Fleet-foot ‘Mac’ in elite Tiger company
Kamdyn McIntosh’s exciting senior debut for Richmond in last Thursday night’s opening round victory over Carlton brought back memories of some other fine first-up performances at the game’s highest level by Tiger newcomers during my time as a Yellow and Black barracker.

In chronological order, those standout debuts were:

  • Dick Clay, Round 2, 1966 v Footscray, MCG:  22 disposals, four marks, playing at centre half-forward on Bulldog legend Ted Whitten.
  • Royce Hart, Round 1, 1967 v Essendon, MCG:  15 disposals, 10 marks, three goals (3.7), from full-forward.
  • Neil Balme, Round 20, 1970 v North Melbourne, Arden Street:  10 disposals, three marks, four goals.
  • Graham Teasdale, Round 10, 1973 v South Melbourne, Lake Oval:  13 disposals, seven marks, six goals (6.0 out of a team total of 13.14).
  • Matthew Richardson, Round 7, 1993 v St Kilda, MCG:  20 disposals, nine marks, one goal.
  • Duncan Kellaway, Round 7, 1993 v St Kilda, MCG:  27 disposals, five marks.
  • Justin Murphy, Round 11, 1994 v Essendon, Princes Park:  11 disposals, four marks, five goals.
  • Marty McGrath, Round 17, 2003, Etihad Stadium v Western Bulldogs:  12 disposals, five marks, five goals.
  • Dean Polo, Round 6, 2006 v Essendon, MCG:  28 disposals, six marks, three goals.

McIntosh, with his 23-disposal, nine-mark, one-goal display against the Blues, is certainly deserving of his place among the best Richmond debuts of the past half-century . . .

Tigers bounce out of the blocks
The extra run provided by McIntosh and another Tiger debutant in ex-Cat Taylor Hunt was clearly evident on the ‘stats’ sheet in the total bounces category.
Richmond had 29 bounces for the match (including five by McIntosh, six by Hunt and nine by Bachar Houli), which was its highest number since Round 15, 2008 against West Coast at the stadium formerly known as Subiaco.
On that occasion, the Tigers had a staggering 51 bounces – midfielder Nathan Foley leading the way with 16.

Taylor hunts and gathers
Taylor Hunt’s 27 disposals were the second most he’s recorded in his 64-game league career.
His best return in the disposals’ department was 28 in Round 3, 2011 for Geelong against Port Adelaide at Simonds Stadium.


Big Ben strikes
Talented Tiger tall forward Ben Griffiths booted a league career-high three goals against the Blues in Round 1.
His previous best goal tally in a match was two, which he managed three times during the 2014 season.

Lloyd lets loose
Clever forward Sam Lloyd had a three-goal match for the fourth time in his nine-game league career.
He kicked three goals on debut against Collingwood at the MCG in Round 4, three against Geelong at the MCG in Round 7, three against Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium in Round 17, and now three against Carlton at the ‘G’ in Round 1, 2015.


Tigers tightened the screws on Blues
Carlton’s score of 11.12 (78) was its lowest against Richmond for 10 years.
In Round 7, 2005, the Blues managed just 10.6 (66) in an 85-point drubbing by the Tigers.


Newman surpasses Sheedy
Inspirational Richmond veteran Chris Newman has now moved past triple Tiger premiership player Kevin Sheedy and up into 12th place on the Club’s all-time games’ list.
Newman played his 252nd league game in the season-opener against Carlton.