Tiger fans won't let the same old song get them downWill Brodie
June 3, 2011Richmond was considered crazy when it proposed 75,000 members last year, but events this year show the strength of support for the Tigers. Photo: Jo GayLong suffering Richmond fans are cock-a-hoop after their team's spirited showing in 2011. The perennial battlers have excited frenzied support by winning four of their last six matches.
Their team is the most committed in the AFL, says pundit Robert Walls, praising the "effort, drive and will" of its players, and coach Damien Hardwick.
The Tigers are replete with cult figures, from battler rogue-turned forward line goalsneak Jake King to unpolished, but wildly courageous key position utility Alex Rance.
Richmond also possesses a classy elite - with brilliant youngsters Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin heading an aggressive skilful midfield, and superstar jack-in-the-box Jack Riewoldt lighting up the forward line.
And the Tigers fans, starved of succes for decades, have been roaring. An average of 44,430 fans had attended Richmond games this year before Saturday night's match in Darwin, the best figure since 1998. Membership is at record levels - 47,160 have signed up in 2011, compared to last year's previous high mark of 46,202.
The upset loss to Port Adelaide in the distant Northern Territory, televised only on Pay TV, will do little to dampen the roar of the Richmond army.
Perhaps the stirring of the dormant Tiger beast has made some rival fans jittery. Or some scarred Tiger pessimists want to dampen expectations.
For the infamous spectre of Richmond finishing ninth is again being raised.
The song "We Finished Ninth Again", sung to the tune of the beloved official Richmond theme song, is making the cyberpsace rounds.
Penned by Coodabeen Champions chief minstrel Greg Champion, it was immortalised on CD in 2007.
Richmond has finished ninth six times in the seventeen completed seasons since the inception of the final eight, in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006 and 2008. The only other team to do so more than one is Hawthorn - in 1999, 2003 and 2009.
Richmond has made the finals twice since 1994, and were met by massive crowds and hysterical scenes after wins over Essendon in 1995 and Carlton in 2001.
Listen to the offending ditty here:
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