Former Richmond player Shane Tuck farewelled by family as a man who loved his children and family
Former Richmond player Shane Tuck has been farewelled by family, who paid tribute to the father, son and brother they so dearly loved, father Michael saying the “good boy” treasured his two children.
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Shane Tuck was farewelled by his family on Tuesday, remembered as “a good boy” who loved his parents and whose greatest achievement was his two young children.
Tuck, who was 38 when he passed away last week, played 173 games for Richmond between 2004 and 2013.
A funeral ceremony was held in Pakenham, in Melbourne’s southeast, to honour the former Tiger and son of Hawthorn legend Michael, with Tuck’s wife Katherine saying that her husband’s “suffering has stopped”.
“I know that you have the peace and contentedness and calm that this life did not afford you in the end, and that your suffering has stopped, and that you were so strong,” she said.
“We know that your two biggest achievements were (children) Will and Ava, and I will keep your memory living on in their lives.”
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Funeral numbers were capped at just 50 people due to coronavirus, with sister Renee revealing that her brother had expressed his love for their parents Michael and Fay in the days leading up to his passing.
“Shane adored his mum and dad,” Renee said in remembering her brother.
“And said to me in his final days, how lucky we were to have such wonderful parents, such wonderful people as our parents.
“We fought Shane’s battle alongside him until the end, and I knew how much he loved me. I told him how much joy he brings to people, and he said ‘so do you, Renee’. And they were our final words.
“Katherine, Will and Ava were the loves of his life. He loved those kids more than anything. I promise you Shane, I will share you with them for the rest of their lives.”
A heartbroken Michael, who was comforted by Renee as he spoke on Tuesday, last week told the Herald Sun that he would cherish the time he had with his son and will “never get over him”.
“I’d just like to thank all the people who have spoken highly of Shane,” he said on Tuesday.
“Shane was a very good boy, and I’ll miss him very, very much.”
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Michael told the Herald Sun last week that his son had struggled to admit that “he had a real bad problem”.
“A lot of men think they’re all right and they’re actually not, and the best help they can get is telling people actually how bad they are, and not saying ‘I’m all right, I’m all right’,” he said.
“It was bit like that (with Shane), he kept it all in because he was a tough, strong man.
“But you’ve got to show … it’s not a weakness, it’s just to express yourself with honesty and don’t try to cover up things.
“He didn’t mean anything by it, he just couldn’t admit he had a real bad problem.”
Shane — who had taken a year off AFL after he left Hawthorn at the end of 2002 and played in the SANFL before he was picked up by Richmond — told the Herald Sun in 2013 that “the pressure of who my old man was” had played a part in his decision to walk away from football that year, but returning to Richmond and plenty of work had led him to feel like “I fit in”.
He played 173 games at Richmond, and kicked 74 goals.
Tuck was remembered fondly by teammates over the last week, honoured as “forever a Richmond man”.
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