Dear Old Tiger
I know like myself, you are hurting from our loss on the weekend and, as in the last couple of years, we now wallow in the misery of the next 8 months until season 2016 is upon us. The second half of the elimination final against North felt like a repeat of a movie I had seen before. The slow motion of a car crash like the Carlton game 2 years ago that again ripped our hearts of everyone, from the players to the supporters, who for the last 30 years have suffered poor season after season and now, when we should be enjoying the glory of finals football, we ask ourselves is it all worth it?
Season 2015 provided what we thought was a more balanced Richmond side. The Tigers kept possession, did not panic and had a calmness about them that gave us wins against the Swans, Hawthorn and Fremantle. Richmond put sides below them to the sword with swiftness and efficiency. We unearthed youngsters such as McIntosh, Lennon and Corey Ellis. Plucked Kane Lambert from the VFL to give our midfield guns more flexibility and saw Rance, Martin, Cotchin and Delidio confirming their status as A grade players. Even Ty Vickery became the power forward we have been hoping for.
However under the finals pressure the Tigers stopped doing the things that got them there. The composure was not there, panic set in and this led to turnovers that cost Richmond the game. So now once again opposition supporters and media have their jokes about how fickle the Tiger supporters are, that there will be bloodletting at Punt Rd and we shall eat our own. Of course Old Tiger, we both know that won’t happen. Since Dimma took over as coach the country has had 4 Prime Ministers. You reckon the ghost of Graeme Richmond is haunting the halls of Parliament rather than the Richmond boardroom? The club has 70,000 members, plenty of money in the bank, a stable board and a CEO who has used both his experience in business and football to help grow the club.
So where to now Old Tiger? The foundations are there, but now there needs to be a hardness to this team. We must show no mercy to our opposition and become the power club of the AFL. Trade week could be the most important time in the club’s history as some holes need to be filled in the side to take the next steps of becoming a power club in the AFL. I want Richmond to be hated by opposition supporters as that means the club is back to the glory years of the 60’s and 70’s.
All I can say to you Old Tiger is while we are down now, we shall return next year, take our seats, support the lads and scream those words on our theme song Yellow and Black.
Other Footy Almanac stories of Finals Week 1 – Richmond v North Melbourne
Other Footy Almanac stories of Finals Week 1
About Vaughan Menlove
Obsessed with Richmond, Luton Town, Melbourne Victory and Arsenal. The Dr had a soccer career hampered by the realisation he was crap, but could talk his way around the game. Co host of It's Not Called Soccer podcast
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Graeme Richmond walking the halls of Parliament House in Canberra instead of the Richmond Boardroom with all the leadership changes…
GOLD!
I love the line ‘I want Richmond to be hated by opposition supporters’ because that sums up success.
Right now, as a North fan, I feel a bit sorry for Richmond and their fans.
Not just for this year, but every year since 1980…
Hello DrKruel73,
I am a bit miffed by this defeat. Definitely not as bad as the previous two years, but, perhaps it also hurts more simply because it is the third one in a row and we seemed a better team than the last years.
My gut reaction was that dropping Lennon wasn’t a good choice – I would have kept him in for Griffiths. I didn’t see the last game of the season, but, I thought up until then he had been playing with energy and verve.
I don’t want Richmond to be hated, by virtue of winning. I want the Tiges to be respected – like I believe Geelong and the Swans have been. (not sure about Hawthorn).
Methinks Dimma made a mistake by invoking the success of the Eagles after having lost three elimination finals. I think I’d prefer missing the finals to a team overcome with drugs.
Like you DrKruel73, I remain enchanted by the Tiges, and probably against my better instincts, in love with them.
best,
Andy
Boys, it’s 2016 or never for you know who. This final’s crap has got to stop. And as for Conca & Griffo playing instead of Lloyd & Lennon – I nearly died when I saw their names on the final team sheet. I’m not saying it was the reason we fell apart, but Lloyd & Lennon had earned their stripes and were part of the Tiger success story of 2015. They deserved to be respected for what they’d put in through the season and should have been in the starting XXII. Bad call Dimma.