Robbie Gray, a forward who plays for the Port Adelaide Power of the Australian Football League, has been diagnosed with testicular cancer, the team announced on Monday.

Australian Footballer Robbie Gray Cancer news

Gray, 29, was diagnosed shortly after the AFL season ended and underwent successful surgery to remove a tumor.

Port Adelaide said they expect him to make a full recovery and be prepared to begin pre-season training in November.

Earlier during the AFL season, Melbourne forward Jesse Hogan was diagnosed with testicular cancer just weeks after his father Tony died from the disease. Hogan missed two months of AFL before returning to play out the season with the Demons.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 29: Robbie Gray of the Power celebrates after kicking a goal during the round two AFL match between the Port Adelaide Power and the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval on March 29, 2014 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)

Former Australian Football League player Jake King was arrested on Wednesday on six charges including extortion, threatening to kill and inflicting serious injury.

jake King is set to appear in court on Nov. 15

Another AFL star, Hawthorn’s Tyrone Vickery, was also arrested as part of a similar investigation Victoria Police is conducting.

Vickery signed with Hawthorn as a restricted free agent in October 2016 after seven years with the Richmond Tigers. He and King — a former back pocket/small forward — played together on the Tigers from 2009 to 2014.

The pair were interrogated by detectives from Melbourne’s crime investigations unit.

Police confirmed they had searched properties in Wheelers Hill, South Melbourne and Thornbury.

According to the Herald Sun, authorities are investigating whether 27-year-old Vickery hired 33-year-old King to extort a business partner he was in dispute with over a six-figure sum.

The probe began after allegations surfaced that King was following Vickery’s request to threaten the third-party person who owed him money.

It is alleged that Vickery had believed a partner in his Hawthorn East Italian restaurant Fat Monkey had robbed up to $100,000 from the business, per The Age.

It remains unclear whether Vickery spoke to the police over this matter, although it is known he was concerned about the reputation of the restaurant if the dispute were to be made public.

The Hawthorn star was released shortly before 7pm on Wednesday without charge, pending further probe.

“Hawthorn Football Club is aware that Ty Vickery is assisting police in an investigation,” the team said in a statement. “As the matter is under investigation the club will not be making further comment at this time.”

Vickery kicked 158 goals in 119 games for Richmond over seven seasons. The forward/ruck has faced a tough first season at Hawthorn, with long periods on the sidelines and only two goals in six matches. Last month, he was dropped (for the second time) to the Victorian Football League following the club’s loss to Port Adelaide.

The player’s manager Scott Lucas said information about the arrests was still incomplete.

“Whenever anyone is assisting police or is involved in the investigation there certainly is an element of surprise there, no doubt,” Mr Lucas told radio station SEN 1116. “We’ll just work through that, work through it with Ty and the Hawthorn football club and, in a sense, get to the bottom of it.”

Vickery — the son of former Collingwood player John Vickery — is married to tennis player Arina Rodionova, the only Australian player remaining in this week’s Wimbledon tournament.

Rodinova ignored questions about her spouse overnight at the tournament in London.

“Just before we start, I’d just like to say all the questions please (refer) only regarding tennis, my previous match, my current match and I cannot speak about my personal life,” she said following a first-round doubles defeat alongside her sister Anastasia. 

Rodionova said she “didn’t have to put anything aside” ­before her loss to Andreja Klepac and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

“I was just focusing on my match,” she added.

“I had a great day yesterday, obviously (a) worse day today and tomorrow’s another day.”

King — who was also charged with two counts of using a carriage service to harass — was released on bail and is scheduled to appear at Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on November 15. He retired from the AFL after seven years following a serious toe injury in 2014.

The probe into King and Vickery is ongoing.

Lou Richards, an Australian sports legend who played for Collingwood Football Club, died at his nursing home in a Melbourne suburb Monday at the age of 94.

Richards, who also served as a commentator for the Australian Football League (AFL), played 250 games as a rover for the Collingwood Magpies from 1941-1955 and led the team to the 1953 premiership as captain, a role he served with the club for four years.

Tributes for late Australian Football legend Lou Richards, Dead at 94

The Melbourne native also scored 423 goals to become Collingwood’s — a suburb of Melbourne – leading goal-kicker twice, represented the state of Victoria three times, and was inducted into both the Collingwood Hall of Fame and the AFL Hall of Fame in 1996, but never officially received Legend status.

Richards was the nephew of another former Magpies great, Alby Pannam, and the grandson of a third Collingwood legend, Charles. Both Pannam and Charles Richard were captains of the club. Following his retirement in 1955, Richards began a very successful career in media that includes stints in television, radio and print.

He spent most of his TV broadcasting carer with Channel Seven, working on programs such as League Teams and World of Sport as well as a game-day announcer. Richards also worked at the Melbourne, Victoria-based Herald Sun.

Richards also finished second in voting for Collingwood’s best and fairest award in 1947 and 1950.

Scores of notable figures from the AFL and beyond paid homage to the legend in official statements or on social media.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire called it a “terribly sad day for the club, the AFL and everyone who loves football” and praised Richards as an amazing man who lived an incredible life.

“He held his own with [American comedian] George Burns and [boxer] Muhammad Ali, he held his own as a performer and as an entertainer on a world level,” said McGuire. “And he held his own on the toughest battlefields of football as a footballer. He was just an amazing man who had so much talent.

“You name it, Lou did it and did it with panache.”

McGuire continued speaking about how much praise Richards deserved.

“We’ve got a statue for him at Collingwood, Channel Seven and Channel Nine should have one, the Herald Sun should have one and the AFL should put one right out the front of AFL House and the players association should bow to it every day,’’ the team’s president added.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan also sad in a statement that contemporary Australian football owed a massive debt to Richards.

“The AFL, our players and our clubs all benefit from the massive interest in our game around the country that is driven by media companies, and their desire to report every happening to our fans, along with trying to entertain them at the same time,” said McLachlan.

“Lou Richards was the original driving force of the media’s expanding interest in our game, particularly with the emergence of television from the late 1950s, and his time as host and match-caller for the Seven Network developed a style that has often been copied but never bettered.”

Channel 7 Melbourne managing director Lewis Martin called Richards a “television pioneer.”

”His legacy can be seen today in sports entertainment television,” Martin said.

Channel 7 producer Gordon Bennett, who worked with Richards on League Teams and World of Sport, also credited the legendary former Magpies star, along with former Sydney-based TV presenter and sports radio host Ron Casey, for attracting a large football fan-base to the channel and helping to grow the game’s popularity.

“It was Lou and Ron Casey that pushed Seven’s football to the forefront and made it so popular,” Bennett explained. “The fans all loved Lou. He was their hero. Even though he was a Collingwood player, people from all teams loved chatting to him.”

Here are the dozens of other tributes, many of them from journalists who worked at the legendary player’s previous employers, to Richards in the hours following his death:

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews also honored Richards on Twitter:

Matthew Guy, a member of parliament and leader of the Opposition Victorian Liberal Party, also expressed his sadness upon hearing the news.

Richards was born Lewis Thomas Charles Richards on March 11, 1923 and was raised in Collingwood, a working-class town. He began playing for the Magpies at the age of 18. The 1953 premiership Collingwood won ended a 17-year title drought for the team.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 27: Lou Richards acknowledges the crowd during the Retiring Players Motorcade before the start of the 2014 AFL Grand Final match between the Sydney Swans and the Hawthorn Hawks at Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 27, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)