Bruce Monteath is best remembered by many people in the football world as the 1980 Richmond premiership captain who spent nearly the entire Grand Final against Collingwood on the bench.

That, however, is selling Monteath’s impact in six seasons with the Tigers, after being recruited from WAFL club South Fremantle, way, way short.

Monteath, a forward/ruck-rover, was an extremely good player for Richmond right from the outset of his time at the Club.

He immediately broke into the powerful Tigers’ team that had won back-to-back premierships in 1973-74 and made an impressive debut against Fitzroy at the Junction Oval in the opening round of the 1975 season, finishing with 20 disposals and six marks.

All-up that season, Monteath played 20 games, kicked 30 goals, and he was a valuable contributor for Richmond as it fell just short of a fourth consecutive Grand Final appearance, bowing out in the preliminary final against North Melbourne at Waverley Park.

The following season he kicked 24 goals, in 1977 he scored 27 goals, and then, in 1978, he won the Club’s leading goalkicker award with 55 goals. He also gained All-Australian selection at the end of the ’78 season.

Such was the influence that Monteath exerted in his first four years at Tigerland, he was appointed the team’s vice-captain for 1979.

Then, in 1980, Monteath took over as Richmond’s captain, and he played an important role in the Tigers becoming the dominant side of the competition that year, despite battling injury during the latter part of the season. He kicked 43 goals, including a VFL career-high eight against Melbourne in Round 9.

Monteath’s last game for Richmond was in the 1980 Grand Final demolition of Collingwood. Holding the premiership cup aloft was a perfect way for him to bow out, despite having been a spectator for most of the match.

Overall, he had played 118 games, kicked 198 goals, averaged 18.9 disposals per match and provided the Tigers with first-rate service in his six-season career at Punt Road.

The man Monteath replaced as Richmond’s captain, Kevin Bartlett, was a big fan of the way the talented Sandgroper Tiger went about his football.

In Bartlett’s book ‘KB: A Life In Football’, he said of Monteath . . .

“Bruce was underrated. He was an excellent goalkicker who could play as a ruck-rover or a forward. He averaged nearly two goals a game in his six seasons at Tigerland.

“His ability in front of goals was highlighted by the fact that he won a club goalkicking award despite not being a key forward . . .

“He was captain of the 1980 premiership side but went into the game with a very bad ankle injury and was fortunate to be there. He was able to get himself just fit enough to pull through. He had mental toughness and determination.

“He was a top-line, consistent player for Richmond with a touch of class.”

In Club historian Rhett Bartlett’s fine book, ‘Richmond FC: The Tigers’, Monteath provided a detailed insight into the reason why he sat on the bench throughout the 1980 Grand Final . . .

“From the middle of the season I hurt my back and had a giant hematoma on my spine. Ben Weiss, our club doctor, would draw the blood out of my spine on the Monday and the Friday, and sometimes Saturday morning, so I could play. I would also get injections in my leg. Today they wouldn’t even let you play.

“As the 1980 finals series approached, I went to see Tony (coach Tony Jewell) and withdrew from the side. I said, ‘I am captain of the side, but if I am really a true leader, I have got to do what is best for the side’.

“This sounds magnanimous now, but at the time it was the hardest decision I have ever made in my life. Yet I knew that I could be keeping out a fit player that they may need in the finals . . .

“I told Tony I would keep training because I was still the captain of the team. Thank Christ I did because we had a lot of injuries from that Carlton game (qualifying final). Barry Rowlings, David Cloke and Bryan Wood were all injured. Tony came up to me the following week and said, ‘Would you consider playing again?’ and I said I would.

“I played against Geelong in the (second) semi-final at Waverley Park and sat on the bench for most of the game but came on late and kicked a goal. We won by 24 points. Once I played that game, I trained my guts out the following week.

“In the week of the 1980 Grand Final, Tony said, ‘You had withdrawn prior to the finals series, so I don’t know if we should take a risk in selecting you for the Grand Final’, and I said, ‘It is your call Tony’. And the Club put me in . . .

“I think the decision was made based on everything I had done, for being part of the whole club for the last six years. It was a wonderful gesture.

“That whole experience is difficult to explain to people, so I just tell them I was on the bench because I was injured. But as you can see, there was a lot more to it . . .

“For the 1980 Grand Final, I led the side out. I began the game on the bench, which I was more than happy to do . . . It was just one of those games. It was over at quarter-time and no-one got injured. Everyone was playing so well. So in the end I spent about 15 minutes in total on the ground.

“Just before the (final) siren sounded, I took a moment to reflect. I told myself, this is the ultimate moment in my football career, this is a great club, and I am so proud of myself. I knew that in a few seconds that siren would sound and I was going to hold the cup in the air and it’s ours forever. For history.”