‘Barney’ Herbert was a dual premiership player (1920-21) at Richmond.  He led the Tigers’ ruck division for more than a decade (1909-21) and was a constant source of inspiration to the team with his tough, determined style of play.  Following a stellar 192-game career with Richmond, Herbert subsequently returned to the Club to serve as president.  Years later, Herbert was inducted into the Tigers’ Hall of Fame.  Here, in his own words, is Herbert’s inspirational account of Richmond’s rise to glory in the formative years of its league football existence.

“Doggedness, grit, determination . . .

In my early days at Richmond we were taught the real meaning of those words. All three qualities were needed in large measure.

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We were down deep in the trough and the crest of the wave of football success seemed as far away as the stars.

Defeat after defeat, half empty grounds, meagre gates – that was our portion at Richmond. It was a long and thorny road from the pit of 1908 to the brilliant dawn of success and prestige in 1920.

What carried Richmond up the ladder and out of the depths?

Not moaning about money, not gloomy forebodings about the club’s ability to carry on. We climbed from the morass because we just put our hands to the plough – every one of us – and fought our way forward without flinching.

Money did not matter to us in those days. The honor of the old Black and Gold did. It was the club first, last and always.

I received 15 shillings for my effort and would gladly have given the same amount back as an apprentice to learn the game; others were like-minded.

We just set our teeth, flung ourselves into it Saturday after Saturday and just struggled on. Richmond then was a David among Goliaths, but without David’s double satisfaction of winning a bout with a shanghai and a bit of blue metal.

We had to make the best of a bad job among the mighty and they were all mighty to us then – Carlton, Collingwood, South Melbourne and Fitzroy. We were thrashed and often pulverised at home and abroad with seventeen to sevens, sixteen to sixes and three men and a dog on the mounds.

Deprived of the training luxuries of the more opulent clubs, we just hung on grimly.

Tear into it Tigers, keep on hammering, and you must break through, grid the loins and fight and struggle. Don’t brood on adversity.

That was the spirit and philosophy of Richmond. That was the “darkest hour before the dawn” philosophy that has moved bigger mountains than the toppling of the all-conquering Blues or the Magpies or the Maroons.

Our dogged fights on the field were inspired and supported by the staunchest band of club supporters that could be assembled anywhere. We battled against odds, but down there in the Jungle there were people who, rain or hail, never forsook the old colors. I take off my hat to those supporters.

Lean gates and a trail of defeats may have prompted ridicule from the foreigners outside the Jungle, but not from our supporters. There was no whine or petulance or reform campaigns in those days, when the Tigers were slowly growing their claws and cutting their teeth.

It took Richmond 10 years to beat Carlton. Now the Tigers have a hoodoo over Carlton . . . because we persisted.

For us, the initial overthrow of each of the mighty five clubs of the League was measured in years, long years of sweat and effort and dauntless courage.

And, in the dreary wilderness, the spirit and loyalty of the Richmond supporters never faltered.”