After Tommy Hafey had guided Richmond to a drought-breaking premiership in 1967 (its first since 1943), the Tigers failed to make the finals in 1968.  On the eve of the 1969 season, Hafey was interviewed by the doyen of football scribes, Alf Brown, for a fascinating feature article in ‘The Herald’.  Here, word for word, (and sub-heading for sub-heading) is Alf Brown’s in-depth feature, which was headlined: ‘A Tiger On His Footy’ . . .

"Tom Hafey, of Richmond, is a football coach who thinks about little else but football. It is his life.

If you can't talk football to Hafey, conversation is likely to lag.

Hafey loves football and he loves success. Failure eats at him; tortures him.

He is a fanatic about the game and cannot understand why everyone else at Richmond is not as keen as he is.

Hafey can't get enough football – it's his life. Winter weekends are all football. He is at the ground early Saturday to watch the Reserves. Then he guides the fortunes of the Firsts.

After a game he is away quickly to a television set, either at his Beaumaris house, or at former secretary Graeme Richmond's place in Hawthorn.

There Hafey watches the replays; later the inquests. On Sunday he is on "World of Sport" to be quizzed about Richmond's success or failure.

In the afternoon it's football again -- generally to watch Port Melbourne play in the Association. There he meets football mates and the talk is football, football, football.

Some coaches like to get away from football and people who talk to them about it. Not Hafey.

Take him away from the smell of a football and people who love the game and he would be the unhappiest man in Melbourne.

KEEN ON

BOXING

Occasionally, if you persevere, you can side-track Hafey by introducing boxing. He embraced this sport when he was coaching in Shepparton and became great friends with former Australian lightweight champion Max Carlos.

But Hafey is making Carlos as football-minded as himself. Carlos often comes to Melbourne for Richmond's games and I have noticed he sometimes stays on and goes to Association matches with Tom.

In 1967 Richmond were premiers. Last year they could not make the final four. For 14 successive weeks they were propped in fifth position, but could not advance.

It was the most frustrating period of Hafey's life. As the season advanced and Richmond continued to find the top four elusive, Hafey's frustration grew and grew.

But it never dented Hafey's supreme confidence in his side's ability to make it. Hafey can be over-confident.

Right until the end of the season he used his favorite remark, "You must be joking, surely," to disparage suggestions that Richmond would miss the finals.

Hafey, a director and outside representative of a printing firm, is one of the fittest 38-year-olds in the State. He is a fitness fanatic.

Rarely have I phoned him at Beaumaris without his wife saying: "Tom's out for a while, he's having a run along the beach."
 

NO CASH

FOR DRINK

Recently Hafey tried to run from Beaumaris to Portsea. He would have made it, too, if he had taken some money with him. But after 30 miles he dried out and could not buy a drink.

The drink would have been lemonade. Hafey does not drink or smoke. Jack "Captain Blood" Dyer has never forgiven him for this.

It was Richmond's 1967 premiership dinner a few hours after they had won the flag. Dyer was at a table with Hafey, Graeme Richmond and Pat Guinane. They are all non-drinkers.

This is our greatest night since we won our last flag in 1943 and I have to get stuck with a bunch of wowsers," Dyer moaned.

Unless you love football as much as Hafey, he is not a relaxing person to be with. He is a great listener, a probing personality. And he has a good memory.

An apparently innocuous remark about football can find you vigorously defending yourself against Hafey, who wants to know why you say such a thing.

And he is likely to add: “That's different from what you said three years ago”!

Hafey believes that players must make sacrifices to be good team men.

He has got the message through to most of his players that if they are not prepared to give everything to Richmond, there are others ready to jump into their places.

This is one of the reasons why Hafey, and other coaches, are able to get players training for football in 100 degree heat in the middle of summer.

SOUGHT

BIG MEN

As a coach Hafey looks for big men with pace. These players excel anywhere, but no more so than on the spacious MCG. Hafey would always find room for a Johnny Birt, but all things being equal, he will go for the big man every time.

Hafey does not think a player knows everything just because he plays League football.

The player with the big head is quickly cut down to size by the aggressive, blunt-talking Richmond coach.

Despite his emphasis on physical fitness, Hafey realises it is not the start and finish of football. He knows that it is no good a player being fit if he lacks ability.

To his perspiring players Hafey's main theme seems to be physical fitness, but he places as much emphasis on determination and dedication.

Hafey is a good selector. He is firm, but not dogmatic. He goes to the table with strong ideas, but a good argument can change them.

His football tactics are simple. He says winning football is putting the ball through the goals in the quickest possible manner and Richmond's whole team strategy is built round this ideal.

Hafey likes long kicks and a play-on game. He does not like pretty football and wants his players to play without embellishments.

He even wants his backmen to be attackers. This means that they are not as tight as some defenders.

HURT

DEEPLY

In the 1967 finals, Richmond won their two games although they had scores of 101 and 105 points kicked against them.

Hafey is popular with his players. Because of his superb fitness he can do anything he asks them to do. They respect him, but do not fear him.

If Hafey has a fault as a coach, it is his supreme optimism. He has great faith in the ability of his players. Too much perhaps, because some of them let him down badly last year.

Last year's failure cut Hafey deeply. He never said much, but when Richmond won their last six games, beating two finalists in St Kilda and Essendon, and still marked time in fifth position, he really suffered.

Hafey said today that all players were determined to make amends this year for last season's poor showing.

Richmond finished fifth, two points behind the fourth team, but for all the good that did their supporters, they could have been last.

We can improve. (Ted) Murphy and (Des) McKenzie are two fine first-year players who will be better this season.

(Rex) Hunt is another one. He averaged eight marks a game last year and you must have some ability to do that. But he just has to learn to kick straight," Hafey said.