Four key individuals at Richmond – Brendon Gale, Peggy O’Neal, Damien Hardwick and Dustin Martin – have featured prominently in the third edition of AFL Media’s ‘Movers and Shapers’ survey, which ranks the top 50 most influential people in Australian Football. Here is AFL Media’s rankings and summaries of the Tigers’ ‘awesome foursome’ . . .
No. 21 – Brendon Gale
Richmond chief executive
Previously: 2016: 17; 2017: -
What a club the Tigers have become. Impeccably run from top to bottom and ticking boxes not just on the field, but off it as well. Under Gale's leadership, Richmond has become a well-rounded organisation that most importantly is developing key non-football revenue streams that don't rely on the gaming industry. When your chief customer officer, Cain Liddle, is poached to become the chief executive of Carlton, of all clubs, you must be going all right. The Tigers are a leader in the digital space and have capitalised on the premiership in the right fashion – they had already surpassed last year's membership tally by the middle of February. AFL boss Gill McLachlan clearly isn't going anywhere, but if you were framing a market for his replacement, Gale would feature heavily in the betting.
No. 22 – Peggy O’Neal
Richmond president
Previously: 2016: 17; 2017: 49
She stood her ground with steely resolve at the end of 2016 when rumblings of a board challenge began to emerge, and reaped the rewards 12 months later when the Tigers marched to their first flag in 37 years. It is hard to think of a club president with less of an ego than O'Neal, whose operating philosophy at Tigerland seems to be to instill the right levels of governance and process, ask the appropriate questions at right time, and let the executives run the club. Still, Australia wants to get to know her a bit better, and since the flag win she has appeared on ABC TV's Q&A and spoken at the National Press Club. She has quite the story to tell.
No. 24 – Damien Hardwick
Richmond senior coach
Previously: 2016: - 2017: -
They took the 'honesty pills' at Tigerland in the lead-up to last season and the result was spectacular. In masterminding Richmond's first premiership in 37 years, Hardwick became just the fourth person in League history to win flags at three clubs, having been a premiership player at Essendon and Port Adelaide. There was a reinvention at the Tigers, an atmosphere of brutal honesty and self-awareness, but also one where the love was shared. Konrad Marshall's superb fly-on-the-wall account of last season, Yellow and Black, gives a graphic account of 2017, and Hardwick's homespun homilies and weekly themes were a thing of beauty. But he also shook up the team and dispelled the myth that clubs need two tall forwards to win the flag. Richmond's mosquito fleet delivered magnificently on Grand Final day and now we wait to see how many other clubs will adopt a similar approach in 2018. He was re-contracted earlier this month by the Tigers and will remain coach until at least 2021.
No. 35 – Dustin Martin
Richmond midfielder, 2017 Brownlow Medallist
Previously: 2016: - 2017: -
Has any player in League history enjoyed a better season than Martin in 2017? The Tiger won the Brownlow Medal with a record 38 votes (excluding 1976-77 when both umpires voted), which included a record 11 best-on-ground votes. He polled votes in an astonishing 14 games. He then backed up in the Grand Final with 29 possessions, six clearances and two goals to win the Norm Smith Medal. Martin made the Tigers sweat though most of last season before signing a new seven-year deal and if you believe the stories at the time, he was awfully close to joining North Melbourne. In the end, the process was artfully played out by his manager, Ralph Carr. Martin's brilliant season, his good-natured media appearances through September and his raw and honest Brownlow acceptance speech have helped reshape his image and he is now the national face and body of Bonds underwear and apparel, as well as a star of the new Fox Sports TV campaign.
