Hart of the matter
31 July 2005
Sunday Herald Sun
Ken Piesse
The centre half-forward of the century Royce Hart can do little more physical these days than amble along the beach near his Tasmanian home, a legacy of 10 grinding years at the top. WINTER in South Arm, 40 minutes from Hobart, is so quiet even the general store rarely opens after 6pm.
The only signs of late-afternoon life are the school bus and the smoke from woodfires, a necessity this close to the Antarctic.
The town's most famous son is Richmond legend Royce Hart, the centre half-forward of the century, who lives in semi-retirement with wife Jane in a beachfront property with breathtaking views to the mighty Derwent.
Rather than run 10km a day as was once his routine, Hart's knees are so wonky even a short stroll up the beach with his retriever Claude can be onerous.
Occasionally, when the tide allows and he can sit rather than kneel, he'll prise a dozen mussels off the rocks in front of his property and steam them for tea.
He's contemplating re-configuring his spare room into a new master bedroom, so he doesn't have to climb the staircase.
Plans for him to have a plastic knee are advanced, but the use-by date even for these is only 10 years, so he's delaying the operation.
"The medical people say they won't do anything until they really have to," he said.
He enjoys his trips to the mainland and, in particular, the reunions with his Richmond footballing mates with whom he played in four VFL premierships in the late '60s and early '70s.
While he may have missed the riches of the modern era, he says today's best-paid stars would be envious of the bond and the success he enjoyed with his teammates.
"Money can't buy what we experienced in those 10 years," says Hart, now 57.
"I may not be able to run. But I'm not the only one in that situation. It's just an ageing thing and not something confined to old footballers. (Superfit) Tommy Hafey is one of the few I know who continues to defy all the rules."
Hart doesn't live in the past, but he can still name the starting line-ups, position by position, of each of Richmond's four flag teams.
He still has the lace-up jumpers, too, he wore as captain of the Tigers' 1973-74 premiership teams among much treasured memorabilia.
He even has his Royce Hart trademark, an artist's illustration fashioned into a logo of his epic climb over Geelong's Peter Walker in the 1967 Grand Final, one of the greatest of all marks.
For 10 years he dominated the toughest position of all, his courage and his ability to take inspirational marks stretching across the front of his packs his signature.
So small had he been that he learnt all the ground skills, only to shoot up in his mid-teens and go from a rover's size to key position material.
At 187cm, he was dwarfed by many of his opponents, but made himself a moving target, his brilliance a major factor in coach Hafey's golden reign.
Selected for Victoria after a stellar maiden month of VFL football, in 1967, Hart kicked seven on debut with the Big V, played in Richmond's drought-breaking premiership side and represented Australia at Gaelic football.
In 1969 when on National Service, he played in senior grand finals in consecutive weeks, the first with Richmond and the second with Glenelg when he was knocked out early.
Scrupulously fair, he was always a target for rough-house tactics, despite the intimidating presence of protectors such as Neil Balme and Ricky McLean.
"In those days you only had one umpire and a couple of cameras," he said.
" There was no such thing as trial by video, so things happened on the field which players could not possibly get away with now."
HE constantly ignored doctors' advice to play when it was unwise to do so.
On preliminary final day 1973, so sore was he that Richmond named him 19th man, Hafey under orders to use his star forward only in dire emergency.
"By half-time (against Collingwood) we were six goals down and here I was captain and sitting on the bench," Hart said.
"Graeme Richmond and Tommy called me in at half-time and Graeme said: 'We'd better get Royce on.'
"Tommy replied how the doctors had told him if I came on too early I wouldn't be able to play in the Grand Final the following week.
"Graeme simply said: 'There won't be a bloody Grand Final if we don't get him on.' "
Hart kicked two inspirational long goals as Richmond reversed a 34-point deficit to win narrowly, going on to take the Grand Final against Carlton.
Forced into retirement by knee problems in 1977, Hart worked in junior development and also had a stint as Footscray's senior coach before being sacked midway through the 1982 season.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,16096005%255E19771,00.html
