Stars of Tigerland Dick Clay
Stars of Tigerland Dick Clay Richard 'Dick' Clay (born 6 March 1945 -)
Dick Clay played 213 games for the Richmond Tigers in the VFL between 1966 and 1976, he played in a winning Tigers side 152 times, of these 20 were finals of which 15 were victories. Joining the Tigers in the same year as Tommy Hafey, the 21 year old dubbed the "Kyabram Kid" came complete with the reputation as a forward sensation.
Dick played on the forward line for the Tigers in the 1966 season making his debut in round 2, in 1967 Dick was on the move, a pretty handy young bloke from Tassie Royce Hart had pushed Dick out of the centre half-forward role in his debut season, nevertheless Dick's career took off when he was moved to a wing, he joined Bill Barrot and Francis Bourke in what became one of the most formidable centrelines in Tigers history, during the 1971 season Dick moved again this time to defense, becoming the Tigers gun full-back.
Standing at 185cm (6ft 1in) with a great skill set of explosive pace, poise, strong overhead and long kicking, Dick was ideally suited to the role of a key forward, but with Royce in the way and the fact that the Tigers had other idea's, Dick found himself on the wing, Dick was a revelation in his new role which was pretty revolutionary at the time, he must have made an impression and not just on the Tigers faithful army of fans, he collected 12 Brownlow votes and finished equal fifth in 1967.
A solid contributor for the Tigers in their 1967 Grand Final victory Dick finished with match stats of 11 kicks, one handball and one mark, not a spectacular result but he had been a great contributor for the Tigers throughout the season with his exciting exploits on the wing. When he next laced up to play in the next Tigers grand final side in 1969, Dick's contribution was far greater, rated in the top 3 performers for the Tigers that day Dick had 19 kicks, collected 7 marks and 1 handpass. Giving the Tigers his customary drive from the wing as they triumphed over the D R Blues by 25 points in front of a massive crowd of 119,165. By the time Dick played in his third Grand final, he was filling that most important role down back full-back, Dick used all the great skills he had shown as a forward and wingman in his new role, it was after he was switched to the last line of defense that he truly found his niche and went on to be recognized as one of the games great defenders. He played vital roles in the Tigers 1973 and 1974 grand final wins (he had 10 possessions in each), carrying out his defensive duties to great effect, not only shutting down his opponents but also giving the Tigers attacking thrusts with his great speed and towering torpedo punts.
Dick finished with Richmond in the same year as Tommy Hafey, during their time together, they won four flags and Dick went from being a young key forward to a wingman of outstanding ability, and he was also acknowledged as one of the best full-backs going around.
Dick Clay's Career Highlights
Hall of Fame Inductee: 2002 Playing Career: 1966 – 1976 Games: 213 Goals: 80 Premierships: 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974 Interstate Games: 2 RFC Match Committee: 1985 RFC Director: 1985 RFC Life Member 1973 RFC Team of the Century
