Martin Flanagan - Richo

The crowd loves the incident-maker

Jack Dyer

We all have our time

Shine for a while

We rise and fall

To rise and fall

To rise again

Shane Howard, Walk on Fire

The world used us as an excuse to go mad

George Harrison, Richos favourite Beatle

I WAS COACHING Richmond when I first heard about the son of Alan Bull Richardson, a team-mate of mine in the 1967 Richmond premiership team. Football manager at the time, Doug Vickers, was effusive about the young Richo, who was something special, he told me, and under the Father and Son rule we had a star in the making. Matthew was sixteen years of age. By the time he reached Tigerland I was gone as senior coach, but no one could have guessed what an impact Matthew Richardson would have on the club for the next seventeen years.

Richo was a blessing for all Richmond supporters and at times a frustration for some during a long drought of club success. He was the only true player the fans could identify with. In theory he was merely an extension of the Richmond cheer squad, the collective bunch of fanatical supporters who sat behind the goals only 20 metres away. If Richo was fist pumping the air after a brilliant running goal, the supporters behind him were raucous. When he failed from as little as 10 metres out, the supporters were punching their seats as he punched the ground.

But it was the fact that Richardson was so fallible that made him the darling of all Tiger fans, and by the end of his career, most AFL fans. He never made the easy look rudimentary, always made the difficult look harder, and the impossible, probable. And with all that, he carried his emotions right there on his guernsey for all to see, where the yellow sash stretches over the heart.

From the moment he took the field in 1993 he was already carrying the weight of the past on his shoulders. As the son of a premiership star he had a lot to live up to; it can be difficult matching the memory of a father who had a special place in the clubs history. Jack Dyer Jnr, Paddy Guinane, Geoff Strang and Francis Bourke are but a few who had to deal with the spotlight they were born under.

Tom Hafey, the legendary Richmond coach who won flags in 1967, 69, 73 and 74 with Hafeys Heroes, has always said he wished he had the opportunity to coach the son of Bull. His courage, strong contested marks, athleticism and speed would have fitted the Hafey long kicking style of game. As a media commentator, Matthew Richardson gave me so much pleasure. I called the goal he kicked to reach 700 career goals and I was there the day he surpassed my 778 career goals. In jest I publicly suggested he should retire whilst equal on my tally, much like Mark Taylor did when he equalled Don Bradmans highest score of 334 runs. Im glad Richo went on.

For most of his career, Matthew was the Richmond Football Club. Not by design but due to circumstances. The once proud club that dominated the competition in the sixties, seventies and the early eighties had fallen on hard times. Its fanatical loyal band of supporters became disillusioned by the lack of success, no premierships and only two finals appearances. Richo gave them a reason to support the Tigers, someone to cheer for and to also vent their frustrations against. The Tigers could only win if Richo dominated, they felt, and when the club lost it was because Richo did not deliver.

The pressure he played under was immense. No one in the game could spark the crowd into frenzy like he could with a brilliant piece of play but that also came with a price. Fans and media didnt always understand his frustrations. He was called selfish, chastised for having a poor attitude, and often exhibited poor body language. He would show his disappointment, wave his arms around, verbally admonish team-mates and publicly show his disgust. These were actions that he acknowledged in quiet times and on reflection. But these were public feelings of a great competitor who couldnt understand the lack of effort of others or commitment that he felt towards the club and supporters. Richo wanted to win, he wanted success, yet he was trapped in a club which at that time was unable to deliver his dream.

The question can never be answered, but the fans can only debate what would Richos standing be in the world of football if he had played in a top side and had played finals regularly? How many finals series could he have dominated? How much greater would his legacy be to the game with magic September action in the minds of those who love the game?

Great reputations are forged during finals, when only the best play against each other. Richardson was born to be on centre stage, not to be standing in the wings. Testimony to that was the day I will never forget, the day when the champ played for The Allies against Victoria at the MCG. He destroyed the best players in the land, booting three goals in a breathtaking display of athleticism. Richo was simply too good.

What has to be acknowledged is the bravery and toughness Matthew displayed right throughout his career. His single mindedness to back into packs, fly sideways, contort his body into any angle to get to the ball appeared to be madness. He never took his eyes off the ball, never feared for his own safety, which at times was to his own detriment.