In the wake of Richmond’s spirited qualifying final victory over Geelong, Tony Greenberg has some interesting Tiger tidbits for the consumption of Yellow and Black barrackers . . .
Jacob Townsend is proving to be the master of efficiency since breaking into Richmond’s senior side late this season.
The tough midfielder-turned-dangerous forward has kicked 13 goals (13.1) in three games (six v Fremantle, Round 22, five v St Kilda, Round 23, and two v Geelong, qualifying final) from just 21 kicks!
That’s an incredible goalkicking strike-rate, which highlights just how effective he’s been.
Nick Vlastuin has had a profound impact for Richmond since returning to the senior line-up in Round 17 this season after a lengthy lay-off with a shoulder injury.
The tough, talented defender is averaging 20 disposals per match, nearly nine marks and six rebound-50s, in his past eight games.
And the Tigers throughout that time have conceded an average of only 59.6 points per game to their opponents, highlighting how valuable Vlastuin’s contributions across the team’s backline have been.
The huge crowd of 95,028 that attended Friday night’s qualifying final at the MCG was the Tigers’ biggest since the 1982 Grand Final, when 107,536 watched them lose to Carlton by 18 points.
It also was the biggest-ever attendance for a Richmond night match, topping the 87,043 in Round 1 of the 2009 season against Carlton at the MCG.
And, it was the highest AFL attendance, apart from a Grand Final, since the 2010 preliminary final between Collingwood and Geelong, which attracted a crowd of 95,241.
Richmond’s prized 2017 mature-age midfield recruit Dion Prestia not only played the first final of his 115-game AFL career against Geelong in the qualifying final, it also was his first Friday night match.
Prestia’s former club Gold Coast has never had a Friday night fixture in its seven-season history, while it was the Tigers’ first for this year.
The 11 different goalkickers who contributed to Richmond’s score of 13.13 (91) against the Cats last Friday night, was the equal most for the Tigers in a final since the 1969 first-semi.
On that occasion, Richmond had 12 separate goalkickers in a 118-point demolition of Geelong at the MCG, en route to the ’69 premiership.
It’s been well-publicised that Richmond broke an 11-year losing drought against Geelong in the qualifying final, but it also was their first victory over the Cats at the MCG since Round 12, 1999.
On that occasion, they won by 35 points, with star key forward Matthew Richardson kicking six goals (6.5) in a dominant display.
Richmond’s 2017 preliminary final, scheduled for Saturday, September 23, will take place exactly 50 years ago to the day that the Tigers defeated Geelong in the 1967 Grand Final, to break what was then the Club’s longest premiership drought of 24 years.
That date has added historic significance at Richmond, with Tiger ‘Immortal’ Jack Dyer kicking (a Club finals record) nine goals in a mighty, match-winning performance against Essendon in the 1944 preliminary final on Saturday, September 23 of that year.
During that match, an iconic image of Dyer boldly charging forward with the ball was captured, which subsequently formed the centrepiece of the logo for Channel Nine’s ‘Footy Show’.
