2017: Year of the Tiger
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Another drought breaks
The AFL's 'fairytale' era continues to gain momentum, with Richmond defying the odds to take out the 2017 premiership, breaking a 37-year drought that many thought would last much longer. The Tigers' win comes just 12 months after the Western Bulldogs broke and even longer drought - 62 years. With Sydney ending a 72-year run without a flag in 2005 and Geelong saluting after 44 flag-less years in 2007, the AFL has now seen four its six longest droughts ended in the last 13 seasons.
A year ago, the Tigers slumped to 13th place on the ladder, losing its final match of the 2016 season by 113 points to Sydney, after having played in three consecutive finals series in 2013, 2014 and 2015 without managing a win. The voices of dissent among the Richmond faithful had grown loud and large in number. Under a ticket name of 'Focus on Footy', businessman Martin Hiscock and a group of former Tiger players sought to overthrow the incumbent board. Coach Damien Hardwick's head was firmly placed on the chopping block, and Punt Road - from the outside at least - appeared to be under siege.
But Richmond's CEO Brendon Gale and president Peggy O'Neil remained calmly defiant. Acknowledging that the club's performance on the field clearly hadn't been good enough, they nevertheless reiterated their faith in Hardwick as the right man for the job. In a coup, they secured the services of former player Neil Balme as football manager. Balme had been seen as a key to bringing success to Geelong in the same role at Kardinia Park, and had done a similarly good job at Collingwood.
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Martin Hiscock's coup attempt petered out and an uneasy calm descended on Punt Road. Many of Tiger Army were glad that Richmond hadn't gone down the path of 'eating their own' as they had so often in the past, but doubts about whether club was at last on the right path lingered. When the 2017 season began, few believed the Tigers would make it to September; fewer still believed they would win a final or two; and the number of people who thought they could actually take out the 2017 AFL premiership would have been very, very small indeed.
But virtually from round one, Richmond showed that its 2017 model was different from those of recent seasons. Not many were convinced initially, with the Tigers' wins over Carlton and Collingwood more or less expected, but several started to take notice after they beat West Coast in round three. The naysayers persisted, though, citing the Eagles' poor recent record at the MCG.
Even after the Tigers racked up two more wins to take their record to 5-0, the doubters remained, and their reservations appeared to be justified when Richmond came back to earth with a thud, thrashed by Adelaide in round six. The Tigers then suffered three consecutive losses by under a goal after having held big leads in all three matches, and the vultures were circling.
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But two of those three losses had been against very good sides - last year's premiers the Western Bulldogs, and GWS - a talent-laden side that many saw as flag favourites - which suggested that the Tigers were doing a lot of things right without actually finishing off the job. If they could sort out the last few minutes of their games, they would stake a genuine claim as a formidable team.
The Tigers would suffer one more such loss, giving up a five-goal lead against Sydney in round 13, but for the rest of the season, they rarely put a foot wrong. In fact, they were to lose only two more matches, but it was the magnitude of the first of those losses - 67 points against St Kilda in round 16 - that continued to provide fodder for the doubters.
Ultimately, though, that loss and a narrower one to Geelong at Kardinia Park were merely aberrations, ones that would likely have been seen as exactly such by most pundits had they been recorded by sides that had recent success. But Richmond's 37 years without a flag saw serious doubts created with every minor hiccup.
Importantly, though, those doubts came mainly from outside the club. From within, the players and coaches at Punt Road knew them to be aberrations and believed that the Tigers' game style would ultimately hold up against the best.
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They were right. Richmond bounced back from its loss to Geelong to thrash Fremantle and then exact revenge on the Saints as they headed into the finals. The Tigers then blew away two hoodoos, thrashing Geelong in the qualifying final - their first win against the Cats since 2006 and first finals win since 2001.
Following a well-earned week off, the Tigers ground down GWS to make their first Grand Final since 1982 and then celebrated some more as their own Dustin Martin's dominant season saw him claim the Brownlow Medal with a record-breaking 36 votes.
But Richmond did not over-celebrate (though some of their fans may have). The Tiger players' minds returned to the job at hand at training the following morning and on Saturday they saw off the best the Adelaide Crows had to offer in the 'big dance', winning the Grand Final by 48 points. At the sounding of the final siren the Tiger Army erupted. Tears of joy came in a rush, washing away those of pain that had flowed for more than three decades.
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Martin capped off an incredible individual season and week by winning the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground. Not everyone agreed with that assessment, but not one Tiger cared because Richmond - after 37 long, painful years in the wilderness - were premiers once more.
Another fairytale finish for the AFL, after the Western Bulldogs ended their longer premiership drought - 62 years - in 2016. The Dogs' breakthrough gave other long-suffering clubs - including Richmond - hope. The Tigers seized on that hope in 2017. Only two premiership droughts of longer than a quarter of a century now exist - Melbourne have not not won a flag since 1964, and St Kilda last saluted in 1966.
Both Melbourne and St Kilda have been building in the last couple of seasons and, having seen what the Bulldogs and Tigers have achieved in the last 12 months, they will know that a long-awaited flag no longer has to be a mere pipe dream for them.
And should any doubts resurface amongst yearning Saints and Demons, they'll need only to take a walk along the streets of Melbourne over the next six months. It won't be long before they see a Tiger fan or two sporting a grin from ear to ear - a premiership smile.
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