Dave Hughes, a 54-year-old comic and old hand of the Australian show business milieu, stepped in it big time. This occurred only days after he participated in an AFL Legends charity match on Thursday night at Docklands. Hughes, competing for Victoria, had an uphill battle. Unfortunately, it did not prevent his landing in the hospital with a host of injuries, including five broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Hughes also brought a contagious energy that exuberantly exploded onto the ice. All that changed when Former AFL player Andrew Embley laid one on him. The brief but disturbing incident started a grim few hours for Hughes. That didn’t cut down on the tempting that his teammates Daniel Gorringe and Mitch Robinson couldn’t help but delivering all night long. Underneath those fun, ribbing comments, though, it was clear that Hughes was dealing with some serious physical issues out there.
Pre-Match Jokes Turn Serious
The day before the game, Shane Crawford, one of Hughes’ coaches, had jokingly implored his team to go after Hughes. In his pre-match statement, Crawford suggested that Hughes had already been identified as a player to target.
“There is one player from the Vics that I have really earmarked, and it’s Dave Hughes,” – Shane Crawford
Crawford further added, “I don’t care about the other players. They are all good players. They are old, they are slow. I want him [Hughes] to never put up his hand again [to play], so I want everyone to tackle him at some stage. And while he is down there, to really get into him.”
Unfortunately, those jokes became all too real as Hughes was again a human punching bag after multiple hard fouls during the game left him bloodied and beaten.
The Incident and Aftermath
Hughes described the turning point when his injuries started to worsen dramatically. He ended up explaining that he let a chest mark slip as part of the play. At that time, Embley crashed into him, inflicting the injury.
“The Andrew Embley incident, Hodgey kicked it to me, I dropped the chest mark … and Embley came in from the side, and that was the first collision that, I believe, was the ribs,” – Dave Hughes
Even after sustaining these injuries, Hughes played on until the chronic pain ultimately made it unbearable for him to stand on the field any longer. After he told her he was in distress, his wife Toni sped him to the hospital, which underscored just how close he came to dying.
Support from Fellow Players
In the days after that game, Andrew Embley contacted Hughes personally to express regret over the hit that did so much injury.
“I just want to say that I am so sorry for my little thump on you last night that has obviously caused so much damage, you look so sore right now,” – Shane Crawford
Though he’s still recovering from serious injuries sustained in the attack, Hughes is hopeful and resilient, having overcome much during this nightmare. Who cares if he ultimately lost out second on what should have just been an exhibition charity game. More than that, it’s impressive his commitment to the sport and willingness to compete at an age where most would call it quits.
