Bob Lane (Australian footballer)

Robert John "Rocky" Lane (12 February 1946 – 13 July 1979) was a Victorian police detective who was murdered in the line of duty. He was also an Australian rules footballer who played two senior games with Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1]

Bob Lane
Personal information
Full name Robert John Lane
Nickname(s) Rocky
Date of birth (1946-02-12)12 February 1946
Place of birth Kerang, Victoria
Date of death 13 July 1979(1979-07-13) (aged 33)
Place of death Kyalite, New South Wales
Original team(s) Kerang
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 85 kg (187 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1966 Carlton 2 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1966.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Lane, who hailed from Kerang, had joined the Victoria Police before he was recruited to Carlton. Former teammates remember him turning up to training in his police uniform. He managed only the briefest of opportunities at the VFL level, coming on late in the last quarter in both of his appearances. He transferred to Williamstown, and later transferred to the country as his career progressed. Lane was captain-coach of Lake Boga and, later, Lalbert, in the Mid Murray Football League.

On 13 July 1979, while working as a detective senior constable with Victoria Police, Lane accompanied a suspect to a campsite across the state border at Kyalite, New South Wales. While searching the caravan, the suspect shot Lane twice in the head with a rifle that he had hidden, killing him instantly. Following a massive manhunt[2] involving both Victorian and New South Wales police,[3] the suspect was apprehended seven days later[4] after he had dumped the police car in the river, and was sentenced to life in prison.[5][6] He was released 13 years later.[7]

Lane left behind a wife and two daughters.

Notes
  1. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2009). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (8th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. p. 471. ISBN 978-1-921496-00-4.
  2. Ballard, Steve (16 July 1979). "Force Erupts In Fury". The Age.
  3. "WANTED: Teenage pair sought". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 July 1979.
  4. Murdoch, Lidsay (20 July 1979). "Man charged". The Age.
  5. "Bob Lane: Blues Honour Policeman". Blueseum. 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  6. "Man gets life for shooting detective". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 July 1980.
  7. Anderson, John (2006). "Indefinite, Inhumane, Inequitable". University of New South Wales Law Journal.
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