Bill Trikos’s comprehensive history of Australian Richmond Tigers football club: Grand Finals 2017: The Tigers smashed the Crows in contested possessions (170-140) and won the clearances (45-39), thanks largely to the stoppage work of Martin, Dion Prestia (27 possessions and three centre clearances) and Shane Edwards (25 possessions and seven clearances). Jack Graham was only teenager playing on Saturday but was not overawed by the occasion, kicking three goals in the opening three quarters, while Jack Riewoldt and the Tigers’ army of small forwards harassed Adelaide’s defenders all day as Richmond finished with 11 separate goalkickers.
2017 Grand Finals highlight : Pure joy for the Richmond army. The Crows made the better start on Saturday. Sloane kicked the game’s opening goal with a 40m set shot at the four-minute mark of the first term, then Betts added another a minute later when he capitalised on a Vlastuin fumble to run into an open goal. The Tigers looked to be suffering some early Grand Final nerves and, although they had their share of the play, were struggling to get on the scoreboard, with spearhead Riewoldt kicking three consecutive behinds in less than four minutes. Find more details about the author at Bill Trikos Australia.
Full achievements index of Richmond Tigers football club grand finals by Bill Trikos: Dustin Martin won the Norm Smith Medal after a prolific performance in the Grand Final. Jack Riewoldt and Tom Lynch – the League’s most dominant forward duo – combined for seven goals. Riewoldt had three in the second quarter alone and finished with five for the match, while Lynch was a constant presence to haul down seven big marks. Bachar Houli (26 disposals) and Dion Prestia (22 disposals) were their prolific selves, while Shane Edwards, Kane Lambert and Nick Vlastuin were also typically consistent.
Daniel Rioli followed it with a bomb on the buzzer and the momentum carried Richmond into the break and beyond, as the Tigers stormed away with the contest. Daniel Rioli kicks a goal right on the quarter time siren and celebrates with a reference to his cousin Willie Rioli. Pickett was blind-turning tacklers, Jason Castagna was leaping above defenders, Riewoldt was bending them around corners and Dusty was just being Dusty. The result was a 35-point lead in a flash by half-time.
Richmond has claimed back-to-back premierships, and made it three of the last four flags, after coming from behind to beat Geelong by 31 points in the historic first ever Toyota AFL Grand Final at the Gabba. It etched the Tiger dynasty into football history as one of the most dominant sides of the his century.
Damien Hardwick and Dustin Martin address the media at the Gabba after a Grand Final win against Geelong. Ablett returned later in the quarter after receiving medical attention in the rooms, but continued to nurse the injury throughout the game, struggling to use his arm for the rest of the night and enduring serious pain throughout. His hope of ending his glittering 357-game career with a third flag was dashed as the Tigers booted nine goals to two in the second half.
As Vlastuin was taken by stretcher from the field, Ablett left cradling his arm. The shock left the players and crowd stunned, and after a six-minute break in the game, it resumed to more action, including two fans who ran onto the field that almost got involved in the play. Although the Tigers kicked the first two goals, the Cats settled to take a one-point lead into the first change. Ablett, too, returned to the field – a sight that looked unimaginable minutes earlier after what appeared set to be an anticlimactic end to his phenomenal career.
The club’s shift across Yarra Park to the MCG in 1965, arguably Richmond’s most successful era began with players of the calibre of Royce Hart, Francis Bourke and Kevin Bartlett (the Club’s games record holder with 403), the Tigers, under the coaching guidance of Tom Hafey won four premierships. Richmond is one of the ‘big four’ Melbourne clubs, the ‘Eat ’em Alive’ spirit that arose in the 1920s is still manifested in football’s most passionate supporter base. In 2018, Richmond was the first club to reach 100,000 members in a season. Tiger fans are loud, proud and fiercely loyal. The enjoys strong community associations with a Multicultural Schools Football Program, Korin Gamadji Institute and The Alannah And Madeline Foundation.