I was a mad Richmond supporter as a kid. I had the duffle coat with all the badges and name tags sewn down both sleeves and the autograph book that was my constant companion. I would haunt the doorman at the change rooms waiting for a Tiger to appear and get that cherished autograph.
It wasn’t always like that though. I remember following Richmond as a young boy. Dad barracked for them and he must have told me to do the same. My three older brothers barracked for others teams but I decided to help Dad out which proved a master stroke because as a 7yo and 9 yo I remember Richmond wining the flags but it was no real big deal.
We won, which made Dad happy but I can remember it being no big deal. My support remained the same until 1972. I was actually playing soccer at the time but my English teacher at Monterey High School offered the student who got the best marks in a particular assignment 2 tickets to the Elimination final at Waverly.
It is the one and only time in my school life that I had a crack and ending up getting the 2 tickets. It was St Kilda V’s Essendon and it was my first ever live footy game. I loved it. The atmosphere, crowd and occasion all got to me and vowed to go to every game next year and watch the Tigers. I will forever be indebted to Ms Sue Wilson, my English teacher at Monterey High School, Pines Forest, Frankston.
1973 came and I watched Richmond every Saturday, except when we played at Geelong. Dad said it was too far to travel there. I loved the train trip to Richmond and the famous walk to the M.C.G with thousands of others Tiger faithful. We would all stop at Punt Rd oval and simply stare at the stands etc.
Or getting off at Flinders St and boarding the tram to get to Princes park or to catch a connecting train to Victoria Park or Arden St. Every carriage was jam packed and was a sea of color and full of voice.
We had a fairly good side this year so my weekly fix of Richmond ended happliy most weeks with a Tiger victory. We were going to play Finals but I was resigned to watching the finals on Football Replay on Saturday nights.
A good mate of mine from high school, Peter Nunn, was mad Collingwood. I would often sleep over at Pete’s place and got to know his parents well. Imagine my surprise one night there when Peter’s dad, John, asked if I would like to go to watch the finals at the M.C.G.
They were MCC members and got series tickets to every game at the ‘G. I didn’t have to be asked twice. We went preliminary final day when Richmond played Collingwood. Richmond won and Pete and John were pretty unhappy. I was stoked though. I was going to watch Richmond in the Grand Final.
I will never forget that day. We whipped Carlton by 30 points. We also won the seconds and thirds grand final too. A truly life changing day for me and one that has shaped my entire life.
It is as if it happened yesterday. Royce Hart stood on the dias and lifted the cup. The stadium went bezerk and I made a vow there and then. I didn’t care what it took. I was going to play football for Richmond and play like Royce Hart. One small issue came with this vow.
I had never played football. As a matter of fact I was playing soccer with my good mate Dave Luca.
The decision had been made. I had to start playing football to achieve my goal so I duly gave up soccer and went down to Pines Football club in early 1974 to join up. A heaps of mates from school were playing footy so that wasn’t the issue. Coming from a non-contact sport like soccer to the rough and tumble of footy made it tough at first.
We played footy on Sunday mornings so I could still watch Richmond on Saturdays. I still went every week with my duffle coat and autograph book and fronted up Sunday mornings trying to do what Royce did the day before.
My first coach was Alan Lillico. Training was great. Basically use the footy’s as much as possible. Alan’s brother, John, was coaching the under 15′s which at the time was part of the senior club. They were the 4ths and played Saturday afternoon before the 2nd’s game.
Mid season they were short of players and asked some of us from the under 14′s if we wanted to play. I said yes knowing that I was going to miss watching Richmond but thought it would be fun.
The decision was also life changing for me. After our game in the 15′s I would stay and watch the 2nd’s play. Sure it was not the standard of my beloved Tigers but seeing the big boys running around was great. Even better was the fact I could go out at the breaks and be near the players.
I can remember this guy at Full Forward. Great build, blond hair and good looks , he seemed to kick bags of goals. His name was Colin Bowes and has turned out to be an aquaintance of mine whose time I value greatly. He is a legend of Peninsula sport and is one man I am proud to know.
I soon learnt that there was actually a firsts side representing Pines and I wanted to see these guys as well so the weeks that the 15′s did not need me, I would sacrifice my Richmond journey to watch the first’s.
Even as a 14yo I could tell the difference between the firsts and the seconds. The firsts were a great side too. Stacked with champion players like Trevor Verity, Wayne Mills, Ken McLaren and Butch Gay. There was also this little guy playing in the centre who seemed to have the ball on a string.
He would kick it down forward and ten seconds later be getting it back. He was a freak. I would watch this guy week after week and totally fell for his playing style. It was after a home game that another life changing decision was made.
All of a sudden I did not want to play for Richmond and be like Royce Hart. I wanted to play for Pines and be like Barry Burke. Yep. Burkey was my new hero. He also coached the club so at the breaks I would run out to the huddle and hang on every word he said.
As a 14yo most of it went over my head but his enthusiasm and passion had me hooked. So much so that when I got the footy on a Sunday with the under 14′s I would kick it to a team mate and yell ” Get it, Give it and Go”. This was Burkeys catchcry to the firsts and I adopted it at 14 yo. Made sense really. If Burkey did, I had to do it.