Richmond is back on top of the AFL mountain after a remarkable season, writes Mark Robinson
THE Tigers are back. The mighty yellow and black are once again atop the AFL mountain after a truly remarkable season, writes MARK ROBINSON.
Mark Robinson
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IT’S now hours since the final siren sounded and grown men and women will still be crying.
The streets of Richmond will be awash with song and dance and whatever can be drunk, be it bought, stolen or bartered.
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Strangers will hug and smile and loved ones might even take it a step further, everyone of them caked in the famous yellow and black.
For the Tigers are back.
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The mighty yellow and black — and the Tiger Army — are once again atop the AFL mountain.
In front of 100,000 fans and after 37 long, torturous years, which was braced by ridicule and condemnation and at times self harm, Richmond won its historic 11th flag.
This was a flag for the people as much as it was for the players.
They arrived in their thousands at the MCG, brimming with hope and belief and departed last night delirious and feeling cherished.
It was a remarkable season.
The Tigers began it on a spiritual wave, wanting truth and connection and honesty from each player, and ended it with a truckload of substance.
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The final score was 16.12 (108) to Adelaide’s 8.12 (60).
Of course, the fairytale is Richmond and its most colourful character is Dustin Martin.
The Brownlow Medallist capped one of the best individual seasons in AFL history by winning Norm Smith Medal for best afield.
That’s the Brownlow, Norm Smith and premiership medals beside every football media award in the country. Yep, a truly remarkable season.
The game was over long before the final siren.
Indeed, the tears flowed all around the MCG during the final quarter.
Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale put his head into his hands when Dan Butler kicked the club’s 15th goal of the game.
The Tigers needed not to worry about defeat by then, but always there is some strange thinking that the opposition could kick eight goals in 10 minutes and snatch an incredible victory.
The Butler goal was Gale’s moment of acceptance of achievement.
When he left his Punt Rd office earlier in the day, before 11am, he admitted he stopped and looked around the oval and was besieged by a this-is-it moment.
No wonder he was in tears in the grandstand.
Heroes bloom everywhere for the Tigers.
One is coach Damien Hardwick, who may have lost his job last season, and who now joins the likes of Tom Hafey, Tony Jewell, Jack Dyer and Percy Bentley as Tigers’ premiership coaches.
Another is Jack Graham, the youngest bloke on the field yesterday at 19. He kicked three goals and slew his childhood hero Rory Sloane in the second half.
There was Bachar Houli, the proudest of Tigers, who was magnificent on a back flank.
There was Jack Riewoldt at full-forward — My Brother Jack — who had three shots in the first quarter for three behinds and who kicked the first goal of the final quarter to absolutely deliver the Tigers the premiership.
There was Dion Prestia, the supposedly overpaid recruit from Gold Coast, who delivered masterly on the biggest stage of all.
There was Dylan Grimes shutting down Eddie Betts.
There was Vlastuin’s courage, Rioli’s speed and Edwards’ smarts, all in synch and with swagger.
For an hour after the game, in front of fans who refused to leave, the Tigers players roamed the MCG.
It was once christened the Lap of the Gods because the glistening silver cup is presented to the people by the players.
They won’t care that it wasn’t a classic match in terms of a spectacle, but it is now legendary for its outcome.
Again, Richmond’s trademark pressure game delivered, this time against a team renowned for ball movement and heavy scoring.
The Crows kicked just eight goals.
Atypical for Grand Finals, mistakes punctuated the first quarter, but Richmond simply grinded the opposition into submission.
That’s three finals in a row where they have been convincing winners. The first by eight goals, the next by five goals and now eight goals.
Unquestionably, they weren’t the best team of the season, but clearly the best team of September.
While Richmond celebrates, the Crows lament.
Many of their superstar players failed on the MCG and that group included Betts, Josh Jenkins, the skipper Tex Walker and youngster Jake Lever.
Jenkins, who prodded good mate Patrick Dangerfield about not winning flags and not winning Brownlow medals, didn’t win any admirers.
That was saved for the yellow and black.
And the admiration — and the singing of the famous theme song — was out of this world.
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