Sam Landsberger: Footy club reveals touching gesture for sports reporter killed after being hit by a truck on his way to work

The Western Bulldogs have announced plans to pay tribute to football journalist Sam Landsberger following his shock death this week.

Landsberger, 35, an AFL writer for the Herald Sun, was hit by a truck on his way to work in Richmond, Melbourne, on Tuesday morning, leaving his family and friends heartbroken and devastated.

A man has since been charged by police after allegedly refusing to provide a blood sample following the incident.

Tributes poured in for the acclaimed football reporter, with Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch and Andrew Dillon also sharing their kind words.

And the Bulldogs, who employ Landsberger’s father Jake as their club doctor, have announced they will pay tribute to the loyal fan ahead of their match against GWS Giants this weekend.

“As a mark of respect and honour to Sam Landsberger and his family (his father Jake was the club’s most loyal doctor), the Western Bulldogs will wear black armbands and display Sam’s image on the scoreboard prior to Sunday’s match in Ballarat,” The Age’s AFL reporter Peter Ryan said on X.

The Landsberger family have been inundated with moving tributes from Sam’s colleagues and the wider football community. The football and cricket reporter was held in high regard by all who knew him.

Jake said the family was comforted by the fact that his son spent his final moments on the phone with his mother.

Football journalist Landsberger died after being hit by a truck on his way to work

“Anne was on the phone to Sam when it happened, she heard the bang, she heard the commotion and we were beside ourselves with fear as to whether she had actually distracted him,” Jake told the Herald Sun.

‘Anne spoke to him as he walked down the street to meet his friend and former Herald Sun colleague Nick Smart.

‘The next moment there was a commotion, a stranger picked up the phone and said, ‘Who am I speaking to?’ Anne said, ‘I’m Sam’s mother, who are you?’

“And he said, ‘I’m sorry to say, but your son has just been hit by a vehicle… he’s on the ground.’ The man spoke to Sam at first until he lost consciousness.”

Jake revealed that the stranger messaged the family on WhatsApp on Wednesday.

“He texted us and said, ‘I told Sam I was on the phone with his mother and he was okay with it, knowing he was communicating with you through me.’”

Reflecting on the overwhelming love he felt for his son, Jake said, “I can’t put into words the comfort, the joy and the pride we feel because of this.

‘By the time we both took two sleeping pills to go to bed around 9pm on Tuesday night, I had personally received over 250 messages and Anne probably just as many.

‘The tributes, watching AFL360, seeing The Tackle postponed, the stories in the media… I said to Anne as we sat at the table crying our eyes out, I wish I could go back to the morgue in the courthouse, wake Sam up and say, ‘Sam, look how loved you were, look how admired you were’.

‘Because he had no idea. He didn’t realize it. I told him so many times that this was his dream job, I kept saying you achieved your dream and he kept looking at me and saying, ‘Yeah, thanks dad.’ He was very self-deprecating.

As lifelong Bulldogs fans, the AFL club will wear black armbands for Sunday’s match against GWS

Tributes have poured in this week for the beloved AFL and cricket reporter

“What we saw completely wiped us off the map.”

Jake, a long-time club doctor at the Western Bulldogs, described his son’s horrific death as a “nightmare” for the family.

“This is a nightmare for all of us,” he said. “We loved him so much.

‘I remember saying to patients – and we’re living it now – I remember saying, a parent should never have to bury one of their children. And that’s us now.

‘Anne’s mother died two or three months ago in New Zealand, she was 94. Not this age (Sam was 35). It’s indescribable. We look at each other all the time and think, look what we’ve lost and what he’s lost in the future.’

The truck driver stopped at the scene and spoke to police about the circumstances of the collision.

The 45-year-old man, from Seaford in Melbourne’s south-east, was not injured and has been released by police pending further enquiries.

Victoria Police have confirmed that drug and alcohol tests he underwent at the side of the road at the time returned negative results.

But when the officers asked him for a blood sample, he refused.

According to Seven News, the driver has been charged and banned from driving and will appear in Melbourne District Court on September 19.

“The investigation into the death of the 35-year-old pedestrian remains ongoing,” Victoria Police said.