The Jack Riewoldt goal after the final siren, that propelled Richmond to a thrilling one-point victory over Hawthorn in last Saturday’s third round pre-season series match at Launceston, revived memories of the only four times it’s happened in Tigerland history during a league football season.

First Tiger to live this footballing boyhood dream was star spearhead Doug Strang, who did it against Carlton, at the stadium previously known as Princes Park, in Round 14 of the 1932 season.

After a tough, tight contest all day, Strang marked a kick from Richmond captain Percy Bentley in the dying moments, with the Tigers one point down.

As he went back to take his kick, from about 20 yards (as it was then) out, the bell (as it was then) rang. 

Strang coolly slotted the ball through the big sticks for his fourth goal of the match, to give Richmond victory by five points – 13.13 (91) to 12.14 (86).

That Strang goal also enabled the Tigers to snap an 11-game losing streak against Carlton.

The next Yellow and Black winning goal after the final siren occurred at South Melbourne’s Lake Oval in the second last home-and-away round of the 1966 season.

Forward pocket/rover Blair Campbell was making his senior debut for Richmond this particular day, on what happened to be his 20^th birthday.  And, what a memorable birthday it turned out to be . . .

Campbell was actually named as 19^th man for his first appearance at the game’s highest level, but replaced regular Tiger second rover Peter Hogan at half-time.

He lined up in the forward pocket on South Melbourne’s small back pocket Herbie Matthews, whose father (Herbie snr) had won the 1940 Brownlow Medal.

Campbell managed to spend a bit of time on the ball, sharing roving duties with the Tigers’ rising star small man Kevin Bartlett, and picked up a few touches.

In a see-sawing struggle throughout, Richmond trailed by five points, with just seconds remaining on the clock.

The first-gamer takes up the story . . .

“I reckon it was Bill Barrot, who came screaming out of the centre and attempted a drop kick and miskicked it.  I took the mark overhead, standing by myself, 25 yards out, dead in front,” Campbell told author Rhett Bartlett in his book, “Richmond FC:  A Century of League Football”.

“The siren must have sounded, but I didn’t hear it . . .  I knew it was over because I think people were starting to run out.

“This will show you the era it was, I’ve gone for the torpedo. 

“The sun’s just coming down over the grandstand at South Melbourne and I’m trying to shield my eyes to kick.

“So, when I did kick it, it was a very poor kick and just cleared the hands of the ruckmen in the goal square and went through.  So, it was given a goal.

“But Matthews was on the mark and (Bob) Skilton was there, and there was some sort of protest about it being touched.

“I wasn’t particularly aware of that, nor did the particular protest last long.  People weren’t yelling or cursing . . .

“I just loved playing my first game of league football and the fact that I kicked the winning goal after the siren was all a bit surreal.

“There were three things that made it not quite as spectacular.  One, the South Melbourne players were claiming it was touched.  Two, it was a shocking kick.  Three, I didn’t hear the siren.”

Campbell, who ‘popularised’ the ‘boomerang’ kick, as he called it, or ‘banana’ kick, as it was later known in Victoria (or ‘checkside’ in SA), played 20 games all-up at Richmond and then Melbourne, before carving out an impressive first-class cricket career for Victoria and Tasmania.

Another forward pocket goalsneak became the third Tiger player to snatch victory for the team with an after-the-siren goal.

Paul Sarah, a former Geelong player, achieved this unique feat in Round 19, 1981 against St Kilda at Moorabbin, on one of the worst days for football I’ve ever encountered.

It was freezing cold, wet, and the wind was blowing a gale virtually straight down the ground, to the South Road end.

Richmond, the reigning premier, needed to win to stay in the hunt for a finals berth in ’81, but was just five points ahead at the start of the last quarter, and kicking into a wind worth at least five goals.

Sarah, who had forced his way back into the Tigers’ line-up, was playing his 150^th league game, and was one of the best on the ground up until three-quarter time, with four goals in the atrocious conditions.

Adding to the drama of the day was the fact the VFL’s umpires had gone on strike, forcing the league to replace them with country and under-19s men in white (as they were back then) for the round.

In a frenetic final term, Richmond had somehow managed to prevent the home side from pulling away and, as the timekeepers prepared to press the siren, the scores were tied on 9.11 (65) apiece.

But, with the ball just 15 metres from Richmond’s goal, teenage field umpire Glen McKeeman awarded a free kick to Sarah against St Kilda’s Michael Nettlefold (now the Saints’ CEO) for an illegal tackle.

With the icy wind howling into him, Sarah still managed to maintain his composure and kick truly, to grab a crucial six-point win for the Tigers.

“I didn’t have time to get worried.  Terry Smith told me to aim between the point and goal posts.  I only had to score,” Sarah said after the match.

The last time a Richmond player kicked the winning six-pointer after the siren, happened in Round 18 of the 2009 season, against Melbourne at the MCG.

This was another ugly afternoon for football, but more due to the standard of play, rather than the conditions.

Both sides were languishing down the bottom and their showing this particular day underlined why.

The Demons were in controversial experimental mode, while the Tigers continued to frustrate fans with their inability to hit targets.

Still, as the match entered the time-on period of the last quarter, Richmond led by 11 points, and appeared set for a much-needed win.

But Melbourne fought back with a couple of goals, to regain the lead, before ex-Bulldog Jordan McMahon performed his heroics for the Tigers.

With Richmond two points down, McMahon marked a pass from Richard Tambling right on the final siren.

He lined up from about 45 metres out, slightly left of centre at the Punt Road end of the ground, and steered a drop punt through for full points, to clinch a four-point win for the Tigers – 12.14 (86) to 12.10 (82) – before being mobbed by teammates.

“You dream about it as a kid, you know, the goal after the siren to win a game, and I guess it came true,” McMahon said.

“I didn’t notice the breeze; it was really straight, it didn’t move too much and the closer it got to goal the happier I was.

“To be honest, the emotion afterwards felt really good.  It was very much relief and that’s when it sunk in, the fact I had kicked the goal . . .

“I just thought this was an opportunity to kick a goal after my two mistakes (missed shots for goal) early on, so I tried to put it aside that . . . I could win the game.”

Interestingly, the four instances so far, of Richmond winning goals after the siren, in premiership season matches, have all taken place in August.