Hot Tigers are yellow and backMark Duffield
The West Australian
May 23, 2011No matter which team you support a part of you has to be happy with Richmond finally looking capable of enjoying some success.
If you think Fremantle have been starved of success by playing in only three finals series since 1995, consider that the Tigers have only played in two since losing the 1982 grand final.
Footy somehow seems a better game when the Tigers are going OK.
Perhaps it is that they were Matthew Richardson's team. It was hard not to like Richo-man no matter who you barracked for.
Perhaps it is that their supporters are the lovable ferals of the AFL: romantic, optimistic, bitter, twisted, hopeful and a little scary all rolled into one passionate mob.
Perhaps it is because their club song is far and away the best in the game.
Patersons Stadium may sway a bit when West Coast do Eagle Rock. It may rock when the Dockers do TNT.
But once you have seen 40,000 or so Tiger fans crank up on Tigerland after a big win at the MCG and felt the stands quiver as they chant "yellow and black", you have officially witnessed football's best post-match celebration.
Or perhaps it is that, despite the lack of success and a litany of drafting, coaching and playing catastrophes spanning more than two decades, their supporters have still hung tough and can still pack the MCG if they get a sniff that something good may be about to happen.
And so it was on Saturday night when 83,000 people watched the Tigers topple Essendon in Dreamtime at the G.
Things are good at Punt Road.
With Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin improving each week midfield, Brett Deledio finally gathering the consistency to go with his prodigious ability and Jack Riewoldt as imposing a target as any power forward, things may get better yet.
Of course, the Tigers have had their share of false dawns and more than their share of near misses. One of the reasons their tally of finals is so low is that they have finished ninth six times since the top eight was introduced.
They were ninth in 1994 - the first year of the top eight - instantly finding the worst address on the ladder where there is no September and no top-five draft pick. They have practically lived there since.
Even when they have plunged lower and had a precious top-end pick, they have butchered it.
Richmond's recruiting catastrophes include Aaron Fiora, taken at pick three in 1999 ahead of Matthew Pavlich at pick four; and Richard Tambling, taken at pick four in 2004 ahead of Buddy Franklin at pick five.
They have got a few right too and are starting to reap the rewards. Riewoldt (pick 13 in 2006) rates with Joel Selwood as the outstanding player of that draft.
Cotchin has the potential to be one of the best players picked in the 2007 draft and Martin looks to be one of the standout picks of the 2009 draft.
The Tigers have high hopes for Tyrone Vickery (pick eight in 2008) and Reece Conca (pick six 2010). Coach Damien Hardwick is also dragging terrific football out of a few the Tigers faithful did not hold such high hopes for.
Rugged Jake King had one foot through the exit door under previous coach Terry Wallace.
He has now kicked 17 goals for the season as arguably the competition's form defensive forward.
Alex Rance has taken time to find his feet but, at 21, has played six of Richmond's nine games this year.
He was one of the best players on the ground against the Bombers on Saturday night.
And as his team improves around him, skipper Chris Newman is finally being recognised as the rock-solid defensive rebounder he has always been.
The Tigers still have their share of holes.
They need Rance to get to the next level because the rest of their tall defenders are a modest lot.
Their ruckmen are more workmanlike than wonderful and they still have the odd ball user whose disposal is dodgy enough to miss water from a boat.
But Richmond are clearly better - and footy is better for it.
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