Xavier Richards credits big brother Ted for showing him how to be a good teammate
XAVIER Richards was dreaming of a Grand Final day send-off for big brother Ted, where the two lined up together side-by-side at the MCG. Sadly Xavier will be on his own tomorrow.
Sydney
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XAVIER Richards was dreaming of a grand final day send-off for big brother Ted, where the two lined up together side-by-side at the MCG.
That’s not going to happen — Ted hasn’t made the cut.
But in forced early retirement, the Sydney Swans veteran has taught Xavier the lesson that could take the 23-year-old big places in his fledgling AFL career, which is just 11 games in the making.
Xavier has revealed how Ted’s concussion scare earlier this season rocked the Richards family and how close the 33-year-old key defender came to calling it quits right then and there.
Ted won’t be given the grand final fairytale he has hung on to since last playing in round 17, but in Xavier’s eyes he doesn’t need to.
Sticking it out to the end, even when there was no real prospect of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, is the selfless team-first example Xavier wants to build his career on after getting his big break this year at the same as Ted bowed out.
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“To be honest there’s probably been about 10,000 different conversations between us and 10,000 pieces of advice,” Xavier told The Daily Telegraph.
“But the main lesson I’ve learnt from him is the power of resilience and persistence.
“AFL careers have a lot more downs than ups and the people that get the best out of their careers are the ones that are persistent and resilient.
“He’s been my No. 1 mentor and steering me in the right direction on field and off field. We have a very tight relationship.”
Ten years separates the Richards siblings, enough of an age gap that Xavier in many ways thinks of Ted as a “father figure”.
There were some backyard soccer games, that went quite violently against Xavier, but by the time he was nine, Ted had already moved out of the family home.
In Xavier’s own words, he was spoiled living at home as the youngest of five children, and when he joined the Swans and moved to Sydney straight into Ted’s beachside apartment, he didn’t even know how to use the washing machine.
“He helped me with a few life skills,” says Xavier, sheepishly.
But over time, Xavier and Ted bonded and despite the decade between them, they began to relate as brothers, in the realist sense of the word.
When Ted was badly concussed back in round nine, the dinner time conversations suddenly became very real.
Ted was starting to enter the red zone of having incurred one head knock too many and he had a young family to think of.
“Dad was a bit concerned because he was aware of some of the science that’s come out on multiple concussions. Ted took it very seriously,” said Xavier.
“He was thinking about after football and if there would be any side effects.
“Dad’s got friends that are doctors. Ted ... had nine or 10 concussions and I think that’s a danger zone. The medical advice is you don’t want to have any more than that, it’s become apparent there are some side effects that can come down the track.
“He came very, very close to retiring to be honest I think it was only the growing success of the group and the fact he didn’t have severe symptoms that he ended up deciding to play on.
“… We’re definitely brothers. I head around to his for dinners and chat about life a lot. We’re pretty tight.”
The Richards clan is spread all over the world for this Grand Final.
Dad will be at the MCG on Saturday to cheer on Xavier, but mum is in Dubai with the boys’ sister, who has just given birth. In Singapore is another brother, a finance man, and in New York another sister, an architect.
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“I don’t know if my sister is a bit filthy about dad postponing meeting his new grandchild,” says Xavier.
“But that’s where his allegiances lie at the moment.”
All eyes will be on the MCG come Saturday — and as Xavier and Ted have proven, it doesn’t really matter that the Richards aren’t all sharing the same patch of grass. Family is family.
Originally published as Xavier Richards credits big brother Ted for showing him how to be a good teammate
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