The father of the teenage boy who died suddenly after a country football game on Saturday afternoon is asking younger players to keep playing in honour of his son.
"It's probably my biggest worry," Mark Frankling said.
"I'm not worried about the older guys at the club because they probably understand that this is probably a freak accident.
"I don't want them [younger players] to think that they don't want to go out on the footy field because this is the sort of things that happens.
"Dallas would want the club to keep going."
Castlemaine Football & Netball Club player Dallas Keogh-Frankling, 17, stood up immediately after being tackled during an under-18s away game at Kyneton in the Bendigo Football-Netball League on Saturday.
Mr Frankling said his son then "hobbled" to the bench towards the end of the game.
"I could see he was sore and thought it could be broken ribs. I asked him if he was alright and he said his guts were really sore," he said.
Dallas walked into the change rooms after the siren where he was given an award by the coach for his positive impact on the team.
But then Mr Frankling noticed his son "didn't look quite right".
"I went over to him and asked, 'Are you alright mate?', but then his eyes were rolling into the back of his head.
"I shook him a little bit and he said to me, 'Oh, I just think I blacked out for a second Dad'."
An off-duty paramedic called an ambulance from the clubhouse before Dallas was taken to the Kyneton hospital where he later died.
Coroner to investigate
Police said on Saturday the exact circumstances of his death were yet to be determined but it was not being treated as suspicious.
Mr Frankling said the "strong and capable" 17-year-old was healthy and had no pre-existing medical conditions, and the coroner would investigate what happened.
"I don't think it was anything to do with a head injury because we did all the concussion tests," he said.
"He knew where he was, he knew he was playing at Kyneton, he knew his birthday, they gave him the tongue twisters, which he said straight away."
A 'shy and polite mate'
Castlemaine Football Club president Caleb Kuhle said training would would go ahead this week, in honour of Dallas and his father's wishes.
"Mark made it very clear he didn't want anyone to lose the love of game because of this," Mr Kuhle told ABC Central Victoria.
"Dallas loved his mates and Mark wants to see them stick together and keep going.
"We've also put together a memory box to help people put together any memories they had of Dallas to help them with a bit of closure."
Mr Kuhle said many of the junior players would miss their "shy and polite" mate.
"You couldn't pick a better kid; he always had a smile on his face," he said.
"If you ever needed something done around the club, or help from the younger boys, you'd go to Dallas, and he'd drag his mates along. He was a ripper kid."
