The Australian Football Hall of Fame’s newest Legend, Royce Hart, has described how the pain of Richmond’s shock loss to Carlton in the 1972 Grand Final, spurred the Tigers on to premiership glory the following year.
In a special two-part interview with Tiger great Matthew Richardson for ‘Roar Vision’, Hart revealed the depth of the hurt arising from that ’72 defeat, which the then Richmond playing group, under Tommy Hafey’s astute coaching guidance, managed to turn into a major positive.
“It (the 1972 Grand Final) was the most disappointing day of my life . . . my first year as captain, we kicked a record score – and Carlton kicked even more,” Hart said.
“We would have won any other Grand Final (in league football history) that particular day.
“We got beaten by 20-odd points, but I didn’t think there was that much difference between the sides, and we’d beaten Carlton in the finals beforehand (that year).
“It was a disappointing day, but there was one thing that came out of it.
“The disappointment was so much that I believe it had a great influence on ’73, when we won the premiership.
“The hurt from ’72 was enough to carry on to win the ’73 premiership.”
In a far-reaching interview, Hart also revealed one of the key factors behind Richmond’s success during the golden era under Hafey (four premierships).
“There was a group of about 10 players, including your Bartletts and your Bourkes and your Clays and your Sheedys, who all came to the Club within two or three years of each other, and we stayed together for 10 years and played in five Grand Finals, winning four,” he said.