Jack Dyer - Captain Blood

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 Flynn 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. This tradition ends with the 2012 season, Trent Cotchin will captain the Tigers wearing his number 9 guernsey in 2013.