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