Richmond has a strong connection with another man inducted into the prestigious Australian Football Hall of Fame earlier this week, aside from the great Maurice Rioli . . .
Verdun Howell received rightful recognition for his excellent 159-game playing career at St Kilda from 1958-68, including the Saints’ one and only premiership side in 1966.
Howell was a retrospective winner of the 1959 Brownlow Medal and is a member of St Kilda’s Team of the Century.
From a Richmond perspective, however, Howell is highly regarded for what he achieved during a three-year coaching stint at Punt Road.
After retiring as a player at the end of the 1968 season, Howell was appointed assistant coach to Tommy Hafey by the Tigers – a role that also encompassed coaching the Club’s reserve-grade team.
In 1969, he provided Hafey with valuable coaching back-up, as Richmond recovered from a major mid-season slump to storm home and capture the premiership by knocking over Carlton in the Grand Final by 25 points – 12.13 to 8.12.
The following year, Howell coached the Richmond reserves into the Grand Final, where they lost a thriller to Melbourne by two points (16.10 to 16.8).
He went one step further in 1971, guiding the Tiger ‘twos’ to the premiership, with a decisive 32-point victory over Essendon – 14.14 to 8.18.
During that ’71 season, Howell also filled in as the Tigers’ senior coach for one match, while Hafey was on coaching duties with the Victorian State side.
This occurred in Round 16 on Saturday, July 17, when Richmond ventured to the Western Oval for a clash with Footscray.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be a successful day for Howell and his Tigers, as the Bulldogs recorded a 35-point win.
Overall, however, Howell enjoyed considerable success throughout his time at Tigerland, making an impressively smooth transition from playing to coaching.
The 1971 Richmond Reserves premiership team
B: Laurie Fowler, Grant Allford, Colin Beard
HB: Kevin Morris, Mike Perry, Steve Hywood
C: Derek Peardon, Graham Gaunt, Daryl Cumming
HF: Don Davenport, Mike Bowden, Ian Owen
F: Bill Nalder, David Gurney, Kevin Gehling
R: Mike Green, Ron Storey, Bill Beckwith
Res: Bruce Tschirpig, Mervyn Keane
Interestingly, five members of that side had played in senior-grade premierships with Richmond – Beard (1969), Perry (1967), Owen (1969), Bowden (1969) and Green (1967, 1969), while a further four would go on to do likewise – Fowler (1973), Morris (1973, 1974), Cumming (1974) and Keane (1973, 1974, 1980).
