One of my personal favourite memories as a footy fan is North Melbourne’s 2015 elimination final win over the Richmond Tigers.
I distinctly remember sitting down at the Pancake Parlour in Melbourne Central (I’m a lifelong pancake lover) on the Saturday beforehand and reading every article in the paper related to the game.
There were plenty – and they were all of them about the Tigers. All of them declared how Richmond, finally, were ready to break their finals duck.
I probably read 20 or 30 articles about the game in advance of it that week. And the only one I found about North was a half-hearted attempt to explain why so little of the coverage was about North (and in looking to make this explanation, talked mostly about Richmond).
I went to the MCG with a feeling of absolute certainty that Tiger-loving news pundits be damned, this was going to be North Melbourne’s day.
The North banner proudly stated “Tigers don’t win finals – we do!” on one side, and “NMFC welcome refugees” on the other. Never has a club banner inspired more pride in me.
I had managed to secure a seat in North’s cheersquad bay and had just about the best view of the action you could ask for in an MCG packed with more than 90,000 fans.
The first half wasn’t the ideal start though – Richmond kicked nine goals to six and came away with a 13-point advantage at the halftime break.
I knew from watching the game that despite the scoreboard, we had been the better team. We had two more scoring shots and many of Richmond’s goals had come from free kicks – not that the free kicks weren’t there, but the Tigers weren’t setting up genuine opportunities, they were being given them by a few poor mistakes.
Coach Damien Hardwick even said sometime after that the coaching team knew the halftime lead was a “false positive”. They were being outplayed by the Roos, it just wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard yet.
In the second half, it was. North kicked five goals to three in the third quarter to take a four-point lead, then four to two in the final term to run out the winners by 17.
There are key moments from that day that I have remembered with a smile on my face since and will do so for years to come.
Robin Nahas catching Troy Chaplin with the ball. Jarrad Waite kicking four to sink the Tigers’ finals hopes (and not for the first time). Brent Harvey revving up the celebrating North cheersquad post-game after every other player had left the ground.
In the end though, nothing could beat the satisfaction of knowing that, despite the hype, Richmond were just not that good, and it had been my team who was lucky enough to deliver the AFL world a reminder of that.
Does that make me sound like a classic North fan with a chip on my shoulder hating the big, much-talked-about Tiges? Probably not an unfair label. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a bit of footy schadenfreude every now and then if you know where the line is.
At the time Richmond were my most hated opposition team, the one I loved beating the most.
It frustrated me that I had never in my life seen them do anything worthwhile on the footy field, but they still got ten times the press of my beloved North, who were a halfway decent team at the time but getting little to no love for it.
Those days are over now, because in 2017, after 37 years of slumber, the sleeping giant finally stopped hitting the snooze button.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
The story of Richmond’s 2017 campaign has been told and retold enough times that there’s no particular need for me to go into it here.
Besides, it’s not like there’s even the remotest chance I could ever sum it up half as good as Jay Croucher’s epic longread “Destruction Tour: How the Tigers eviscerated the rest of the AFL and everything we thought we knew”.
(Give it another read, Tiger fans. You know you want to.)
What is interesting to me lately is not just the fact that Richmond won in 2017, but how they’ve turned that victory into the launching pad for what could be an era of absolute domination.
For the last decade or so, Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney have been the ‘glamour’ clubs of the competition.
These teams have won a remarkable nine of the last 13 premierships, with West Coast, Collingwood, the Bulldogs and now the Tigers the only other teams to taste flag success in that time.
Since 2006, the Hawks, Cats and Swans have qualified for finals 29 times out of a possible 33. They’re all in with a strong chance of playing in September again this year.
When a smaller club wins a flag, we often ask the question of whether or not they can convert their success into becoming a larger fixture in the AFL landscape.
It was asked of North Melbourne when they won two in four years in the late 1990s and it might well have happened if the club’s greatest era hadn’t been derailed by scandal shortly after.
It was asked of the Western Bulldogs in 2016 but it doesn’t look like happening. The Dogs just didn’t have a list ready for sustained success.
Richmond, though? Richmond have taken their breakthrough flag as a chance to move permanently up the AFL foodchain. Perhaps right to the very top.
Case in point: this year they’ve signed up 97,331 members. That’s an improvement 24,662 on their 2017 numbers.
Their new members alone outnumber the entire membership base of the Gold Coast Suns (11,477) or the Greater Western Sydney Giants (23,332), and are so very, very close to also overtaking the Brisbane Lions (24,730).
They made a profit of $3 million last year, have cash reserves of nearly $10 million, and a net asset position of $27 million. They’ll probably make an even bigger profit in 2018, considering membership is up by 33 per cent.
Oh, and did I mention that they’re (well, I’m tipping this at least) going to go back-to-back this year? There’s maybe one team in the comp who has half a chance of knocking them off at the MCG (more on that some other week), and they’re a serious longshot.
They’ve even gotten pretty hard to hate these days. It’s difficult not to respect the leadership of Trent Cotchin, the class of Alex Rance, the passion of Jack Riewoldt, the power of Dustin Martin, the flair of Daniel Rioli.
More than anything else, I see a bond between the playing group as strong as any that has ever been, and I admire it – am sometimes even blown away by it.
Nothing sums it up better than the great man Cam Rose’s latest Twitter bio: “The old Richmond can’t come to the phone right now.”
Why? Oh… cause it’s dead!
In short: the Tigers are poised to become the AFL’s apex predator. And they might be big enough to dominate the league to an extent that no club before them ever has.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
How will we know? A second flag will go a long way, but the real race for supremacy might be found in October instead of September.
Right now, Tom J Lynch is deciding between Melbourne’s three biggest clubs – Collingwood, Hawthorn and the Tiges – for where he’ll play his footy in 2018.
(I guess he could also be considering staying with Gold Coast, if you happen to believe in the tooth fairy and other such things.)
Each club has its own drawcards.
Hawthorn has Alastair Clarkson, the best coach in the league. They also have, as pointed out by Mitch Cleary this week, some good history in keeping players on the park – of worthwhile consideration to a bloke whose season has ended early with a PCL injury.
Collingwood has both the allure of Lynch being able to play for the team he grew up supporting, and the promise of direct access to the opportunity to build a massive media profile through the assistance of club president Eddie McGuire.
Richmond, well, Richmond has everything I’ve already said here.
Which would you pick if you’re a footy player right now – not just wanting to have some success in what’s left of your career, but also hoping to set yourself up for life after footy by building your public profile and gaining some valuable media experience?
There are other machinations that come into it of course – most of the salary cap variety. It sounds like both Collingwood and Richmond will have to accept losing other players if they’re to sign Lynch, so at some point one or both of those clubs is going to have to choose to bite the bullet.
We’ll talk about that another week, too.
But if you were to pick right now which club you’d like to be the face of, which will be the dominant club in Victorian football for the next five or so years to come? You’d find it hard to say no to Richmond.
And if that happens, Heaven help us all. We’ve seen how Hawthorn and Geelong have been able to maintain sustained success by continuing to attract top-tier talent home to Victoria from interstate.
The Swans have done plenty in this respect too – and their success in luring players has been all the more admirable for the fact that moving to NSW goes against the grain for many, and that the AFL has actively tried to block them from doing it.
If the Tigers rise to the top of the pecking order for incoming trade talent – of which, it seems, there will always be plenty – then be afraid, very afraid.
We’re looking at a Tiger Time with length like a Westeros Winter.
Bangkokpussey
Roar Rookie
He needs something to replace his obsession with Cyrille.
anon
Roar Pro
AO and US Open are quicker than Wimbledon.
User
Roar Rookie
Correct me if I'm wrong but the billion dollar undertaking took a level of engineering and design that does take time, building something always takes more time than t@rting up a fossil. Bringing up political thought from over 100 years ago is pointless and does not reflect the views of the majority of west Aussies as we are smart enough to realise our economy is tied intrinsically to the whole. You may not realise but the only non parochial papers in Australia are the Australian and the financial review though the owners do dictate editorial direction.
User
Roar Rookie
Looking forward to it Paul, your articles are always a good meaty read.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
Of course there are metropolises outside Australia that are far more fun to visit than Melbourne, but nobody proposes holding the Grand Final in another country (or do they?). I don't think any other city deserves the Grand Final more than Melbourne, but I reserve special criticism for WA because of their famous Wait Awhile, un-Australian, secessionist attitudes (funny how you can call for a national competition while also wanting out of the country). Correct me if I'm wrong, but was Optus Stadium 13 years in the making despite record revenues from the mining boom? Even your local parochial newspaper knows something's wrong. https://thewest.com.au/opinion/its-time-to-cut-the-chains-on-was-shopping-restrictions-ng-b88608342z
User
Roar Rookie
Jonboy somehow he has tried to turn a snipe about trading hours into a different subject altogether. Can you imagine if gf was in WA ppl could make a week of it visit the wineries, world class restaurants, surfers the many renowned breaks and let's not forget the fishing north of Perth. Melbourne is a nice city but red needs to sto speaking as if it's one of the great metropolises of this planet.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Below the comment box "You are subscribed to comments on this entry. Manage your subscriptions." Click on that, untick the box corresponding to this thread. Easy.
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
Seeing as this comment thread no longer seems to be about Richmond's chances of forming a dynasty, how do I stop getting a million and one email notifications on where the GF should be played or who is better out of Rafa and Federer?
Jon Boy
Guest
Res, you have lost it mate like Don Freo your . starting to waffle crap..........Night out in London, get real who cares...... stick to the footy.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
I've been to London and believe me a night out there is 100 times more fun than a night out in Perth. The Northbridge fishbowl and its dominance by Ben Cousins and John Kizon doesn't really do it for me. WA has a history of threatening secessions and breakaways but then they realise it's not really in their interests. Seems like this time they've used the threats to bribe the Feds into giving them excessive GST revenue but we all know they won't use the money to build a stadium worthy of an AFL Grand Final. Similarly, the West Coast Eagles would've gone down the WA path of forming a breakaway football comp by now if they genuinely thought they deserved better.
User
Roar Rookie
How? Multiple games every year played in front of 1/4 filled stadiums isn't good for the comp. Wce would continue being the only club capable of getting in close to sellouts each home game regardless of opposition. The afl knew the Vic govt would offer financial support to keep the many cement blocks of the comp floating that are Vic based for what is an investment in tourism dollars which with a lack of large scale Industry is what keeps the Victorian economy going ( won't have unfair gst distro for much longer). The advantages of having it at the MCG benefits one state only and no matter how many snipes you make about small towns, trading hours (obviously never been to London as our trading hrs are longer) etc show to me your argument are a paper bag filled with water.
Demon
Guest
Its not only playing away from home or travelling interstate that stops good teams winning away from home, it also comes down to match ups with some bottom teams matching up better against top teams than how top teams match up against each other or the the home team plainly is just to good ! ( credit where credit is due ). This has happenened quite often over the years although the distinct home ground advantage that each team has does go along way to getting them the 4 points every time but its not the only factor that decides the outcome !
Paul D
Roar Guru
Reservoir, what you never acknowledge is that the reason the MCG is so huge is because the Victorian state government passes all the redevelopment costs onto the MCC - which is able to afford to rebuild the stadium itself because it holds the grand final hostage. The decision to keep the grand final in Melbourne has nothing to do with the AFL really - what it actually does is illustrate the limits of the AFL's power, nothing more. I am in the process of putting together a forensic economic and political analysis of the grand final that will blow out of the water all of the chest beating arguments you have made, most of which appear to be based on economic lala land figures. Should debut next week. Stay tuned.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
Nothing clap-trap about my arguments, just that there are umpteen reasons to keep the game at the G and they're too much to bring up in one post. The AFL know that if they only do what's good for one state then the other states would break away and form a national comp on their own terms. That's why they give some advantages to some states and other advantages to other states. Balancing it out isn't always easy but there's a reason why AFL is the country's number one football code. I can't wait until the day when every state (barring Tasmania) has a 100K football stadium. By god that would make the code an unbelievable spectacle.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
"the AFL benefits from massive state infrastructure spend from other states?" They clearly aren't such massive spends given that they're intentionally making their stadium small compared to the MCG. If WA and SA were willing to spend on a 100K stadium (which we know they won't do- WA and SA locals on this page have even said so) then I'd be happier with them moving the GF there. Though there'd still be the issues about those cities lacking the tourist and nightlife facilities that Melbourne has- hell, Sydney has far inferior nightlife to Melbourne and they're supposed to be bigger and more cosmopolitan. The AFL Grand Final is the biggest event on the Australian sporting calendar and its popularity is a key reason why AFL is the nation's number one football code. It's not something to be handed around as if it were a Christmas gift.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
So generally excludes last year. Umm okay. You know your argument is F33ked when the very guy your arguing for doesn't even agree with you. Secondly, no ATP tournament is played on carpet anymore, but that doesn't mean they weren't played on carpet in the past or indoors — the Paris Masters is a clear example of this. Grass = fast Hardcourt = medium-fast Clay = slow-medium Can a hard court be as fast as grass? Yes, but not over a 15 year period. I just caught you out in a lie yet again by showing Nadal himself believing the courts at the US Open last year are no faster or slower. You saying differently makes you sound st@p!d. Despite all this rubbish, what is even your point? Nadal beat Federer on grass and hard courts. So what? Perhaps Federer refined his game to win on grass and hardcourt, to a greater extent, allowing him to win across a greater spectrum thus leaving himself more vulnerable on clay. Perhaps if Nadal did the same, he may have won MORE on grass and hard courts, but less on clay? This is your biggest failing on this site: an inability to think deeper in your analysis. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. What does matter is your original comment about Federer being more one-dimensional. It's clearly not true and all the stats and results back my argument up. You, however, have nothing.
Jon Boy
Guest
i do not know if it is true! i have read on this site that Geelong have given away 2 home games.? i am talking about Travel fairness not Home and Away .If GCS can come to Perth and play and take the gate money why not the Victorian clubs. Surely asking the Melbourne clubs to travel a extra two games a year would not hurt them, even though they would not like it. .Freo is off to Darwin again today not back till Monday some Vic clubs would not know where it even is.
anon
Roar Pro
They don't play indoors on carpet, so indoors means indoor hardcourt. The AO is now quicker than Wimbledon. The US Open has generally been the quickest court over the past 15 years but the AO seemed to have the edge last year. Either way, Wimbledon is not the quickest.
Cat
Roar Guru
Sorry but the only ignorant people here, the Jon boy, are the ones that think WA teams getting more home games than other sides is ‘more fair” Imagine how that would impact clubs financially. Memberships are based on home games. You cannot have some clubs having 14 and others having 9 or 10. That is just cutting off your nose to spite your face kind of dumb. There are two ACTUAL fixes that old help to a degree. 1. All clubs play all grounds. No excuses. This means WCE would only need to play the Hawks in Tassie once every ~4 years instead of a very year. This also means those games where they would have played Hawthorn in Tassie would end up at the MCG - giving you the added ‘MCG experience’ you desire. 2. Tell the AFL you want to move a home game or two from Optus to the MCG. You of course won’t do this.
Jon Boy
Guest
Rotcod, It's a waste of time Cat is Either Dumb or ignorant to grasp it. Possibly both but he is not into fairness ,Knows nothing about the research that is available regarding the effect of Sports People traveling in aeroplanes .We just had a weekend in Perth without a AFL game. (What a disgrace ) There is NO reason why there cannot be two games in Perth 2-3 times a year ( Money being the only problem ) Traveling interstate needs to be addressed it was acknowledged and talked about years ago but the VFL have sat on there hands.