Why the game needs the Tigers roaring Jake Niall
The Age
March 29, 2015The game didn't particularly need Richmond to succeed in 1987, 1997, or 2007. It grew, regardless of Tiger ineptitude. Alternating combinations of Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton and later Hawthorn kept the turnstiles clicking in Melbourne, while the non-Victorian teams expanded the footy franchise.
Richmond winning was a rare bonus – and, if you were an AFL executive, the Tigers might deliver you one, if they ever saw September. Whatever their myriad failures, the Tiges never failed to engage and entertain. Never the lead part, they were always an intriguing character. In 2015, as the Pies, Blues and Bombers shape as either mediocre or are standing on a slippery peptide peel, Richmond has become Victoria's great white hope, not to win the premiership – that's Hawthorn's job description – but to electrify the competition. Depending on how well/bad those other box-office sides fare, the Tigers might be the AFL's defibrillator.
Gillon McLachlan is trying all manner of measures to win back disgruntled heartland fans. Fixturing and ticketing are under repair, and the price of unhealthy food has been slashed at the MCG and Etihad, as Gill seeks to salve the wounds. But the reality of footy is that the surest method for boosting attendances and ratings, to have the mouses clicking in concert with turnstiles, is to have the big-drawing, popular teams a) playing one another in attractive time slots and b) winning at least half the time.
Richmond, with seven Friday night games and return matches against Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon, will influence the crowds more than the price of fish (and chips) in bay 13.
If this is hardly a stunning revelation, Richmond's fortunes last year serve as reminder of the difference between a winning Richmond and the more familiar losing version. In 2013, when the Tigers won 15 games and were embarrassed by the Blues in that magnificent elimination final, they averaged 56,000 to their home and away games at the MCG. Last year, that average fell to 48,000, despite the Tigers making their charge to the finals, because they were 3-10 and many fans stayed away until late in the season.
The Richmond-Carlton season opener drew nearly 82,000 in 2013, but the match attracted just 62,000 last year when it was played in round two, by which stage the Tigers had been eclipsed by the Suns on the Gold Coast. As round one beckons, the Tigers have already passed 65,000 members, a staggering number for a club that has seen barely five minutes of on-field sunshine. They have had an unusually quiet off-season, helped by the retirement of Jake King and Dustin Martin's decision to travel to the States with Dane Swan. Martin and Trent Cotchin have re-signed without fuss, and only Alex Rance's free-agent status threatens to become a story.
Collingwood and Carlton insiders will disagree, but both clubs are viewed as longish odds to make the eight. And though the Bombers have the personnel – especially down the spine – to play finals and progress further if all went swimmingly, this involves plenty of "ifs", starting with Tuesday's verdict.
While the Hawks can be relied upon to win games and influence premierships, their success, like Geelong's, has become de rigueur for those who don't follow them. Further success will please only their own, and it will not energise the competition. St Kilda, Melbourne and the Bulldogs, meanwhile, aren't expected to figure in finals and their playing lists still resemble building sites, with much scaffolding required before the fit-out (the Dogs, though, are half-way built).
North, which is fancied and a probable finalist, is another small market team, without the romance attached to the aforementioned Cinderellas.
Richmond is a rarity among the heavily supported clubs, in the sense that there is SOME romantic yearning for a yellow and black revival among neutral supporters. Their theatrical fans are themselves part of the show, too, in a similar vein to Collingwood's, without evoking the same hostility. Traditionally, the Tiger army has been characterised as mad as hell, ready to flood the airwaves or microwave the plastic membership card when the team fails. In reality, the club has been stable – probably more so than most Victorian teams – for several years, and fans have largely bought in to the patient Brendon Gale-Damien Hardwick program.
Richmond, in addition to its impressive membership and crowd numbers, has been ranked No.1 for most of the past two years for consumption of video on club websites. This column can vouch, too, for the interest that the Tigers generate, which isn't confined to Punt Road people, on the internet and in print.
"People consume Richmond footy club," said one club official. Once, the Tigers consumed mainly their own. Today, the administration headed by president Peggy O'Neal speaks more like a law firm. We have not seen a coach sacking at Tigerland since 2009, and even then it should be noted that Terry Wallace, like Danny Frawley before him, lasted into a fifth season. Over summer, the Tigers did not make news much, which is un-Richmond like. If they win regularly, though, they will soon be front and centre of the footy universe again, very big news and glad tidings for a battered competition.
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