Phil Egan is Richmond’s Homecoming Hero for Saturday night’s big Dreamtime at the ‘G’ clash with Essendon.
The Tigers will pay tribute to Egan in the lead-up to the iconic match.
Egan will walk to the Punt Road end of the ground, where he’s sure to be warmly welcomed by the Tiger Army.
He’ll kick a ceremonial goal, then sign the football and present it to a Richmond fan in the crowd.
Highlights of Egan’s playing career with the Tigers also will be shown on the MCG’s big screens.
Phil Egan was recruited by Richmond from Robinvale, which was in the Club’s then Victorian country zone.
A strongly-built, versatile player, Egan made his senior debut with the Tigers in the opening match of the 1982 season against Fitzroy at Waverley Park at 19 years and 39 days of age. It was the same day that another talented Indigenous player in Maurice Rioli also debuted for the Club.
Egan had 12 disposals and took two marks in a 41-point Richmond win.
He played 14 games all-up that season, including the Tigers’ second semi-final victory over Carlton at Waverley Park, but was omitted from the team for the Grand Final against the Blues two weeks later.
His best year at Tigerland was in 1984, when he played all 22 games, averaged 18.0 disposals per match, kicked 18 goals, and finished sixth in the Jack Dyer Medal.
Egan’s valuable versatility within the Richmond line-up was highlighted late in the 1988 season, when senior coach Kevin Bartlett shifted him to full-forward for the Round 18 match against North Melbourne at the MCG.
He had acquitted himself admirably in a variety of positions throughout his seven-year league football career with Richmond to that point, most notably wing, half-forward and on-ball. Lining up at full-forward, however, was something quite foreign to him.
At 180cm, Egan certainly was on the small size for a spearhead, but he had the capacity to leap high for marks and the strength to win one-on-one contests, as the North Melbourne defenders were to discover.
With Egan firing on all cylinders in his new role at full-forward, Richmond prevailed by 31 points in a high-scoring contest – 21.14 (140) to 16.13 (109).
Egan finished the match with 15 kicks, two handballs, 12 marks and seven goals (7.4) in a dazzling display that earned him one Brownlow Medal vote.
With his confidence soaring after such a commanding showing, Egan doubled up superbly the following week, when the Tigers met the highly-fancied, fourth-placed Melbourne side at the ‘G’.
Richmond went into the Round 19 encounter with the Demons as a rank outsider, notwithstanding its convincing Round 18 victory over North Melbourne.
The Tigers were outclassed by Melbourne in the opening term and trailed by 36 points at quarter-time. By late in the third quarter, they were still down by five goals and staring defeat firmly in the face.
Phil Egan, however, had other ideas.
He ignited Richmond with a brilliant burst of football that enabled it to go on and record a mighty upset win by 18 points in another high-scoring extravaganza – 23.11 (149) to 20.11 (131).
Egan had 11 kicks, two handballs, took eight marks and booted seven goals (7.1) in a mighty, match-winning performance.
Although Egan managed only four more goals in the final three home-and-away rounds that year, he finished with a competition career-high 26 for the season, thanks to that tremendous 14-goal blitz in consecutive weeks.
All-up, Egan played 125 games and kicked 117 goals for the Tigers in a nine-season career from 1982-1990.
Phil Egan playing profile
Born: February 9, 1963
Height: 180cm
Playing weight: 80kg
Recruited to Richmond from: Robinvale
Guernsey number: No. 13
Games at Richmond (1982-1990): 125
Goals at Richmond: 117
