THE RICHMOND TIGERS
"GRAND FINAL" TRIUMPHS
1902 1st Grand Final (VFA)
The Victorian Football Association,s season came to a unexpected end on Saturday the 30/7/1902. There was a general acceptance that there would be a playoff game, with both Richmond Tigers and Port Melbourne level on 14 wins, both were expected to have wins over their respective opponents Prahran and Williamstown. Richmond beat Prahran,during the game the telephone was in constant use relaying scores between Toorak Park and Port’s game at Williamstown.
1905 Grand Final (VFA)
Twenty thousand spectators witnessed the play off for the The Victorian Football Association 1905 Premiership between the Richmond Tigers and North Melbourne on the East Melbourne cricket ground on Saturday 7/10/1905.
A week earlier the Richmond Tigers had defeated North Melbourne by 20 points - 7.6 to 3.10 - and as the the teams and general play in that match had been very even, another good close contest was anticipated. With both teams forced to make some changes, Richmond substituting Smith, Knell and Cleghorn for Husker, Luff and Backhouse, and in the North Melbourne ranks Jamieson, McDermott and C. Londerigan replaced Martin, Hall and Watson.
1920 1st VFL Grand Final
It was a very attractive match, but not a good game, for in reality there was only "one team in it." The closeness in scores kept the people expectant, and the brilliant play by individuals provided the pleasures. As a contest, however, it failed, because of the superiority of one team over the other. Collingwood was a stale, inert eighteen. The hard game the week before in the mud had brought penalties. The match opened with a chapter of incidents, as bright as anyone could have wished for - Hede's dash from half back, Weatherill's football forward, splendid marking by Colechin, Parkinson and James, and fine running by Drummond.
1921 Grand Final Back to BAck
For the second year in succession Richmond won the League premiership on Saturday. Carlton, the minor premiers, being defeated in the grand final at the Melbourne ground by the narrow margin of four points. Without acknowledging that it was a great game from the standpoint of team excellence, it rose to being great in the popular sense because of brilliant phases of individual effort, the closeness of the scores, and a really fine finish, in which masterful tactics of leaders and men came into the science of things. It would be an unfair on the teams to attempt a story of how the match was lost and won.
1932 Grand Final, Jack's No Show
Richmond tried desperately to nurse its wounded starlet Jack Dyer back to fitness in the week leading up to the grand final, but to no avail. For coach 'Checker' Hughes, who had been appointed in 1927, this was the fifth premiership play-off to which he had steered the Tigers in six seasons, but he was still seeking a win. A then record crowd of 69,724 turned up at the MCG for the big match, and they were not to be disappointed.
1934 Grand Final Jack's Back
A crowd of 65,335 spectators basked in bright spring sunshine on grand final day as first Richmond, and then the Bloods, played spectacular attacking football which highlighted all the best aspects of the code. The Tigers led by three points at the first change, but with South having finished the opening term the stronger the game was on a proverbial knife edge, a state of affairs which continued until late in the second quarter when Jack Titus, Richmond's light weight and elusive full forward, broke free from Jack Austin on three occasions to snare vital goals.
1943 Grand Final Jack's Last Stand
Richmond was "a dogged, forceful side, which ground down lighter opponents by playing it hard", and with Jack Dyer putting in a Herculean effort on the ball, and permanent forward pocket Richard Harris playing the game of his life, booting seven majors for the match, the Tigers surged to a four-goal lead which looked to have made the game safe.
1967 Grand Final Tommy's First
The 1967 VFL grand final was one of those all too rare games genuinely deserving of the term 'classic', with both sides performing to the absolute limits of their considerable potential - and then some. The last quarter in particular has to go down as one of the greatest exhibitions of the Australian code perpetrated up to that point: it began with Richmond ahead by 2 points, saw the two sides take turns in seizing the initiative, involved a number of controversial umpiring decisions, and mixed the best of the 'old' - spectacular long kicking and high marking - with quintessential features of the 'new' - precise passing, vigorous running in numbers, and the fluent, intelligent use of handball - all at breakneck pace, with scarcely a pause for breath.
1969 Grand Final Tommy's 2nd
The Tigers' grand final opponents were Carlton, but fans hoping for a repeat of the spectacular goal feast of a month earlier were to be disappointed. Despite near perfect conditions, it proved to be a game in which defences - particularly the Richmond half back line of Strang, Burgin and Owen, and Carlton's key defensive duo of Lofts and Goold - held sway. After playing the better football up to half time to lead 6.5 (41) to 2.7 (19), the Tigers added a quick goal in the third term courtesy of John Northey and were beginning to look ominous.
1973 Grand Final Tommy's Revenge
In 1973, with only one thing - revenge - on their minds, the Tigers experienced the opposite of a premiership hangover, and ultimately emerged with the flag. However, the route to the premiership was often bumpy, with a 20 point qualifying final loss to Carlton representing the nadir, and meaning that the team would have to confront - and surmount - three weeks of cut-throat finals football to emerge with the ultimate prize.
1974 Grand Final Tommy's Last Hurrah
Of all Richmond's flags under Hafey that of 1974 was arguably the most conclusive. The popular perception at the time was that the Tigers that season had lifted the game to a new pinnacle of excellence, and although they did occasionally - five times in fact - taste defeat they gave the distinct impression that this would never happen when it really mattered. After clinching a week's rest by finishing top after the minor round, Richmond showed finals newcomers North Melbourne what September footy was all about
1980 Grand Final The Jewel in the Crown
Brian Ferry March 2012
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