Richmond premiership coach Tony Jewell was at the Tigers during a time when curious decisions were often made
TONY Jewell coached Richmond to a premiership in 1980. He was sacked just a year later. Why wasn’t he treated like a favourite son? And why did he later return to the Tigers, turning his back on Collingwood?
Richmond
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TODAY is good for football. In fact, it’s better than good. It’s glorious.
Maybe more than 90,000 fans will sweep through the wintry paddocks of the Melbourne Cricket Ground for a traditional Saturday afternoon game between traditional and gladiatorial rivals, a match billed as the most significant between these teams since the 1980 Grand Final.
It’s Richmond v Collingwood, first v third, champ v challenger.
There will be fans from both sides who attended the 1980 decider — and maybe some will still be wearing their lace-up jumpers. There will be fans who watched on TV the most famous moment when Kevin Bartlett scooted around Stan Magro to kick his seventh. And there will fans today who probably don’t even know who Stan Magro is.
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That was 38 years ago. Richmond munched the Pies by 81 points.
Tony Jewell was the Tigers’ coach and today he will be among the throng. Even better, Jewell, 74, will be celebrated before the game when he will be presented as the Homecoming Hero.
“It’s always nice when they give some sort of recognition, plus they said I could take the grandkids out on the ground with me, so it will be lovely,” Jewell said.
He’s a curious figure in Richmond’s history at a time, after the 1980 premiership, when curious decisions were made by the Tigers hierarchy.
Jewell won the flag and was sacked 12 months later, replaced by favourite son Francis Bourke.
Today, it would be akin to the Western Bulldogs chopping Luke Beveridge after the 2017 season and replacing him with Bob Murphy.
“I knew it was coming because as soon as Francis Bourke retired, he was coach,” Jewell said. “I knew as soon as Francis was ready to go, I’d go. That’s how things went in those days.
“The club kept coming to me saying Bourkey was finished and that I would have to tell him. I knew as soon as he retired my head was on the block, so I kept telling Francis he had another 10 years in him.”
They were tumultuous days and, five years later, almost led to one of the untold stories in Richmond-Collingwood rivalry — Jewell coaching the Magpies — but more about that later.
Jewell should be considered a favourite son at Richmond, having played in and coached a premiership, but he isn’t absolute Tigers royalty.
“No, I was never one of the favourite sons — I came out of the blue to coach Richmond,” he said. “One of the great things about Richmond — and even Tommy Hafey felt the wrath of the administration — is you were never safe. There was royalty and it was Sheedy, and Bourkey and Balmey. I was never royalty.
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“But, you know, when it all settled down, I realised if someone told me I’d coach a VFL premiership side, I’d tell them they were dreaming.
“To have the opportunity to coach Richmond and coach Richmond to a premiership, you can’t stay bitter for too long.”
Jewell played senior football as a forward with Oakleigh in the old VFA before joining the Tigers in 1964. He mainly played as a defender during his 80 games at the Tigers, from 1964-70, including the 1967 flag against Geelong.
He returned to the VFA and coached Caulfield to a division two premiership.
“I coached there for six years and it was the best time of my life,” he said.
He returned to Richmond to coach the reserves in 1977 and won another premiership and, when the club sacked senior coach Barry Richardson, who had replaced the sacked Hafey, Jewell was elevated.
“I never had an interview for the job, I just got given it,” he said. “I think (legendary administrator) Graeme Richmond liked my style.”
Of course, the 1980 flag was his pinnacle.
His memory isn’t crisp, but he does recall the moment he believed the Tigers would win.
“About 15 minutes into the game, Jimmy Jess ran back with the flight of the ball and took a mark with Billy Picken coming the other way at him,” he said. “I turned in the box and I said, ‘We’re not going to get beaten today’. That sticks in my mind. Jimmy showed what he was prepared to sacrifice to win it.”
He remembers his sacking more vividly. The year after the flag was lean. The Tigers won 13 games, lost nine and missed the finals.
Jewell was sitting at home in Brighton with Peter Grant and Paddy Guinane planning the ’82 pre-season program when Richmond secretary Kevin Dixon called.
“He told me the board wanted to meet me at 6am at Punt Rd the next day and I knew straight away — that’s how they did it,” Jewell said.
“I rang a bloke called Allan Cooke (chairman of selectors) and I said I’m being summoned and I asked if I was getting the sack. He wouldn’t tell me and in the end I said, ‘Come on, I want to act with some sort of decorum. Just let me know’. And he said they were going sack me.
“So, I rang Bruce Matthews at the Sun and I said “Narra, do you want a story? I’m resigning’ and I didn’t turn up the meeting.”
Jewell laughed when he said that.
“I was wounded more than bitter,” he said. “It’s not nice. You’ve got kids at school, you know football in Melbourne … yeah it hurt. One minute you’re part of the club and the players and you’re planning. I should have seen the warning. I was supposed to fly to Western Australia to get Maurice Rioli and they cancelled the trip. I should have known then.”
Jewell coached St Kilda in 1983-84, left the game in 1985, and returned to Richmond as coach in 1986.
But not before agreeing to ,and then reneging on, joining Collingwood as an assistant coach under Bobby Rose, a position eventually filled by Leigh Matthews.
He replaced Rose after Round 3 and the rest is history.
“Yeah, I was appointed assistant to Bobby and the deal was, Bobby didn’t want to coach anymore and that when he was satisfiedl, I knew all the players and I was ready to take over, I would then be the senior coach,” Jewell said.
The Tigers, however, were being typical and had sacked Paul Sproule and wanted Jewell to coach again. The lure of Richmond was too strong and Jewell told Rose the news.
“Bobby told me at the time they had Leigh Matthews up their sleeve, but they weren’t keen having an untried coach,” he said.
Richmond won seven games under Jewell in 1986. Collingwood finished sixth and won the flag under Matthews four years later.
Today, 53 years after his first game for Richmond, Jewell will be back at the MCG.
“Football is fabulous, isn’t it?” he said. “It’s just an honour to be involved in it, especially in this town. You just can’t believe your luck.”
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