Richo [merged]

[Tigermonk]

Now the rebuild can truely begin

[Infamy]

WA , your boring.
Told you 3 weeks ago,

Why do you even bother leaving the site
Talk about chucking a hissy fit

[mat073]

Now the rebuild can truely begin

Thats what I was thinking.....There was always the risk of Richo making 2010 another year of smoke & mirrors.

[WA Tiger]

He has been back for nearly a week now..
Interesting to see whats happens in the next week

Well come on then Jackstar give us the scoop before the press does, you do know don't you??....

Well I do know actually, will know more today as well
You can read it in the press smarty

Well looks like they beat you too it again JS, really starting to doubt your sources or you..... What was your thoughts when you read it in the press.... smarty

You have trouble reading do you.
As I have said, he will try and get through the pre season ( As Nixon has said )
And it was in the press the following day after I said it.
He wants to play, but a decision will be made after  the pre season.
Richo does have doubts,
Keep this in mind.
He was supposely right to at Coburg but was sore in the warm ups.
Personally , I would love him to play on.
From a clubs perception, he should retire.

Hey Jacko me old mate are you any closer to breaking this story or what.......

WA , your boring.
Told you 3 weeks ago,

Oh crap, you told us poo, and only now AFTER (yet agin) something happens (story breaks) do you pipe up, and youd did not tell us mate you said he was having problems running and ra ra you quoted the press. If you told us you had problems pooting we could guess you have a cork jammed up your ass... well that probably is true.... but anyone could have guessed that, get my drift.

Talk about boring....

[one-eyed]

Scans forced my hand: Matthew Richardson
Jon Ralph | Herald Sun November 14, 2009

DIABOLICAL medical scans on Monday only confirmed what Matthew Richardson had suspected for a month.

The hamstring tendon that had snapped in Round 6 and tweaked while returning with Coburg was deteriorating rather than healing.

In fact, it was so much worse that he would need surgery if he was to even contemplate playing on next year.

"Basically it wasn't progressing. I had a scan on it and it had actually gone backwards from my last scan in September. It really hasn't progressed much since I played for Coburg and the prognosis was that it wasn't going to get better unless I had more surgery," he said.

"Turning 35 I just didn't think that was a realistic option so really there was no other choice to be made.

"I had a gut feeling for a while within myself just running around in the last month or so I just didn't feel right. It was sore. I couldn't run how I would like to run. I pretty much knew from then on."

Flanked by football manager Craig Cameron and coach Damien Hardwick, his dominant theme was no regrets.

He praised the club for giving him the time to test his hamstring, and said he had made the correct decision to test the surgically repaired tendon late in the year.

The highlight of a career with just three finals in 282 games was obvious - the rampaging semi-final win against Carlton in 2001.

Richardson, 34, was lauded by Hardwick yesterday.

"There is no doubt he is a giant of the game," Hardwick said.

Richardson will now pursue a career in the media. He would also love to fill some sort of role at Richmond and is working on an autobiography.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/scans-forced-my-hand-matthew-richardson/story-e6frf9jf-1225797581505

[one-eyed]

Matthew Richarsdson, a true Tiger to the end
Mike Sheahan
November 13, 2009 11:30pm

IT WAS so Richo. Dry to the point of droll, self-effacing, as ever.

As Matthew Richardson opened proceedings yesterday at the media conference to confirm the previous night's unscheduled announcement of his retirement, he said he felt a little like Sandra Sully with the late news.

Howls of laughter came from teammates among the throng in the Punt Rd gymnasium.

It was as if he had been dared to use the Sully line, and he delivered in typical fashion, accompanied by the signature half-smile.

It may have been the end of the line for the Richmond great, yet he gave every indication he was ready to move on.

After all, when a bloke's rising 35 and has a hamstring as durable as the club banner on a windy day, the choices are minimal.

Unusually, it was left to Richo to conduct the media conference. Club president Gary March and chief executive Brendon Gale stood to the side, while general manager of football Craig Cameron (and coach Damien Hardwick) flanked Richardson in front of the cameras and microphones, but only Richardson spoke.

Hardwick, invited to offer something during question time, termed Richo a great of the game. No one thought him over the top.

Richo's affection for both his family and his football club was patently obvious, and he expressed no regrets.

Rather than dwell on what might have been, he was thankful for 17 years doing something he loved.

His father, the 1967 premiership player Alan Richardson, sat to the side, the walking stick by his side a reminder of the stiff leg that afflicts him these days.

As bizarre as it sounds, Richardson Jr played only three finals.

Predictably, the winning semi-final against Carlton in 2001 was his highlight.

The Tigers beat a traditional enemy by 11 points in front of 83,000 people that day.

His highlight says much about him.

Here's a bloke who kicked bags of up to 10 goals a dozen times in his career nominating his favourite game as a final in which he kicked just one.

He played on Stephen Silvagni that night in the Carlton champion's farewell appearance.

Richo was in no doubt it was the highlight of his career, despite his modest contribution. It's all about team success.

The following week, the Brisbane Lions crushed the Tigers by 10 goals. What he wasn't to know at the time was he would not play another final in eight more years.

Yet he never wanted to play anywhere else, never got close, save for a visit to the home of former North Melbourne and Carlton coach Denis Pagan.

Richo did not elaborate on the meeting, but it was when Pagan moved to Carlton for the 2003 season.

"We had a cup of tea, one afternoon, but it was only a flirtation, so to speak," Pagan said.

He was lucky he stayed put. Relatively, anyway.

So were Richmond supporters.

He has been the sole source of joy for so many of them for so long.

Hardwick said he regretted the loss of an opportunity to coach Richardson, yet the timing is just about perfect.

The new coach has declared he is starting from scratch, and scratch it is without the man with 800 goals to his name.

Richo will be sorely missed at Punt Rd ... but he couldn't be expected to carry an entire club forever.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26347475-5016212,00.html

[one-eyed]

Tale of two Tigers attests to the value of character
November 14, 2009

VICTORIANS have this week rapturously welcomed one great Tiger and sadly farewelled another.

They are two sportsmen, both born in 1975, and Tiger Woods, perhaps the greatest golfer ever, has treated us to the sight of a champion in his prime. Richmond footballer Matthew Richardson is loved by fans for his athleticism, his passion and, perversely, his quirky lapses as a player, but at 34 his body can no longer cope with the rigours of football. Despite the differences between their sports, global status and incomes - Woods' $3.3 million appearance fee for the Australian Masters is almost 10 times what Richardson might have earned this year - each conducts himself with an easy grace that reminds everyone why character matters in sport, and why it must avoid being reduced to a business for robotic professionals.

Both men might be excused some arrogance, yet this has only ever revealed itself in moments of breathtakingly ambitious play. Woods is in a league apart from other golfers, with 92 tournament titles, including 14 majors - the all-time record will surely be his for posterity. Richardson's statistics aren't too bad either, as he might put it with a typical self-deprecating smile: 800 goals in 282 games and three-times all-Australian in a team that finished bottom four in half of the seasons he played from 1993 on. He played only three finals, a matter of regret, and could easily have gone to a more successful club, but stayed with his beloved Tigers. He thanked the club's ''wonderfully loyal, passionate supporters'', and has earned similar tributes in return.

Woods is highly controlled on course, while Richardson famously wears his heart on his sleeve, but each seems true to himself and his fans. Sports stars readily succumb to the pitfalls of adulation; both Woods and Richardson remain humbly human, known for their easy charm and generosity towards the legions they inspire, both fellow players and fans. That is why the cost of Woods' visit will pay off for golf and Victoria and why Richardson was worth every cent Richmond paid him. Greatness is no guarantee of popularity - sport is littered with graceless champions. The two Tigers have achieved a special status, not only for their ability, but for their admirable character.

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/tale-of-two-tigers-attests-to-the-value-of-character-20091113-ieoj.html

[one-eyed]

Collingwood, Carlton wooed Richmond's favourite son Matthew Richardson
Jon Ralph and Brett Stubbs | November 13, 2009 11:00pm

HE CAME to be the heart and soul of Richmond, but "Richo" could easily have landed at Collingwood or Carlton.

In 1992, a raw 17-year-old Matthew Richardson drew the attention of the Magpies' recruiters.

Richmond took an interest only after an emergency phone call from his then senior coach at Devonport, former Hawthorn great Peter Knights.

"That year he was playing in the seniors with us. Collingwood was showing a real interest in him and they were in his ear about drafting him," Knights said yesterday.

"I can remember contacting Richmond and saying, `Listen here, Collingwood is in young Richo's ear, and he is a mad Richmond supporter', because of his father, Allan "Bull" Richardson, playing at Richmond.

"I said to Richmond, `Get across here and get him signed up under the father-son before Collingwood get too far down the track with him'.

"And sure enough, that's what ended up happening. Richmond signed him on a father-and-son and the rest is history, thank goodness."

If that wasn't bad enough, Richardson could have ended his career at the Tigers' other sworn enemy, Carlton.

He admitted yesterday that in the mid-2000s he sat down in the living room of then-Blues coach Denis Pagan.

"There was a little bit of interest from other clubs when I was out of contract. It never got to the point where it was serious. I went to Denis Pagan's house one day, and that was about as close as it got," Richardson said.

Pagan yesterday recalled the meeting and said he had thought of it upon hearing news of the Tiger's retirement on Thursday.

"It was when I was at Carlton, and he was sitting in the front room," Pagan said.

"We had a pre-season pick and about $50,000 extra to spend. We did try Richo, but we were never a massive chance. Stephen Kernahan was a big wrap for him so we had afternoon tea at my place.

"It was only a preliminary chat and nothing came of it. He was very loyal to the Tigers and it might have been around that time that they were in discussions about trading him. I think we ended up getting Cameron Cloke.

"Richo was so loyal. It was more like a flirtation."

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/sport/afl/story/0,27046,26348416-5016169,00.html

[one-eyed]

Giant of the game a rich talent
Michael Gleeson | November 14, 2009

MATTHEW Richardson ended his career in the manner he played it; opening with a joke, followed with a dedication of sincere earnest love of his club and his teammates, delivered with a self-effacing grin and a shrug.

He took his seat in the Richmond players' gym before a battery of microphones and said he felt like Sandra Sully reading the late news.

It was the day Richo came to say goodbye but everyone, even his teammates whom he'd spoken to earlier, already knew that. Like everything with Richo the news had preceded him.

The mind had been willing, but the body was not. A medical scan on Monday confirmed that his surgically repaired hamstring was in worse condition now than when he had the last scan in September, and that to play on would require further surgery. On the cusp of 35 he did not figure that to be a realistic proposition.

''I guess I couldn't look people around the club and the supporters in the eye by saying that I was ready to go, when deep down I knew that I wasn't,'' Richardson said.

''The timing is definitely right, I'm really comfortable with the decision … I'm disappointed I'm not playing on next year because I really did want to, but I don't have any doubts I've made the right decision.

''I really did want to pull on the jumper again but it's just not to be and there's no point to push it when your body is telling you otherwise.''

New Tigers coach Damien Hardwick said 15 other coaches would be relieved Richardson was not playing on, adding that it was not only a sad day for Richmond but a sad day for football to lose such a ''giant of the game''.

''When people come through the gate to watch a certain player, that's the mark of a champion,'' Hardwick said.

Richardson admitted to some career regrets - the paucity of finals the most obvious. In his 17 years of AFL football he managed just one finals series, 2001.

''Definitely my favourite highlight of being at the club and the moment I remember most was when we beat Carlton in the semi final in 2001 - the MCG, a traditional rival, Carlton, to beat them at the MCG was a great feeling,'' he said.

''We had to travel to Brisbane the next week and we all know what they were going on to achieve - three premierships in a row - so it just wasn't to be. If we didn't have to go up there, you never know, we might have been able to get into a grand final that year.''

Richardson said he never seriously considered playing anywhere other than at Punt Road, at the club his dad also played. A visit to Denis Pagan's house was as close as he got to football infidelity.

He thanked his coaches - all of them, though there were too many to name. He joined the club in 1992 as Allan Jeans was departing and he left it with Hardwick the top man - but neither coached him in a game.

John Northey was in charge of the side for Richardson's first game, Terry Wallace for his last, yet it was Jade Rawlings who coached Richmond's remaining games of this, his last season, but he too never coached Richardson, who was also his brother-in-law.

There were three other coaches besides - Robert Walls, Jeff Gieschen and Danny Frawley - all of whom he said taught him something.

As sad as Richmond is about the retirement the reality is the timing is not bad. Hardwick undoubtedly wanted Richardson to play on. That he hasn't gives the club a clear and obvious delineation of eras and guards changed.

Dustin Martin will likely be recruited in a fortnight. He was in nappies and barely 12 months old when Richardson played his first Tigers game. This is indeed generational change.

The popular Richardson is a rare player who transcended club loyalties and thus leaves indelible memories on fans of all clubs. He hopes to be remembered simply.

''I would like to be remembered as someone who gave as much as he had for the Richmond footy club. I think I left everything out there on game day, I think I gave my all and I tried to run out games to the best of my ability.''

And, he might add, thrilled everyone with his raw athleticism, passion and good humour.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

''I couldn't look people around the club and the supporters in the eye by saying that I was ready to go, when deep down I knew that I wasn't.''

''I really did want to pull on the jumper again but it's just not to be and there's no point to push it when your body is telling you otherwise.''

''Definitely my favourite highlight of being at the club and the moment I remember most was when we beat Carlton in the semi-final in 2001 - the MCG, a traditional rival, Carlton, to be beat them at the MCG was a great feeling.''

''I would like to be remembered as someone who gave as much as he had for the Richmond footy club. I think I left everything out there on game day, I think I gave my all and I tried to run out games to the best of my ability.''

AND THE COACH'S VIEW?
''When people come through the gate to watch a certain player, that's the mark of a champion,'' Richmond coach Damien Hardwick.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/giant-of-the-game-a-rich-talent/2009/11/13/1258043793065.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

[one-eyed]

Richo: a Tiger who earned his stripes
Martin Flanagan | November 14, 2009

WHEN I started writing a book with Matthew Richardson, a Richmond supporter called George Halkias, who is also the coach of the Australian Homeless World Cup Soccer team, said to me, "What a great subject." Why, I asked. "Because everybody has a view of him."

I have since found this to be true. Everyone with any knowledge of Australian football has a view of ''Richo''. Other players have become household names over the past 17 years, but none in the way that Richo did. The careers of players like Michael Voss and James Hird amount to a sort of sporting perfection. Richo was manifestly imperfect. He was fallible. He was like us.

Richo's father, Alan "Bull" Richardson, played in Richmond's 1967 premiership team, the first of five premierships the club won in 13 years. The last of these grand final wins, in 1980, was also the first game of football Richo remembers seeing. To his five-year-old mind, football and the Richmond Football Club were one and the same.

The irony, one of many in his career, was that the first game Richo saw, the one that gave him his passion for the club, also marked the end of its great era. The Tigers would make the grand final again in 1982 but then slip from football's First World to Third World. It would be Richo's destiny to carry the flag for this once proud and mighty club during its years of ignominy.

One of the words commonly used in relation to Richo is paradox. Here is one example: In football, Richo is regarded as a great individualist, but he is someone who sees no point in individual sports. For Richo, the team's the thing. Last year he flatly refused to believe allegations that players were tanking. The best thing in footy, he says, is the feeling you have for 30 minutes after a win. "You feel so poo after a loss. No one would willingly inflict that feeling upon themselves.''

Richo played with his emotions bare for all to see. This included moments early in his career when he expressed displeasure towards teammates when leads were ignored or passes went astray. He was considered truculent and, some said, selfish. For most of his career, there was someone somewhere saying that Richmond would be better off without him, that his singular style of play was too disruptive to the game plan.

Jack Dyer, the greatest of all Richmond figures, played for 18 seasons. Richo played for 17, beginning when he was 18 years old. His record is amazing for the fact that, given his dominance within the club, he won its best and fairest only once. The Jack Dyer Medal even failed to come his way in 2008, the year he nearly won the Brownlow.

And while most people know that Richo had a career-long problem with his kicking, few know he kicked 800 goals and stands second only to Jack "Skinny'' Titus as Richmond's all-time highest goal scorer.

One of the best articles I have read on Richo appeared without a byline on a website called Punting Ace.com in 2008, and was written by an extremely erudite rugby league supporter. The writer is in a club somewhere when a Richmond game comes on.

"When Matthew Richardson hits the screen, a nasty polarisation sweeps the room … some take delight in highlighting, without invitation, that they enjoy watching Richo play as he will inevitably cost Richmond dearly. Others, who claim to have a knowledge of the sport … rattle off inaccurate and ill-considered diatribes about Richo's petulance and selfishness and assert that he, among other things, has cost the Tigers at least two wins a season. His goalkicking is mocked, his pride is questioned, his attitude slammed and his achievements derided. The focus is on his flaws. These fools who get their kicks from cheap attacks on Richo can't see the forest for the trees.

"There is no doubt that Richo has his flaws, like nearly all of us. He has a tendency to get a little nervous from set shots and occasionally his heart-on-the-sleeve behaviour can be misconstrued. But these are nothing more than blips on his radar of greatness and they certainly don't define Richo the man or Richo the footballer. That is because Richo is the personification of heart. No player has the phenomenal ticker that Richo has. He runs all day and then runs some more."

Away from the game, Richo is a humble, polite man whose second love is music. He is also someone with a deep regard for the history of his club and the game. Judith Donnelly, the Tigers' media manager, called him her "go-to man". If there was a need for a player to make a hospital visit to see a member of a Richmond family, he was the one who would always do it. Mike Perry, the president of the Richmond Old Players' Association, says, "Richo gives and then he gives some more".

One reason for the public's change of heart towards Richo was the sheer longevity of his career. Football followers watched Richo grow up. And then there was his bravery. In one famous match against Essendon at the MCG, he played with a broken nose and two black eyes, kicked the winning goal and had it taken off him by an umpire's ruling. It seemed to sum up the luckless nature of his career.

Richo never got to play in a grand final. His reward was in the hearts of Richmond followers and football followers generally, along with the respect of other players.

I was at Alice Springs airport when I got the message that Richo had, in his words, "pulled the pin". A moment later, I chanced upon Liam Jurrah and did what I have done with many people over the past six months, I asked him what he thought of Richo. "A great player," he said. Why, I asked. Liam does not waste words. "He was good for that long time," he said.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/richo-a-tiger-who-earned-his-stripes/2009/11/13/1258043793059.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

[jackstar is back again]

He has been back for nearly a week now..
Interesting to see whats happens in the next week

Well come on then Jackstar give us the scoop before the press does, you do know don't you??....

Well I do know actually, will know more today as well
You can read it in the press smarty

Well looks like they beat you too it again JS, really starting to doubt your sources or you..... What was your thoughts when you read it in the press.... smarty

You have trouble reading do you.
As I have said, he will try and get through the pre season ( As Nixon has said )
And it was in the press the following day after I said it.
He wants to play, but a decision will be made after  the pre season.
Richo does have doubts,
Keep this in mind.
He was supposely right to at Coburg but was sore in the warm ups.
Personally , I would love him to play on.
From a clubs perception, he should retire.

Hey Jacko me old mate are you any closer to breaking this story or what.......

WA , your boring.
Told you 3 weeks ago,

Oh crap, you told us poo, and only now AFTER (yet agin) something happens (story breaks) do you pipe up, and youd did not tell us mate you said he was having problems running and ra ra you quoted the press. If you told us you had problems pooting we could guess you have a cork jammed up your ass... well that probably is true.... but anyone could have guessed that, get my drift.

Talk about boring....

Dont know why I bother

[Tigermonk]

  let hutchy give him stale news 

[Hellenic Tiger]

Never got a chance to post when the news was broken so I'll say my piece now on the big fella. Sorry if it is already mentioned by others but I'll probably echo most peoples sentiments.

Will miss the big fella.
Heart and soul of the footy club.
Humble and proud hero.
Champion player and champion person.
Shining light of the footy club in a dark dark era.
Shame injuries prevented him from getting to 300.
Athletic, and dextrous with a Rolls Royce engine.

At least now the rebuild can begin and I can only hope the club retains his services in an off field capacity. Can be used as a marketing tool to keep a whole generation of RFC fans who have seen little success as he has been a shining light in that time.

Richo good luck in your endeavours. You have provided me so much joy over the 17 year journey we experienced. Take care big fella.

[WA Tiger]

let hutchy give him stale news 

What are you JS's bitch or something, you follow him around the forum backing him up at will, does he have a photo of you with a goat or what....

[WA Tiger]

He has been back for nearly a week now..
Interesting to see whats happens in the next week

Well come on then Jackstar give us the scoop before the press does, you do know don't you??....

Well I do know actually, will know more today as well
You can read it in the press smarty

Well looks like they beat you too it again JS, really starting to doubt your sources or you..... What was your thoughts when you read it in the press.... smarty

You have trouble reading do you.
As I have said, he will try and get through the pre season ( As Nixon has said )
And it was in the press the following day after I said it.
He wants to play, but a decision will be made after  the pre season.
Richo does have doubts,
Keep this in mind.
He was supposely right to at Coburg but was sore in the warm ups.
Personally , I would love him to play on.
From a clubs perception, he should retire.

Hey Jacko me old mate are you any closer to breaking this story or what.......

WA , your boring.
Told you 3 weeks ago,

Oh crap, you told us poo, and only now AFTER (yet agin) something happens (story breaks) do you pipe up, and youd did not tell us mate you said he was having problems running and ra ra you quoted the press. If you told us you had problems pooting we could guess you have a cork jammed up your ass... well that probably is true.... but anyone could have guessed that, get my drift.

Talk about boring....

Dont know why I bother

Yeah I agree...