In the lead-up to Richmond’s 2019 preliminary final against Geelong at the MCG on Friday night, Tony Greenberg reflects on the greatest performance produced by a Tiger in the penultimate game of the season.
Richmond was chasing back-to-back premierships as it entered the 1944 finals series.
The Tigers, who had beaten Essendon by five points in a thrilling Grand Final the previous year, finished the ’44 home-and-away season on top of the ladder by just 0.1 percent from Fitzroy.
In the second semi-final, Fitzroy edged out the Yellow and Blacks by 11 points, setting up a replay of the 1943 Grand Final: Richmond v Essendon in the preliminary final.
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It was an undermanned Tigers outfit that took to the Junction Oval for the penultimate game of the season, with key players in full-back Ron Durham (injured), rover Dick Harris (injured) and centreman Jack Broadstock (suspended) all missing.
Given Richmond’s injury woes, Essendon was a warm favourite with the football tipsters to make it through to the Grand Final.
Jack Dyer, however, had other ideas.
The Tigers’ dynamic captain-coach pulled a shock move at the start of the match, when he placed himself at full-forward.
Dyer was opposed to inexperienced Essendon full-back Gordon Lane and gave him a torrid time in the opening term, using clever bodywork and strong marking to kick four goals.
With the great inspiration provided by ‘Captain Blood’, Richmond blitzed the Bombers with a dream, eight-goal to nil first quarter that clinched its passage into the Grand Final.
Essendon subsequently decided to shift rugged star Wally Buttsworth onto Dyer, but by then the damage had been done.
The Dons outscored Richmond five goals to two in the second quarter, but three more majors to Dyer during the third term restored the Tigers’ eight-goal lead by the last change.
Dyer’s nine goals to three quarter-time was a VFL record and with Richmond well in control, he appeared on track for a dozen or more by game’s end.
But in the last quarter, with champion rover Dick Reynolds leading the way, Essendon staged a rally, booting five goals.
Dyer moved himself into the ruck, then into defence to thwart the Dons’ attacking thrusts and direct traffic for his team.
The Tigers steadied and ran out worthy winners by 21 points.
It had taken something extra special for from their mighty leader to enable them to advance through to a Grand Final showdown with Fitzroy.
Here is a snapshot of the newspaper reports on Dyer’s dominant display in the ’44 preliminary final . . .
“The hero of the match from the Tigers’ point of view was their captain, Jack Dyer, who in addition to getting nine goals, played a heady brilliant game.”
“Best man on the ground undoubtedly was the Richmond captain-coach Jack Dyer. Apart from the goals he got himself, his clever shepherding gave him a hand in everything else. He used his weight fairly and solidly. He took no notice of opposing players’ intentions to anger him, nor of the voice of a partisan section of the crowd, who, most unfairly, tried to misconstrue his every action.”
“Dyer, who has rarely, if ever, played a more brainy or effective game, was Richmond’s star. To him, more than anyone else, must go the credit for the big break which Richmond got early, and all through the excellence of his play made him a constant source of worry to the opposition.
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“Dyer’s switch to full-forward was a masterstroke, his effectiveness in that position practically won the game for Richmond in the first quarter. He had scored nine goals by three-quarter time.”
“They call him ‘Captain Blood!’ Maybe Don supporters call him other names. But what a man! General Montgomery is not more popular with his troops than is Captain Blood with his Tigers. Fourteen years ago he asked for a yellow and black guernsey and ever since he has taken the knocks – and given them – in the name of Richmond.
“In his fourteenth season in the colors, he out-marked, out-generalled and out-played formidable opponents in an important final match and threw in nine goals for good measure. What a Tiger!”
Match details
Richmond 8.2 10.5 15.9 16.12 (108)
Essendon 0.5 5.7 7.9 12.15 (87)
Goals – Richmond: Dyer 9, Burge 3, Randall 2, Wilson, Bawden.
Best – Richmond: Dyer (best on ground), Merrett, Burge, Maguire, Waldron, Priestley, Morris, Smeaton.
Goals – Essendon: Bushby 3, Powell 3, Reynolds 3, Hutchinson, McIvor, Smith.
Best – Essendon: Griggs, Betson, Cassin, Reynolds, Hird, Plummer, Tonkes.
Attendance: 39,000.
