Tiger tragics cancel holidays as Richmond finally makes the finals Cheryl Critchley
Herald Sun
August 13, 2013 Richmond has finally done it - they're in the finals.
AFTER more false dawns than an Arctic winter, Richmond fans are screaming the F word - and not the one usually reserved for yet another crushing disappointment.
With 13 wins following a scrappy victory over Brisbane, and thanks to the Bulldogs upsetting Carlton - I knew there was a reason the Doggies were my second team - Richmond will play finals for the first time since 2001.
Are we excited? Is the Pope Catholic? Does Jeff Kennett have a big mouth? We're so pumped our friends will be sick to death of us by Round 23. They probably are already.
The only loser is the local tourism industry. With Richmond missing the finals now mathematically impossible, Tiger tragics everywhere are cancelling long-held annual September holiday bookings.
A fellow fan keen to get his travel out of the way early watched Richmond beat Fremantle on TV during the Wellington earthquake.
"Never been in an earthquake where I actually felt in danger before," he says. "But when Jackson kicked that goal from the stoppage everything seemed OK."
There is nothing like Richmond fans. We have endured 33 years of hell since the club's last flag in 1980, but remain probably the AFL's most passionate supporters. A generation of Tiger cubs has never seen a final. My eldest, 14, was two in 2001; the 12-year-old was a baby and the 10-year-old wasn't born.
How did things go so wrong? It all started when the wheels fell off after losing the 1982 Grand Final to Carlton. Then things worsened: finish last, sack the coach, huge debt, sack the coach, finish last, sack the coach, more debt, sack the coach, finish ninth, finish ninth, finish ninth.
But true Tigers would survive a nuclear winter and they have brainwashed their kids, which believe me has not been easy, so that the league's least successful club over 30 years still attracts some of its biggest crowds. Roy Morgan research found that in September last year, Richmond had 401,000 fans, less than half the 840,000-strong Magpie army and 10th overall.
Yet as of Round 19, the Tigers had as many 80,000-plus crowds as the Pies (three) and averaged only 6616 fewer fans per game (47,734 v 54,350). The average AFL crowd was 32,167.
Richmond has also played in seven of the top 20 drawing games and topped 60,000 members for the first time. As of Sunday, Collingwood had 78,549, Hawthorn 63,353, Essendon 56,226, Carlton 50,561 and Geelong 42,900. There is no doubt a stronger Richmond will be good for football.
Thanks to CEO Brendon Gale's administrative skills, Damien Hardwick's great coaching and the excellent player efforts, that 12-year finals drought may soon be broken. And if it is, look out.
Michael Roach, whose No.8 graced many a 1970s and 1980s duffle coat including mine, was full forward in the club's last premiership side. Now 54, Roach runs Michael Roach Financial Solutions and still attends games. He agrees Richmond fans are among the most passionate and reckons they are even keener than when he played from 1977-89.
"Certainly I think the cheer squad is the most loyal; we've always had a strong cheer squad," he says. "They've just put up with so much."
Roach started playing towards the end of an era when Richmond was feared and hated. But he says other AFL fans now want his team to do well, which he likes.
"They do feel a little bit sorry for us. I think they're a little bit on our side. They realise AFL footy is a lot better off if Richmond is up the top."
The only downside for us diehards is the predictable throng that oozes out of the woodwork in good times. Their absence was part of the reason Richmond lacked the resources to shine for so long. Of course, the fair-weathers are welcome, but must stick around in bad times if their team is to stay strong.
For now we should applaud the true believers such as cheer squad stalwarts, the grannies who turn up every week and the long-serving volunteers. If and when we make another Grand Final they deserve a medal - and a seat.
Roach is excited by the prospect of finals next month but, like me, predicts a bunfight if the Tigers go all the way in the next few years.
"Good luck getting a seat," he says. "If we do make another Grand Final, there are going to be a lot of disappointed people."
Cheryl Critchley sat in the Richmond cheer squad at the 1980 Grand Final and is on Twitter: @CherylCritchleyRead more:
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