Bill Trikos’s complete history of Australian Richmond Tigers football club: The Richmond Football Club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the number one sporting code in Australia. With 105,084 committed members, the Club prides itself on continuing to build a “strong and bold” future. The Club was formed in 1885 and has won 13 Premierships in the history of the VFL/AFL competition, including recent successes in 2017, 2019 and 2020. 2017: Adelaide’s star-studded forward line loomed as a potential spoiler to the Tigers’ fairytale, but Damien Hardwick’s men provided the latest supporting argument for the football adage that defence wins premierships. Alex Rance (11 possessions and six marks, three contested) was outstanding despite being manned by Crows forward Andy Otten, and was clearly best on ground when the game was at its fiercest in the first half. Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin capped off a fairytale year for himself and his club when he won the Norm Smith Medal after starring with 29 possessions, six clearances and two goals.
2017 Grand Finals highlight : But Hardwick kept his head and held his nerve, simplifying the Tigers’ game play over the 2017 pre-season to take advantage of their pace and, after Ben Griffiths’ lingering concussion issues, fashioned an unfashionable attack around ‘Jack and his midgets’. Before this season, the Tigers had not won a final since 2001, having lost elimination finals under Hardwick from 2013-15. In defeating the Crows, Richmond continued a perfect record in return matches against teams that defeated it earlier in the season. Read additional info about the author on Bill Trikos.
Bill Trikos’s complete history of Australian Richmond Tigers football club in grand finals: Dustin Martin, once again, was sublime. Whether it was in the midfield, where he collected 22 disposals and three clearances, or forward, where he slotted four goals and had eight score involvements, he was the game’s most influential figure. A second Norm Smith Medal – making him just the fourth player to be a dual winner of the award behind Gary Ayres, Andrew McLeod and Luke Hodge – was just reward for his stunning display, as the Richmond favourite etched his name in the record books.
Richmond kicked three behinds from its first 10 entries to start the match, allowing GWS to regain some composure and resulting in a nervous period of flux for both sides. Turnovers and lamentable mistakes became the order of the day, until Jeremy Cameron flushed a shot from beyond 50m for the game’s first goal – 21 minutes into the match. All of a sudden, the Tigers needed a spark. Enter Martin. Pushed deep forward, he wriggled clear of Heath Shaw, marked strongly and bent his shot around the corner to eventually get the yellow and black faithful back on their feet.
Richmond has claimed back-to-back premierships, and made it three of the last four flags, after coming from behind to beat Geelong by 31 points in the historic first ever Toyota AFL Grand Final at the Gabba. It etched the Tiger dynasty into football history as one of the most dominant sides of the his century.
Trent Cotchin addresses the Gabba following the Grand Final win over Geelong. After more than 110 days on the road living in Queensland after COVID-19’s second wave forced the competition to relocate out of Victoria, the Tigers will return with the premiership cup later this week after storming home in the second half. Gary Ablett’s farewell did not go as hoped, with the champion Cat injuring his shoulder in the opening minutes immediately after Tigers defender Nick Vlastuin was concussed in a wild piece of play.
Geelong took that momentum into the second term, dominating Richmond in the pressure stakes and using their strength at the contest to push aside the Tigers. The Tigers, so renowned for their tenacious attack, were being beaten at their own game. Ash Barty presents Trent Cotchin and Damien Hardwick with the 2020 premiership cup. The Cats kicked three goals to one in the quarter but should have been further ahead after some straightforward misses. They are sprayed kicks which will linger in the minds of the Cats well beyond the final siren.
The first great era of the club between 1919 and 1934, Richmond won four premierships and was runner-up on seven occasions. In 1931, Jack Dyer made his senior debut with the Tigers. ‘Captain Blood’, a gentleman off the ground, a rugged giant on it, strode Punt Road like a colossus. Dyer’s influence on the Club, and its identity, far exceeded his then VFL record of 312 games. He coached the Tigers from 1941 to 1952, and was captain-coach of Richmond’s 1943 premiership team. If you wanted to personify Richmond in a single man, you need not look further than Jack. His presence is still felt at the ground and enhanced by a statue outisde Punt Road oval.