West Coast Eagles legend Peter Matera likely wouldn’t have survived his heart attack on Sunday if his wife hadn’t been nearby to rush him to hospital.

His brother Phil, also an Eagles great, said it was lucky Peter, 53, had not been out in the paddocks on his Moama farm near the Victoria-NSW border when the episode occurred.

“He’s involved in a family operation where they’ve got about 120,000 acres, so it’s a massive operation, they do seed lotting and massive crops so he could be on a tractor 40 or 50 kilometres or 100 kilometres away from home, and be on the tractor all day and then drive back,” Phil told Radio 6PR.

“So if he was out in that paddock by himself, and he was miles away, he would definitely not have made it, it was lucky he was just down from the house chopping some wood with Suzy and Molly, his young daughter.”

Phil said doctors at Bendigo hospital were hopeful the former premiership player would be released from intensive care as early as Tuesday after having two stents put in during an emergency operation.

“He’s a lot better today, he’s up and about, still in ICU, but he’s looking better and wants to have a shower and really wants to get out of the ICU, but unfortunately it’s not his decision, it’s the doctor’s decision,” he said.

“They’re hoping he possibly might come out today, we’re keeping our fingers crossed, but he’s still got a little operation to go, he’s got a bit of an uphill battle with getting another operation done, he needs another stint put in to another section of his heart but other than that, hopefully ... he’s able to start getting back to his bouncy self.”

Matera is the third former professional sportsman in his 50s to suffer a significant heart attack this year, with cricketer Shane Warne dying in March, and cricketer Ryan Campbell still recovering from being in an induced coma earlier this month.

His former teammates, including Glenn Jakovich, allied behind Peter, with the 1992 premiership side due to hold their 30-year anniversary next month.