To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Tigers’ 1973 premiership, Richmond Media is transporting Yellow and Black barrackers back in time throughout 2023 to follow the Punt Road path to that fabulous flag triumph. Today we delve into the archives of The Age newspaper for a review of Richmond’s Round 7 victory over Fitzroy at Waverley by Paul Speelman. 

“They’re incorrigible, those Tigers. Call them arrogant, super-confident, brilliant, call them what you like – they were the old thumb-their-noses-at-the-opposition Tigers.

Even taciturn coach Tom Hafey hardly managed to conceal a smile after his team finished playing cat-and-mouse with hapless Fitzroy at Waverley yesterday.

Against bigger or better opposition the Tigers’ tricks might have landed them in trouble, as they have in the past.

But there was no danger of that on the big Waverley ground.

One quarter was all the Tigers needed to lay down the law but just for the hell of it they carried it on for another, piling on 11.6 for the half against poor Fitzroy’s 2.6 (1.4 for the first quarter).

There was brilliance all over the ground. At centre half-forward Dick Clay acted as if Royce Hart didn’t exist.

Fourteen kicks and 10 marks for the first half told the story. And so did three beaten opponents – Doug Searl, Harvey Merrigan and Greg Booth.

Alongside Clay was a rejuvenated triple Brownlow medallist Ian Stewart, who at last appeared to have shaken off his hamstring trouble. Stewart came off at the end holding his leg, but it was only cramp, he assured everybody.

At full-forward bulky Rick McLean reversed his usual last-quarter-only form with a scintillating performance in the first term.

Four goals, three from well-deserved frees, were against his name by quarter time.

Around the packs Kevin Bartlett carried on as if he owned the ball and would take it home if the others wouldn’t let him play with it.

His 35 kicks for the game gives an idea of how he hogged the play.

But then came the third quarter and the Fitzroy revival. Actually it was more of a Richmond rest period as the Lions outscored Richmond seven goals straight to 2.5.

In all fairness to Fitzroy a few half-time moves seemed to do it some good, particularly those of Kevin Murray to centre and Warwick Irwin on to the ball and a half-forward flank.

Even the move of Laurie Richards to full-forward seemed to work for a while but in the end the Lions just weren’t good enough, as coach Graham Donaldson admitted after the game.

“You wait around to see if some of these players will come good but eventually you must come to the conclusion that they just don’t make the grade,” he said.

And the last thing you’d expect Donaldson to complain about was the umpiring, seeing his Lions finished up with 45 frees to Richmond’s 27, and were awarded an amazing 13 to Richmond’s 3 in the second quarter.

But complain he did, and there must be a moral in that somewhere.”

Match details

Richmond         6.5       11.6     13.11    16.21 (117)                                          

Fitzroy              1.4       2.6       9.6       12.8 (80)                                  

Goals – Richmond: McLean 5, Cumming 2, Green 2, Stewart 2, Bartlett, Hunt, Lamb, Morris, Sproule.

Leading disposal-winners – Richmond: Bartlett 37, Clay 29, Sheedy 25, Hunt 21, Stewart 21, Bourke 20.

Best – Richmond: Clay (best on ground), Bartlett, Stewart, McLean, Sheedy, Bourke, Morris.

Goals – Fitzroy: Murphy 3, Padley 2, Ruscuklic 2, Austen, Rhodes, Richards, Searl, Wilson.

Leading disposal-winners – Fitzroy: Murphy 25, Rhodes 25, Ruscuklic 25, Irwin 21, Wilson 21.

Best – Fitzroy: Irwin, Ruscuklic, Murphy, Murray, Padley, Crow, Wilson.

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