In the lead-up to Richmond’s blockbuster 2018 season-opener against Carlton at the MCG tonight, Tony Greenberg takes a look at the remarkable Round 1 record of the Tigers’ greatest goalkicker.
Jack Titus was an exciting goal machine.
He kicked goals galore in a celebrated playing career with Richmond that ran for 18 seasons, from 1926-1943.
The small (175cm), lightly-framed (66kg), but freakishly-gifted full-forward, affectionately known as ‘Skinny’ throughout his tenure at Tigerland, finished with 970 goals in 294 games.
In 1940, he became the first Richmond player to reach the prestigious 100-goal milestone during a season (Michael Roach, in 1980, is the only other Tiger to do so).
What’s not as well known about the great Jack Titus, was his capacity to hit the ground full of running right from the outset of a season.
From 1934-1942, Titus kicked a total of 51 goals in the opening rounds of those nine seasons, at an average of nearly six per game.
Not surprisingly, given Titus’ dominance, the Tigers won seven of the nine Round 1 encounters during that time.
Here is a rundown of the Jack Titus opening-round goal rampage. And, bear in mind, he was the same height as current-day talented, young Tiger small forward Shai Bolton, but 10kg lighter!
1934 – 8 v Melbourne, Punt Road (Richmond won by 41 points).
1935 – 6 v Footscray, Western Oval (Richmond by 35 points).
1936 – 6 v St Kilda, Punt Road (Richmond by 1 point).
1937 – 4 v Melbourne, MCG (Melbourne by 26 points).
1938 – 9 v North Melbourne, Punt Road (Richmond by 77 points).
1939 – 5 v Melbourne, MCG (Richmond by 37 points).
1940 – 4 v Footscray, Punt Road (Footscray by 12 points).
1941 – 4 v Collingwood, Victoria Park (Richmond by 18 points).
1942 – 5 v Footscray, Punt Road (Richmond by 20 points).
