- Comedian was ‘targeted’ by the opposition
Dave Hughes had to be hospitalised with five broken ribs and a punctured lung after getting hit repeatedly during the AFL Legends match on Thursday night.
The 54-year-old played for the Victorian side against the All Stars at Marvel Stadium and was seen being repeatedly knocked to the ground by greats of the game like Mitch Robinson and Andrew Embley.
He was rushed to hospital by his wife Holly at 5am, but managed to call in to Triple M’s Mick in the Morning show on Friday.
‘We’re in Cabrini Hospital, I’ve got five broken ribs and a punctured lung,’ he revealed.
‘At halftime I was coming off the ground and I was like, “I feel like I have a punctured lung”, and I was joking. But no, I do.’
Asked which players put on the hits that broke his bones, he replied, ‘Andrew Embley. Hodgey [Luke Hodge] kicked it to me, I dropped a chest mark – it was the lights, there’s too many lights at that ground – and Embley came in from the side.
Dave Hughes is pictured recovering in hospital after suffering five cracked ribs and a punctured lung in Thursday night’s AFL Legends match
The comedian was hit several times during the game, including one whack while he was playing in the ruck that left him sprawled on the ground (pictured)
Hughes said he thought his lung was punctured in the first quarter, leaving him wondering, “Am I going to die out here?”
‘It was the first collision, and from that moment I was struggling. [Dan] Gorringe slammed me in the ruck.
‘I was set up and then he slammed me. He’s a really large man.
‘And Robbo [Mitch Robinson hit me] after I kicked the goal, I thought, “Am I going do die out here?”
AFL great turned Triple M host Nick Riewoldt – who played on the All Stars team opposite Hughes – joked that Hughes’ effort ‘can only be described as one of the toughest things we’ve seen on a football field’.
‘Dave Hughes was cleaned up during the game. He was sore, visibly rocked, but he played the game out and was still there at 2am at the after party,’ Riewoldt added.
Hughes’ wife Holly joined Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick radio show on Friday morning to give the hosts an update on his condition after playing alongside Brendan Fevola in the match.
Fifi Box led the discussion by revealing her worries for Hughes’ health.
‘He was unfairly picked on, he was being beaten up. I didn’t like it at all,’ she said.
‘We’re very worried about him because he’s in fact right now in hospital…’
Hughes’ wife Holly called into Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick show with a slightly different version of the aftermath of the game.
‘I’ve just got the update, I shouldn’t be laughing because it’s reasonably serious … three cracked ribs and a slightly punctured lung, which he thinks happened in the first hit,’ she said.
‘Then he’s been cleaned up a few times after that.’
Host Fifi Box said Hughes was ‘unfairly beaten up a few times’ while her fellow panelist Brendan Fevola – who played alongside Hughes – said the funnyman was ‘assaulted’.
More to come…
