Richmond players ready for finals challenge against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval Jon Ralph
Herald Sun
September 04, 2014 8:03PMIT was Tommy Hafey’s kind of day at Punt Road on Thursday.
A sparkling spring day, the urgency of finals in the air, the perfect weather to show off that Tommy T-shirt physique.
Normally he would have been in Damien Hardwick’s ear ahead of Sunday’s elimination final — counselling, encouraging, nurturing the first man since 1974-75 to match Hafey’s record of back-to-back finals.
No one at Punt Road is dedicating this year to Tommy, or even publicly honouring his passing with the captivating finals run.
But few will forget the embarrassing loss to Melbourne just days after Hafey’s death and the way it sat in the guts of the playing group.
Tommy’s wife Maureen is beloved at Richmond and she was still kicking herself at missing the Tigers’ win over Sydney last weekend.
“We are all really excited. The whole of Victoria is excited,’’ she told the Herald Sun.
“You have got to celebrate your wins. My daughter rang last week from Sydney and I was at a restaurant with my other daughter and she was singing the song over the phone line. I should have gone up to Sydney, my daughter lives there.
“Tommy would be (thrilled), but you know what, he would want them all to be putting a lid on it. He wouldn’t want them to be getting to excited. He tried to keep it very low-key in finals, Tommy tried to train them up and then lock them up.”
Maureen sat with Richmond president Peggy O’Neil during the club’s eight straight win - against St Kilda - but has a surprising message for the Tigers playing group.
“I think the kids playing are sick of hearing that histroy and they have to go out and make their own history.”
Maureen Hafey will sit at home or down at her Sorrento beach house with her assembled family on Sunday, cheering on a team her husband led to four premierships.
“The whole family will sit down at watch it together. A win would be great for the supporters. They are very loyal and they want to win and now we have to keep winning.”
O’Neil was at Punt Rd watching training yesterday and said it was hard not to think of Hafey’s impact on the club given the recent charge.
“He would have been here at training, given Damien the last titbits he wanted him to do,’’ she said.
“Someone said the other day I think Tommy is probably looking down thinking, “This year is pretty good”.
“I think the team was disappointed on the event which was special for him the week after he died. (Making finals) is great for the fans but in a way it’s a great tribute to Tommy Hafey too.”
Richmond say they have sold 10,000 tickets to members for the Adelaide Oval clash, chartering planes, hiring buses and organising convoys of cars.
The only thing missing yesterday at Punt Road yesterday was the fans, the closed session part of Damien Hardwick’s determination to follow the routines that got Richmond this far.
Not for him, though, a satisfaction at how far the Tigers have come.
He says Richmond’s players have unfinished business.
At Punt Road yesterday it was hard not to break down Richmond’s collective charge into the remarkable individual stories that charged around the club’s refurbished surface.
Dustin Martin, 12 months ago nearly out the door; Brandon Ellis, an All-Australian 40 member in just his thirds year; Jack Riewoldt, back playing selfless and important footy after the dramas earlier in the season.
Nathan Foley, playing his first final after Hardwick admitted his blue in dropping him last September; Alex Rance, a hero last weekend but needing to back up on Jay Schulz after his six goals against Fremantle.
If you asked Tommy he was famously sensational and getting better.
Richmond’s season has turned from diabolical to sensational, and potentially getting better too.
As O’Neil says of this topsy-turvy season: “It’s a great time for the clubs nd in a way even more special than last year. To do it back to back and considering how resilient we have been and what good football the boys are playing, it’s just fun to watch.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/richmond-players-ready-for-finals-challenge-against-port-adelaide-at-adelaide-oval/story-e6frf3e3-1227048132843
