Oh we're from Tigerland
Stories of being Richmond
JESS BENSON, 27, CHIGWELL (HOBART)
Favourite all-time player:
Matthew Richardson – “I loved his passion for the club, and his loyalty. He played with his heart on his sleeve. He was a crowd favourite.”
Favourite current player:
Alex Rance – “I like his strength and his ability to win those one-on-one contests. And I can’t deny that he’s good looking, but that’s not the main reason. It’s about the football.”
“There’s Richo, and Royce Hart, who still lives down here in Howrah, not far from where the game’s going to be played on Saturday, and now we’ve got Jack Riewoldt,” says Jess Benson, a Tiger who lives Hobart and knows more than most the rich footballing ties between Richmond and the Apple Isle. “We’ve had so many great players from Tasmania.”
Michael Roach (Longford), Ian Stewart (Hobart), Paul Sproule (Hobart), Ben Harrison (Devonport), 1994 Best & Fairest winner Chris Bond (North Hobart), the Gale boys from Burnie (Brendon and Michael, whose grandfather Jack in 1924 played three games for Richmond; wins over Collingwood and Melbourne, a loss to Essendon) – Punt Road Oval for so long has been a second home for footballers from the other side of Bass Strait.
With Richmond to play their first-ever home-and-away game in Hobart, and only their second-ever regular season match in Tasmania, it’s an away game that for so many Tigers feels so much like a homecoming.
“We’ve got such a huge following down here, it’s amazing,” says Jess, a committee member of the Hobart Richmond Supporters Group. “Hawthorn and Collingwood also have big support, but I don’t really understand why anyone would go for Collingwood.”
Left to right: Jess's grandfather, Royce O'Shannessy, congratulates St Francis, in deep embrace with the 1980 premiership cup; Dressed in her colours: at the Punt Road end of a home game last season.
For Jess, barracking for Richmond is a family tradition. “It’s in my blood,” she says. “Richmond has always been in my life. I love it.”
She traces the connection at least to her paternal grandfather, who after the 1980 VFL Grand Final was photographed in the Richmond locker rooms deep in the bowels of the MCG with his arm on the shoulder of St Francis Bourke, hugging the silverware. It is a portrait of jubilation, and reward, with just a little glimpse of the sort of footwear a five-time premiership player might walk away from the ground in.
Jess’s father, Wayne, instilled his love of the Tigers in all five of his children, although it’s Jess whose passion runs deepest. Last season she travelled north to six games, including the Elimination Final in Adelaide, and this year she’s attended already an NAB Cup game and the season opener, against Carlton. “I’ve got a five-game membership, but I’ll aim to come to six again, if I can afford to.”
When asked what she most likes about Richmond, Jess responds with open-ended enthusiasm. “I like everything about them. I love the passion, I love the colours, I love the song, I love their supporters, I love Dimma, I love Benny Gale, I love nearly all of the players,” she says. “Maybe you shouldn’t say that. I love ALL of the players. I have favourites. I can never pick one.”
So this Saturday afternoon for her, as for so many other Tigers, is some novelty. For one, she won’t be flying to the game. Blundstone Arena in Bellerive is only a half-hour drive down the Derwent from home. “I still can’t quite believe they’re playing here,” she says. “It’s so exciting.”
But for her father Wayne, 54, who she has travelled so far with to see so many games of football in Melbourne, Saturday is an opportunity lost. Richmond will play their first-ever game in his home city. He is away on his first-ever overseas holiday. What are the chances?
HEAR US ROAR: Jess with her father, Wayne O'Shannessy, both from Hobart, before gates opened at the MCG for the opening game of this season.
“We wouldn’t have dreamt in a million years they’d play a game down here,” says Jess. “He booked his flight before they announced the fixture. He’s visiting my sister in Dublin, although he’ll be in Paris when the boys are playing just down the road.”
For Jess, with her father’s absence, it means she’ll barrack twice as hard. She’s helped organise the Hobart Supporters Group post-game function at The Fluke & Bruce Hotel (87 Macquarie Street, Hobart, $5 entry, all welcome), and earlier this week finished making a home-made banner for the game. “It says ‘TASSIE LOVES THE TIGERS’. I’ve made it nice and big so hopefully everyone will see it.”
She’s upbeat about the game and yes, of course thinks the Tiges can win. “I’m optimistic. I think playing at a different venue might work in their favour. They haven’t had much luck against North recently, but they’ve been playing well when they’re on the road.”
The one-way trade between Tasmania and Punt Road this Saturday is reversed. Richmond will travel south. Never before has the football Club, nor this team, played a game so close to an end of the world. They are standing on the edge of an abyss. And standing with them will be a band of supporters – locals like Jess, and those from elsewhere – who know all they can give, all they can offer, is their love of the Yellow and Black.
“I’m sure they’ll come to play for us,” says Jess. “And I’ll have my banner there to show how excited I am to have them in Tassie.”
Go Tiges!
If you would like to nominate a Richmond fan who has a story to tell about their barracking please email Dugald Jellie with details: dugaldjellie@gmail.com
