The Tigers of gold
Herald-Sun | June 27, 2008
THE key ingredients that made Richmond an AFL powerhouse from 1920-80 will be revealed tonight with the naming of Ten Tigerland Treasures.
The club is celebrating its centenary in the VFL-AFL with a dinner at Crown casino, featuring 10 Tiger Treasures of the Century.
They range from the greatest mark taken in a Richmond guernsey to the club's most controversial moment, the finest Tiger servant and club's most defining moment.
Then there is the category class of the century in which a voting panel has had to choose between great players such as Bill Morris, Royce Hart and Kevin Bartlett.
Let's start with the mark. Who can forget the day at the MCG in Round 5 1979 when Michael "Disco" Roach soared over a pack of Hawks?
Those who weren't there would have often seen the Ted Golding picture, taken at an angle that places Roach above the first deck of the old Southern Stand.
But Roach has genuine competition, most notably from a man who played just two matches with Richmond.
Malcolm Greenslade was a full-forward from South Australian club Sturt, based in Melbourne during 1971 for national service.
His very first touch for the Tigers was a breathtaking grab at Waverley over teammate Roger Dean. Seven goals in two games and he was back at Sturt.
Maybe both will be overlooked for the moment when Royce Hart soared over Geelong's Peter Walker late in the last quarter of the 1967 Grand Final.
The grab was taken from a kick-in and enabled Richmond to maintain its nine-point lead and secure its first flag in 24 years.
What about the finest individual performances? Bartlett kicking 21 goals from a forward stuff in the 1980 finals series is hard to go past.
But Tiger fanatics could point to the three best-on-ground displays from three finals by Michael Green in the 1969 premiership season.
Not surprisingly the name Francis Bourke appears twice in the brave acts of the century category, one featuring blood, the other going quite a bit further when he fractured his leg and played on for a short period before walking unaided to the dressing room.
The Bourke name appears again in strong and bold of the century, a competitive little group including "Captain Blood" Jack Dyer, Matthew Richardson, Des Rowe and Max Oppy.
Then there's the goals of the century. Geelong supporters recall with agony the monster drop-kick of John Ronaldson in the last quarter of the 1967 Grand Final.
Matthew Knights' five-bounce goal in the 1995 second semi-final at the MCG was breathtaking, although he was two bounces short of Michael Mitchell's Round 22 gem against Sydney at the SCG in 1990.
The treasures will be revealed tonight.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23927911-19742,00.html
