Graeme Richmond , A Look Back
Today we look at probably the most influential, the most feared, the most polarising, the most successful and the most talked about Tiger personality ever; the man simply known as "GR" Graeme Richmond.
Graeme Richmond Snap Shot Graeme Richmond was a long time administrator of the Richmond Football Club. Recruited from Geelong College, he played mainly as a defender in Richmond's Thirds from 1951 to 1953. He captained this side and won its Best & Fairest in 1952. He also played 13 games for the Richmond Seconds side in 1952 and 1953. His playing career ended with a serious knee injury but he went on to coach the Richmond Under 17s in 1960 and Under 19s in 1961 and 1962.
He served as Club Secretary from 1962 until 1968, then as Club Treasurer from 1968 to 1969. He was a member of the Richmond Football Club Committee from 1970 through to 1986 and was Vice-President from 1979 until 1983. He was suspended for the rest of the season in 1974 for his involvement in an infamous bench-clearing brawl at Windy Hill in Round 7. Graeme was made a life member of the Richmond Football Club in 1967, was a life member of the Victorian Football League and was awarded the VFL's Jack Titus Service Award in 1983. He was the publican at the Crystal Ballroom in St Kilda, when such acts as The Boys Next Door and Died Pretty were booked. He died of cancer in 1991 and was posthumously inducted into the Club's Hall of Fame in its inaugural year, 2002. During the Tigers Centenary year, Graeme was awarded "Servant of the Century" in 100 Tiger Treasures. Servant of the Century - Graeme Richmond.
Graeme Richmond filled a variety of important roles at Tigerland over more than 30 years of devoted service. He was a shrewd, ruthless administrator, who never wasted an opportunity that could benefit his beloved Tigers. His strength lay in his relentless persuasiveness – he was a masterly recruiter and negotiator. And, as a speaker, arguably there have been none finer in league football history.
As great as Graeme was though it can be argued that his single mindedness was also his Achilles heel resulting in some shocking decisions that would almost see the club he adored brought to its knees. "The Graeme Richmond Room" is a small, plain room at the Punt Road Oval where the Richmond players hold team meetings. On the wall, there is a large photo of the man. It is an appropriate symbol and "GR" remains a silent presence at Tigerland even to this day. GR: The Fiercest Tiger
Under the relentless stewardship of Graeme Richmond, the Tigers became a ruthless power in the 1960s and many Tiger fans under 30 wouldn't have heard of the mythical GR and precious few would understand that, more than Tom Hafey, Royce Hart, Kevin Bartlett and perhaps even Jack Dyer, he made Richmond what it was - and, to a degree, what it is today. For better and worse. If not for Graeme Richmond, there might not be a Richmond Football Club; the successful era he helped forge coincided with the club's shift to the MCG (1965) and so produced the vast supporter base that has kept the Tigers viable. But it can be argued also that if not for GR, the Tigers might not be quite as prone to consume their own, and that, like other great leaders, he left a power vacuum they could never fill. Kevin Sheedy compared the loss of GR to the death of the dictator Tito, after which Yugoslavia disintegrated. The Graeme Richmond legacy lives on at the club that bore his name. If you've ever wondered why Richmond is a byword for ruthlessness, why its supporters are so demanding and keen for the guillotine, why Richmond has had more coaches than V-line, why a club that has played finals sparingly since our last Grand Final success in 1980 still thinks of itself as a dormant power, the answer lies with Graeme Richmond's legacy. The Richmond "brand", to borrow contemporary jargon, is of a ferocious Tiger with a rousing theme song, working-class roots and storied history of combat. GR was the architect of what is loosely known as the Richmond culture. The successful Tiger teams constructed by GR from the 1960s through to the early 80s were big and nasty. They kicked long to brawny forwards such as Neil Balme and skittled the opposition like nine pins. They, as GR once said, "made no apologies" for their brutal methods. He called their style "kill or be killed". Winning was expected. Failure was not tolerated and those who failed were discarded, even if it meant knifing favourite sons, fracturing friendships and creating lingering enemies. Graeme Richmond's widow, Jan, said the 1983 dismissal of coach Francis Bourke, whom GR loved like a son, "broke his heart". In his later years, when Graeme Richmond was fighting cancer, Jan said her husband felt sadness that the great Tom Hafey had been lost to the Tigers in 1976 and was forced to ply his trade elsewhere. Hafey had gone to Collingwood, of course, because he lost the support of GR. Former great and coach Kevin Bartlett, remember, never returned to Punt Road for years and Tiger insiders of that era believe GR was instrumental in KB's 1991 sacking and replacement by Allan Jeans, whom GR greatly admired. It is extraordinary that Graeme Richmond still exerted such influence on the club when he was dying of lung cancer, that he could pull the strings, and get Jeans on board, on his deathbed. Richmond, the club, was made in the image of the man: tough, passionate and unforgiving. Cameron Schwab, scion of a famed Tiger family called GR "the most convincing person I've ever met". Schwab observed the master persuader in both the golden and dark ages. He was general manager of the club from 1988 to 1994 while in his 20s and his father, the late Alan Schwab, was one of an intimidating triumvirate of off-field generals - the others being GR and president Ian "Octa" Wilson - who piloted the Tigers in their increasingly distant glory days. Alan Schwab served as club secretary from 1969 until 1976, later joining the league administration. GR had been secretary until 1969, but he did not need a title to get his way; indeed, for much of the next 20 years, Graeme Richmond held no official position at Tigerland, yet he continued to play puppet master, often directing affairs from his position a few hundred metres down the road: behind the bar at the Vaucluse Hotel, which he owned. Kevin Sheedy: Graeme Richmond's most famous protégé. The Essendon coach dedicated his last book, Follow Your Dreams, to the man who once telephoned him before a game against Geelong and issued the following advice on how to play Geelong champion Denis Marshall: "If you can get him by the pickets, put him right in." This was the Richmond way. Win at any cost. Eat 'em alive. But as Schwab observed, "somewhere along the line, it went from 'eat 'em alive' to 'eat your own'". Schwab said everyone who was ever involved at Richmond during GR's time "had a little bit of Graeme Richmond in them". GR liked to take kids from the other side of the tracks, such as Sheedy, and expand their horizons, acting as educator. To those from more genteel stock, such as two-time premiership player, ex-president and coach Barry Richardson, GR would instil toughness, as Richardson recounted in Sheedy's first book Sheeds: A Touch of Cunning. GR himself was a contradiction: a Geelong Grammar boy who projected a head-kicking image and loved criminals. Sheedy will not have a word against GR, calling him "a champion administrator". The Essendon coach said that like billiards genius Walter Lindrum, GR's (recruiting) abilities forced a change in the rules of the sport: the introduction of country zones that stopped Richmond signing "everyone, everywhere". It would be ridiculous to blame Graeme Richmond for his club's on-going problems, but, equally, his legacy cannot be denied. Graeme Richmond gets his man Tom Hafey Graeme Richmond, nominally the club secretary, had visited the former Tiger player Hafey in Shepparton several times and the deal was done when Richmond returned in late 1965 with Jack Dyer and club president Ray Dunn. Hafey and Richmond had been connected through the East Malvern Football Club years earlier and had played in a colourful side there along with Ray ''Slug'' Jordon and types less memorable now but equally colourful boasting nicknames such as Teddy Tulip and Bobby Buttons. As Hafey nurtured and taught while Graeme Richmond recruited and built one of the great teams of the game’s history, the two men would dine together after the football each Saturday night, writing down teams on paper napkins while Maureen and Richmond’s then girlfriend and later wife Jan would talk among themselves. Richmond the man lived in Barkers Road, Hawthorn, for a portion of that era and in the early years the talk would last long into the night. On some occasions Richmond would go to bed leaving Hafey and his 1967 premiership forward-turned-match committee chairman Paddy Guinane. Sometimes they were still there talking when Richmond arose the next morning. But then, towards the end, the conversation ceased. Naturally Hafey’s passing has revived memories of his departure from the club and his famous falling-out with Graeme Richmond. Graeme Richmond transform Richmond In 1961, Graeme Richmond was appointed as secretary. The first thing Graeme Richmond did was to only play players in the under-19s who could hope to go on to senior football as opposed to the best group of underage players. Kevin Bartlett won the best and fairest in the fourths, and in 1962 won the under-19s best and fairest. In 1963 Des Rowe resigned as did president Maurie Fleming. He was replaced by Ray Dunn a wealthy and talented lawyer who provided a great deal of direct and indirect investment in the club. Richmond was seeking to return to its traditional recipe for success. The Richmond-Dunn combination echoed the Page-Hughes and Dyke-Fleming-Dyer combinations. Richmond needed a talented coach to complete the team. They appointed the great Len Smith, older brother of Norm Smith. Smith was rated by his brother and most other judges as the greatest football mind in history, and the man widely regarded as the father of modern football. He had had a significant influence on his brother Norm and on Norm's foster son Ron Barassi. Ray 'Slug' Jordan, perhaps the best junior coach ever, was appointed to coach the juniors and a major recruiting drive was launched. There was an acknowledgement that it would take time for Richmond to adjust to Smith's style. He refused to play the mark and kick game and insisted on a flowing run-on type of football. Smith, however, had a heart attack and Jack Titus and Dick Harris were brought in as assistants. Ray Dunn and Graeme Richmond orchestrated Richmond's move away from the Punt Rd oval to the MCG in 1965. The move was a great success. Smith had loaded the list with six-footers who had pace and could kick, and after his second heart attack before round 4 in 1965, Jack Titus took over. Titus pledged to continue with Smith's plans and to consult the master coach throughout the season. Richmond finished fifth and looked destined to be entering another successful period. Richmond had to chose a new coach to replace caretaker Titus. They had been following the progress of a number of ex-players and narrowed the choice to Ron Branton or Tom Hafey. Hafey was chosen and he continued the ideas of Len Smith who served on the match committee. The 17 year old Royce Hart was added to the list and Richmond were poised for a return to their glory days. GR and Tommy Hafey were about to embark on the most successful tiger era ever. Graeme Richmond sacks Hafey Although he counted Graeme Richmond among his closest and almost lifelong friends, he did not see coming the pivotal board meeting at the end of the 1976 season. Coaches did not have contracts back then, but when Ian Wilson moved the motion to reappoint Hafey, two board members - Graeme Richmond and Neil Busse - voted against it. The other seven votes went Hafey’s way. Ian Wilson called Hafey to tell him he had been reappointed but then someone told Hafey that Richmond had voted against him. History has never related, despite much trying, the identity of the informant but the reason for the two '''no'' votes was the view that the coach and his unique style had run their race at the club. Even though the relationships with those players remained until the end. According to Wilson, Hafey resigned to him over the telephone; was then asked to reconsider and 24 hours later visited Wilson’s Malvern office to confirm he could not continue without Graeme Richmond’s support. The remarkably successful combination of Tom Hafey and Graeme Richmond had transformed Tigerland but now their friendship was over. It seems a great pity and quite remarkable that the two men never spoke about their respective doubts at the time. Nothing was addressed. Maureen Hafey and Jan Richmond had not seen it coming either, although they had noticed the two men were not as close as they had been. Either way, the women made a pact not to allow the schism to come in the way of their friendship. As Graeme Richmond lay dying, Tom Hafey was the last person outside of Richmond’s family to hold his hand. Glory Days 1966-1982 Tom Hafey's first year saw Richmond enter the final round one win from the top and one loss away from missing the finals. They missed the finals. Len Smith died in 1967. The VFL introduced the zoning system in this year which was opposed by Richmond and which would prove, over time, to be a poor system. Richmond had recruited well up until this point and made the finals for the first time since 1944. Despite having no players with finals experience Richmond defeated Geelong in the grand final, and Len Smith's master plan bore its inevitable reward. In 1968 complacency set in and Graeme Richmond retired to be replaced by Alan Schwab, although he continued to be an influential figure at the club until his death. In 1969 Richmond was the most popular team in the league and topped the attendances for the fourth successive year. Tom Hafey developed Len Smith's game plan to include long kicking and quick movement of the ball. The 1969 premiership against Carlton was one of Richmond's finest as they went in as underdogs. Richmond went on to thrash South Australians Sturt to win the Australian championship. 1970 was not a success, and in 1971 Bill Barrott was traded for Ian Stewart, and Tony Jewell and John Northey retired. In 1971 Richmond lost a wet weather preliminary final to St Kilda when they had been praying for a firm surface. In 1972 Richmond became the first club to be viewed by a million supporters. The 1972 grand final loss was largely due to the great play of Carlton's Robert Walls, but the 1973 premiership was sweet revenge. In 1973, the under 17s, under 19s, reserves and seniors all won premierships to complete a unique record. Richmond publically attacked the VFL's zoning regulations and embarked on a recruiting campaign which involved many piracy claims being laid against Richmond although none of the players involved made any impact. North Melbourne enticed Slug Jordan away from the club and Ian Wilson became the new president. Wilson attacked the VFL administration and was censured. Richmond were making many enemies and when a brawl erupted during the half time break against Essendon no one was really surprised.
Graeme Richmond was suspended for the rest of the season. Tom Hafey was moved to declare that it was Richmond (The Club) against the world and the 1974 premiership brought great satisfaction. 1975 saw Richmond clear Graham Teasdale, Brian Roberts and Francis Jackson for John Pitura which in hindsight was probably the worst trade, by any club, in history all due to Graeme Richmond’s single mindedness to bring Pitura to Tigerland. An injury depleted Richmond lost in the 1975 preliminary final to North and faded to 7th in 1976, a game and a half from the finals. Graeme Richmond reacted ruthlessly and forced Tom Hafey to resign. There had long been a suspicion that Hafey although a great coach hadn't achieved all that he could have and that a new coach could win another premiership. Barry Richardson, Hafey's assistant was appointed coach. Club secretary Alan Schwab joined the VFL, and although Patterson took the team to the finals in his first year, in 1978 they fell back to 7th and he was replaced by his assistant Tony Jewell, once again a move instigated by a very impatient GR. The team finished 8th in 1979 but Jewell won a premiership in 1980 against the Hafey coached Collingwood. In 1981 the club again faded to sixth and Tony Jewell was under pressure. Francis Bourke had retired and was available to coach and was highly regarded. Bourke, the new coach, had an ageing list to work with and Richmond were unable to recruit replacements because of the restrictions enforced by zoning. Their strategy was to recruit interstate players but very few made any real or sustained impact. S.O.S. 1983-1991 The 1982 grand final loss was the end of an era. Great players like Bourke himself, Sheedy , Hart etc had been retiring and the list was ageing. At the start of 1983 three ex-captains left the club Raines and Cloke to Collingwood and Walsh to Essendon and Graeme Richmond was now at his vindictive worst as he almost sent the club broke with his recruiting strategies. After breaking the VFL games record Kevin Bartlett retired at the end of 1983. The team had slipped to 10th and Francis Bourke's disciplined, perfectionist approach was criticised and he accepted the inevitable and resigned, as did Graeme Richmond who had filled a variety of roles since his resignation as secretary. Mike Patterson who had a lot of success as a coach at Norwood was the new coach but he lasted only a year, as the team finished 7th. The 1984 annual report revealed a loss of $224,000 of which $130,000 was legal fees. The poaching wars and the need to recruit high price interstaters to compensate for the inability to find players in zones was causing financial problems for all the Melbourne clubs. The whole period was a time of rampant chequebook recruiting. Barry Richardson lead a challenge to the board and as part of his victory replaced Patterson with Tasmanian Paul Sproule. The high prices paid for players at this time and the legal battles to gain clearances were crippling clubs. The players Richmond recruited such as Phillip Walsh and John Annear were not successes and the need to continually recruit replacements for poor recruits was draining club resources. A board room deal saw long term treasurer and recruiter Ron Carson deposed. The board turmoils and financial malaise led the VFL to sponsor a suggestion that Richmond should move to Brisbane in 1985. Ian Wilson was deposed by Barry Richardson as president in March 1985. Richmond cleared Brian Taylor and lost Merv Keane and failed to recruit anyone of note. At the end of the season as the club finished 8th Sproule was replaced by Jewell and Patterson resigned the presidency in favour of Bill Durham when he refused his supporters demands to sack Sproule. Richardson was attacked by Jack Dyer for not seeing the job through and abandoning Richmond for Melbourne. GR wants the Tigers in Brisbane In 1986 there was speculation that despite being the third most supported club in Melbourne the absence of decent marketing and poor planning had contributed to a debt far greater than the official debt of around $350,000. Alan Bond arrived at the club as president with plans to move the club to Brisbane. Supporter Gary Krauss had saved the club with a large loan, and this loan was used to prop up president Durham who said that this loan was interest free and would be withdrawn if he was challenged. The loan was not interest free. At the end of 1986 board member Andrew Farley announced that Richmond wanted to play 11 games in Brisbane and 11 at the MCG, and that Alan Bond would underwrite it all. Kevin Bartlett led a stinging attack on the board, and supporters rallied to save the club. Graeme Richmond said the club should move lock, stock and barrel to Brisbane. The move was fought off but the club incurred a loss of $460,000 that year. The 1987 season saw the resignation of Alan Bond and his replacement by Neville Crowe. The introduction of the Brisbane Bears removed the threat of the board relocating the club north. In 1987 Tony Jewell led Richmond to the bottom of the ladder, and the media reported that the board were considering a move to Adelaide or Tasmania, and ex-President Ian Wilson called for the board to be replaced. Wilson had kept his silence but finally hit out at the Durham group who had replaced him. He called on President Neville Crowe to look at those around him and to make changes. The board considered listing on the stock exchange and removing the membership nature of the club. Richmond was in dreadful shape and rumours abounded about mergers and relocations. It was revealed that Crowe was second choice after failing to get a corporate leader and board members Finley and Robertson were Bond men. There were 16 litigation cases against the club and 2 wind up orders, the club survived due to a $250,000 contribution from Alan Bond. The recruitment of Kevin Bartlett as coach was as much an attempt to unite the Richmond support as it was an attempt to secure a coach. Bartlett adopted a youth policy and started the long climb back to the top. The club reported a profit in 1989 but the debt stood at over $1.5 million and servicing this debt was crippling. The debt meant that the club couldn't recruit the best credentialed players and had to turn to kids from country Victoria. The draft system which had replaced the zoning system although intended to make the teams more even was actually working to help those clubs which had a pre-exisiting core of senior players at the expense of teams like Richmond which had to build from scratch. A 10th place finish in 1988 was Bartlett's best effort and by 1991 they were in 13th. In 1989 the VFL had orchestrated a Fitzroy takeover of Footscray, and in response to this Footscray fans raised $1.5 million and reversed the merger, effectively condemning Fitzroy to a slow death. A VFL supported scheme for Richmond and St Kilda to merge was publicly mooted and Neville Crowe rejected it forcefully. Richmond launched a fund raising campaign to reduce its debt. Membership increased in 1990 and allthough the club was making profits servicing the debt was holding the club back. On August 15 1990, the Save Our Skins campaign was launched with the aim of raising $1 million by October 31. The debt and the closure of the social club due to breeches of liquor licensing laws were draining the club financially. The club's wages bill was $450,000 below the salary cap. Membership had been allowed to fall from 12,000 in 1980 to 7,000 in 1990. The money was successfully raised as supporters rallied. GR Cops the blame Richmond's chief administrator between 1981-86, Kevin Dixon, blamed the poor record on interference by Graeme Richmond who had forced him to recruit players he otherwise wouldn't have. Richmond's recruiting at this time was ridiculous. Its list of purchases included, Terry Wallace $175,000 (11 games), Phillip Walsh $110,000 (40 games), Daryl Suton $80,000 (6 games), Andrew Cross $20,000 (1 game), Peter McCormack $20,000 (4 games), Gary Frangalas $100,000 (17 games), Michael Roberts $30,000 (12 games), Dennis Collins $80,000 (17 games), John Annear $100,000 (65 games) and Jeff Dunne $20,000 (1 game). The settlement for sacked coach Paul Sproule cost $65,000. GR’s Legacy If KB or Hart or anybody else you name were the on-field heart & soul of Richmond, then Graeme Richmond was the off-field spiritual leader. There was no one like GR, and probably, there will not be another like him. All issues regarding the club went through Graeme Richmond, either with his push or with his blessing. The Richmond Football Club was a football academy of excellence, and Graeme Richmond was the 'Don'. All respected him, nobody messed with him, and many, many people loved him because he made Richmond a closed, feared sporting club. A sporting club that if you belonged to, protected and loved you, and if you played against it you were detested and meant to be beaten. When GR reigned, Richmond were feared, and we wanted everyone to hate us. That brought us even closer together. The club knew that, and the supporters revelled in it. I only knew success as a kid and I knew my club feared no one. There is a form of beauty in a successful, proud club, that sometimes smells like arrogance. At Richmond during GR's reign it was solid confidence. Confidence that the players bled for the yellow and black and that's all that mattered. If you were half-hearted and played poorly, GR didn't want you around. GR realized that in life you must believe in more than words or hope, you must believe in action. Action for your club, for your mates, for your supporters. There was no tomorrow for Richmond under GR.....it was always now. Even as a kid I knew GR ruled the club with an iron fist. Yes we had our Presidents and coaches, but they all pulled in one direction under GR's almost tangible tenacity. GR would lend his wisdom freely to any Richmond person who loved the club as much as him. And GR told the truth. Not dressed up compliments massaging someone's ego. Just old school man to man. GR never glossed over the reality. And telling it straight was his mantra. To me GR was like a beautiful tyrant.....the type of leader you want to march to war with. The type of guy that believes in the unit and it's possibilities at any given moment. The type of bloke who dreams, sleeps, walks and talks his club. I was blessed to witness GR's shadowing presence at the Richmond Football Club. And if anyone born later thinks that people like Eddie McGuire loves his club more and does more than any other person connected to a club, you are wrong. Eddie McGuire wouldn't be able to walk in the shadow of the footballing presence that was Graeme Richmond. Richmond Football Club was feared & despised under GR. You walked tall as a Tiges supporter. Legacy is not the same as fault. GR cannot help that the "kill or be killed era" (so named in the splendid 1996 documentary 100 Years of Football) between 1967 to 1982, which netted five flags, created an expectation and trigger-happy culture among supporters that stymies the club today. Tony Jewell, the 1980 premiership coach who remains on the board and has been a fixture at Tigerland for much of the past 35 years, has a unique perspective on the relevance of GR today. Jewell, who was also sacked by GR (12 months after a premiership), called him "a brilliant man" with a marvellous intellect, wonderful oratory skills and, above all, ruthless cunning. Jewell considered Richmond the driving force behind the five flags. But "TJ" - Richmond people are often known by initials - has long believed that GR, having built the colossus, proceeded to damage it in the 1980s with methods that, in turn, caused chronic instability in the 1990s. Jewell shares the widely held view that the period immediately after the 1982 grand final, when David Cloke, Geoff Raines and Bryan Wood all left the den, was the beginning of the inexorable slide that resulted in the club being trapped with a terrible player list and no money, a state maintained until the mid-90s. The worst part of the exodus was not simply the loss of Cloke et al, but that the GR-inspired retaliation against Collingwood (which he loathed) ensured the Tigers spent big on journeymen Magpies Craig Stewart, John Annear and Neil Peart, as well as boom first-year player Phillip Walsh. As a consequence, the Tigers descended into debt and quickly became the footy club version of a banana republic. "We just never, ever recovered from that," Jewell said of the Raines-Cloke defection and the financial ills that ensued. Jewell agreed that GR's way became the Richmond way, even after the man had gone. GR was fond of decisive action. If the team was failing, the coach was removed. He liked people to be on their toes and insecure. Jewell said GR saw to it that the whoever was coach did not hand-pick his assistant. "It was GR's belief that you put in an assistant coach who places enormous pressure on the senior coach." Richardson felt one of the weaknesses at Richmond during the 1980s was that GR was not close enough to the club's coal face, yet remained influential. "He was dangling the puppets, but the strings were too long." It is not GR's doing, but a sizeable chunk of the Richmond faithful and some Richmond coteries appear to have taken their cue from the past and agitate for change whenever the team loses. The fans who remember what worked once, want it restored: kick it long, hit 'em hard and get rid of those softies who don't measure up. Unfortunately, at Tigerland, there's been a generation of people who haven't measured up, relative to the glory days. Club culture is a mysterious concept. Different people pass through various clubs and, though they might be football careerists for whom each team is mere employer, they find that clubs are actually distinctive; that St Kilda is nothing like Essendon, that no one feels safe at Tigerland and that everything that happens at Collingwood, no matter how trivial, is news. Culture is really determined by history and supporters. This is why, in Barry Richardson's well-considered opinion, it is possible for Graeme Richmond to have left an indelible imprint on Punt Road. Richardson has been involved in several clubs since he left Tigerland in 1985, resigning as president in protest when one-year coach Paul Sproule was sacked. Richardson himself had been a victim of the Richmond culture, GR removing him as coach because he had sought to introduce possession football (what Hafey would call "'muckin' around with the ball") in 1977-78. Richardson says the era of phenomenal success trapped the Tigers in the past. The supporters saw the club in GR's image and, whenever it failed after 1982, they wanted blood. "There was zero tolerance for what they considered failure." The board, fearful of the consequence of failing to act, often caved in to the will of the mob. This pattern has continued right up to today. Danny Frawley was mindful of how the beast could be unleashed when he said that Richmond's predicament would be a test for "everyone" at the club. His message: please stay calm. Ruthlessness, once an asset, became the fatal flaw at Punt Road. If her larger-than-life husband could be unforgiving, Jan Richmond was awed by his strength of mind. She recalled when Graeme had a three-and-a-half kilogram tumor removed from his liver and survived, only for lung cancer to invade the non-smoker's lungs two years later. "He was tough - I can't tell you how tough he was," said Jan. Maybe this was the paradoxical weakness of Graeme Richmond that, eventually, hurt his club: That he was too tough for his own good. It is not as well known, however, that Richmond’s formidable sorority was a potent and effective secret weapon. The strength of the friendships among the women from that time has survived sackings, divorces and deaths and remains a vital heartbeat to this day as the football memories fade to black and white. Kevin Sheedy on meeting Graeme Richmond Graeme Richmond meant an awful lot to the people associated with Richmond in the 1960s and 1970s. We were all better people for meeting him and knowing him. He had a great presence. When he fixed you with his pale-blue eyes, you were like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Being called into his office was both terrifying and exciting experience for anyone at the club, whether they were the coach, a senior player or the new recruit. If you were in the gun for some reason, you had good reason to be nervous. He might have noticed you shirk a contest and wanted to let you know it had not escaped official scrutiny. You might have only shied away three inches because you were trying to protect a sore rib, but he noticed it. He was the best assistant coach in the history of our game, and long before assistant coaches had been thought of. But if you were down on form or confidence or just needed a few kind words to buck you up, he could sense that too. He warned against lairising, reminding you how ruthless the game was, told you to get your body in line at the contest,a nd all the time he finished his sentence with his favourite word "Cocko". According to legend, when Ron Joseph became general manager of North Melbourne at 19,he rang Graeme for a bit of advice. "This is Richmond, you're North Melbourne, we're rivals," Graeme pointed out before adding "so you're on your own Cocko". Recruiting the old fashioned way GR used to travel up to the bush on Sundays in a car with the great Jack Dyer in the passenger seat and a brand new TV in the boot. The two of them would offer it as a reward to a likely country recruits family if they would just sign a form 4 and bind themselves to the tigers. Richmond would pack up the telly and chuck it back in the boot if they refused to sign. GR in the rooms on match days GR would speak individually to a number of players and tell them all the same message. He would tell them that the pressure was on for them to play well or the team would fail. eg.."It’s up to you Kevin. We can't win unless you do your job and stop so and so. Do whatever it takes Kevin..whatever it takes to stop him." Where did it go wrong for GR? I suppose GR can be thanked for our greatest era - '67-'80, but he can also get some of the blame for our poor '80's where we nearly went broke. But at least we've got the memories of when we were truly great. I think that will be the way he is remembered. The techniques that worked in the 70s when the game was booming served us well and GR was the master. Under the counter payments, brown-bag recruiting, innovative coaches and admin, aggressive contracts. Paying more money out than came in. All that stuff worked well. By the time the 80s came around things began to change and GR didn't. He kept trying the same techniques and they didn't work. The entrepreneurs like Elliott and Edelsten had more cash and outbid us. The banks started wanting their money back. The crowds didn't increase every year like they did in the 70s. There weren't the WAFL/SANFL stars to snag to reinforce a team. Which other club would sack its 1980 premiership coach the following season after a disappointing year. Richmond. Which club then sacked its club champion when he got them to a GF in his first season the following year? Which club would sack multiple premiership winning coach and club hero Tom Hafey? Did we spend 25 years in the wilderness when Tommy was turfed. NO. GR’s influence and DNA are and will always be entrenched at Tigerland. I enjoyed putting this together but I would be very interested on your thoughts on the man they simply called GR.
