Vale / in Memorium

[geordie_matt]

very sad news about jack dyers death as he was a true legend of the game we all love and our thoughts go out to the richmond football club, his friends and most of all his family

RIP jack dyer

[Slayer]

Fantastic character

RIP

[Lazza]

Fantastic character who HATED Collingwood. He put a lot of shit on us. I would have cared for him heaps more if he didn't. Still, with respect, RIP.

Laz

[peter_pies4ever]

One of the great ruckman of our game.
You will be sadly missed by all footall fans.
RIP Captain Blood

[*Rach_luvs_Lonie37*]

He used to live around my area, and i remember about 5 years ago goin into the milkbar and he was in there buying the paper!!!He was so nice because my lil bother baracks for Richmond and he went up and shook his hand and everything!! Very sad newz, RIP Jack, and condolences to everyone at richmond and to his friends and family!
Luv Rach!!xoxox

[Joel]

Rest in Peace.

[annewilo]

I have great memories of Jack Dyer, Lou Richards and Bobby Davis in their late night pre cursur to the footy show, they used to produce back I think in the 70's or 80's. And before this, he was one of the panel on Ron Casey's Sunday morning World of Sport.
Back then I was running around being a teenager and later becoming a mum, so I couldnt attend many games. I used to watch them for pure entertainment and wit. They used to have the front sequence shot of three monkeys, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil, then they would come out with some of the funniest lines, that even Sam, Trevor and Eddy would have trouble keeping up with.
Jack is before my time as a player, but from what my dad used to tell me, he was a great legend, (although against Collingwood I think he was a little brutal) but one of the greats, who was able to make his entire career out of the game.
Sadly missed.

[Fradam]

Sadly missed will be Jack Dyer. A tough bloke on the field and a true gentleman off it. Condolences to Richmond and the football community

[GreekLunatic]

RIP one of the the legends of Afl footy Jack Dyer would surely be missed .was on one of the best show ever league teams with lou and bobby

[Presti35]

RIP to another true legend of VFL/AFL football.

[JLC]

Its with very sad regret that i report that David Hookes was severely hurt in a fight last night at a Melbourne Hotel and he is fighting for his life in hospital

Apparently Hookes was trying to break up the fight and a bouncer is being interviewed.

Hookes was my hero during his playing days and had a great sports program on 3AW.

I hope David has a speedy recovery and there is no long term damage.

jlc

[WhyPhilWhy?]

See http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/19/1074360663004.html

Hookes critical after assault

By Samantha Baden and Renee Barnes
January 19, 2004

Victorian cricket coach and former Test player David Hookes is in a coma after being bashed outside a Melbourne pub.

Hookes "technically died" and was revived by ambulance paramedics after the assault outside the Beaconsfield Hotel in St Kilda at 11.45pm (AEDT) last night. He has serious head injuries.

Clark Forbes, the program director at Melbourne radio station 3AW, where Hookes is a member of the on-air team, said the attack was so brutal that ambulance paramedics worked to revive Hookes for half an hour.

"Technically he died - he was revived on the footpath outside the hotel concerned, which is a St Kilda late-night pub where the (Victorian state cricket) team had been celebrating yesterday's win over South Australia," Mr Forbes told Sydney radio station 2GB.

"He was there with a number of team-mates. They were all having a very pleasant evening and he was involved in this incident."

Hookes was taken to the Alfred Hospital where this morning he was in a coma in the intensive care unit. A hospital spokeswoman said Hookes was in a critical condition.

"David sustained serious head injuries and he's in a coma," Mr Forbes said.

"I have to say he's not in a good way."

Mr Forbes said there was concern about Hookes sustaining brain damage.

"I think that's all our fears - when you've been out that long you've got to wonder what kind of effect it will have on a person."

Mr Forbes said he did not know what sparked the attack.

Witness Roman Longer said more than a dozen people were involved in the melee.

"There was a group of maybe 14 people involved, two groups, a security fellow who was sort of trying to step between the two groups, women screaming and it was at that time that we decided to ring police," he told ABC radio.

Paramedic Marcus Stacey told 3AW it was difficult to work on Hookes.

"When it became apparent who the patient was, having that person as a childhood hero, yeah it does make it a little bit challenging," he said.

Victorian Cricket Association executive director Ken Jacobs said he visited Hookes this morning.

"We are obviously thinking of David and his family, certainly our thoughts are with them and we'll do anything we can to support them," he said.

He declined to comment further due to the police investigation.

Police said they were questioning a 22-year-old St Albans man over the assault.

- AAP

[commonwombat]

Read about it a bit earlier.

Whilst not admiring everything he's said and done, this is the sort of news no-one wants to hear. Lets hope he can make a satisfactory recovery and would send one's best wishes to his family under these sad circumstances.

[Donny]

David Hookes critically ill after assault

Wisden Cricinfo staff

David Hookes, the former Australia batsman and current coach of Victoria, is said to be critically ill in a Melbourne hospital after being injured while attempting to break up a fight outside a St Kilda hotel.

Eyewitnesses said that Hookes, 48, was treated by paramedics for half an hour at the scene of the assault before being rushed to intensive care where he is reported to be in an induced coma on a life-support machine.

Clark Forbes, the program director at Melbourne radio station 3AW, where Hookes works as an on-air commentator, said that the situation was not good. "David sustained serious head injuries and he's in a coma," he told local journalists. "I have to say he's not in a good way.

"Technically he died, he was revived on the footpath outside the hotel concerned, which is a St Kilda late-night pub where the Victoria team had been celebrating yesterday's win over South Australia."

Police are questioning a 22-year-old St Albans man in connection with the assault.

Former Australian cricket captain Ian Chappell said fighting was out of character for Hookes. "Like most cricketers David's not a fighter," he told the Today Show. "He was always prepared to speak his opinion and we might have got an animated discussion out of him but certainly not fighting. It sounds like a classic case of wrong place at the wrong time."

Colleague Dean Jones told ABC radio his thoughts were with Hookes' family. "Knowing him, he's been through hell and back himself," he said. "He's been hit in the head by some of the fastest bowlers that have ever graced this planet and he got through it. He's had some tough times as a cricketer and he knows how to get through them so hopefully he will get through this."

[Greg J]

It's a bit surreal. The Beaconsfield is just down the road, a couple of kilometers I admit, but still just down the road.

I heard on the radio that it was his heart, but here it seems to be a brain injury.

Breaking up a fight between whom?

The Beaconsfield is a meat market, particularly on Sunday nights. It the sort of place that has a queue, after a certain time at night, regardless of how many people are inside.