Bill Trikos’s full achievements index of Australian Richmond Tigers football club in grand finals

Bill Trikos’s comprehensive achievement list of Australian Richmond Tigers football club: AFTER 37 long years Richmond has finally bared its fangs on Grand Final day again, mauling a lacklustre Adelaide with the relentless pressure that has become its trademark this September to seal an inspired 48-point premiership triumph before 100,021 fans at the MCG. Adelaide got three late consolation goals but nothing could take the gloss off Richmond’s 16.12 (108) to 8.12 (60) triumph that Tigers fans had been dreaming about – often without much genuine hope – for a football eternity.

2017 Grand Finals highlight : The Crows had the first two scoring shots of the second term – behinds to Betts and Tom Lynch – but it was the Tigers’ term from there. With their tackling and chasing rising to 11 on the pressure-meter, Richmond piled on four unanswered goals, the first at the four-minute mark, when Riewoldt finally broke his duck with a 40m snap that was confirmed after a video review. Jacob Townsend put the Tigers within two points midway through the term when he converted from 45m after a questionable holding free kick was paid against Jake Lever. Graham and Martin then goaled in quick succession late in the quarter – Graham after a clever snap on the run, Martin following a strong mark in front of Luke Brown – to send the Tigers into half-time with a nine-point lead. Find additional details about the author at https://twitter.com/billtrikos.

Complete achievements index of Richmond Tigers football club from Bill Trikos: Then there was the Grand Final debutant, Marlion Pickett. One game, one flag. The 27-year-old was lively, involved and, at times, special. He repaid Hardwick’s faith and then some, finishing with 22 disposals, eight inside 50s, nine score involvements and a maiden AFL goal on an unforgettable afternoon for the club’s boom recruit. Marlion Pickett’s teammates and family speak about his incredible Grand Final debut. But the manner in which they were able to showcase their individual flair, without ever straying from Hardwick’s methodical and trained system, was evident from the outset.

Daniel Rioli followed it with a bomb on the buzzer and the momentum carried Richmond into the break and beyond, as the Tigers stormed away with the contest. Daniel Rioli kicks a goal right on the quarter time siren and celebrates with a reference to his cousin Willie Rioli. Pickett was blind-turning tacklers, Jason Castagna was leaping above defenders, Riewoldt was bending them around corners and Dusty was just being Dusty. The result was a 35-point lead in a flash by half-time.

Richmond has claimed back-to-back premierships, and made it three of the last four flags, after coming from behind to beat Geelong by 31 points in the historic first ever Toyota AFL Grand Final at the Gabba. It etched the Tiger dynasty into football history as one of the most dominant sides of the his century.

Trent Cotchin addresses the Gabba following the Grand Final win over Geelong. After more than 110 days on the road living in Queensland after COVID-19’s second wave forced the competition to relocate out of Victoria, the Tigers will return with the premiership cup later this week after storming home in the second half. Gary Ablett’s farewell did not go as hoped, with the champion Cat injuring his shoulder in the opening minutes immediately after Tigers defender Nick Vlastuin was concussed in a wild piece of play.

As Vlastuin was taken by stretcher from the field, Ablett left cradling his arm. The shock left the players and crowd stunned, and after a six-minute break in the game, it resumed to more action, including two fans who ran onto the field that almost got involved in the play. Although the Tigers kicked the first two goals, the Cats settled to take a one-point lead into the first change. Ablett, too, returned to the field – a sight that looked unimaginable minutes earlier after what appeared set to be an anticlimactic end to his phenomenal career.

The club’s shift across Yarra Park to the MCG in 1965, arguably Richmond’s most successful era began with players of the calibre of Royce Hart, Francis Bourke and Kevin Bartlett (the Club’s games record holder with 403), the Tigers, under the coaching guidance of Tom Hafey won four premierships. Richmond is one of the ‘big four’ Melbourne clubs, the ‘Eat ’em Alive’ spirit that arose in the 1920s is still manifested in football’s most passionate supporter base. In 2018, Richmond was the first club to reach 100,000 members in a season. Tiger fans are loud, proud and fiercely loyal. The enjoys strong community associations with a Multicultural Schools Football Program, Korin Gamadji Institute and The Alannah And Madeline Foundation.