Peter Ruscuklic (15 December 1955 – 2 May 2014) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for Fitzroy and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL) during the 1970s. Although his two years at Fitzroy were largely unsuccessful, Ruscuklic memorably kicked a bag of six goals in just his second league game, against North Melbourne at Arden Street. He spent his last VFL season with Geelong but could only manage four senior appearances. Ruscuklic, the younger brother of fellow footballer

Alex Ruscuklic Alex Ruscuklic (born 21 September 1948) is a former Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 pl ...

, later made a name for himself in the Sydney Football League. Playing for East Sydney, Ruscuklic at one stage kicked 505 goals in three seasons, with a sequence of 136, 156 and 213 goals from 1979 to 1981. His tally of 213 goals remains a national record for a major Australian rules football league season and included a 24-goal haul against St George as well as ten goals in the Preliminary Final. Ruscuklic also coached

Myrtleford Football Club The Myrtleford Alpine Saints Football Netball Club, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the town of Myrtleford, in north east Victoria (Australia), Victoria on the Ovens River. The football and netball squads play in the O ...

in the

Ovens and Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL or O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales ...

and won the O&MFL goalkicking with 76 goals in 1983. Ruscuklic kicked 324 goals at Myrtelford between 1983 and 1986. He died suddenly on 2 May 2014 at the age of 58.

References

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruscuklic, Peter 1955 births 2014 deaths Fitzroy Football Club players Geelong Football Club players East Sydney Australian Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportsmen