Given it’s 50 years since ‘The Royce Hart Story’ was published in 1970, we have been revisiting some of what the Richmond ‘Immortal’ wrote in his ground-breaking book. We conclude today with Hart’s thoughts on the Tigers’ glorious 1969 Grand Final triumph. 

“They all said we couldn’t do it. We started off the 1969 season badly; key players were out of action; rumours had it there was strife in the club and that coach Tom Hafey was on the way out. Despite this we threw it all back in their faces by taking our second VFL premiership in three seasons.

I was still in the Army in Adelaide at the time and didn’t really know what was going on at the club. Press reports revealed there had been quite a bit of criticism aimed at Tom Hafey. All I knew was that the players were well and truly behind him. He had great faith in us and anyone would have cut off a finger for him.

Early in the season the team hadn’t been playing well due to the loss of key players. Centre half back Graeme Burgin had dislocated his shoulder and was out of action for three-quarters of the season. Our half back line, so prominent in our 1967 premiership win, wasn’t giving the drive we expected. Half forward John Northey, half back Geoff Strang and rover Bill Brown were dogged by injury. This, plus our loss of form, made the picture look pretty gloomy for our premiership hopes. Tommy pointed out the savage criticism the Press were serving up about us. This hurt deep down and we were determined to show them what we were made of at Richmond.

What brought us back to something like our old form was the infusion of new blood into the side only a few games before the finals. Players who had been only mediocre in the Reserves rose to the occasion when they got their chance in the Firsts. Half back flanker Ian Owen, back pocket Colin Beard and Eric Moore at full forward were the players who started us on the way back.

I think people first realized we were going to be a force in the finals when we beat Hawthorn, red-hot favourites for the flag, at their home ground in the third last round . . . We downed the Hawks by 14 points and this was the first time I thought we had a chance for the flag.

At stages during the season we were two or three games away from the top four, but we were holding fifth place. After our Hawthorn win we had only to beat Carlton at Princes Park to grab fourth place at the Hawks’ expense. Playing the Blues we were four goals down at three-quarter time kicking against the wind. Things looked grim. We hadn’t played badly but Carlton were playing better. The team that was going to crack under pressure in the last quarter was going to lose the game – and that wasn’t going to be us.

We went on to win by five goals.

This was a different story from the 1967 premiership. All that year we had monopolized top position on the ladder and always felt confident of winning the flag. But in 1969 we had to fight hard for every premiership point. Beating Carlton, the top side, on their own ground after being four goals down, gave the Tigers just the confidence needed to go into the finals . . .

Our first semi-final was a game that will be talked about for years by Richmond supporters and tried to be forgotten by followers of Geelong. We won by 118 points, a new League record, and the best performance put up by a Richmond side since I joined them. We never let up the pressure all day even though we were in front from the first minute. Every player strove for that extra goal to prove the critics wrong. The Press said the powerful Geelong rucks would tear us apart but our Michael Green was best on the ground. He not only beat the Cats single-handed but proved to be the best ruckman of the season.

Our next hurdle was Collingwood in the Preliminary Final. We continued to hold our good form and beat them comfortably for the right to meet the previous year’s premiers, Carlton, for the 1969 VFL flag.

Not many teams had won the premiership from fourth position on the ladder. But we had fought hard to make the Grand Final and we weren’t going to let this thought beat us. When Tom Hafey gave us his pre-match address be brought in some newspaper cuttings of some of the criticisms that had been levelled against us during the season. It really stirred us up to see those headlines and we were determined to make the critics eat their words.

I don’t think the Press had any reason to blast us and label us the ‘Tame Tigers’. We had been hard hit by injuries and loss of form by some players, and it wasn’t that we weren’t trying as the newspapers made out. Personally, I don’t think players should take too much notice of Pressmen; most of them don’t know what they are talking about. I think some of them watch the game from the bar. Here we were after beating Geelong by a record score, Collingwood comfortably, and Carlton on their home ground by about five goals and they still reckoned we were the underdogs. It makes you wonder about some of the so-called experts reporting on the game.

The Grand Final was a real team effort. Reports predicted that five Richmond stars needed to fire if we were to win. But we believed there were no outstanding individuals in our team and this is the way it worked out. Players like our half back line – Geoff Strang, Graeme Burgin and Ian Owen – who had been criticized all year came to life and annihilated the Carlton attack. But our centre line of Dick Clay, Bill Barrot and Francis Bourke, which the critics said was the best in the League, was subdued.

It wasn’t one of my best games. After the first semi-final, opposition coaches had spotted my tactics and in the Grand Final I was a marked man. Every time I went for the ball I found two opponents breathing down my neck. Carlton’s star centre half back John Goold is hard to beat at any time but I had to contend with a ruckman as well. Peter Jones was dropped back to the half back line and his 6 ft. 5 in. frame gave me little chance.

During the third quarter we lapsed and were three points down. At three-quarter time Tom brought out his cuttings again. ‘Get out there and show them that they don’t know what they’re talking about,’ he urged. And that is exactly what we did. Within minutes we regained the lead and raced away to win easily. Tom had come in for so much criticism during the season, no player dared let him down.

Our win was a great team effort and a credit to our coach for bringing us from the doldrums to League champions.”