Dare we say it? Could this be the year of the Tiger? ..... (Herald-Sun)

[one-eyed]

Dare we say it? Could this be the year of the Tiger?
Peter Rolfe
Herald-Sun
August 24, 2014

RESURGENT Richmond is on the cusp of a milestone not seen since Rupert Hamer was Premier, Pac-Man was a breakthrough video game and the TV world found out who shot J.R on Dallas.

The last time Richmond won eight straight matches was way back in 1980, the year AC-DC released Back in Black, The Empire Strikes Back premiered at the movies and Azaria Chamberlain disappeared at ``Ayers Rock’’.

Long suffering Richmond fans reflect longingly on 1980 - the last time they won the flag with an 81-point thumping of Collingwood in the VFL Grand Final.

Tigers fans wearing flared pants, tight t-shirts, facial hair and smiles the size of Punt Rd traffic jams rejoiced what they believed was the start of a new yellow and black era of glory.

Instead they have been waiting for success ever since.

Not a single member of the current Richmond playing list was even born when the club last tasted premiership glory.

But after winning eight straight matches for the first time since 1980, Richmond has yet again whet the appetite of its long suffering supporter base.

Like any year Richmond surges towards the finals, Tigers fans are coming out of the woodwork left, right and centre and spaces on the yellow and black bandwagon are at a premium.

Club legend and 1980 Norm Smith Medallist Kevin Bartlett reckons this year’s Tiger cubs can surpass the 11 straight victories his team chalked up 24 years ago by winning 13 straight and winning the flag.

And the Tiger faithful agree.

Despite having to win both remaining matches and still relying on other results, lifelong Richmond supporter Brett ``Trout’’ Beattie said finals football was a certainty for the Tigers.

``We’re the most in-form team in the competition, it’s all in our favour and I drive past churches so we deserve some good luck,’’ he said.

Victory tonight against St Kilda in a twilight showdown at the MCG will have Richmond fans and players alike hard-pressed not to be thinking about history.

Another win next week against ladder leader Sydney in Sydney and Richmond will have its ninth triumph on end and genuine hope of stealing the final finals spot in a year they started the season 3-10.

But Tigers tragics must also realise that victory in both matches could still leave them agonisingly short with the race to the finals to be fought out by no less than 12 teams trying to fit into the top-eight.

Yet again Richmond could be the but of football jokes by finishing ninth despite its recent run of form.

Bruce Monteath sees similarities in this year’s Tigers to the Richmond team he captained to Grand Final glory in 1980 and said confidence was building at Tigerland the club’s premiership drought could soon end.

``We’ve got a big head of steam up and it would be sensational if we made the finals after the start we had,’’ he said.

``But if they don’t they sure should come out firing next year.’’

Former Richmond footballer and Tommy Hafey Club president Bruce Smith said the current Richmond team was ``unrecognisable’’ to the squad that slumped to (0-3) at the start of the season.

``There is a strut and once the Tigers get a strut look out,’’ he said.

St Kilda fans are likely to help Richmond supporters pack the MCG as the Saints farewell retiring club great Lenny Hayes in his final match in Victoria.

But the Tigers faithful will have by far the biggest tale to tell if they can make the finals against the odds.

Betting agency Sportsbet installed Richmond a $5 chance to make the finals during the week and $3.50 to finish exactly 9th.

http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/dare-we-say-it-could-this-be-the-year-of-the-tiger/story-fnii5sms-1227034468936

[Chuck17]

Locked and loaded

[Hard Roar Tiger]

"``We’re the most in-form team in the competition, it’s all in our favour and I drive past churches so we deserve some good luck,’’ he said."

 

[Francois Jackson]

fos article. only your dillusional type of fans think we are headed for a premeirship tilt when we havent even won a final under this coach in 5 stuffin years.

[WilliamPowell]

"``We’re the most in-form team in the competition, it’s all in our favour and I drive past churches so we deserve some good luck,’’ he said."

 

Very good bloke is Trout. Top bloke 

[The Big Richo]

There is no doubt in my mind we are going to win the premiership this year.

[Dice]

I ****ing hate lazy journos and this bloke is clearly one of them.
I usually stop reading as soon as I see ' Richmond supporters ' prefaced with the words ' long suffering '. Simply put , I'm a mad tiger and love barracking for us. I haven't suffered one bit ever. I thought I'd read on coz it was a 1980 article but it got worse. This bum managed to slip ' long suffering ' in again ! two paragraphs after the first time he said it. Then he pulls out the tired old crap about us coming out the woodwork when we're winning. If this idiot had done his homework he'd see that we've been turning up en masse for years and years regardless of ladder position.
 Then the clincher. ' The Tiger tragics ' as numbskull calls us ' must realise that victory in both matches could still leave them agonisingly short '
 Do your research you lazy ****. If we win both our games we are IN !