On Saturday, May 1, 1965, in Round 3 of the VFL season, a slightly-built, wispy-haired, 18-year-old took his place on the bench at the MCG after being selected as 19th man for his senior debut with Richmond.
Kevin Bartlett had worked his way through the ranks at Tigerland, winning the Best and Fairest in the Club’s under 17s and under 19s. His impressive form in the 1965 pre-season practice matches, and then the first two reserve-grade matches of the ’65 season, clinched his promotion to senior ranks for the Round 3 clash with St Kilda.
Before a crowd of 43,412, Bartlett was a spectator until late in the third quarter, when he entered the playing field as a replacement for forward John Sheahan, lining up on veteran Saints’ star Daryl Griffiths.
In just over a quarter of game time, young KB managed to gather eight kicks, take one mark and score a behind. Interestingly, in a sign of things to come, the statisticians didn’t use up any ink on him in the handballs category!
Richmond trailed by nearly six goals at the final change, but finished all over St Kilda, kicking five goals to one in the last quarter, to go down by just 11 points – 12.13 (85) to 14.12 (96).
Ross Warner was the Tigers’ leading goalkicker with four, Barry Cameron and Frank Dimattina kicked three apiece, while Paddy Guinane and John Sheahan both booted one.
Other youngsters in the Richmond line-up that day, who would go on to become Tiger premiership players, along with Bartlett, were Mike Perry (1967), in his second game, and Geoff Strang (1967 and 1969), in his third game.
The match was significant from another historical Yellow and Black aspect, apart from the debut of the young man, who would go on to become a 403-game, five-time premiership hero and Tiger ‘Immortal’ . . .
Bartlett’s first game turned out to be the last for Len Smith as Richmond’s senior coach. Smith, a pioneer of modern-day coaching techniques, had a heart attack the Monday after that Round 3 match against St Kilda and, although he recovered well enough to join the Tigers’ match committee in 1966, he never coached again.
In 1967, a few months before Richmond was to break its then 24-year premiership drought, Len Smith suffered another heart attack and, subsequently, died.
So, while a wonderful football journey began in Round 3 of the 1965 season, the occasion also is tinged with sadness . . .
In his book, “KB: A Life In Football”, Bartlett reflected on his Round 3, 1965 senior debut with the Tigers . . .
“I played the first two games of 1965 in the reserves and while I played well, I had no inkling of what was ahead. When senior coach Len Smith called me over at training on the Thursday night to tell me I would be 19th man that weekend against St Kilda, I was initially disappointed because I thought he was talking about the reserves.
“Len asked me why I wasn’t happy. I said, ‘I thought I probably played okay in the first two games and therefore I thought I would get a game.’
“Len congratulated me and assured me I would be playing in the seniors. I got dressed after training and raced home to tell me parents the good news. They were sceptical, even though it was Len Smith who had told me the news.
“So we just waited until 9pm to switch on the radio and hear Ron Casey, Lou Richards and Allan Nash read out the League teams. When it came to Richmond, it was Kevin Bartlett as 19th man and Trevor Gowers as 20th man. And that’s how it all started.
“At half-time, I remember Len Smith saying to me, ‘Just be patient, you will get on,’ and not long before three-quarter time I got my opportunity . . .”
