Ric Dalby | |
Occupation | Student, cleaner, mechanic |
Residence | Perth |
Gender | Male |
Relationships | cassie turner ex girlfriend belle taylor ex girlfriend matilda hunter girlfriend |
Family | Owen Dalby
(father) Maggie Dalby (mother) Flynn Saunders (foster father) (foster mother) [[Alf Stewart]] (grandfather) Viv Standish (grandmother) [[Roo Stewart]] (aunt) (aunt) (cousin) Macca MacKenzie (adopted cousin) |
First Appearance | 15 september 2004 |
Last Appearance | 24 july 2008 |
Portrayed by | Mark Furze |
Eric "Ric" Dalby is Alf Stewart's grandson and Martha MacKenzie's cousin. He's the foster son of Flynn Saunders and Sally Fletcher. He made his first appearance on-screen on the 15 September and made his final appearance on 24 July 2008.
Storylines[]
Ric arrives to attend Summer Bay High after he is excluded from his previous school in Yabbie Creek. Ric takes a dislike to Henry Hunter and starts to bully him because he likes dancing. Henry tries to make friends with Ric's circle of friends and Ric burns down the Surfclub Kiosk. He forces Henry to take the blame and is charged. Tasha Andrews plants details of a marijuana crop on Ric which lands him into trouble. Ric's father beats him up and Flynn Saunders notices that something is wrong. Ric pushes his father down the stairs and is injured; he then has a seizure at the Hunter's house. Morag Bellingham informs Ric that it is likely he will be charged with his father's murder. Ric runs away and hides in the city. Flynn attempts to track him down, but when Leah Patterson-Baker and Dan Baker are involved in a plane crash he helps them. Flynn detains Ric and reveals that Alf Stewart is his grandfather. The murder charges are dropped when his father's cause of death is confirmed to be a heart attack.
Ric agrees to move in with Alf, but Ric leaves when Alf thinks he is taking drugs. Ric reveals that he was taking insulin for his diabetes. Ric moves in with Flynn and Sally Fletcher and decides he wants to be known as Ric as opposed to Dalby or Eric. Matilda Hunter decides to forgive Ric for bullying her brother. She realises his bad temper is a result of his father's abuse and thinks he can change. They later kiss but Ric sees it as a bit of fun, Sally makes him realise that he should distance himself from her to save her feelings. Ric meets Cassie Turner at the beach and they go skinny dipping. He keeps in contact with Cassie and she moves in to Sally and Flynn's when her grandmother dies. The pair become close and begin a relationship. Ric becomes annoyed when his old friend Callan Sherman gets close to Matilda. He tries to prove that Callan is a drug user and also used date rape drugs on girls. Ric finds Callan after he drugs Matilda, Ric beats him up but Matilda is kidnapped. Matilda is rescued and Ric forces Callan to leave Summer Bay.
After Ric sleeps with Cassie, he becomes jealous of her spending time with an abuse sponsor. Cassie decides that Ric does not trust her and ends their relationship. Cassie starts dating Aden Jefferies and Ric becomes jealous again. Aden's brother Sean beats Ric up which makes Cassie briefly get back with Ric. He decides to leave school and become an apprentice mechanic. He meets Belle and dates her. Ric starts getting bullied by Dom Moran who blames faults on Ric and pours acid over his legs. Dom later tampers with a car which crushes Ric, leading Dom's dismissal from his uncle Ray. Ric dumps Belle in favour of Cassie, but she cheats on Ric with Martha MacKenzie's brother, Macca. Matilda supports Ric through the break up and they decide to start their own relationship. When Ric finds out that Rocco stabbed Sally, Ric beats him up. Rocco is later found dead and Ric is charged and found guilty of murder. In prison Rocco's brother Johnny seeks revenge. Matilda and Lucas Holden visit Johnny and trick him into admitting involvement in Rocco's death. The police are forced to let Ric out.
Ric and Matilda have a few arguments over trust and believing that she kissed Reuben. Ric is upset when Matilda decides to attend a university far from home. He decides to go with her and is worried that Matilda is pregnant when he finds a test. She reveals it is not hers and they agree they are not ready for children. Matilda walks out of her exams leaving Ric's hope for a new life elsewhere ruined. Ric starts to receive texts from one of his garage clients named Viv. Viv tries to kiss Ric who tells her he is not interested. They bond when he shares his problems about Matilda. Ric tells Viv he cannot see her after Matilda becomes jealous, but Matilda sees them kiss. Viv's husband Noel arrives, she comes onto Ric again and Noel starts threatening Ric for helping Viv out. Matilda dumps Ric who then decides to sleep with Viv. She then discovers that she is pregnant and Noel tells Ric that he cannot have children and they used him to gain a child. Ric and Matilda get back together and Johnny escapes from prison and holds them hostage. Sam Holden saves them by murdering Johnny. Noel asks Ric to participate in bare knuckle fighting in exchange for money, but Ric refuses. Ric is then fired from his job, refused employment from several other businesses, has his vehicle set on fire and Sally's furniture is stolen from her home. When Ric realises Noel is behind it he is forced to take part in a fight. Matilda realises that Ric is fighting due to his gain of wealth and facial bruising.
When Ric is badly beaten at his next fight, Rachel decides not to inform the police. Viv tells Ric the baby may have disabilities and is unsure going ahead with the pregnancy. Noel blackmails Ric to take part in another fight or risk the health of his child. Ric contacts the police who convince him to go ahead with the fight to get the details. Noel discovers that Viv is trying to leave him and postpones the fight; the police arrive to arrest Noel who is in possession of a gun. Viv later loses the baby and Matilda arranges a memorial. Ric gets a job as a security guard where Kane later raids with a gun. Ric starts to suffer from panic attacks afterward and Rachel diagnoses him with severe stress. Matilda is offered a place in university in Perth and asks Ric to move with her. Ric decides not to but they discuss ways of making their relationship work. They split up when they realise it is not practical. Alf realises that Ric is miserable without Matilda and buys him a one-way ticket to Perth. Ric and Matilda reunite and agree to spend their lives together=== Matilda Hunter === Matilda Hunter is Ric's third and last girlfriend. When she first arrives at the Bay, Ric bullied her twin brother Henry, but she forgave him. She tries to make a move on Ric, but he rejected her, because he's in a relationship with Cassie Turner. Ric and Matilda became friends while Matilda was in a relationship with Lucas Holden. In 2007, Ric had broken up with Cassie and started dating Matilda. But Matilda dumped him when he had an affair with Viv Anderson. Ric was upset when Matilda left the bay to go to university at Perth. Ric felt lonely without Matilda and he bought a one-way ticket to Perth. But Ric found Nathan Cunningham in Matilda's bed and Ric leaves Perth to get back to the Bay, but Matilda wanted him to stay and Ric stayed in Perth with Matilda and spend their lives together as a loving couple. They are now both married as Ric and Matilda Hunter