Why Australia is riding the Tiger train again

THE planets are aligning for a great footy underdog story after 35 years of underachievement. Buckle up and enjoy the ride, writes JON ANDERSON.

Dustin Martin trains in front of passionate Richmond supporters.

RICHMOND, a side that 40 years ago received a begrudging respect following a decade of dominance, today carries the hopes of most neutral Victorian supporters.

The same Tigers who used to be ridiculed for their propensity to finish ninth, thereby missing the finals by one spot. Or the team that boasted the best theme song in the business but little else in the way of superlatives.

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Suddenly those bold yellow and black colours, once so feared for their greatness, are the talk of the town again as their likeable coach Damien “Dimma” Hardwick and his Tiger cubs rediscover their roar.

Tonight they find themselves in a feline battle against the Geelong Cats, a side they beat 50 years ago by nine points at the MCG in one of the greatest Grand Finals of all time.

And they will go in with genuine love from football fans who back an underdog.

Dustin Martin trains this week in front of success-starved Tiger fans.

Win three flags in the past decade, as the Cats have done, and you run the risk of the tall poppy syndrome.

But seriously underachieve, as the Tigers have managed for 35 years, and you can be both forgiven for past glories and willed to success by those who love a fairytale.

That’s what it will be if Dusty, Jack, Rancey, Cotch, Basha and the boys can overcome the Cats and move within one win of a Grand Final.

As their last premiership coach in Tony Jewell (1980) noted last week, it’s as if all the planets have aligned. After all, where else in the world of sport could you finish beneath a team and then host it in a final at your home ground?

Playing at the MCG is massive for the Tigers, a ground where they have a whopping record crowd average of 60,920 this season, a figure 48 per cent up on 2016.

Their fans and the football world have been buoyed by their run-and-carry style, a devil-may-care attitude that has blown some serious opposition off the park.

Richmond’s rise has been one of the year’s feel-good stories.

This fighting fury from Tigerland has made the AFL sit up and take notice, and tonight is the perfect vehicle to signal their re-emergence as a genuine power of the game, a possibility that only grew when Dustin Martin re-signed for seven years.

So buckle your seat belts and enjoy the hottest ticket in town, the team that, like the Tigers of old, is strong and bold” and brace yourself for what could be a deafening roar of “For we’re from Tiger — YELLOW AND BLACK”.