A landmark four-year research project documenting every known Richmond Reserves player in history, has been completed.

The project, begun by Rhett Bartlett during the 2020 lockdown, and co-researched by volunteers Peter Foot (himself a Tiger Reserves player) and researcher Rob Harris, has resulted in the discovery of 2,182 players from 1919 until 2023.

The list has now been published on the Tigerland Archive website - www.tigerlandarchive.org/tiki-index.php?page=Reserves+Players 

To make the list a player either had to have been selected in the team, or for early seasons where no weekly team listing was available, selected in the squad. Emergencies were not included. Richmond AFL listed players during the club’s Coburg alignment from 2001 – 2013 are also included.

Peter Foot was instrumental in scouring the microfilm newspapers of the 1960s and 1970s in the State Library to piece together the ins and outs each week. Rob Harris masterfully swept through ancestry, war and census records to help identify players.  The project could not have been completed to the extent it was without their research.

Utilising the list, we are able to identify those who played the most Reserve games, and kicked the most Reserve goals. (In some cases, there is still missing data so tallies may increase upon further research).

MOST RICHMOND RESERVES GAMES

Mal Wishart – 164 games (1919-1928) (n.b. he never played a Senior game)
Jim “Spriggy” Doran – 143 games (1920-25, 27-29) (n.b. he never played a Senior game)
Alby Pannam – 114 games (1946-52)
John Manton – 98 games (1981-86/88-89)
Harry Pollock – 98 games (1920-26)
Les Langdon – 97 games (1928-33)
Dave Lynch - 95 games (1922-26, 29-30)
Daryl Freame – 94 games (1975-1981)
Rich Saunders – 93 games (1929-1936)
Philip Bottams – 92 games (1975-1981)

MOST RICHMOND RESERVES GOALS

Dave Lynch -  378 goals (from 95 games)
Brian Taylor - 192 goals (from 44 games)
Glenn Dickson - 169 goals (from 75 games)
Norm Dickson - 162 goals (from 53 games)
Alby Pannam - 158 goals (from 114 games)
Stephen Taubert - 149 goals (from 73 games)
Mark Jackson - 148 goals (from 29 games) (n.b Never played a Senior game)
Liam McBean - 143 goals (from 59 games)
Robert Lamb - 136 goals (from 59 games)
Maurie O’Connell - 126 goals (from 50 games)