Richo’s bold Brownlow bid
By Tony Greenberg
12:40 PM Tue 23 September, 2008
Matthew Richardson’s equal third placing in the 2008 Brownlow Medal, with 22 votes, was the best performance by a Richmond player in the game’s most prestigious award for 25 years.
Not since Maurice Rioli finished runner-up on 23 votes, to North Melbourne’s Ross Glendinning (24 votes), has a Tiger fared better in the Brownlow.
Interestingly, Richardson received more votes in last Monday night’s count than Richmond’s last Brownlow winner, Ian Stewart, back in 1971. ‘Stewie’ polled 21 votes that year to win by three from Essendon’s Barry Davis, Hawthorn’s Peter Hudson and St Kilda’s John McIntosh, who all polled 18.
With his 22 votes in the ’08 Brownlow, ‘Richo’ has moved into 27th place on the Medal’s all-time vote-winners’ list, which is topped by former Footscray and North Melbourne ruck champion, Gary Dempsey, on 246.
Richo now has 134 votes, which means he’s jumped into third place on Richmond’s all-time Brownlow vote-winners’ list, behind Francis Bourke, with 139 votes, and Kevin Bartlett, on 160 votes.
Had Richo scored two more votes and tied with the Western Bulldogs’ Adam Cooney for the ’08 Brownlow, he would have become the oldest-ever winner of the coveted Medal. At 33 years and six months of age, he would easily have eclipsed Barry Round, who was 31 years and 238 days old when he tied with Bernie Quinlan for the 1981 Brownlow.
And, had that occurred, it’s doubtful if there would have been a more popular winner since the Brownlow Medal’s inception in 1924.
As it was, the packed audience at last Monday night’s count roared with delight each time Richo’s name was read out . . . and that roar had reached fever-pitch proportions by the time the voting for Round 22 came around, with the big Tiger champion still right in the Medal mix.
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/6301/Default.aspx?newsId=68102
