Tyrone Vickery has not lived up to hype, writes Jon Ralph

WHEN Tyrone Vickery was drafted he was Richmond’s great white hope, but what has followed has been a career that has never lived up to the hype, writes JON RALPH.

Ty Vickery hasn’t lived up to expectations since being drafted by Richmond in 2008. Picture: Getty Images

TYRONE Vickery has been a lightning rod for controversy since the day he was drafted as Richmond’s great white hope.

Taken at pick No.8 in the 2008 national draft, the Tigers fans hoped he might follow in the footsteps of the great Matthew Richardson.

He was tall, athletic, a beautiful kick for goal and with his dad John the Tigers’ boxing coach, the hope was he had some old-fashioned mongrel in him.

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Instead Vickery, 27, spent eight seasons at Richmond and six months at Hawthorn as one of football’s most maligned players.

He has never quite lived up to the hype despite moments of brilliance, including a 36-goal season in 2011, his third year.

When he did show that mongrel, it was clocking West Coast ruckman Dean Cox during a 2014 clash.

He was suspended for four weeks and apologised, but that was as far as his bad-boy tendencies extended.

Ty Vickery celebrates a goal for Hawthorn, where he is trying to reinvigorate his career. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

In 2015 his close mate Jake King said how disappointed he was with perceptions about Vickery.

“I compare him to Kurt Tippett — same height, same position, same everything,” he said.

“Tyrone is twice the player Kurt Tippett is and on half the money, but 10 times the crap.

“It’s unfair on the poor kid and I think he’s been extremely hard done by, the way he gets treated.”

Dad John, who played four games at Collingwood before becoming Richmond’s long-running boxing coach, spoke then of the criticism.

He said it was King who helped his son through the hard times and constant negative attention.

“It used to affect him and he and I sat down a lot to discuss it,” Vickery Sr said. “You’ve just got to take no notice of it and he doesn’t.

“Sometimes I ask him ‘How you going?’ and he says, ‘I’m not listening to it dad, I don’t care, I’m just going to play footy’.

Ty Vickery knocking out Dean Cox in 2014. Picture: Channel 7

“He seems to be a far happier bloke now than what he was a few years ago.

“He was in a dark spot there for a bit. He was always a quiet kid, never did anything wrong or said anything wrong.

“I don’t think he swore until he started hanging around with Jakey King.”

Vickery has always been a study in contrasts — a taekwondo black belt who was this year mocked for carrying his cat around in a custom-made backpack.

Mostly he teased and frustrated, mixing moments of exceptional football with the disappointing and the downright comical.

In the NAB Challenge last year, in a bizarre concussion-related episode, he attempted to mark a ball when the play was 80m away.

Vickery at the Newcombe Medal with wife Arina Rodionova. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

He tried to mark a non-existent ball, later diagnosed with concussion after an earlier hit.

In December 2015 he married Russian-born Australian tennis player Arina Rodionova, competing at Wimbledon this fortnight.

He moved to Hawthorn on a $500,000-a-season deal, tired of the negative attention and his role as a scapegoat for Richmond’s failings.

Vickery had hoped to turn around a career of frustrating misses when he joined the Hawks and master coach Alastair Clarkson.

He has played just six games, kicking two goals as a ruck/forward, and has been dropped twice already and is presently playing in the VFL.