported by his selection as an interchange player in the AFL's 1996 Team of the Century"). He gradually played less as a ruckman and more as a forward later in his career. He is credited with inventing the drop punt
, a kicking style that gradually gained popularity over the intervening decades and is now almost universal, and has now spread to Rugby union
, rugby league
and American 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 a Brownlow medal
.
The "Jack Dyer Medal
" is awarded each season to the winner of the Richmond Football Club
's Best 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.
On 8 March 1940, Richmond announced that they had refused the recently-married Dyer a clearance to coach VFA club Yarraville
; and Dyer stated that he would not cross to Yarraville without a clearance.
He and his wife Sybil had two children, Jack junior
(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 early death in 1967, Dyer spent many of his remaining years living with his daughter Jill, and never remarried.
. He also had a regular column which went under the name "Dyer 'ere" in Melbourne's Truth
newspaper.
Dyer also was a radio broadcaster – for many years he and Ian Major
called football matches for radio station 3KZ
(KZ-FM after the station converted to FM in 1990) as The Captain and The Major.
s became legendary. According to press obituaries, he was responsible for such gems as
Other moments include
, primarily due to Dyer's nine goals. His performance that day one is of the best individual performances by a Richmond player in their history.
The photograph has been the basis for the logo of The Footy Show
, Mitch Mitchell's statue of Dyer at Punt Road Oval
and in a painting by John Balmain, commissioned by the AFL to celebrate their centenary season in 1996 that was used on the front cover of Brian Hansen's 1996 book, The Jack Dyer Story: The Legend of Captain Blood.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
during two distinct careers, firstly as a player and coach of the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
in the Victorian Football League between 1931 and 1952, and later in the broadcast media for more than four decades.
During his lengthy career, he came to symbolise not just the Richmond Football Club, but the entire working class area of Richmond, during the privations of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
His genial nature shone through in his media work, which he began after resigning from the coaching position at Richmond. Dyer, along with former Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
captain Lou Richards
Lou Richards
Lewis Thomas Charles "Lou" Richards is a retired Australian rules footballer, who played 250 games with the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League between 1941 and 1955...
, became a pioneer of television commentating on Australian football after the medium was introduced to Australia in 1956. Combining television, radio and newspaper work, Dyer and Richards set the style for the modern coverage of football and created a template for many ex-players to emulate when they attempted to re-create themselves as media celebrities.
Early life
Dyer was born in OakleighOakleigh, Victoria
Oakleigh is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and is located 14 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Monash. At the 2006 Census, Oakleigh had a population of 6,876....
, now a south-eastern suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, but grew up in the small farming hamlet of Yarra Junction
Yarra Junction, Victoria
Yarra Junction is a town in Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district. It sits at the junction of the Yarra and Little Yarra Rivers. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
on the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
, approximately 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) east of the city. His parents, Ben and Nellie, were of Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
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 in Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
. He boarded in the city with an aunt. Dyer's sporting ability was instantly noticed by the brothers running the school, and one of them offered Dyer a sporting scholarship to De La Salle College, Malvern. After leaving school with a swag of sporting trophies, Dyer played with St Ignatius on Saturdays and with Richmond Hill Old Boys in a mid-week competition. Dyer's burning desire was to play for Richmond in the VFL as he idolised one of the Tigers' star players, George Rudolph
George Rudolph
George Rudolph was an Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the Victorian Football League during the 1920s....
.
In 1930, Dyer won the Metropolitan League's award for the best player at the age of 16. This was a significant achievement for a player so young, and must have come to the attention of every VFL scout. Growing impatient as Richmond officials had not yet attempted to sign him, Dyer applied for a clearance to play with the Tigers' arch rival, Collingwood. The gambit worked; the Richmond hierarchy wanted to see him in action before any decision was made and Dyer was in training with his heroes for the start of the 1931 season. He had the task ahead of him as he was joining one of the league's strongest clubs with a very tough culture. Richmond's coach 'Checker' Hughes
Frank 'Checker' Hughes
Frank 'Checker' Hughes was a famous player and coach of Australian rules football in the Victorian Football League in the period 1914 to 1948....
pitted the youngster against hardened veteran Joe Murdoch
Joe Murdoch
Arthur 'Joe' Murdoch was an Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL in between 1927 and 1936 for the Richmond Football Club....
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. No one doubted Dyer's skill.
Hughes was confident enough about the teenager to select him for his debut in just the second game of the season, against North Melbourne
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
. Dyer was made a reserve and he looked on as the team racked up a VFL record score of 30.19 (199) in one of the biggest wins in VFL/AFL history. With his team cruising to the easiest of wins, Hughes decided to save some money by leaving Dyer on the bench all day. It was the height of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. 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 a bit of form, but by mid-season found himself in the seconds. The seconds team was filled with players who were not quite league standard, but desperate to stay on at the club and earn an extra few shillings per week to support their families. They were not so amenable to sharing the ball with the new wonderboy. Dyer felt ostracised by their attitude.
At one point, Dyer walked away from Richmond for a few weeks and returned to suburban football. Club secretary Percy 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, star ruckman Percy Bentley
Percy Bentley
Percy Bentley was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.Bentley was a strong ruckman and great tactician who was a key player and coach for the Richmond Football Club during his era...
went down with an injury that ended his season. Hughes decided to take a gamble with his young protege, and included Dyer in the Tigers' team for the second semi final against Geelong
Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
. Playing mainly up forward, the unknown Dyer sneaked under the Cats' radar and played a great game, kicking three goals. However, circumstances were different in the Grand Final a fortnight later, again against Geelong. This time Geelong used their veteran hard man and coach "Bull" Coghlan
Arthur Coghlan
Arthur 'Bull' Coghlan was an Australian rules footballer who played for and coached Geelong in the VFL.Geelong's Toora recruit was a tough and hard hitting ruckman but could also play in key positions...
playing on Dyer. Coghlan roughed up the youngster and gave him a footballing lesson – Dyer had only four touches for the day and admitted many years later to being totally intimidated. It was an experience he would not forget.
A Star is Born
The following year, Dyer was a sensation. Partnering Bentley in the ruck, Dyer dominated the first half of the season before suffering a serious knee injury that put him out for the rest of the year. In only ten matches, Dyer received four best afield Brownlow medal votes, collected enough votes to win the Tigers' best and fairest and was chosen for Victoria after less than a dozen league matches. But on Grand Final day, Dyer sat on the sidelines watching his teammates break a long sequence of finals failures and win Richmond's third premiership, unsure if he would be able to rejoin them.Dyer did reappear in 1933, sporting what would become one of the game's most famous pieces of apparel – his dirty knee bandage. Hardened by the tribulations of his early career, a new Dyer emerged. Physical and ferocious, he became renowned as a man who did not deviate regardless of what was in his path, an approach that Dyer attributed to the knee injury. In his own phrase, Dyer was unable to "turn off" or "pull up" and he sometimes collected a teammate if his timing was out. Dyer was a key player in the Tigers' push for back to back flags. In the Grand Final against South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
, Richmond was found wanting and lost by eight goals, but Dyer managed thirty touches in a fighting effort. In the following year's Grand Final, the Tigers gained revenge in a rematch with the Swans. Dyer was one of the stand out players in his first premiership side. Richmond's ruck combination of Bentley, Dyer and rover Ray Martin was by now considered the best in the business.
Captain Blood
Many were now prepared to concede that Dyer was the most valuable player in the game. But the number of on-field incidents grew and after a particularly torrid game during 1935, a newspaper cartoonist drew a picture of Dyer as a pirate and a journalist dubbed him 'Captain Blood', after an Errol FlynnErrol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
movie of the same name. The name quickly stuck. Initially, Dyer was furious 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. However, in a nineteen year career, he was reported only five times and suspended just once. Undoubtedly, in the modern era, Dyer's style would not be tolerated, but the same can be said of many past champions. In the main, Dyer won admiration from opposition players for his vigor and, in particular, his protection of smaller teammates.
He went on to play 312 games for Richmond, being voted the club's best and fairest player in 1932, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, and 1946. He played in seven Grand Finals
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...
for two premierships in 1934
1934 VFL Grand Final
The 1934 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Richmond Football Club and South Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 13 October 1934. It was the 38th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to...
and 1943
1943 VFL Grand Final
The 1943 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Richmond Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Princes Park in Melbourne on 25 September 1943. It was the 47th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers...
, one as captain and playing coach of the side.
Dyer was a ruckman
Ruckman (Australian rules football position)
In Australian rules football, a ruckman is typically a tall and athletic player who contests at centre bounces and stoppages . The ruckman is one of the most important players on the field...
; and, at 6'1" (185 cm), he was not particularly tall for that position, even in that era.
His on-field characteristics were summed-up in the nickname "Captain Blood", which he received from cartoonist John Ludlow
John Ludlow
John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow was an English lawyer and leader of the Christian socialist movement.-Biography:...
in The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
in 1935, after the title character in an Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
film of the same name.
In an era where football was considerably rougher than today he was regarded as a "hard at the ball" player – a football euphemism for a player who is prepared to use strength, size, and momentum to simply run through and flatten an opponent to get the ball. Perhaps tongue-in-cheek, Dyer always attributed his style of play to a severe knee injury that reduced his ability to make quick turns. Despite this reputation, he was only reported five times in a long career, and only suspended once.
In 1947, Jack Dyer crashed into Melbourne's Frank Hanna
Frank Hanna
Francis Hanna , known as Frank Hanna, was an Irish politician.After studying at St. Mary's Christian Brothers Grammar School, Belfast and Queen's University, Belfast, Hanna became a solicitor, founding Francis Hanna and Co., specialising in personal injuries and trade union cases...
in round 15. The umpire cleared him for rough conduct. Hanna was out cold. Don Cordner
Don Cordner
Dr Donald Cordner was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League during the 1940s...
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. He had actually recovered.
He was not simply a "tough man", but also a very talented footballer. Most of those who had seen him play at his peak assert that he was one of a very small number of players from his extended era that would still have been picked to play in the 1990s (this view is supported by his selection as an interchange player in the AFL's 1996 Team of the Century"). He gradually played less as a ruckman and more as a forward later in his career. He is credited with inventing the drop punt
Drop punt
A drop punt is a type of kick in various codes of football.It is the primary method of disposing the ball by foot in Australian rules football and the name describes its technique. The ball is held vertically, and dropped and kicked before it hits the ground, resulting in the ball spinning...
, a kicking style that gradually gained popularity over the intervening decades and is now almost universal, and has now spread to Rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
and American Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. He kicked 443 goals, fifth on Richmond's list of all-time goalkickers.
In 2009 The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
nominated Dyer as one of the 25 greatest footballers never to win a Brownlow medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
.
The "Jack Dyer Medal
Jack Dyer Medal
The Jack Dyer Medal is an Australian rules football award given each season to the player or players adjudged Best and Fairest for the Richmond Football Club....
" is awarded each season to the winner of the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
's Best and Fairest
Best and Fairest
Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...
count. Since the 2000s, the Richmond captain has automatically switched to wearing guernsey number 17, the number worn by Dyer throughout his career.
Personal life
After an assortment of jobs in his early adulthood, Dyer joined the police force in 1934 and married shortly after. He served in the police for almost a decade, before becoming a publican in Port Melbourne, then later owned a milk bar.On 8 March 1940, Richmond announced that they had refused the recently-married Dyer a clearance to coach VFA club Yarraville
Yarraville Football Club
Yarraville Football Club was an Australian rules football club founded in 1903 and played in the VJFA until 1927. In 1928, the club joined the VFA where it played until 1984 when the club went into recess. In 1996, the Kingsville Football Club in the FDFL who by this time had taken over the...
; and Dyer stated that he would not cross to Yarraville without a clearance.
He and his wife Sybil had two children, Jack junior
Jack Dyer, Jr.
John "Jack" Dyer, Jr is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond in the Victorian Football League ....
(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 early death in 1967, Dyer spent many of his remaining years living with his daughter Jill, and never remarried.
Media career
After retiring from coaching, Dyer turned to the media, where he became a commentator and football media personality. He happily contributed to two tongue-in-cheek sports/comedy offerings on Melbourne television, World of Sport, a Sunday morning panel show, and later League Teams, a Thursday night variant which clearly inspired the current Footy ShowThe AFL Footy Show
The Footy Show is a Logie Award winning Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.This show, which is dedicated to the AFL and Australian rules football, made its debut on 24 March 1994 at the same time as the other version which relates to the NRL and rugby...
. He also had a regular column which went under the name "Dyer 'ere" in Melbourne's Truth
The Truth (newspaper)
The Truth was a Melbourne tabloid newspaper established in 1902 as a subsidiary of the Sydney Truth, established in 1890.In its early years its politics was very much left-leaning, and it painted itself as the voice of the working class. Before 1945 it had a style of journalism that was high...
newspaper.
Dyer also was a radio broadcaster – for many years he and Ian Major
Ian Major
Ian Major was an Australian sports broadcaster.Chiefly known for commentary in Australian Rules football, Major broadcast Victorian Football League matches with Melbourne radio station 3XY from 1966-69. He formed an association with 3KZ for 21 years , commentating VFL/AFL matches...
called football matches for radio station 3KZ
3KZ
Gold 104.3 is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. Gold 104.3 is part of the Australian Radio Classic Hits Network and broadcasts on the 104.3 MHz frequency.- History :...
(KZ-FM after the station converted to FM in 1990) as The Captain and The Major.
"Dyerisms"
Not the most articulate on-air personality, Dyer's malapropismMalapropism
A malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...
s became legendary. According to press obituaries, he was responsible for such gems as
- "Yes, we had an enjoyable time on the French Riverina" (The RiverinaRiverinaThe Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
is a highly productive agricultural region of south-western New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
) and describing the problems with younger players by saying that "All they want to do is sit around and smoke marinara".
Other moments include
- "I won't say anything in case I say something."
- "Bartlett's older than he's ever been before."
- "Johnston missed one from the 10 yard square – it was impossible to miss that."
- "The only way to tackle Justin MaddenJustin MaddenMadden was 206 cm tall, and one of the tallest men ever to play Australian Rules football, and his potential in this area was fully utilized by Carlton, who used him as their main ruckman. Over the next fifteen seasons, Madden became a mainstay of the Carlton side, and one of the most...
. I don't know." - "That's the beauty of being small – your hands are close to your feet."
- "Bamblett made a great debut last week, and an even better one today."
- "The ball goes to Marceesie … Marcheson … McKann, er …" before co-commentator Ian MajorIan MajorIan Major was an Australian sports broadcaster.Chiefly known for commentary in Australian Rules football, Major broadcast Victorian Football League matches with Melbourne radio station 3XY from 1966-69. He formed an association with 3KZ for 21 years , commentating VFL/AFL matches...
interjected: "Actually, Jack I don't think Marchesani was in that passage of play." - "Mark Lee's long arms reaching up like giant testicles."
- "It's as dark out there as the Black Hole of Dakota."
- "The goal posts are moving so fast I can't keep up with the play."
- And on World Of Sport, Dyer declared that FitzroyFitzroy Football ClubThe Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
had "copulated to the opposition".
Retirement and death
Retiring from the media in the early 1990s, when KZ-FM stopped broadcasting football, Dyer had one last impact on the game, successfully leading a fight to save his old club from a merger with St Kilda.Iconic photograph
An iconic photograph of Dyer breaking away from the pack, with his eyes so firmly fixed on the goals, was captured in the last quarter of the 1944 Preliminary Final in which Richmond defeated EssendonEssendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
, primarily due to Dyer's nine goals. His performance that day one is of the best individual performances by a Richmond player in their history.
The photograph has been the basis for the logo of The Footy Show
The AFL Footy Show
The Footy Show is a Logie Award winning Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.This show, which is dedicated to the AFL and Australian rules football, made its debut on 24 March 1994 at the same time as the other version which relates to the NRL and rugby...
, Mitch Mitchell's statue of Dyer at Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval is a sporting ground located in Yarra Park, East Melbourne, Victoria situated only a few hundred metres to the east of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground....
and in a painting by John Balmain, commissioned by the AFL to celebrate their centenary season in 1996 that was used on the front cover of Brian Hansen's 1996 book, The Jack Dyer Story: The Legend of Captain Blood.