Jack Dyer - A Star Is Born

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, 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.