"For the past 17 years, 'Richo' has been the Richmond Football Club. A champion player, but even more than that - a champion bloke. To say we'll miss him would be a massive understatement." - Richmond president Gary March

"He's just been a consistent shining light through 17 years. He's an extraordinarily inspirational competitor, incredibly tough - mentally tough - in his ability to come back from injury and to compete while carrying an injury. But as good as he's been as a player, he's twice as good again as a human being and as a fella. The people who know him love him." - Richmond chief executive and former teammate Brendon Gale

"I believe that Matthew will be recognised more in retirement than he was during his playing days. Only on reflection will we realise the magnitude and the quality of the player and the person." - recently-retired teammate Joel Bowden

"I think the measure of Matthew is that for people at other clubs, and other clubs' supporters, there's a universal admiration for him. And I'm not sure that there's another player in the league that's had that in the time that I've been in footy. Even in my time following footy, I can't remember that with anyone else." - Richmond head of football Craig Cameron

"I was lucky enough to play with him in his first year in 1993. Now I've been back at the club for 10 years and I know that he works on the same theory as I do: that all he does is play footy a bit better than someone else and that doesn't make him better than anyone else. He's been Richmond for a long period of time. I think it would have been a pretty hard decision for the big fella but, as usual, he's put the footy club ahead of himself. [He's had] a great career, and I think he's going to be even bigger and better now, because he'll be a superstar in the media." - Richmond Team of the Century member Dale Weightman

"Matthew has put his heart and soul into the Richmond Football Club through more than 280 games since his debut in 1993 and has always maintained the highest standards as both a player and a sportsman for our game." - AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou

"Everything he's got he deserves because he put himself through absolute torture week in, week out to be the player he was. This is his time and he should get all the accolades he does." - former Richmond general manager Brian Waldron

"The great thing about Matthew Richardson when you went out there with him, you knew what you were going to get. He was a work machine. His effort and attitude was always sensational on the ground." - Essendon coach and former teammate Matthew Knights