Richmond President John O'Rourke is a Tiger tragic.
The boyhood Richmond supporter has roots at Punt Road that run deep, and he's turned his obsession with the Yellow and Black into his livelihood.
Before there was John O'Rourke, there was his uncle Jack.
Jack O’Rourke was one of Richmond’s most exciting players from the immediate post-war era, but only managed 44 games between 1949-1953.
Nonetheless, he would go on to kick a whopping 134 goals in those 44 matches, winning the Club's leading goal kicker award twice in 1951 and 1952.
His father, Basil, also played four games for the Tigers, so his fate of having Yellow and Black blood was sealed from birth, but the Richmond President doesn't seem to mind.
In fact, his love for the Club was cemented as a small boy when he attended his first game.
"I went to my first game in 1970 and started going regularly in 1971. We were blessed with champion players. I have great memories of Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke," O'Rourke told Konrad Marshall in the latest episode of Konversations with Konrad.
"I remember having Billy Barrot's number on my back as a five and six-year-old."
But his unwavering love of Barrot was soon ended when the Club traded him for the great Ian Stewart, who is one of only four men to win a Brownlow three times.
"I then realised when I started going to the footy, that Richmond was a pretty ruthless and aggressive trading Club at that time," he said.
"It was an unregulated competition, unlike today. Before I knew it, we'd swapped out Billy Barrot for Ian Stewart. I was pretty shocked at that.
"But then Ian Stewart became one of my favourite players. He was just an absolute freak of a player and I have great memories of watching his absolute skill in every aspect of the game.
"For a player who was not overly big, he was just brilliant to watch. I was very lucky to have grown up in that era of great success."
In November of 2015, O'Rourke was appointed to Richmond's Board after eight years as a Board Director of the Victoria Racing Club, where he also served as Honorary Treasurer and Vice Chairman during his term.
Just seven years later, in September 2022, the Board confirmed O'Rourke would become the Club's next President, assuming the role from former President Peggy O'Neal officially in December of that same year.
And when his time came to step up and lead, O'Rourke was the furthest thing from nervous, considering the help he had received from former Richmond CEO Brendon Gale, who took him under his wing even before he joined the Board.
"I had the advantage of when Brendon (Gale) came in as CEO to really transform the place in 2009-2010. He wanted to get the advice of commercial people, and he was the new CEO and didn't have a great commercial background himself, so he called on people he knew were Tigers to give him some assistance," O'Rourke recounted.
"I'd had four or five years of getting pretty close to the Club and understanding the issues that the Club faces, and understanding a bit of the governance role of the Board was.
"The Board, under Peggy's amazing leadership, you think about the future, you think about the mix of skills you need. I was approached to put in an application in 2015 (to join the Board) and went through a pretty thorough process, that was run by Kerry Ryan (former Board member).
"She's a great Richmond person, who became a Board colleague for many years, and she gave great service. She took me through it and convinced me in the end that it's something I should go on with and make a contribution that way."
O'Rourke has loved every minute of his time at Tigerland and continues as the current President in 2025.
"It's been marvellous," he said.
Join Konrad Marshall every second Wednesday for Konversations with Konrad. Richmond premiership midfielder Dion Prestia is the next special guest.
