Once again, Richmond captain Trent Cotchin and coach Damien Hardwick hold a premiership cup aloft. Photo: AFL MEDIA
“The hard way!”
Three small words, tweeted by Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale after the Tigers’ third premiership in four years, and one clear point worth noting.
Richmond did do it the hard way, in the hardest of seasons, no less.
Many of the hurdles throughout a pandemic-hit 2020 were out of the Tigers’ control. As was the case with all clubs, cost-cutting measures, the shutdown period and the hub experience took all manner of tolls on the team, the club and its people.
Other blows were self-inflicted. Two return-to-play protocol breaches left Richmond’s premiership defence on tenterhooks amid the looming threat of points deductions for further breaches. There was the groping furore and a series of unsavoury on-field incidents that attracted attention from the match review officer.
All the while, Richmond backed in its people and culture. Ultimately, it resulted in a third premiership in four seasons, and 13th overall. Only Carlton (16), Essendon (16) and Collingwood (15) have more in AFL-VFL history.
The Tigers did it the hard way throughout the season, the hard way throughout the finals series and the hard way in the grand final.
The qualifying final defeat to Brisbane left them facing a fresh and more difficult challenge to the ones they faced in 2017 and 2019. It meant a knockout semi-final appearance, rather than direct passage to a preliminary final, and a long road to the decider that went through Adelaide.
St Kilda? Tick. Port Adelaide? Tick. Geelong? Big tick.
The Tigers found themselves 22 points down midway through the second quarter in Saturday night’s historic grand final at the Gabba. They were being monstered around the ball and were losing the territorial battle. In reality, the margin should have been much greater.
Enter Dustin Martin. The man now being talked about as the greatest finals player in history kicked a crucial goal to trim the margin before half-time. He was instrumental in the comeback and finished with four majors from 21 disposals.
Martin is the first man to win three Norm Smith Medals. Not only is he arguably the greatest finals player ever, he is entering the conversation about who is the best player of all-time. Full-stop.
Not because I say so – not by any stretch – but because people with the football pedigree of Leigh Matthews say so.
“Put it this way, ‘Dusty’ is the only player I don’t get insulted being compared to,” Matthews told the “Sunday Footy Show” after witnessing Martin’s grand final first-hand.
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Fair enough, Lethal. Fortunately, Matthews managed to put down “D. Martin (Richmond)” next to the “three votes” on his Norm Smith Medal voting card and dodge a major controversy. Martin was so clearly best afield that Matthews’ blunder of putting Nathan Broad down for two votes (he meant to put Jayden Short) didn’t really matter.
The 31-point grand final victory – a come-from-behind effort against a fellow Victorian powerhouse on neutral turf – was Richmond’s toughest after it slaughtered two interstate visitors at the MCG in 2017 (Adelaide) and 2019 (GWS).
And so the Tigers are kings of the AFL jungle yet again, their legacy assured under Damien Hardwick and further greatness within reach as they seek to surge past Matthews’ Brisbane (2001-2004), Geelong (2007-2011) and Hawthorn (2012-2015) in numbers of premierships and grand final appearances.
But what of Chris Scott’s Cats? The midfield dominance in the second quarter of the grand final was never fully converted into points on the scoreboard. Mitch Duncan, Cam Guthrie and Tom Stewart had dominated. Gryan Miers’ miss was a shocker, but it wasn’t just his fault.
As Scott noted in the aftermath, wastefulness meant the difference between a margin of 15 or possibly 30 or more points at half-time. All the Tigers needed was a sniff, and Martin gave it to them.
Geelong fielded the fifth-oldest team in AFL-VFL history on Saturday night and is stacked at the top end, but has plenty of untried players at the bottom.
Gary Ablett has retired, Harry Taylor and Lachie Henderson might follow suit, but the Cats are armed with three first-round draft picks this year and appear likely to land gun recruits Jeremy Cameron and Shaun Higgins in the next few weeks.
Scott was adamant in his post-match press conference that he won’t take anything for granted. Fair enough. But from the outside we can look in and say the Cats look well-placed to have another crack next year.
Richmond, we know, will be there or thereabouts. Over four seasons, the Tigers have proven time and again that you can never count them out. They’re the most dominant team with the most dominant system when it matters most.
It seems more than a little flippant to suggest that Mason Cox – Collingwood’s 2018 preliminary final matchwinner – was the only thing that stopped a Richmond “four-peat”.
But you know what? It might not be too far from the truth.
