It’s 50 years since ‘The Royce Hart Story’ was published in 1970, so we thought it was worthwhile to revisit some of what the Richmond ‘Immortal’ wrote in his ground-breaking book. Today, we present Hart’s thoughts on whether the sacrifices required to play at the game’s highest level half a century ago were worth it.

“Money is a big factor in a footballer’s life. We have to train three nights a week – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Parties on Friday night are out; we are expected to relax before the big game. All day Saturday is taken up with football, of course; in the morning we have to rest and can’t leave town. And next morning there’s no sleep-in. At Richmond we train Sunday mornings, too, and then we watch the TV football shows until two o’clock. The rest of the day – what’s left of it – and Monday are ours. Then it’s back to the grind again.

This training routine goes on twelve months of the year for most players at Richmond, in addition to which there are players’ meetings, film shows of the previous Saturday’s game, discussions on tactics and coaching clinics which usually take up that precious Monday night. All this for twenty-five dollars cash a game. In my opinion it’s not worth it!

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For the average player, the backbone of the club, the man who plays 100 League games and never does anything spectacular in his career like winning Brownlow Medals or ‘best and fairest’ awards on TV or radio shows or any of the big prizes in the newspapers, it’s not worth it. They must do it for the love of the game; the money they get wouldn’t cover their expenses.

Football affects your job. You must have a position where work and football can be tied in together. It’s no good working where you can’t get off at four o’clock for training. Lack of training affects your game. At Richmond we are expected out on the track at five o’clock. If you are not out there by five on a winter’s night it’s useless. You might as well not turn up at all as it’s too dark to do any constructive ball handling.

The amount of time football takes out of your job is not just the hour you get off early to go to training. Players like bank clerks and salesmen, who are in contact with the public, lose about an hour every Monday explaining to their many sympathizers why they lost. People come up to them all day and ask: ‘Why didn’t you do this?’ or ‘What went wrong? Why didn’t you win?’ In this way you lose time on the job. And for players studying it’s a nightmare trying to keep up with their courses. You don’t feel like saddling up to night school after two hours hard training.

The way clubs expect your gear to last all season is ridiculous. Most of us receive only one pair of black and one pair of white shorts, a pair of socks and a jumper for the season. It’s stupid! It’s a constant battle for wives and mothers to try and preserve that one set of gear for the whole season.

Players are continually in the spotlight and have an image which they must maintain. A player might want to go out with some mates for a few beers on a week night, but that would not be upholding the tradition of the club. Over the years the Tigers have built up a great tradition and it’s the responsibility of every player to behave themselves. If people are going to recognize you, you have to do the right thing all the time.

Our game has a big following and more effort should be made by the clubs and the League to channel the funds from the fans into the game, and a big percentage of it into the players’ pay packets. Australian Rules has one of the biggest followings of any sport in the world and it seems to me there is far too much money going under the table. It should be ploughed back into the clubs and into the League.

Being a footballer is an insecure life. He may be playing well early in the season, be leading in many commercial awards, and have his sights set on big money at the end of the year. He has only to break a leg or damage a cartilage and he may never reach that pot of gold. It could be more serious. He could be out for the rest of the season or never play again.

A player who puts three or four years hard work into football, sacrifices the best part of his spare time, time which could have been spent on studies for his job. It could all end in a split-second collision in a match or at training. It happens to many players. John Coleman, star full forward from Essendon, was like this. Just when he reached the peak of his career he injured a knee and was forced to retire. People like this deserve a better fate. They put a lot of time and effort into their game; the rewards they receive are not enough.

Transfer fees cause a lot of dissension among players. It’s hard on an established player to see untried recruits receiving substantial fees for signing. As far as I know there are no contract players at Richmond. Naturally to attract players you must offer them big money. A chap who has played two hundred games and given the best part of his career to the club – at twenty-five dollars a week – has reason to complain when he sees a recruit arrive with a $15,000 fee on his head. The new man is usually untried in League football and could turn out a failure, whereas the club man has proved himself.

I think one solution would be the formation of a players’ union, something that’s been lacking in Australian Rules since its inception. Imagine the effect of a Grand Final day strike! With 120,000 packed in the MCG, the teams would walk out in their civilian clothes and say: ‘We’re not playing until we get what we want!’

From what I’ve said it might appear that players are treated like slaves. Some players will probably agree with this. We have little or no say in club affairs; we do as we are told. If we don’t like it, we have to lump it. If someone orders no payments for players, we have to accept it.

Nevertheless, for me the effort has been worth it, and I have received a lot of benefits. But for the average good clubman, who has played a hundred games, given great service to his club, but hasn’t made any State sides, it’s not worth it.”