Ex-AFL player Dan Gorringe has put his “hand up” following the horrific injuries that sent comedian Dave Hughes to hospital with “five broken ribs and a punctured lung” after Thursday night’s AFL Legends game.
While enjoying life as a content creator since his retirement in 2017, Gorringe has continued to maintain the hulking physique that carried him through his playing days for both Gold Coast and Carlton — and let Hughes know about it.
One particular contest in the third quarter — dubbed Hughesy v Goz — saw the pair of jokers face-off in the ruck, with Gorringe shoving Hughes to the ground.
The former ruckman subsequently threw the football into a limp Hughes as he lay on the turf, albeit largely hamming up his distress for the crowd, before Gorringe flipped him the bird for good measure.
Playing through injuries inflicted during the game, Hughes was rushed to hospital by his wife late Thursday night, revealing the extent of his battle scars on Friday morning.
Gorringe — still sporting bleached blonde hair with his accompanying red number 15 — has since apologised to Hughes for any damage he may have inflicted.
“Dave, first of all I hope you’re resting up. I really do,” Gorringe told followers of his Dan Does Footy social channel.
“If I contributed to the multiple broken ribs and a punctured lung in our little head-to-head at the centre bounce last night where I hip and shouldered you, then threw the ball at you and then gave you the finger, then my hand’s up, I apologise, and I hope you’re having a speedy recovery. That’s on me.”
The creator added Hughes was not the only one whose Friday had been ruined, facetiously claiming he was due to be suspended by the AFL with a “potential ban for 12 weeks from all Legends Games” amid a string of likely sanctions.
However, it wasn’t solely Gorringe who clashed with Hughes during the contest, with former players Mitch Robinson and Andrew Embley also seen getting physical with the comic.
Speaking to Triple M on Friday morning, Hughes was asked to point the finger at the prime suspects.
(It was) Andrew Embley. (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,” he said.
“It was the first collision, and from that moment I was struggling. (Then Daniel) Gorringe slammed me in the ruck.
“I don’t know (why I was in the ruck), someone told me to do it.
“I was set up and then he slammed me. He’s a really large man. And Robbo (Robinson), after I kicked the goal (hit me), I thought, ‘Am I going to die out here?’”
As the fallout continued, Gorringe later went on radio himself and attempted to shift the responsibility somewhat.
“I blame Crawf. Crawf’s pre-game message was just a Dave Hughes magnet on the whiteboard and circled 40 times. In the changeroom if you tell me to do something I will take it literally and I’m blaming the coach for that, that’s not on me,” he told Triple M’s Lu & Jarch.
However, in the interest of squashing their beef, Gorringe declared he’d be sending the battered comedian some vegan ribs to aid with his recovery.
Along with a personalised message, and one last jab.
“Sorry mate, didn’t mean to crack yours so we thought we’d replace them. Heal up quick. Enjoy these ones, they’ll fall off the bone much like yours but probably won’t complain as much.”
Featuring several other memorable moments, including Cyril Rioli’s torpedo goal from long range, the Legends Games’ return from a six-year hiatus was an instant hit with fans.
Seven Network announced its broadcast of the game had become the most-watched AFL event of 2025, drawing more than 2.3 million sets of eyeballs across Seven and 7plus Sport.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.perthnow.com.au ’
