Richo gets his highs on ground
02 May 2005
Herald Sun
Mark Stevens
HE DIDN'T mind flying for an old-fashioned "hanger" in the second term, but Matthew Richardson was afflicted by a sudden fear of heights after the siren.
As much as Richardson's teammates tried to convince him, there was no way the big fella was going to be chaired off for his 200th game.
"I'm not really into the chairing aspect of things. I feel a bit stupid," Richardson said from the safety of the rooms.
The fans at the Coventry end who spent much of the afternoon chanting "Richo" were no doubt hoping for more, but he sought the company of Richard Tambling and Danny Meyer as he left the field.
"I just wanted to walk off with Rich and Danny. I think it's better to do that," he said.
"We had Gas's (Darren Gaspar's) 200th last week and had a bad loss. We didn't chair him off and I don't think it's appropriate today either."
In stark contrast to the low-key finish, everything else about Richo's big day out was over the top.
He took 17 marks – including eight contested. The entire Port side took just seven contested grabs for the day.
To cap it off, Richardson put in a nomination for mark of the year in the second term. Planting his knee in the back of Toby Thurstans, he soared for a sensational one-grabber 10m out.
"Sometimes you think you can't get up any more. It's good to think there might be a little bit of spring left. I don't know how much though," Richardson said.
The Tigers had trailed by as many as 28 points midway through the second term. When Richardson converted his screamer into a goal two minutes before halftime, they led by a point.
From there, you got the feeling the Tigers were not going to lose.
Richardson finished with three goals without a miss and even spent time across half-back, frustrating Port and spearing 50m passes to teammates.
"In recent history, we certainly wouldn't have fought back from that sort of deficit early," Richardson said.
"Probably about 10 minutes into the second quarter, our pressure got us into the game.
"They kept us in it a bit – they missed a few goals; which is probably lucky for us. We knew we had to pressure them. You can't let them run around free or else they'll slice you up."
Former teammate Brendon Gale addressed the Tigers before the game. Another ex-teammate Matthew Rogers and his mentor, premiership player Mike Perry, were close by.
But despite the occasion, the Tigers were flat early. At times it was ridiculously easy for Port, which conceivably could have burst to an eight-goal lead.
Kayne Pettifer, a hero in the second-quarter turnaround, said coach Terry Wallace had given the players a "spray" at quarter time.
"We tried to come out pumped up for Richo's 200th, but we came out flat-footed," Pettifer said.
"In the first quarter we just didn't use the ball well and after the break we started using it.
"We all love the big fella and it was great to win for him. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it for `Gas' last week."
Pettifer laid a game-turning tackle as the momentum switched, again against Thurstans.
"I had him and I didn't think the ump was going to blow the whistle. I eventually got it. I had his arms pinned, he was pretty stiff," Pettifer said.
Thurstans spent much of his time hanging back in front of Richardson, but in the end Port could do little to stop the momentum.
Wallace had a knack of getting the Bulldogs up for milestone games and it was no different yesterday.
"It was wonderful for the club. He had a lot of his ex-teammates in the rooms before the game," Wallace said.
"We didn't burst the doors down and play that sort of footy straight away, but it was really pleasing to get the result.
"I always enjoy a bloke on his milestone doing it himself, not just relying on the others to do it, and he was terrific again."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,15146104%255E19771,00.html
