Harry Armstrong has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of some top-notch, left-foot, key forwards throughout Richmond’s history.
Armstrong, taken by the Tigers with their sixth pick (No. 23 overall) in the 2024 AFL national draft, is the first key forward left-footer at Punt Road since Stuart Edwards three decades ago.
Interestingly, Edwards, like Armstrong, was recruited by Richmond from Haileybury College.
The 196cm Edwards was good on the lead, strong overhead and a long, accurate left-foot kick.
He won the Club’s Best First Year Player award in 1992, but didn’t manage a senior game the following year because of a leg injury.
Edwards returned to senior action midway through the 1994 season. Then, in 1995, he thrived, particularly during the early rounds of the season, as part of a three-pronged attack with Matthew Richardson and Brendon Gale.
He kicked an AFL career-high five goals against North Melbourne in Round 4, 1995 and finished with 26 goals for the season.
All-up, Edwards played 46 games and kicked 52 goals for Richmond in a five-year career from 1992-96.
It was 75 years earlier that the Tigers’ first recognised key forward, George Bayliss, made his mark in the League football competition.
Bayliss, a Richmond local, debuted with the Club in 1914 and showed some promising signs for a few seasons before his playing career really took off in 1920.
He was the competition’s leading goalkicker that season with 63 goals but unfortunately missed being part of the Tigers’ inaugural VFL premiership due to injury.
The following year, he was a pivotal member of the Richmond team that made it back-to-back premierships, finishing with 53 goals for the season and again winning the Club’s leading goalkicker award.
Bayliss made it a hat-trick of leading goalkicker awards at Tigerland in 1922 with 32 goals.
Quick on the lead and a lovely, long, left-foot kick, Bayliss booted 235 goals from 98 games for Richmond from 1914-23.
His best goal return in a match was seven, which he achieved three times throughout his career with the Tigers.
Sel Murray had been a star spearhead at North Melbourne for eight seasons from 1937-44, kicking 402 goals in 102 games, before joining Richmond.
Murray’s time at Tigerland was brief, but notable.
In 12 games during the 1945 season, Murray kicked 49 goals, including an outstanding 10-goal performance against Carlton at Princes Park out of a team total of 13 goals. He also scored seven goals in a match against Hawthorn that season and five goals on two other occasions.
Murray, a fine mark and accurate left-foot kick, managed just one further game for Richmond, in 1946, kicked one more goal, then returned to North Melbourne.
Ray Poulter, recruited by the Tigers from Greensborough, was a powerful centre half-forward, renowned for his marking prowess and booming left-foot kick.
He won Richmond’s leading goalkicker award three times – in 1949 (51 goals), 1950 (56 goals) and 1955 (49 goals).
Twice he kicked eight goals in a game for the Tigers and he finished with a total of 351 goals in 170 games at the Club from 1946-56.
Poulter also was runner-up in Richmond’s best and fairest award in 1955.
When it comes to left-foot key forwards at Tigerland, Royce Hart is the greatest of them all.
Recruited by Richmond from Tasmanian club Clarence, Hart was an instant sensation for the Tigers in his 1967 debut season at senior level.
The immensely talented teenager was Richmond’s leading goalkicker that season, playing predominantly at full-forward, with 55 goals, including six in the second semi-final win against Carlton and three in the glorious Grand Final triumph over Geelong.
Hart subsequently became the permanent centre half-forward in the Tigers’ line-up, and that’s where he carved out his magnificent playing career.
He dominated in the air with his ability to take marks from any angle, was as nimble as a rover at ground level, and a superbly accurate left-foot shot for goal.
In 1971, Hart won the Club’s leading goalkicker award for a second time with a career-high 59 goals.
The following year, when he took over as Richmond’s captain, Hart scored his most goals in a senior league match – seven against South Melbourne at Waverley Park.
He finished his time at Punt Road as a four-time premiership star, dual premiership captain, two-time leading goalkicker in a season, dual Jack Dyer Medallist, club captain for four years, and with 187 games and 369 goals all-up.
Hart was named centre half-forward in the AFL’s Team of the Century, he is an Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend and a Richmond ‘Immortal’.
Rex Hunt joined Richmond from bayside club Parkdale and made his senior debut with the Tigers in 1968.
He showed considerable promise, finishing the season with 16 goals from 13 games.
The next season, Hunt took his game to an impressively high level, booting 55 goals to win the Club’s leading goalkicker award.
His best goal return in a match that season was seven against Collingwood at Victoria Park and he was a member of the Tigers’ team that defeated Carlton in the 1969 Grand Final.
Hunt used his bulk to constantly overpower opponents in marking duels. He was an excellent mark and a long, although sometimes wayward, left-foot kick for goal.
All-up, he played 113 games and kicked 121 goals for Richmond in a seven-season career from 1968-74.
Ricky McLean was a tough, powerfully-built full-forward, who transferred from Carlton to Richmond at the end of the 1971 season, seeking more senior opportunity.
He quickly formed a fearsome partnership deep in the Tigers’ forward line with fellow strongman Neil Balme.
McLean was good overhead, a generally reliable left-foot kick for goal, and he thrived on intimidating his opponents.
In his first season at Richmond, McLean was the Club’s equal leading goalkicker with 55 goals (the same amount as Balme), including a career-best return of eight against St Kilda at the MCG.
He also booted five goals in the second semi-final replay against his former club Carlton, as the Tigers surged into the ’72 Grand Final.
Unfortunately, McLean tore his hamstring during the first half of the premiership-decider against the Blues and spent the entire second half on the bench.
McLean finished equal-second on the Club’s goalkicking list in 1973 with 32 goals (21 in the first six games) but was not part of the Richmond team that gained sweet revenge over Carlton in the ’73 Grand Final.
McLean played 39 senior games overall with the Tigers from 1972-76 (with one year in between spent at Tasmanian club Burnie) and kicked 103 goals.
He averaged more than two and a half goals per game throughout his time Tigerland and provided the team with a robust, potent focal point in attack.
