front – Page 3

A journey to a game I love

08/05/2018 By Tiger Tommo 3 Comments

The author and youngest daughter Emily

I was making a planned journey home to see my mum and was reading TTBB during the trip. I sent Chris and Dugald an email asking did they need anyone to do the Benny this week as I’d be at the game and would be happy to do it. Chris said yep why not, Dugald reminded him of the roster; the game and the Benny was booked back in March by Malcolm. Chris said no worries, just pen a side story if you want to, and we might give it a run.

My first effort got a run a couple of years back. It was about 4 generations of my family not liking Collingwood. Let’s see how we go here.

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My journey home to see mum starts on the south coast of Kenya on Wednesday before the Freo game. I’d emailed Dugald, Skippy Girl and Chris saying I’ll be home for a bit hopefully we can catch up.

First stop Nairobi and a trip to ICU at Aga Khan Hospital. A good friend of my family had been involved in a horrific car accident. Jane is pretty banged up but she’s as tough as a Tommy Hafey era Tiger and is slowly healing. She is surrounded by her own family and other friends and on my way back she’s getting another visit; and a Tiger scarf, she’s earned it.

Nairobi to Doha, onto Melbourne and finally after the train ride I arrived in Sale. I had a day to work out how to get from Sale to the MCG and home again; my plan found me back on the same train Sunday morning at 08.30. It was then it hit me. This game, this round last year was to be my dad’s last game as a spectator at the MCG. I remembered the game, I remembered him raising his ailing body out of the seat when we hit the front and I remember Mundy’s goal shortly afterwards.

Freo 2017 post game dad walked up the stairs from M-15 with his oxygen in tow and a mate from my primary school days, Duggo. Before reaching the top of the steps he turned to look at the ground and when Duggo asked if he was OK he said I’m just having one last look, I won’t see this again. Dad died about six weeks later.

The other thing I remember from that day is our eldest daughter, my best mates son and another Tiger we sit with; Olly, his eldest daughter. These kids had grown up at the footy with us, they used to have jam donuts and juice and they’d yell and scream at the Tigers of old. What I remembered though from last year was these three “kids” were adults and were sitting in the sun with us enjoying a beer and watching our Tigers. Our ambush had been solid for almost 20 years. Bear, Duggo, Olly, George, Spiro, a bunch of kids and my dad. Throw in the occasional visit from our wives and that’s our ambush. (An ambush is a family or group of Tigers……true story).

Duggo, a mate from Primary school days. Duggo, Bear and I have been going to the footy to watch the Tigers since the 70’s. (unfortunately Bear couldn’t make Sundays game)

Some of the “ambushes” around M-15

Olly, clapping Jacks first for the day. Olly has been in our “ambush” for 20+ years.

I went to the footy the following week feeling empty, my daughters were beside me and it dawned on me then that the yellow and black baton had passed down to another generation thanks to Dad. We were lucky enough to score 2017 grand final tickets as did Bear and his son and our mate Duggo. Freo 2018 was my first game since that memorable day.

Olly turned up and the first thing he said was sorry about your dad Tommo (he hadn’t seen me since Freo last year). We then talked all things 2018. George turned up, Duggo, Bears brother in law Jamie, my youngest, Olly’s eldest….our ambush was almost full. For 20+ years, week in, week out all or part of our Tiger ambush get together to share the Tiger experience.

I started to look around and look at all the Tiger ambushes just in our section of the MCG. People hugging, shaking hands, patting backs. Tigers proud, laughing, confident and basking in 2017 and 2018 thus far. Freo had beaten us the last three games at the G. Not today, no chance, won’t happen. Cotchin’s out, doesn’t matter – our two’s could beat them. The Tigers are back in town.

I haven’t seen that in Tigers for a while. I was loving it, basking in it, I am part of it. I get weekly photos and short video grabs of the game, the song and various player snaps from my daughters and a couple of others including Skippy Girl. Bear and I share phone calls and talk all things Richmond. I chat on email with Chris and Dugald, read the various websites, blogs and I stream the games and watch the replays back in Kenya but nothing, absolutely nothing beats sitting in the sun with our ambush when the Tigers are up and about.

Another 8 goal last quarter and cue the song. This time every Tiger ambush, every lone Tiger, every Tiger cub was one strong and bold Tiger Army. We sang loud, we sang proud, we roared Yellow and Black.

I took the train to Caulfield and kept the Richmond patrons amused with songs from my days in the cheer squad. My youngest wasn’t overly impressed but she did laugh at my antics. We then caught up with her sister (our eldest) and we had a meal together.

My eldest drove me back to Sale, it wasn’t the same as going home with dad and dissecting the game but we were two Tigers going home after a win. We had the scarf flying out the window all the way home, that’s something we always did with dad. Life goes on but some things in life never change, like scarves out the window after a win.

Yellow and Black Forever

Tiger Tommo

Round 7 v Fremantle, MCG – The Benny 2018

08/05/2018 By Malcolm McKinnon 5 Comments

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I have an old friend who’s been following Fremantle FC since the club’s inception. Every time the purple ones traverse the Nullarbor to take on the Tigers at the MCG we meet up and enjoy a pleasant afternoon on the terrace. These excursions have included both occasions where D. Mundy has vanquished the Yellow & Black at the death as well as, from my point of view, some happier contests such as today’s encounter.

Let me preface my report on Tigerish exploits with a couple of Freo-related observations. Firstly, every time I watch big Aaron Sandilands lumbering around the paddock, making everyone else look positively Lilliputian, I find myself wondering about his parents. What kind of creatures could possibly hatch such a man-mountain? I also find myself thinking about a particular photograph by Diane Arbus (see duly bastardised reproduction accompanying this article).

Image caption: Diane Arbus meets Aaron Sandilands (with all due apologies)

That said, I have to admit that our Nank had about as much success jumping up against the purple giant as might the old folk in Arbus’ picture. Secondly, don’t believe reports that Nat Fyfe was best-on-ground in this game. True, his aerial work was sensational and he won a lot of the pill but, more often than not, his disposal was appalling. In the first half especially we wondered if perhaps he had his left and right boots accidentally laced to the wrong feet. Most of the time the man-bunned one couldn’t kick truly to save himself. In this regard he led his team by example, with Freo players taking it in turns to butcher the ball on a regular basis. My Freo supporting friend had little to cheer about, save for a few passages of fluent play in the third quarter.

When a team manages to kick only four goals in an entire game it’s difficult to weigh up how much this is a product of their own incompetence and how much it reflects the quality of the opposition. Most of the time, Fremantle delivered the ball into their forward line without precision, but the Tiger defenders read the play beautifully and intercepted most of the Freo forward forays with skill and courage. Tall defenders Dylan Grimes, David Astbury and Alex Rance were the best players on the ground in my view, marking everything that came their way and rebounding with alacrity.

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The Tiges were most magnificent when they ran in waves, linking up with well- weighted handball and sharp, diagonal foot passes to move the ball swiftly from one end of the ground to the other. This is the kind of football that makes it difficult to identify best players because so many are doing their bit in the chain. Titch Edwards has always been a master of the magic blink-and-you-miss it handball, but now other Tigers are regularly executing the same manoeuvre. Jack Riewoldt has become a great exponent and many of his teammates are also having a go. (I sometimes feel that we might do a little less of this slick handball routine when we’re close to goal and could we please ‘just-kick-the-bloody-thing’, but perhaps I’m just a bit old-fashioned in this regard.)

The other thing to love about the Yellow & Black in this game was their relentless tackling pressure. I take statistics with a grain of salt, but when a team has so much more of the ball than their opposition and still manages to have almost thirty more tackles then we can take that as a sign of great defensive endeavour. Jack Graham is an amazing tackling machine, but all of his teammates bring great manic endeavour to this aspect of the game.

The video goal review episodes in this game seemed ridiculous to me, with goal umpire’s decisions being overturned on the basis of inconclusive and blurry evidence. Here is another practice from the AFL Office of Stupid Ideas, which works hard to keep us all suitably irritated. (Sigh…)

At the end of the game I’m struck mostly by how weird it feels to be following a team that’s actually REALLY GOOD. I pinch myself and wonder how long this’ll go on for. We have a couple of games coming up against stronger opposition, so I guess we’ll see…

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The Benny:
5 votes: Dylan Grimes – as courageous as always, with fly-paper hands.
4 votes: David Astbury – took fourteen marks! Enough said…
3 votes: Alex Rance – our own Charles Atlas impersonator, but with better hair.
2 votes: Dustin Martin – not his greatest game, but his precision passing by hand and by foot was a wonder to behold.
1 vote: Bachar Houli – responsible for the game’s best cameo moment, spoiling an opposition mark, paddling the ball forward along the wing and then handballing deftly inboard to set up an early goal in our barnstorming final quarter.

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Leaderboard

21: Cotchin
16: Martin
11: Astbury
8: Grimes
6: Nankervis, Rance
5: Lambert, Short
4: Caddy, Conca, Higgins

3: Graham, Edwards, Lloyd, Houli
1: Townsend, McIntosh, Castagna

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award: for players who have joined Richmond from another club
(Eligible 2018: Caddy, Grigg, Hampson, Houli, Nankervis, Miles, Prestia and Townsend.)
6: Nankervis

4: Caddy
1: Townsend

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player: for anyone who was yet to debut before round 1
(Eligible 2018: Liam Baker, Noah Balta, Callum Coleman-Jones, Ryan Garthwaite, Jack Higgins, Ben Miller, Patrick Naish)

4: Higgins

Joel Bowden’s Golden Left Boot:for left footers
(Eligible 2018: Chol, Corey Ellis, Grigg, Nankervis and Houli).
6: Nankervis

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:
upgraded from the rookie list during the current season
Potentially eligible 2018: Baker, Chol, Eggmolesse-Smith, Moore, Stengle
No votes yet.

Maurice Rioli Grip of Death Trophy:
For the Tiges top tackler
39: Conca
37: Graham
31: Cotchin
24: Nankervis, Riewoldt
23: Lambert, Edwards

Round 6 v Collingwood, MCG – The Benny 2018

05/05/2018 By Chris Leave a Comment

I was a few minutes late to the TV and the very first action I saw was George climbing between two Pies to take a ripper of a mark 25 metres out. Then he did something between a Kennedy stutter step and a Running Man and kicked a point. Spectacular, ineffective. This should have been like the Lambert goal in the GWS prelim – an announcement to the effect ‘thanks for coming ladies and gentlemen, this is our game. Please stay and enjoy the minor details’.

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I was a few minutes late to the TV and the very first action I saw was George climbing between two Pies to take a ripper of a mark 25 metres out. Then he did something between a Kennedy stutter step and a Running Man and kicked a point. Spectacular, ineffective. This should have been like the Lambert goal in the GWS prelim – an announcement to the effect ‘thanks for coming ladies and gentlemen, this is our game. Please stay and enjoy the minor details’.

Thanks to another magnificent last quarter we did get there in the end. We are outscoring our opposition by 147% in last quarters this year. As @sjross observed it is probably no coincidence we are often up against 21, 20 or 19 fit men at the end. A game against Richmond is no place for the semi-fit, people carrying niggles and under-prepared sides on tight turnarounds. We torched Collingwood in the last term, a team who beat Adelaide a few weeks ago.

A feature of the past week has been everyone with paid positions in the football industry taking turns to agree how terrible footy is now, what can we do to fix it, maybe zones, faster ball-ups, cut teams down to 16. (This is after the previous week when we were handed a night grand final on the basis as far as I could tell that fireworks look pissy in the daytime.) But most Richmond people are basking in the sunshine right now, and the Venn diagram of Tiger Fans / People Who Want To Change Stuff looks like this:

OO

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Cotch was fantastic. For such a pin-up who never even raises a sweat, he has a delightful nasty streak. Dusty was quiet early and worked his way into it. Caddy looked underdone but still ended with 4 goals. Snags Higgins was lively and got two in a minute thanks to cartoon knucklehead Lynden Dunn. Imagine getting Dunn and Mayne across to your team in one summer. Rance looked off his best when Cox was a real marking target in the first half, but he got better. Astbury and Grimes were great all day, Houli and Short terrific and Broad looked settled and confident. Nank was arguably best afield playing against a much-vaunted ruckman. People oughta vaunt Nank a bit more.

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VOTES
5 Nankervis – he had 29 disposals if you don’t mind.
4 Cotchin – he had 29 too, and planted Treloar’s face in the the grass on his way to the bench. Get up son.
3 Grimes – I love him.
2 Houli – I love him too.
1 Short – He will play AFL finals this year in my opinion.
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Leaderboard

21: Cotchin
14: Martin

7: Astbury
6: Nankervis
5: Lambert, Short
4: Caddy, Conca, Short, Higgins

3: Graham, Edwards, Rance, Lloyd, Grimes

2: Houli
1: Townsend, McIntosh, Castagna

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award: for players who have joined Richmond from another club
(Eligible 2018: Caddy, Grigg, Hampson, Houli, Nankervis, Miles, Prestia and Townsend.)
6: Nankervis

4: Caddy
1: Townsend,

4: Higgins

Joel Bowden’s Golden Left Boot:for left footers
(Eligible 2018: Chol, Corey Ellis, Grigg, Nankervis and Houli).
6: Nankervis

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:
upgraded from the rookie list during the current season
Potentially eligible 2018: Baker, Chol, Eggmolesse-Smith, Moore, Stengle
No votes yet.

Maurice Rioli Grip of Death Trophy:
For the Tiges top tackler
32: Conca
31: Cotchin
30: Graham
21: Nankervis
20: Castagna, Lambert, Butler

Round 4 v Brisbane, MCG – The Benny 2018

01/05/2018 By Lauren Cameron Leave a Comment

A small pre-cursor.
I was invited to the wedding ceremony of my best friend from primary school, just a few days before this match.
I was behaving myself in the gorgeous church, my phone buried deep in my pockets.

I won’t look.

Two blokes in front look at a phone and giggle, but I don’t look.

My fitbit vibrates, excited to share with me its new feature – displaying my texts.

So far so good?

I smile.

Towards the end of the ceremony I catch a glimpse of the phone held by the guy in front, the score reads 58 – 4.

So I watch the replay.

Home coming hero Michael ‘Butch’ Gale nails the set shot before the first bounce.

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A strange start – Charlie Cameron kicks a goal, the umpire calls it a goal, the review says it’s not a goal. From my couch it sure looked a goal.  Then we get a free and Dusty kicks a point, gets called back to his mark and kicks a goal.  We may be in a universe in which this game both does and does not exist.  Eric Hipwood is high up the ground, still looking like a young Rafa Nadal. I think his hairline is just as doomed as poor Rafa’s too.
This is a missed opportunity for us to be playing baby Nick Kyrgios (Shai Bolton)  Oh look it’s Premiership hero Jack Graham with a nice shepherd, collect and inside 50.  JACK. (we have multiple Jacks now, but there is only one ALL-CAPS JACK)
A Huge pack mark in the goal square and HE goals. Some pretty poor defending by the lion cubs there, and that’s going to become a running theme.  Heh. Cotch in the ruck.  Caddy marks and goals, and gets a clearance at the next bounce, because stuff going to the bench for a rest. This year FoxFooty has little player poses after certain players kick a goal, and in his, Caddy appears to be applauding himself.  Zorko gets penalised for picking up the ball as Ellis lays a messy tackle. Mmm. Questionable free kicks. Delicious.
Ellis works hard to get forward and ends up on the end of it, but the kick isn’t his best.
No double cobra for that one, and we are all poorer for it 😔  Dwayne Russell inexplicably calls George Castagna ‘Cutler’ and despite (or perhaps in spite of?) this disrespect, George slots it on the quarter time siren.   Q2  Oh hey it’s the 2nd quarter and we open it with forward line pressure and a goal to George.  I don’t remember what the Brisbane forward line looks like.  Jack with another set shot and another miss, and even though this is delayed, I swear I can hear my Nan groan affectionately.  Oh hey Brisbane forward line. Hi and goodbye Josh Walker’s hairline.  We are seven minutes into the 2nd quarter and the score is 42 to 3. This is not a great day for the Lions’ pride.

Heh. See what I did there?  Towner and Nick Robertson are wrestling and I agree with the commentators, I would pay to see that.  We are dominant, and it’s looking a bit like a training run, Towner goals after Dusty flexes some muscle.  Nick Dal Santo full of praise for Rafa Hipwood, who is working very hard trying to help out the back line, then getting forward when they actually get the ball.  Ellis, possibly discouraged by his previous set shot, plays on from a mark and gets all in a tangle. Castagna moves give support but misses. We are 1000 points up and yet I’m almost annoyed we’re not winning by more?  Nick Robertson is the Lions best player so far. Funny what happens when you focus a bit more on the ball and less on kneeing Cotch and Dusty in the backside 🤔  Oooh, Bachar has a run and bounce, and George gets a very, very kind free kick. A Brisbane player spoils. Defending!

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Halftime

Nick Dal Santo is interviewing Jack who is halfway through a banana and just wants to sit down. He’s still sharp and funny, because he’s a good lad.  Our players have been a bit more visible, are we giving the media a bit more access?

Kane Lambert has no shortage of options. Photo by Jason Dowling.

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At this point I was driving home from the wedding and flicking between 3aw and MMM. MMM would spend the next 20 mins trying to find out the last (only?) time a team was goalless at 3/4 time and mocking their stats guy when he couldn’t find it immediately. Champagne radio.

  A few minutes into the 3rd and George has another goal, and a few uninspiring minutes later Dusty has his fourth. If someone takes a chest mark at the back of a pack, you’re having a bad day.   But truly, the third quarter belongs to DYLAN GRIMES.

This is a fumbling training run of a quarter, and the highlight is definitely our defensive efforts.
3/4 time is closing in, and suddenly it becomes imperative that we deny Brisbane a goal. We’re mad, all of a sudden, and it’s as though a Lion’s goal would undo everything we’ve worked for. Enter Grimey, in all his glory.

Desperation, say the commentators, as Grimes leaps for the spoil in the goal-square , bounces up from the ground and lays a brilliant tackle on the other Martin, who was absolutely just centimetres from getting a goal.

But the tiger faithful know this man, they’ve been heart in mouth for years as he defies belief time and time again with his ruthless attack on the football.  Desperation is all Dylan Grimes has ever known.

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All you need to know about the 4th quarter is that Dusty kicks goals five and six for the day, the poor lion cubs are witches’ hats and we win by 93 points. It is a comprehensive victory, with Brisbane only allowed to kick two goals. We are so lucky to see this group of defenders do their thing each week.

Smashings are weird.

It all reminds me a bit of losing to Geelong by 157 points.

It’s nice to be on the other side.

In any weather.

Dusty piles on the pain for the hapless Lions. Photo by Jason Dowling.

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VOTES
5 Trent Cotchin. Our fearless leader is killing it at the moment.
4 Dustin Martin. Jet.
3 Kane Lambert. Putting it all back together after a slowish start.
2 Dave Astbury. Just so happy to see him out there, doing the work and doing it well. #DAAS
1 Jason Castagna. I googled him the other week, but typed George Castagna. True story.

Leaderboard

17: Cotchin
14: Martin

7: Astbury
5: Lambert
4: Caddy, Conca, Short, Higgins

3: Graham, Edwards, Rance, Lloyd
1: Townsend, Nankervis, McIntosh, Castagna

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award: for players who have joined Richmond from another club
(Eligible 2018: Caddy, Grigg, Hampson, Houli, Nankervis, Miles, Prestia and Townsend.)
4: Caddy
1: Townsend, Nankervis

4: Higgins

Joel Bowden’s Golden Left Boot:for left footers
(Eligible 2018: Chol, Corey Ellis, Grigg, Nankervis and Houli).
1: Nankervis

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:
upgraded from the rookie list during the current season
Potentially eligible 2018: Baker, Chol, Eggmolesse-Smith, Moore, Stengle
No votes yet.

Maurice Rioli Grip of Death Trophy:
For the Tiges top tackler
30: Cotchin
28: Conca
25: Graham
19: Nankervis, Castagna, Lambert

Round 5 v Melbourne, MCG – The Benny 2018

28/04/2018 By Welton Marsland 2 Comments

This was my first time to one of these showcase ANZAC Eve matches. I’m quite leery about sport trying to equate itself to actual war, but am pleased to report it all seemed respectful and not particularly over the top. It is a little odd to be approaching the MCG for a night game, and not seeing the light towers lit up, but the atmosphere was certainly there – especially when proceedings got under way and much of the interior lighting was doused as well.

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This is when I discovered that I don’t actually know where to find the torch on my phone (I have a very hands-off relationship with my phone, clearly) but it certainly looked nice seeing the thousands of lights from everybody else’s. The only problem with the atmospheric lighting, really, was being unable to properly see the members of the Creswick Light Horse taking part in the brief ceremony. They look great on telly though.

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The first quarter seemed like a bit of an arm-wrestle, with Melbourne definitely taking us on. Jack Riewoldt was valiant as per usual, taking a couple of marks under heavy pressure, but unable to convert them into goals. Our backs were likewise valiant, Alex Rance in goal-keeper mode, diving goal-saves included. It was a bit of a relief to go into the break 3 points up.

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My usual good timing mojo was off somehow ‘cos I missed the first 12 minutes of the second quarter by being stuck in a queue, but very satisfyingly found we were another 14 points along by that stage while Melbourne were still stuck where I’d left them. Defensive players again stood out for me – more sliding Rance and David Astbury making sure we went into half time with a comfy 20 point lead.

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Score review early in the third quarter made me realise the wingtips of the Great Southern Stand obscure the screens to both left and right of where I was sitting in Q section. Arcs of metal thrusting precisely over the all-important footage we’re supposed to be scrutinising. Oh well, I’ll just have to trust them.

There was a black patch where Melbourne put on pressure and goals. They knocked our lead down. We clawed it back out again. It was a long quarter.

Early in the final quarter I wondered if it might all end in another arm-wrestle as it started, but then we just blazed away, pulling out 4 goals in a row at one point, and just kept going. I had a moment of sitting back and thinking “How good is Dylan Grimes?” and another of thinking “Trent Cotchin is a magic bastard”, and the final sentence I wrote in my notes says “Putting away notepad now and just enjoying”.

Final score: Melbourne 8-8-56, Richmond 15-12-102

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The votes:

5 votes: David Astbury

4 votes: Jack Higgins

3 votes: Sam Lloyd

2 votes: Kane Lambert

1 vote: Kamdyn McIntosh

Leaderboard

12: Cotchin
10: Martin
5: Astbury
4: Caddy, Conca, Short, Higgins

3: Graham, Edwards, Rance, Lloyd
2: Lambert

1: Townsend, Nankervis, McIntosh

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player: for anyone who was yet to debut before round 1
(Eligible 2018: Liam Baker, Noah Balta, Callum Coleman-Jones, Ryan Garthwaite, Jack Higgins, Ben Miller, Patrick Naish)

4: Higgins

Joel Bowden’s Golden Left Boot:for left footers
(Eligible 2018: Chol, Corey Ellis, Grigg, Nankervis and Houli).
1: Nankervis

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:
upgraded from the rookie list during the current season
Potentially eligible 2018: Baker, Chol, Eggmolesse-Smith, Moore, Stengle
No votes yet.

Maurice Rioli Grip of Death Trophy:
For the Tiges top tackler
30: Cotchin
28: Conca
25: Graham
19: Nankervis, Castagna, Lambert

Saturday afternoon Dusty dreaming

18/04/2018 By Dugald 5 Comments

Play on! Dustin Martin,
on the sweet September grass

Last Saturday at 3.18pm I was looking at Dusty. His left armed fend-off, tattooed limbs, ball tucked under his right arm. None could get close to him. Play on! gestured the umpire.

The game was about to go our way.

Dustin Martin was in the middle of the MCG running amok, mesmerising everyone – one man in the eye of a storm, time stopped, like a puppeteer pulling all the strings.

Last Saturday at 3.18pm I wasn’t at the game, but in a rear room of the Australian Galleries on Derby Street, Collingwood, looking at the art of Nick Howson, an oil on Belgian linen, titled Dusty premiers. It is beautiful, in its colours, its playfulness, in the long lope of Trent Cotchin in the foreground, in all the faces of the crowd, and is that Bachar on the bench?

Last Saturday at a gallery in Collingwood I called the artist and admonished him for not inviting me to the opening (he said he did, said there must have been a mix-up in the mail-out), and congratulated him on the show, and said his painting of last year’s Grand Final ought to be hanging at the MCG. I said I would contact the curator at the MCC on his behalf.

This is a painting of significant public importance. It is about place, social participation, culture, belonging.

Dusty premiers 2017-18, oil on Belgian linen, $12,500 (and priceless)

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We talked briefly about the theme of his new show, Suburbia, its muted colours, the patterned repetition, all those red hipped rooflines, quarter acre blocks, conformity. I said the motif reminded me a bit of Howard Arkley’s art, but without the day-glo vibrancy. This is more understated. Modest. Introverted.

Was it last year I was in his studio behind a shopfront on Swan Street in Richmond and saw these works progressing? Back then we talked about football, and place, and the visual cues of Richmond, and I remember him enthused about “all the red bricks, the red dirty bricks” of his neighbourhood. A redbrick Federation-era factory wall is an object of beauty. As are the suburban brick veneer dreams of Nick’s latest series.

I desire them.

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Last Saturday I was to ride my bicycle to Collingwood to the opening of a friend’s art exhibition on Cambridge Street, and then go and see Nick’s work, and then pop into the football. But a cloudburst, hailstones drumming on the roof, changed plans.

And I called-up a friend, Josh, an American, from Washington DC, a remarkable chess player, who was at a loose end. Said I’d pick him up in the car, by the Church Street Bridge. Let’s go see some art.

Nick Howson is a Collingwood fan who’s probably best known in Melbourne for the large mural he painted of a long-sleeved Richmond footballer, flying over all the petty squabbles and sawtooth factory rooves of old Struggletown, adorning a wall beside the main entrance to Richmond Station. It ought to be heritage-listed, preserved forevermore.

On Saturday afternoon we spoke about Collingwood’s fabulous win on the Friday night – they were inspired, did you see the Brodie Grundy goal, how far he ran? – and Nick asked if I’d seen the score in the Richmond game. I hadn’t. He said the Lions had yet to kick a goal.

I said it was time I better go.

Dusty’s door, Langridge St Collingwood: unbreakable.

Back to the car. Quick stop on Langridge Street to take a photo of Dusty’s No. 4 painted on the roller door of a mechanic’s garage. Right onto Hoddle Street. An awkward conversation with Josh (do you mind terribly if I dropped you off at Richmond Hill, etc). I had a game to be at.

Last Saturday afternoon I ran to the ground, got there huffing and puffing, stood under the concourse on a wing, took it all in, all the grass, the wide expanse of green, the players running here and there, and shafts of bright autumn light, then sheets of light rain, and saw Dylan Grimes running back with the flight of the ball to spoil a marking contest beside their goal square. The desperation. A quest. We hold no malice to the Brisbane Lions, old Fitzroy, but all of us at that ground on Saturday afternoon, seated sparsely in the open, huddled under the rooflines, wanted to keep them goalless.

This is what happens when yours is the best team.

You find other ways to set a challenge.

And on Saturday at the MCG, this afternoon like no other – I cannot remember another game like it – was punctuated with the exclamation mark of Dusty’s last goal.

A run, that chest of his puffed out, a sidestep, snapping on his left, the Punt Road end, the delirium of the crowd. Nothing thrills us so much as a player like him, running in space, with all his confidence and pomp.

MCG, Saturday afternoon, still life.

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This coming Saturday, Richmond are not playing. Nor on the Sunday.

It is the last weekend of Nick Howson’s exhibition, a last public viewing of his Dusty.
Get along, go! Go see the garage door on Langridge Street, also. If you know anyone with deep pockets, a love of art, and a love of Dusty, tell them they must see it. The price tag? $12,500.

I can only dream. But dreams can take you anywhere.

Go Tiges! Go Nick Howson, you beauty!

Nick Howson
Suburbia
Australian Galleries, 35 Derby Street Collingwood
Open daily 10am-6pm
Exhibition closes this Sunday.

Round 3 v Hawthorn, MCG – The Benny 2018

09/04/2018 By Andy Hamilton Leave a Comment

A scorcher in April, for Hawthorn’s latest failed visit to our turf.

I am on foot weaving my way through the back streets of Richmond. The car park is officially full so in order to make it for the first bounce we had little choice but to dump the car in a two hour space and take our chances. I am returning to the ‘G’ for the first time since that wonderful drought breaking day, part of me doesn’t want to go back. Like a holiday destination where the memories are so good, so pure you make a conscious decision to never return for fear of the second time around never living up to the first.

It’s hot, real hot for April in Melbourne. The sun has the same intensity of Prelim Final day… there I go again, referencing the good old days just as my father has done before me. In football terms to be nostalgic is to be in a position of privilege.

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The author (centre) with Hawks-supporting brother in law and Tiges-supporting sister.

First Quarter

The umpires are not going to go quietly today, they pay two 50 metre penalties that from my vantage point on level two of the southern stand looked questionable. I wish they’d put the bloody whistles away.

The ball is pinging between the arcs, both backlines are super organised with neither team able to make the most of their forward thrusts.

My goodness Shedwards looks dangerous early, the better we have got, the better he has got. The bloke sees things two steps ahead of most others on the ground. I give my sister a nudge, “your boy is looking sharp.” She says she is modelling her game on him. I feel she has a way to go.

Hardwick, of the brown and gold variety, bursts through the centre, only Cotch stands in his way from a shot on goal. His ‘single arm’ tackle effort is so out of character most tiger fans in my neck of the woods turn to each other with furrowed brows. Hardwick misses, no harm is done.

We are handball happy early happy to take any option; a metre handball, a ten metre chipping kick. Our boys surge forward and run in waves but can’t quite find the synchronicity they need for an open avenue to goal. A fellow tiger behind me screams for us to kick it long, I take the bait. “Mate this won us a premiership so just (insert explicative) accept it.” It’s a cagey game at the moment, a chess battle, the two coaches know each other well. I can’t help but think their fingerprints are all over the opening fifteen minutes.

I am pleased with our composure, we are patient and errors by hand, foot or mind don’t seem to reduce our desire to take the game on. This a substantial shift in belief and mindset from so many tiger teams that have come before. For the time being our boys play in a headspace where the fear of failure has been tamed. That makes us a seriously dangerous football team.
Early on everything the bloke wearing the number four turns to gold, from 2017 to today it seems nothing has changed. By quarters end we have five individual goal kickers and a 17 point lead.

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Second Quarter

Early on in the second term something remarkable happens, George kicks a goal with his hand. Eventually the review system gets it right and correctly awards us a point but it serves as a moment when you can’t help but question the validity of technology in football.
It’s mid way through the second term and it feels like we are beginning to bust the game open with our spread from the contest. Just as the game begins to open up so too did the sky with the April sun finally working it’s way over the back of the Olympic stand to bath us in sunshine. It was hot, real hot. The only sensible thing to do was begin to the let the Great Northerns flow.

In an immediate response to our scoreboard Poppy from Hawthorn slots a goal. It would become a pattern for the afternoon. Far too often we goaled and gave up an easy one almost immediately.

Heh hey Blake these haircuts are hilarious as long as we don’t both both fail to hear the ump call ‘play on’ and let a first gamer kick a goal on us while we stand around like badly-dressed cavemen who are dumber than rocks. [thanks for the pic @ReeveMcLennan]

Enter my favourite passage of play for the game. Dusty chips to George, George on the arc knows the distance is beyond him and handballs back to Dusty. Dusty never gets balanced and his shot on goal comes off Hawthorn hands. The debutant ‘Higgo’ claims the mark, he realises it’s touched, plays on and wheels around to snap the ball truly. He joins the first kick, first goal club and celebrates accordingly, running down the forward pocket with his arms held high over his head. It’s a celebration KB would be proud of. Then true to the pattern of the game Poppy kicked another and cancelled our goal out.

Astbury stops another Hawthorn attack. It’s a moment to recognise how good he has become. With Rance, Vlaustin, Houli and Dave we now have some serious talent in intercepting.

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Third Quarter

I bolt back up the southern stand stairs with a beer in hand. I sit down and the umpire slams the sherrin into the turf, my timing was impeccable. My brother in law plonks himself down next to me. He is sporting a 2013 Hawthorn premiership jumper. I am no longer envious of his guernsey I now have the equivalent for myself. In a break in play he leans across. “The tiger fans are getting cheeky, one lady on the way back up told me I would need more beer.” I no longer hope she is right, I feel she is. That is a significant shift.

Early in the third the Hawks are clearly on top, clouds bring some respite from the heat. For the first time I feel a little nervous.

Goals to Riewoldt and Grigg restore order, I scream “C’mon the Premier”, just because I can.

At the 18 minute mark there is an audacious passage of play that represents everything I love about the current incarnation of Richmond. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to go to the tape and find it. It’s a series of flicks, touches and team work that would make the Harlem Globetrotters proud. In line with this style of play Higgo volleys one out of the air to put us 34 point up. He has taken no time to find the pace of the game. In the words of Hardwick, “the recruiting team keep picking them so I have to keep playing them.” It is a wonderful problem to have.

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Fourth Quarter

I am confident, so much so I begin to plan my late lunch in Swan St. Hawthorn kick three on the trot and the Hawthorn cheer squad are working overtime. I note their flag policy. It seems at Waverley they have opted to go for size not quantity.

A string of handballs is finished by a Butler back heel. It is surge football at it’s best. It’s another passage of play with deft touches and team cohesion that perfectly reflects the current day Tigers. There is little resemblance to our teams of yesteryear. These Tigers are unique, I smile with pride.

At the 16 minute mark I am frustrated. It seems we still haven’t worked out the Poppy is knee high to a grasshopper. Lloyd rips his head off and Poppy makes us pay. The difference is now 20 points.

The final five minutes is painful, the result felt inevitable but we made it far closer and nervy then it needed to be. The coach said we lacked composure, I thought we had one eye on the clock and put the cue in the rack.

Post match Jack says its best, “this is our cauldron, this is our home ground.” We are now 10 games undefeated at the ‘G’ dating back to round 13 last year. We make the pilgrimage back to Swan St, for some reason it is open to traffic. I thought from last September onwards it got shutdown after every big Tigers win. Maybe next time

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The votes:
5 Cotchin – If there was a coal face he was at it, time and time again on he started the Tiger engine.
4 Conca – Amassed touches, had excellent centre square positioning and some vital centre breaks
3 Edwards – Oozes class, was instrumental early when the game was taking shape.
2 Short – Took the game on early with his run and carry from the back half. This set the tone for others such as Ellis and Houli to do the same as the game wore on.
1 Rance – The bloke is a God. If not for the number four he would be the best I’ve ever seen wear the jumper.
Honourable mentions: Nank and Jack. My goodness they are important to us. They battle manfully every week with very little tall timber to support them. God give them strength.

Leaderboard

12: Cotchin
10: Martin
4: Caddy, Conca, Short

3: Graham, Edwards, Rance

1: Townsend, Nankervis

No votes yet.

Joel Bowden’s Golden Left Boot:for left footers
(Eligible 2018: Chol, Corey Ellis, Grigg, Nankervis and Houli).
1: Nankervis

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:
upgraded from the rookie list during the current season
Potentially eligible 2018: Baker, Chol, Eggmolesse-Smith, Moore, Stengle
No votes yet.

Maurice Rioli Grip of Death Trophy:
For the Tiges top tackler

23: Graham
19: Cotchin
14: Butler, Nankervis
13: Conca
11: Edwards, Castagna

By Andrew Hamilton [@Tiggerstales14]

Editor’s note: here is a blast from the past – solid TTBB supporter JD at the footy with son Noah, 2014, from our first season of the ‘new’ TTBB.

And here’s Noah at the G yesterday! Always great to see the TTBB family grow up!

Round 2 v Adelaide, AO – The Benny 2018

30/03/2018 By Chris 2 Comments

I was at a Japanese restaurant in North Hobart with the largest sake range in Australia – a four page menu. But I could not get a footy score. I texted my wife, Dugald, Joe. Nothing. So I just ate my eel and hoped for the best.

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By the time I got home we were down 77 – 66. And playing pretty badly. I had to wait ages to see us get an uncontested possession. No-one had any run.

Our kicks were never to advantage. To Jack, Towna and Nank along the ground or into space to lumber after. Bolton, Butler and Castagna had it coming down on top of their heads.

Incredibly we snuck back to within 9 points, then Dave Astbury shanked a kick backwards and it was goodnight nurse, thank you linesmen, thank you ball boys.

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I have since gone back and watched the first half. Rance was genuinely beaten by Jenkins early, but never stopped trying, and did get on top in the last quarter.

Conversely Riewoldt was a spark in the first half but looked cooked at the end. The lazy checkside that went OOF suggested either his mind or body was not 100%.

Martin was terrific, really showing off all parts of his game. His five goals kept us ludicrously close considering the rest of the contest was quite one-sided.

In his 200th game Cotch was his usual diligent self, again defensively busy but didn’t get a lot of touches.

Grigg and Houli were invisible and we will rarely win a game where you say that.

Bolton is drifting in and out showing glimpses just as Rioli did. This might not be the year it happens for him but its going to happen.

Conca, McIntosh, Grimes and Lambert all made pretty bad mistakes that are going to be excruciating in video review.

I didn’t enjoy seeing Grimes rag-dolled by the 2nd gamer Fogarty, conceding a goal; and Tex bodied Astbury out too easily.

Towna was quiet but he nailed his set shot as ever, and I loved his five-eighth effort here to set Dusty up for a goal.

I thought Josh Caddy was really impressive. He again kicked three great goals. Just before halftime he shepherded through Dusty’s long bombed goal, then shortly after dished a quick handball to Butler for his (unsuccesful) shot.

Lastly Jayden Short played a very good game, it looked like he belonged, and Shane Edwards put in a shift.

We have to look forward, not back. I can take no consolation in March from beating this team in a more important game 6 months ago. We got comprehensively schooled last night, and they were without Matt Crouch for much of it.

Given their loss last week, the Crows at home always had more to play for than we did. Fear of going 0-2 trumps fear of losing away and going 1-1.

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The votes

5 – Martin Four quarters, five goals.

4 – Caddy 3 goals, but unselfish. Poor man’s Josh Kennedy.

3 – Cotchin 9 tackles, repeat efforts.

2 – Short Influential particularly early, hit targets. Composed.

1 – Nankervis Beaten by Jacobs on the stats but offers more IMO. 8 tackles.
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Leaderboard

10: Martin
7: Cotchin
4: Caddy

3: Graham
2: Rance, Short

1: Townsend, Nankervis

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player: for anyone who was yet to debut before round 1
(Eligible 2018:Liam Baker, Noah Balta, Callum Coleman-Jones, Ryan Garthwaite, Jack Higgins, Ben Miller, Patrick Naish)

No votes yet.

Joel Bowden’s Golden Left Boot: for left footers
(Eligible 2018: Chol, Corey Ellis, Grigg, Nankervis and Houli).
1: Nankervis

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:
upgraded from the rookie list during the current season
Potentially eligible 2018: Baker, Chol, Eggmolesse-Smith, Moore, Stengle
No votes yet.

Maurice Rioli Grip of Death Trophy:
For the Tiges top tackler

19: Graham
13: Cotchin, Nankervis
12: Butler
10: Edwards
9: Conca

Round 1 v Carlton, MCG – The Benny 2018

26/03/2018 By Dugald Leave a Comment

Eleven hand-picked Tigers carry the Premiership Flag to the MCG, with a lot of help. Photo by @aspeedingcar

Chris turns a few minutes before the game, asks if I can write a match report.
Borrow pen and paper, a season’s notetaking begins.

“You’re up Duges”. Chris, Michael and Marcus Rees. Michael seems to be tipping Tiges to win 4 in a row, like the Collingwood Machine. Audacious.

Q1.
Third goal to them. Is this what they call a ‘premiership hangover’.
“Have we hit a target with a foot pass yet,” asks one in the crowd.
Jarrod Garlett on debut kicks a fourth for them and our party, if not postponed, is delayed.
Wasn’t in the script, now five goals to none.
“When we gonna wake-up?”
Arms are crossed, lips pursed, among Richmond fans.
Jack gets us on the board. In in the push-and-shove, Jacob Townsend fights out of his weight division.
Jason Castagna’s first goal gets us out of our seats.
Dave Astbury (pencil him in for ‘All Australian’) backs into space – a defender’s burden – and our boys are taking no short steps. The game’s intensity is not shirked.
Picking fingernails.
Lovely night for it.
Autumn’s equinox.
Such a fast and expansive contest, this game of ours.
Townsend still has ‘the touch’. Whole careers are built on ‘the touch’.
A Dylan Grimes punch to the boundary line late in the first – all is as it should be.
What are the patches on the back of the Carlton shorts?
“Are you born ambidextrous,” asks a boy sitting with his father in seats behind

Cotch lines up for a shot that didn’t register. Photo by @aSpeedingCar

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The day after, I posted a tweet.
I’d be encouraged if I were a Blues supporter.* *the things you say when your team are white hot.^ ^not so Richmondy anymore.

Sir James (@JamieVtron62) replied:
I’ve found myself patronising Blues supporters too. So wrong in many ways.

JD (@JD_RFC_TIGER) added:
It was a different sensation being 5 goals down but still feeling we had this.

Sarah Brook (@Brook23Sarah) added:
Ran into an acquaintance on the way out wearing a Blues scarf – had to put on my magnanimous hat – an uncommon experience!

Jack Soward (@jacksoward) added:
I was uncomfortably comfortable. I laughed when we fell 5 goals behind just at the combination of free kicks / a bit of luck / Blues taking chances. I could tell we missed Houli, Prestia and co. but never felt like we would lose. 2018 is so strange!

The 2017 Flag is carried around before the faithful. Photo by @Jennee_wren.

…IN 2018 / THE TIGERS / HUNGER FOR MORE. Photo by @SatchSkippygirl.

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The votes

This season like no other begins as last year ended. With utter belief and confidence.

5 Dustin Martin – picked-up where he left off. Complacency? Nup.

4 Trent Cotchin – seven first-quarter possessions. Still hungry? Yep.

3 Jack Graham – thirteen tackles. Six AFL games for Richmond, how many has he won? All of them.

2 Alex Rance – because he is Alex Rance. Who is he? Alex Rance.

1 Jacob Townsend – votes could have gone to Jack, Kamdyn, Dan Butler, Josh Caddy, Castagna, almost anybody, but one of the night’s highlights (apart from seeing Reece Conca back in it, and Shai Bolton’s standing leap) was the hard-at-it intensity of this bloke. Four goals caught the eye, but it was also him crashing into the contest, knocking blokes out of the way, opening spaces for others to run into. The fairytale continues.
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Leaderboard

5: Martin
4: Cotchin

3: Graham
2: Rance

1: Townsend

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award: for players who have joined Richmond from another club
(Eligible 2018: Caddy, Grigg, Hampson, Houli, Nankervis, Miles, Prestia and Townsend.)
1: Townsend

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player: for anyone who was yet to debut before round 1
(Eligible 2018:Liam Baker, Noah Balta, Callum Coleman-Jones, Ryan Garthwaite, Jack Higgins, Ben Miller, Patrick Naish)

No votes yet.

Joel Bowden’s Golden Left Boot: for left footers
(Eligible 2018: Batchelor, Chol, Corey Ellis, Grigg, Nankervis and Houli).
No votes yet.

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:
upgraded from the rookie list during the current season
Potentially eligible 2018: Baker, Chol, Eggmolesse-Smith, Moore, Stengle
No votes yet.

Maurice Rioli Grip of Death Trophy:
For the Tiges top tackler

13: Graham
7: Conca, Butler
5: Nankervis
4: Castagna, Edwards, C Ellis, Cotchin

The Flag is put away. Richmond 0.0.0 Carlton 0.0.0. We all start equal on the ladder. We’ve got to do it all again. Photo by @Lozzemarine.

First Round Fever

21/03/2018 By Chris 5 Comments

The tickets are printed, bag is packed, and the dog knows something is up.

I’m feeling shaky. No – not about the Tiges, I have tipped us objectively to win the 2018 flag. No reason to think we can’t get over Carlton on Thursday night.

But I think I’ve got First Round Fever – is that a known diagnosed condition? I have been starving for a feed of Richmond. I have had simultaneously too much and not enough footy.

The AFL’s attempt to fill the depth and width of the sporting landscape like expanding foam has just been exhausting over the summer. Surprisingly little of that foam was expended promoting AFLW, but there were endless thought bubbles, puff pieces, and even an entire puff competition in AFLX. Surely something is wrong when you have symptoms of a football OD in January.

On the Richmond front I have been reading and re-reading Konrad Marshall’s Yellow and Black, watching and re-watching the finals, listening to the radio calls over and over while mowing the lawn and walking to work. And last week we all saw Peter Dickson’s Break The Fall which really sharpened that feeling of having lived through a really amazing moment for Richmond.

But I haven’t been hoovering up every bit of pre-season Tiges news or madly buying premiership memorabilia or sketching out projected tattoos. I have really been trying to have an off-season.

On top of First Round Fever I am a bundle of nerves just because I am coming over for the premiership flag unfurling, bringing my sons, and making these sorts of plans turns me to jelly. Plain anxiety.

Just getting the boys from schools, to the airport, remembering all the pieces of paper I need to get us from home into the MCG, and locating Dugald and Clare, our hosts at the game. Then there’s the social side – so many people I know online and in real life will be at the game. I would love to get around and see everyone at half time. But I don’t want to misplace the boys (one of whom doesn’t even like footy) or miss a quarter stuck in a queue. After the game we need to catch up with our overnight hosts Nuning and Andy and hopefully have time for a chat with them before bedtime. Then up 6, taxi to airport, fly home and drop kids back at schools.

I know for most people this kind of thing is a snap – not me. Now I have booked the Skybus in and a taxi back out again, printed all the tickets and packed a bag I am starting to feel more normal and actually anticipate the game.

I hope everyone has a great night at the G or at home, and we have settled it by three quarter time. Go TIGES.