Throughout 2025, we are transporting Richmond supporters back 60 years to what was a pivotal season in the Club’s history – 1965. In today’s flashback, we reflect on Richmond’s mighty upset win against Essendon at Windy Hill in Round 4 of the ’65 season, via this match report by The Age newspaper’s leading football writer Ron Carter. Following that, there are some comments on the tremendous Tiger triumph by the Club’s new coach, Jack Titus.

Everything seemed against Richmond pulling off one of the scoops of the year by winning at Essendon on Saturday – but it did it by the “old fashioned” way of getting to the ball first and kicking goals.

The odds had seemed stacked against them, for...

•    Essendon was a three times big winner and on top of the League ladder.
•    Richmond had not won a game.
•    During the week, Richmond had an overnight change in coaches.
•    And just before the game the Tigers lost their captain and top follower, Neville Crowe, because of a knee injury.

The four goal win spoke volumes for the Tigers’ ability to cope with the conditions, and the score was an honest estimate of how both teams performed.

Essendon, after three weeks on “easy street”, was jolted back to reality by 18 opposing players more anxious to go after the ball.

On most occasions, the Tigers were prepared to play in front and, when chest marks came their way, they clutched them tightly.

However, some Essendon players dropped “sitters” and often fumbled their way out of trouble.

By having first use of the ball, the Tigers were able to whip it around to the forwards and give everyone scoring chances. Ten Richmond players scored goals.

Essendon, on the other hand, was slow to accept its chances on the forward lines, and few of its players came into the game. Half of the Bombers’ ten goals were kicked by one player – rover John Birt.

The Tigers won because they subdued some of Essendon’s strongest departments and put others almost completely out of the game.

Most noticeable of these were the Essendon centre line, the half-backs and half-forwards, three lines recognised as potential match winners.

Richmond’s centre trio of Trevor Gowers, Bill Barrot and Bill Brown won on the day, and probably helped reduce Essendon’s forward thrusts by almost half.

Although Barrot won in the centre against Essendon’s Jack Clarke, the former Essendon captain was still a good player, and he was among a handful of desperate Bombers trying to save the game in the last quarter.

Essendon did not have a good forward, and by having its half-forward line restricted to only a handful of kicks it was never happy around goals.

Richmond’s half-forwards worried the opposition so much that the usual attacking and long-kicking Essendon half-back line was only a shadow of its expected strength.

Don Davenport, in particular, was too active for both Barry Davis and Alex Epis, and he kicked four goals.

Rovers Frank Dimattina and Kevin Bartlett also helped create Richmond’s faster play-on game by moving quickly across the half-forward line and straight into goals.

Match details
Richmond         4.3       8.4       12.8     14.9 (93)
Essendon          3.1       7.1       8.3       10.9 (69)
Goals – Richmond: Davenport 4, Guinane 2, Madigan, Gowers, Richardson, Warner, Barrot, Bartlett, Hammond, Dimattina.
Best – Richmond: Davenport and Barrot (equal best on ground), Gowers, Richardson, Dean, K. Smith, Cameron.
Goals – Essendon: Birt 5, Shaw 2, Timms 2, Fraser.
Best – Essendon: Birt, Clarke, Davis, McKenzie, Blew, Timms.

Jack Titus’ post-match comments:

“This is one of the greatest thrills of my football life,” said Richmond’s elated new coach Jack Titus after the Tigers had beaten Essendon on Saturday.

Titus has been connected with League football since 1926, but the excitement of the win made him almost speechless after the game.

He had coached Richmond to its first win of the season.

After the game, Titus said to his players: “I want to thank you. You played football the way it should be played.

“Thanks from the bottom of my heart. If you keep playing like that we’ll kill ‘em.”

Until last Thursday night, Titus, a former Richmond champion full-forward, had never coached a senior League team.

Titus was appointed Richmond’s new coach last Wednesday night after Len Smith was admitted to hospital after a heart attack.

“It was just like starting my football career all over again,” said the new 56-year-old coach.

“I was just as nervous and tense as a player in his first league game. I had a thousand speeches ready for my pre-game address to the players.

“I hope this will help Len Smith along in hospital,” Titus added.

Richmond president Mr. Ray Dunn said Smith had been allowed to listen to the game in hospital.