To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Tigers’ 1980 premiership, Richmond Media is transporting Yellow and Black barrackers back in time throughout 2020 to follow the Punt Road path to that fantastic flag triumph. Today, we take a look at ‘The Age’ football writer Trevor Grant’s review of Richmond’s Round 22 final home-and-away round match of the ’80 season against South Melbourne at the Lake Oval, which took place on Saturday, August 30, before a crowd of 21,964.

“Kevin Bartlett has been around Punt Road long enough not to expect personal achievement to be greeted with gushing sentiment. Yet on Saturday he probably could have been excused for feeling just a little ignored.

Half an hour after his VFL record-equalling 336^th game, the bandy-legged Richmond rover who was reluctantly turned into a half-forward goalsneak last year was left alone to reflect on the day.

No one wanted to talk to him or pat him on the back so he sat on a bench in a corner, munching on his mouth-guard and staring at the pile of sweaty socks and dirty boots at his feet.

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When your side is walloped in the last round by a team out of the five, loses top place and you perform as miserably as most of your team-mates, a place like Richmond does not permit you to feel anything but shame.

It is, perhaps, a sad development in football and a poor reflection on modern attitudes. But it is also here to stay.

So next Saturday at VFL Park, Bartlett must hope that Richmond somehow gets itself back on the rails otherwise the day he breaks the record will be just as dis-satisfying as the day he equalled it.

Bartlett is well aware that the lead-up this week to the most important day in his personal career is going to count for nothing in comparison to the Tigers’ attempts t reassert the superiority which has suddenly deserted them.

There were attempts to play down the fears at South Melbourne on Saturday. Coach Tony Jewell nattered away about the opposition reacting to the humiliation of the previous week and his side being ‘let down’ because it had played such a big game the week before (against North Melbourne).

But wasn’t this a fairly important contest as well? After all, Richmond had to win to get the week’s rest which the finals system offers these days as reward for being “minor” premiers.

Jewell was making a good job of ensuring that outsiders would not get the impression that the jitters had set in at Richmond after losing two of the past four games.

He went so far as to suggest that it was a good thing that his side didn’t have that break because they might slacken off.

The logic there seemed to ne slightly askew. But then a brave face counts for a lot at this time of year.

Still, Richmond knows it is facing considerable problems for the first time this year. Its goal-to-goal line of Bourke, Jess, Raines, Cloke and Roach has not been matched for strength and skill at Richmond for many years. But now, the two vital links – Jess and Cloke – look lost to the cause.

Jess, we are officially told, is simply out of form and Cloke has fallen victim to the ill-advised policy of playing when injured.

Cloke has had a bruised heel for several weeks and is down to less than 25 per cent of his normal effectiveness. As he ran out to partake in Richmond’s 54-point thrashing from South Melbourne on Saturday, his limp was proof he would not get through the game.

He didn’t and spent the second half on the bench. Now he is out of Saturday’s qualifying final against Carlton.

It seems that if corrective measures (i.e. an extended rest) had been taken some time ago, the Tigers would be going into this match with the services of the strongest centre half-forward in the League.

But on Saturday it is doubtful that a free-running Cloke would have made much difference to the result. South Melbourne, somehow turning from Hyde to Jekyll in the space of a week, ripped apart the flag favorites.

The Swans led at every change and it seemed that if they had played until dark, Richmond would have found itself still miles in arrears.

The worrying part about the Richmond loss was that there was no fight, no comeback: not even a brief fling.

The only time they looked in command was the first 10 minutes when Michael Roach brought out his step ladder, took two fine marks and kicked goals from both chances.” 

Match details

Richmond                     2.3       3.7       4.9       7.11 (53)
South Melbourne          4.4       6.8       11.10    16.11 (107)

Goals – Richmond: Roach 4, Wiley, Bartlett, Smith.
Best – Richmond: Wiley, Raines, Roach.

Goals – South Melbourne: G. Smith 4, Roberts 3, Evans 2, James 2, Browning, Teasdale, T. Morwood, Koop, Round.
Best – South Melbourne: Ackerly, James, G. Smith, Browning, T. Morwood, Teasdale, Jackson.