Sea of yellow and black as Richmond Tigers prepare for preliminary finalJon Pierik and Ronny Lerner
The Age
22 September 2017Richmond players were given a heroes' welcome from thousands of their adoring fans at Punt Road Oval on Friday.
The yellow-and-black masses were out in force to watch their beloved Tigers have a light training run before their date with destiny.
The Tigers are aiming to qualify for their first grand final in 35 years when they face Greater Western Sydney in the second preliminary final at a sold-out MCG on Saturday. If the Tigers are successful, they will break the longest active grand final drought in the AFL.
But judging by the atmosphere at the club's spiritual home on Friday, it felt as though they had already made it to that last Saturday in September.
One diehard fan, Al, flew in to Melbourne from outback Queensland to watch his Tigers.
"I've been a member for 50 years and this is fantastic. I don't think GWS have a chance. It's like going to Adelaide or Perth. Once you go there, you've got the home-crowd advantage. We've got the same thing here but we're going to have 90-odd thousand," he said.
Married Richmond supporters Cameron and Rochelle drove from Brisbane on Wednesday and arrived in Melbourne on Thursday night.
"It means a great deal to Rochelle and myself. It's a long wait, we've been faithful to the club since we've been kids," Cameron said.
He admitted he never thought he would see Richmond again feature in the penultimate weekend of the season.
"We've got five kids and all we said is we wouldn't mind the Tigers being in a grand final - even though we're not there yet - in our kids' lifetime," he said.
"Our youngest kid is now 21, so it's been a while. We've got grand kids now, too, so we've been saying the same thing for the grand kids. We had a new grandchild born three weeks ago at the start of the finals series, so I'll take that as good luck."
Rochelle, who said the main reason she married Cameron was because he was a Richmond supporter, added: "They never see their grandad without his Richmond top on."
The players were given boisterous cheers as they made their way out from the dressingroom.
In keeping with the relaxed nature amongst the playing group, and their insistence on embracing the hype, star defender Alex Rance played up to the crowd, triumphantly raising his arms as he ran down the race. But the biggest cheer was unsurprisingly reserved for Brownlow Medal favourite Dustin Martin.
One supporter felt compelled to yell out: "Dusty, you're a god!"
There was some good-natured banter amongst the fans, too.
When some support staff exited the club house, one supporter yelled: "People we don't know!"
And that was also followed by good-natured cheering in what was a very humorous moment.
Such are the excitement levels amongst the Richmond faithful that they erupted into impromptu renditions of the club's famous theme song.
Shivers were sent down the spine when they belted out the "yellow and black" chorus line. One can only imagine what it will sound like when close to 95,000 fans do the same thing at the MCG on Saturday.
Richmond CEO Brendon Gale received three cheers from the crowd as well in a show of gratitude for how far he and his board have taken this club after so many barren years.
The teams split their results through the season but the Tigers, fresh from a week off after thumping Geelong in the qualifying final, will begin their latest clash as a strong favourite.
Coach Damien Hardwick said his players had embraced the Tiger Army and the finals hype but warned this would not help them come game day.
"There is a big crowd but we are pretty fortunate at the Richmond footy club that we get to play in front of big crows most weeks," he said.
"This is probably a little bit different because there is going to be a pretty parochial crowd behind us. Once we cross that white line, they will give us great support but the reality is they don't get kicks, marks, handballs. Our players have to fulfil a duty to get the job done."
Hardwick said it was difficult not to feel the hype.
"It's a celebration, really. I think as coaches we probably look at it and say: 'Listen, let's not buy into it'. But the reality is, we are in the final four of a competition that has gone a hell of a long time. We are really excited to be here," he said.
"Once we get into here (the club), it's all work. I wouldn't say the fun stops. We still have a good time doing what we do but we embrace what we are and look to challenge ourselves and bring our best foot forward come Saturday afternoon."
The Giants, having joined the AFL in 2012, are likely to have only a few thousand supporters on Saturday. Giants coach Leon Cameron has maintained this is irrelevant, a point Hardwick reinforced.
"Once the players cross the line, they will come to play, the Giants. They are an incredible football side. We have to make aware that their very best football is very hard to beat. We have to make sure we come to play," he said.
Regardless of the result, there's one thing that's certain - there are bound to be tears. For the Tigers' faithful, it's hoped these are tears of joy.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/sea-of-yellow-and-black-as-richmond-tigers-prepare-for-preliminary-final-20170921-gymdyd.html
