Shedding tears, casting fear in 17

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JACK Dyer used to joke that he didn't mean to become a Richmond legend — it just turned out that way.

And in carving out a legend that will live forever, Dyer transformed the No. 17 jumper into one of the most feared and one of the most revered in the game.

Dyer, voted as the best player to have worn that number, carried No. 17 on his back in all of his 312 games with Richmond.

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Fittingly, he was only 17 when he played his first game in 1931, and in keeping with the numerical connections, the Tigers registered 17 goals to North Melbourne's nil in the first half of that Round 2 game.

Footballer Jack Dyer playing football for Richmond. Source: News Limited

He would sit on the bench all day in what is still Richmond's greatest winning margin.

Speaking years later, Dyer would recall a rough and tumble start to his first season of VFL football — "I had a good set of teeth at that time, and that messed them right up."

"I was (knocked) down, I was crying just about. I was 17; you are allowed to cry when you are 17 because you are among men. Well, the tears came to my eyes"

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It wasn't long before the man who would become known as "Captain Blood" would be bringing fear — and more than a few tears — to the eyes of those he faced on the football field.

Dyer wore 17 across 19 seasons, and even when his knees could no longer carry him on the football field, the power of the number resonated long after he hung up his boots and knee brace.

Future Richmond players would also be seduced with the promise of wearing Dyer's number in the hope of coaxing them to the club.

Richmond's Jack Dyer sinks his boot into the ball in a match at the Punt Road Oval. Source: News Corp Australia

Even his son, Jack Jr., was handed the jumper by his father and managed to wear it in three senior games in 1960, saying years later: "I wish I could have been a better footballer."

One star who wore No. 17 with distinction through the late 1960s and early 1970s was Barry Richardson, and Dyer played a part in his signing on with the Tigers.

Richardson would never forget a visit the Tigers — and Dyer — made to his family's home in 1964, saying: "I was promised the No. 17 guernsey, and I guess I have bathed in some of the reflected glory of that honour since."

He wore it with distinction, though he joked that Dyer himself had been "a bit worried that he might have bestowed the curse of No. 17 when I badly injured a knee in my first season."

No. 17 was a prominent feature at Jack Dyer's funeral in 2003. Pic: COLIN MURTY Source: News Corp Australia

Maurice Rioli wore it to win a Norm Smith Medal in a losing side in 1982.

The importance of No. 17 at the club was never more evident than when Dyer passed away, aged 89, in August 2003.

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The Tigers petitioned the AFL to allow each of their 22 players to wear the No. 17 on the front part of their jumper in the following match as a special tribute to a man who helped to shape the Richmond Football Club.

And the following year Wayne Campbell began a short-lived tradition of having the Richmond captain wear the No. 17, with Kane Johnson and Chris Newman later following suit.

Matthew Richardson with the Jack Dyer statue at the MCG. Source: News Corp Australia

That tradition ended last year when the Tigers' current skipper, Trent Cotchin, elected to keep his No. 9 instead of switching to No. 17.

Cotchin explained: "Obviously, I hold the club's history and traditions in high regard. Jack Dyer is a massive part of our proud history ... (but) I've always been really comfortable with No.9."

Dyer would understand that. He loved players making their own way in the game.

For the time being, the No. 17 is on hold at Punt Rd. But you can bet the next time a player pulls it across his shoulders and runs out to play, the spirit of 'Captain Blood' will be with them.

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