In the 10th of a special 12-part series on richmondfc.com.au, where we set about building the perfect Tiger, we turn our attention to the players with the best goal sense at Tigerland over the past half-century. Make your selection from these five sharpshooters . . .
Kevin Bartlett, 403 games, 1965-83, 778 goals. Career-high eight goals in a match
When you take into account the fact Bartlett spent about 75% of his long, outstanding league playing career with Richmond as first rover, his goalkicking achievements were nothing short of remarkable. In 17 of Bartlett’s 19 seasons (the last 17 on-the-trot), he managed to score 25 goals or more. He won Richmond’s leading goalkicker award four times, booted a career-high 84 goals in the Tigers’ 1980 premiership year (when he didn’t top their goalkicking), playing as a half-forward, and is third on the Club’s all-time goalkicking list. KB had an uncanny ability to snap inspirational goals from all angles, with either foot, and also booted many team-lifting six-pointers on the run, through his explosive pace.
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Royce Hart, 187 games, 1967-77, 369 goals. Career-high seven goals
After scoring three goals from 10 shots in an eye-catching, but inaccurate league debut for Richmond, the then teenage Hart was advised by Club officials to abandon kicking torpedo punts and to focus on perfecting the, less fashionable at the time, drop punt. It was something Hart did superbly, turning himself into one of the best exponents of the drop punt the game has ever seen! Not only did Hart become a deadly accurate set shot for goal with the drop punt, off his preferred left foot, but he also managed to snap many six-pointers through his overall shrewdness, and mobility, around the big sticks.
Michael Roach, 200 games, 1977-89, 607 goals. Career-high 11 goals
Roach took the Tiger goalkicking baton from fellow Tasmanian champion forward Hart. Like Hart, Roach was a magnificent drop-punt kick for goal, and he created numerous scoring opportunities through his top-class marking. In 1980, Roach became just the second player in Richmond’s history (Jack Titus being the other one) to achieve the magical 100-goal milestone in a season, finishing with a Club record 112 goals, as the Tigers took out the premiership. He was a two-time winner of the competition’s Coleman Medal for leading goalkicker, and topped the goalkicking list at Tigerland on seven occasions.
Matthew Richardson, 282 games, 1993-09, 800 goals. Career-high 10 goals
How could we possibly not include the player, who has won Richmond’s leading goalkicker award a record 13 times and scored more goals at the home of league football – the magnificent MCG – than any other player in the competition’s history! Richardson may have copped his fair share of criticism over the years for missing some easy shots for goal, but the fact remains that he kicked 800 of them, at an impressive 59% accuracy rate. That’s a goalkicking CV any forward in the game would be mighty proud of. ‘Richo’ reigned supreme in the air, which enabled him to have so many of his shots for goal, but he also scored plenty of six-pointers through his sheer athleticism and overall goalkicking expertise.
Jack Riewoldt, 157 games, 2007-14, 381 goals. Career-high 11 goals
Richmond’s current-day spearhead star continues to enhance his reputation as a goalkicker. His 61 goals in season 2014 took his overall career tally to 381, and moved him up into seventh place on Tigerland’s all-time goalkicking list. It was the fifth season in-a-row that Riewoldt had topped the 50-goal milestone, which is a feat only one other player in Richmond’s proud history has been able to achieve – the great Jack ‘Skinny’ Titus, who is the Tigers’ greatest-ever goalkicker (970 goals). Riewoldt kicked a career-high 11 goals, in a sublime display against Greater Western Sydney, in Round 10 of the 2014 season, to further underline his goalkicking prowess.
THE PERFECT TIGER SO FAR:
Kicking
Marking
Handballing
Speed
Strength
Courage
Toughness
Determination
Ball-winning ability
