What’s pleasing this year is the perception we are “soft” going out the window. Listening to Ayres say Hyde is a tough little nut and the physical presence of Tuck this year has gone a long way to dispelling this myth? I say myth, because I don’t think any team is really soft and it is an insult to clubs and players to be labelled that way. But that’s what I believe we have been labelled, even amongst our own supporters. No names, no packdrill, but that is pretty hard to take and a slight on our club which is so unRichmond-like.
For those of us who were there in the ‘70s (and can remember the era lol), our toughness at the ball and the man on many occasion was what made us the most feared club in the land. To put it bluntly, they were scary when you think about a comparison between today and yesteryear. Why? Because they got away with more things behind play. No camera work which saw replay after replay of incidents (many games had no television coverage at all), ground conditions (mud lol) which meant there was a lot more scrimmages and dirtiness in packs and a tribunal system where there was no dobbing in of players; the attitude was we’ll get even next time.
That didn’t make them tougher, just more “able” to get away with things. The Brisbane teams of the last couple of years were not filthy players, but one of the toughest units I’ve ever seen. And to see us take on that mighty club and beat them on their home ground after winning a wooden spoon the previous year was a sight for these sore “old” eyes. Sure, they’re on a downward slope from their mighty era, but they still give everything they’ve got and I don’t think any club would disrespect them and take them on not expecting the biggest battle you can face in league footy. You disrespect them at your own peril.
And we didn’t. We took them on and played the physical footy they’ve been dishing up for the last decade. I don’t think we played it any harder than they did, but we won the battle. The battle is not only a physically tough one, but just as mentally tough when you play a side like that. To see little Danny Meyer put his scrawny little body on the line against the likes of Voss and the other toughnuts of the Lions is just sensational and I am in just so much awe of kids like that who show no fear for their own self-preservation and just do things we haven’t seen from players of his type for a long while.
Where has the impetus come from to change this attitude within such a short time? I have no doubt that Terry is the main person. Having played under John Kennedy, I’m sure a bit of his influence is in his coaching. But having the likes of David King and Choco Royal around has seen the benefits of their hard and physical careers rub off on our guys. That, and I think a nucleus of new blood who don’t remember the bad times we’ve gone through, has seen a new look Richmond that, hopefully, will have other teams in awe of us one day and show us the respect we have been craving for once again.
Having said all that, one swallow doesn’t make a summer - and we still have a long way to go to seeing us reach the holy grail - but there are definite signs that a new era of mental and physical toughness is permeating the air down at Tigerland. They will have games where they are down and will sometimes revert to their old ways, but I believe we will see less and less of that under Terry.
Whether we get the respect from the football world, I guess, will be shown the next time we lose a game, whether they will jump off our bandwagon as quick as they jumped on. I could say I don’t care, but that would be a lie – I crave it just as much as I’m sure the old timers like Campbell do. But if the team persist with what they’ve been doing this year, and not fall in a heap the moment we encounter obstacles, we are in for a great era that hopefully will erase twenty-five years of hope, but, in the end, has always ended in misery.
Go Tiges!!
