In an extract from a new book that relives a golden era at Tigerland, “The Hafey Years”, author Elliot Cartledge examines the impact Tommy Hafey’s arrival as Richmond’s coach in the mid-1960s had on the Club’s playing group at the time.
“To a playing group galvanised by the strategies of Len Smith and infused with a will to win, the appearance of Tom Hafey was a godsend. Word had well and truly reached the ears of the Punt Road playing personnel that Hafey had every intention of intensifying the training to a level they had never previously experienced.
John Ronaldson had made his debut for the Tigers under Len Smith and noticed the changes immediately. ‘When I first went to Richmond the training was fairly basic,’ he said. ‘End-to-end stuff, circle work, a couple of sprints and then in. But when Tommy arrived, you certainly got to know all about training. As a young player trying to break into the team, I didn’t question any of it. You just did what you had to do and I busted my guts. I’d get home from training absolutely exhausted.’
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Roger Dean was about to enter his 10th season of League football and had played alongside Hafey in the late 1950s.
‘When he [Hafey] was appointed, people thought it must be hard to play under someone you played with but I was only young, just 17, when playing with Tommy,’ Dean said. ‘I was 18 when he left in ’58. To me, he was still my idol. He always said hello to me and gave me the time of day. So Len got me fit and then Tommy took it to another level. He was just a fanatic for hard work and there was lots more contesting work.
‘At least once a night he’d pair off blokes, toss the footy out and they’d have to scrap each other to get it back to him. It was anything goes and it was very tiring. So he was tougher. Len Smith was the best coach we had until Tommy got there. He was a real gentleman and where Tommy pipped him was that Len was too nice about the opposition. He’d never say a bad word about anybody. But under Len it was the first time I was ever fit for football. Then Tommy took it further.’
Tony Jewell recognised that GR [Graeme Richmond] was immediately in cahoots with Hafey and the place was jumping. ‘The Graeme and Tommy combination was just fabulous - you could sense we were on the march. It was a great place to be,’ Jewell said. ‘I am forever thankful to have been there at the start when we were on the bottom, all the way through to ’67.’
With over half of the playing list turned over during the Smith years, Hafey arrived at Punt Road to a reasonably stable group. Important additions for the 1966 season would be country recruit Dick Clay (not officially named before the home and away matches), ruckman Michael Green, the uncannily skilled Blair Campbell and pacy half-back Geoff Strang. A talented Tasmanian youngster by the name of Royce Hart also found his way to Punt Road.
Hart kicked off his career under Ray Jordon’s watchful eye in the under 19s, alongside the likes of Graeme Bond, Wayne Walsh and Rex Hunt, who gained early insight into the ways of GR. ‘I was at Mordialloc High School and going to training and I’d go to Graeme’s office and he’d give me money for the taxi fare home,’ said Hunt. ‘Then on the night I signed I went back to his office and said, “Mr Richmond, I’m here to get the money for the taxi” and he told me, “The gravy train’s over kid - here’s a dollar and the 7.19 to Frankston leaves in ten minutes and you better be on it or you’re going to be using Shank’s pony!” and that was it!’
The VFL club lists went to print one week prior to Round 1. With experienced personnel in Barrot, Crowe, Dean, Guinane, ‘Bull’ Richardson and Swift, plus an infusion of hand-picked talent, the Tigers’ stocks looked promising.”
