In the old days of VFL country zoning, Richmond was assigned the Sunraysia area, and it proved quite a fertile breeding ground for Tiger talent, with the Club recruiting players that would go on to become members of premiership sides, Team of the Century members, Hall of Fame inductees, Jack Dyer Medallists, and captains.

The AFL recently announced the reintroduction of recruiting zones as part of the Next Generation AFL Club Academies, with Sunraysia again being allocated to Richmond.

With that in mind, Tony Greenberg has compiled a line-up of players over the years recruited by Richmond from the Sunraysia area.

Here is the Sunraysia Tigers’ team . . .

Backs
Jeff Berry (Red Cliffs), 1978-79, 10 games, 0 goals
Noel Jenkinson (Red Cliffs), 1975-79, 57 games, 0 goals
Phillip Bottams (Mildura Imperials), 1978-81, 26 games, 4 goals

Half-backs
Brendan Bower (Mildura), 1986-91, 92 games, 19 goals
Brian Winton (Wentworth), 1983, 10 games, 4 goals
Matt Dea (Mildura), 2010-2015, 31 games, 0 goals

Centres
Nathan Bower (Mildura), 1991-98, 74 games, 22 goals
Matthew Knights (Merbein/Mildura Imperials), 1988-02, 279 games, 141 goals
Bruce Tschirpig (Wentworth), 1971 & 1976, 10 games, 12 goals

Half-forwards
Phil Egan (Robinvale), 1982-89, 125 games, 117 goals
Allan Edwards (Robinvale), 62 games, 83 goals, 1975-78
Geoff Martin (Mildura), 1981 & 1983, 6 games, 3 goals

Forwards
Daryl Cumming (South Mildura), 1971-76, 88 games, 62 goals
Kevin Curran (Robinvale), 1943-45, 16 games, 28 goals
Greg Hamilton (Red Cliffs), 1988-90 & 1992, 29 games, 19 goals

Rucks
Mark Lee (Mildura), 1977-91, 233 games, 94 goals
Greg Hollick (Irymple), 1970-72, 38 games, 20 goals
Dale Weightman (Mildura Imperials), 1978-93, 274 games, 344 goals

Interchange
Darren Bower (Mildura), 1987, 3 games, 2 goals
Ken McGown (Irymple), 1954-56, 13 games, 0 goals
Sean Bowden (Mildura Imperials), 1990-91, 6 games, 0 goals
Keith Smythe (Merbein), 1968-70, 16 games, 8 goals