One of the brothers running the school offered Dyer a sporting scholarship to De La Salle College, Malvern.

After leaving school with several sporting trophies, Dyer played with St Ignatius on Saturdays and with Richmond Hill Old Boys in a mid-week competition.

Richmond officials had not yet attempted to sign him, and Dyer applied for a clearance to play with the Tigers' main rival, Collingwood.

Dyer hardly touched the ball and was disheartened about his prospects until Hughes consoled him by explaining the pairing with Murdoch was a trial of courage, not skill.

It was the height of the Great Depression and the going rate for the players was 3 pounds per match, but Richmond only paid half that for unused reserves, so Hughes saved the club thirty shillings on the day.

Dyer got another couple of chances and showed some form, but by mid-season found himself in the seconds team, with players who were not quite league standard, but wanted to stay on at the club and earn an extra few shillings per week to support their families.

In the run up to the finals, with Richmond sitting second on the ladder, ruckman Percy Bentley went down with an injury that ended his season.

In 1932, partnering Bentley in the ruck, Dyer played successfully in the first half of the season before suffering a serious knee injury that put him out for the rest of the year.

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.

Don Cordner checked his pulse and Hanna was covered with a blanket, including his head, and was carried off on a stretcher.

[7] The "Jack Dyer Medal" is awarded each season to the winner of the Richmond Football Club's best and fairest count.

Following a 19-year investigation undertaken by members of the Historical Committee, no evidence was found to have any winner of a "Best and Fairest Award" for Richmond in 18 of the seasons between 1911 and 1936.

As a consequence, he now shares his Richmond best and fairest tally record of 5 with fellow AFL Legend Kevin Bartlett.

He married Sybil Margaret McCasker, the cousin of Keith "Bluey" Truscott,[8] on 25 November 1939 at St Ignatius' Church, Richmond.

Dyer, along with former Collingwood captain Lou Richards, became an early television commentator on Australian football after the medium was introduced to Australia in 1956.

According to various historical articles, videos, quotes on the official Richmond website, and press obituaries, Dyer was responsible for many malapropisms, witticisms, and comical gaffes, including: Other memorable quotes include:[15][16] Retiring from the media in the early 1990s, when KZ-FM stopped broadcasting football, Dyer successfully led opposition to an AFL proposed merger of his old club with St Kilda in 1989.

With Dyer the spearhead after the first few minutes, the strong captain-coach played one of the finest games in his career to kick four of the eight goals scored [in that quarter] and take a hand in at least three others.

He showed dash, cleverness, anticipation, and good marking to outwit the opposition, and, with [Leo] Merrett darting in and out of the packs to lead attacks from the wing, and the rucks functioning well, the bombardment was so intense that Essendon wilted.The photograph, which also appeared on the cover of the Australian Post's $4.50 booklet of ten "Richmond Tigers" postage stamps issued in 1996 as part of the "centenary of the AFL" celebrations,[22] has also been the basis for: John Raymond Dyer was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division (OAM), in the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours List, "for service to Australian Rules Football".