David Miller debuted in front of, what is still, the largest Home and Away crowd by a Richmond player (Marlion Pickett holds the record for Finals).  

Miller booted 5 goals in the 1977 Anzac Day clash against Collingwood.

But after only 5 senior games his Richmond career was over.

Later, at Oakleigh, his footy career ended with a workplace accident which left him blind in one eye.

In March 2020 I spoke to David Miller about his memories of Tigerland. He dedicated this interview to his former Richmond teammate and friend Trevor Ott, who died in January 1983, aged 25.

 

Rhett: 

We talk about incredible debuts for Richmond - Bill James and Marlion Pickett in Premierships. You yourself had a pretty incredible debut, didn't you? 

David:

When I look back it was. I didn't realise it was going to be a bigger game as it turned out to be actually. It was Rd 4 1977 and it was Anzac Day vs Collingwood[1].

It was Tommy Hafey's first game against Richmond as coach, which I sort of knew but I didn't realise was such a big deal. He did a fantastic job to turn them around from bottom of the ladder to playing off in a Grand Final[2].

I never thought there would be a big crowd. I was probably caught up in the emotion of playing my first game so I never really considered it. A few mates were going to watch me and I said I'll give them a wave when I get out on the ground because I knew they were going to be out near Bay 13.

I don’t think a lot of them got in until quarter-time. I started to realise there were too many people to pick anyone out I would know. 

Rhett: 

In the newspapers of the time, journalist Ron Carter wrote "Perhaps you and I don't know too much David Miller…”  So how did you get into this Richmond team?

David: 

It's quite an interesting story. I came up through the Under 19s, but when we started that year I was struggling for form. I think I might have come up off a shoulder operation, which I had quite a few off and which probably finished my career. 

I remember playing in the practice matches and I was really struggling and I thought "I'm going to be lucky to get a game in the Seconds". 

And I remember the first time we played I was renowned for being a forward but I was at centre half-back. It was against Fitzroy at the Junction Oval. At quarter-time for some reason I got changed to centre half-forward, and there was a guy named Geoff McMillan up forward who swapped with me.[3] I think I kicked 8 goals[4].

And of all sudden I had a run of three or four games where I kicked goals in succession[5].

I think the Anzac game was a Monday game. My memory is I went to training on the Thursday night and I got told I was in the Firsts and I remember I was trying to find a phone to ring my parents to tell them. That was it. Next minute I'm playing Anzac Day.

Rhett:

Who was coaching Richmond at this stage?

David: 

Barry Richardson, who I thought was great. I thought he was a bit before his time. He coached me in the Seconds the year before.[6] He spoke to you quietly. He brought down tackling coaches and looked at the game in a different way. I was coached by Don Davenport in the Under 19s and he was very similar. They'd get to know you and talk to you about the game.[7] 

Rhett:

Were you selected in the forward line for your debut?

David: 

I started up forward. I was petrified. I was more worried about making a fool of myself or not getting a kick. It worked out I had a pretty good game. I kicked 5. And still to this day I still think I should have kicked 7. I remember going for one goal on the boundary and I thought "I reckon I could kick this, should I do the team thing?". And I decided to go for it and it was touched on the line and I knew I should have kicked it, and there was another chance. But 5 is fantastic.

A lot of people still talk about it, or introduce me because I kicked 5 goals in one game. It’s lasted a long time I tell you Rhett.

Rhett:

Did you kick a goal with your first kick?

David:

Yes, I did. It was the Punt Road end, and I remember I sort of read it off the top of the pack and ran into the open goal. So it was a bit of a gimme goal. It was probably in the 10-yard square.

I've never seen the game. I always dreaded that there's never been a copy kept, which is one thing I do regret. People said they probably destroyed the tapes. 

I remember in the first quarter we missed some easy goals and I thought "how can they miss that, they're Senior players." Billy Picken was playing and I'm sure I heard him run past bouncing the ball saying 'Go Billy Go'. That sort of made me turn my head. I don’t know how close was at three-quarter time Team Manager Gareth Andrews came up to me and he said “You can win this game for us”, and I'm thinking “Who me? I’m not meant to be winning the game for you.”'

It always stuck in my mind.

And I'm pretty sure the U19s were playing over at Punt Road at the same time and we went back across after the game, because I had a pretty good relationship with Don Davenport and Bruce Seymour who was the team manager.

Bruce was one of the nicest men I've ever met in football. They were a great combination.

And they asked me to speak to the U19s, who had just finished, about my experience playing in the Senior game. I think there was probably Terry Smith, Mark Lee, Dale Weightman. Then I went back to my parents’ place and had a few friends around. That's probably why I missed the replay.

Rhett:

Were you living with your parents at this stage? 

David:

Yes. I was brought up in Oakleigh. Mum was a mad Melbourne supporter and the only reason she also went to my next game was because we played Melbourne. I might have got two games out of her, then she would have gone off to watch Melbourne play. 

My brother Gary who was a year or two older than me played in Richmond's 1973 U19 premiership side under Ray Jordon.[8]  I would go and watch him with Dad who would drive us. And then when I was playing U19s he would come and watch me play and always drive me to the game and stand with all the other fathers.

Rhett:

Like your brother Gary, you also played in a Richmond Under 19s premiership side.

David:

Yes, in 1975.[9] That was great. It was interesting because we were a pretty good side and North Melbourne were one of the top sides too, and Ray Jordon was coaching them. But they actually got kicked out of the finals because they played an ineligible player, a guy named Stephen Easton.[10]  I still think we would have beaten them. 

Rhett:

I need to talk about your U19 1975 season. Beginning in Round 1 you kick 8 goals, then 7, 4, 6, two rounds later you kicked 7, then 4, then 4, then 7, then 4, then right at the end of the season you kick 9, then in the Grand Final you kick 1. That's one hell of a season.   

David:

I played centre half-forward and full forward. I think I swapped around with Peter Laughlin, he was a great player.[11] With U19 footy you could get caught out a bit by the amount of players promoted to the Seconds. You could have a really strong side or you bring players up. I know we were playing Collingwood at Victoria Park and I kicked 9 and I was playing centre-half forward that day.[12] 

If anyone asks me what my great games were, Seniors or whatever, that was probably one of the best games I played. Then we got to the finals and the Second Semi-Final was against Melbourne and they actually had players drop back from the Seconds because their Seconds had finished up. So, they became all of a sudden a pretty strong side. It rained all night and we were at the MCG and I can still remember it. The ball was won out of the centre and it went to our half-back line and our half-back took the mark. I went to lead one way and turned around and slipped and put my arm down and my shoulder dislocated. I was out for the rest of the game. And we got beaten.[13]

So we had to play Collingwood in the Preliminary Final at Waverley Park. I thought my season was over. Don and Bruce said “we want you to sit on the bench and come on if we need you.”  And I thought “yeah I’ll do anything to play.” I came on about the 15min of the last quarter and then we kicked away again and then he took me off and the game was still going so we only finished with 17 men.[14] 

The same thing happened in the Grand Final against Melbourne, I started on the bench. That time it was about halfway through the 3rd quarter, and of course dying to get on you start to run around the boundary and draw attention to yourself. We hung on to win by 5pts. Roger Gill was captain.[15] He played in the U19 1973 GF as well.

I actually played 1 game for the Richmond U19s in that 1973 season. I started off in the Scholarship squad. Because my brother was playing at Richmond they sort of knew of me. Ray Jordon signed me when I was about 15. I played juniors at Oakleigh Youth Club then a friend of the neighbours, a guy named Tony Marshall who played in U19s[16], talked me into going down to the Ormond Amateurs to play in the U17s. There was a bye I think and Ray Jordon rang me up and said “I want you to play in the Richmond Thirds. I was only 15 years of age.[17] I thought 'Yeah, no worries”. So I went and played and I kicked 5, but they were sort of kicks down field, or I took a couple of marks and I kicked straight. After the game I said that these blokes were too big for me and that I’m just going to go back and play with Ormond. They were all bearded men with more muscles than I had. I thought it safer going back to the local comp. I got back to Ormond and they didn’t realise that I played with Richmond and there was a bit of an outcry that we should lose all our points because I went to Richmond without a clearance. There was an enquiry and the Waverley District Football League threw it out and said basically ‘look the kids have to play a higher standard if they can.’ Then I went back to Richmond U19s the next year.

Rhett:

What did the scholarship squad mean? Did that mean Richmond had actually signed you? 

David:

I think they recruited or invited all the better juniors from their area. It was pre-season and they’d have a few practice matches and try to develop you for the Under 17s or Under 19s. You'd go there every Sunday morning to train. I think we got $50, a pair of boots, and a Richmond jumper that never fitted me.

I remember Ray Jordon bringing me in and signing me which I thought was fantastic, but I was zoned to them anyway. I was in the Oakleigh area, and that was Richmond's area. Now that I think about it, I don't know why I was signed. It was good for your ego.  

Rhett:

Slug could swear 

David:

Yes, we played against him in the U19s when he went to North Melbourne.[18]

All you could hear was his voice coming out from under the stands but you couldn’t see him. I’m pretty sure it was extra motivation for all the guys who had previously played under him. Every time we heard him, we’d try harder. We were never gonna get beaten by them.

But he was very good to me and my Brother raves about him as a coach and had so much success with so many players. Apart from his swearing he knew what he was doing.

Rhett:

Your senior career last 5 games. Coll, Melb, Gee, Haw, Coll again.

David:

I know after I played the Melbourne game I missed a couple of games because I got a virus or something. In the Hawthorn game I just went and didn’t do anything terrific.

I know the Geelong game I was going all right and I went to tackle Geelong full back Gary Malarkey who was built like a bull, and I grabbed him and he kept running and I was going to the ground and it just pulled my shoulder out of its socket again. I thought that was the end of me.[19] 

I remember in the Collingwood game I was on the bench and I reckon we were 10 goals down at 3/4 time and they put me on and I might have picked up a couple of kicks, so I’ve had no influence in the game at all.[20]

The next week the headlines were 'Richmond Sack 5 Players'. If you were a senior player you probably would have asked why you were dropped. But then I had trouble with my shoulders.

We won the 1977 Reserve GF and I remember Tony Jewell asked me if I wanted to keep playing. Because I had the taste of senior football I just wanted to get the surgery done again, so I declined to play in that Final Series, though whether I would have got a game I don’t know.

Rhett:

How many times did you dislocate your shoulder?

David: 

About 8 or 9 times. After Richmond I went to Oakleigh thinking I won’t get hurt as much but my other shoulder just came out there, so that was it. 

Rhett:

Your Richmond senior career last 68 days. 

David:

That's depressing isn't it. I have thought about it in the sense that you play U19s, you prove you are good enough, then you get to the next stage and you play Seconds, and you play enough games and you adapt to it and you know you are good enough there, but you probably have to play 30 or 40 Senior games to know if you are up to that level. And that’s probably my biggest regret. I don't know whether I was ever good enough. Whether I could have only played another 10 games, or another 50, or maybe 100. You sort of never know whether you were good enough ability-wise or mentally tough enough to do it.

Rhett:

But isn’t the answer to that David that you were good enough, because you made the Seniors in an era where Richmond had some incredibly strong players. 

David:

I'm in awe with some of the players I played with, they are absolute legends, so to get a game was great. But there’s just this personal satisfaction to know whether you could hold your own there. There’s a lot of players that go in and don’t stay there for different reasons. You just like to know how far you could have got. That’s probably the biggest regret I have when looking back. Though it’s probably 5 more games than a lot of other people. 

I went back to play at Oakleigh because I was sick of all the rehab and my injuries, and I thought it might be easier. I might be able to get through. But it doesn’t matter where you play football the injuries are going to happen.

Rhett:

Did you end up coaching?

David:

I went to Oakleigh and coached the Seconds there once and then I moved down to Mornington, Mt Martha and had a year coaching the Seniors and a year or two coaching the Seconds. But I fell on my feet and started coaching the U18s down here and absolutely loved coaching the kids. We had a fair bit of success over the 10 years I was involved. We had a lot of kids go up and playing Seniors. So I loved it, absolutely loved it.

The trouble when coaching U18s is you get the First Year players and then you coach them, and then the Second Year players move on, and then you don’t’ want to leave because you’ve grown attached to the First Year players so you stay another year and another year. I got so much satisfaction out of it. I loved it and maybe because I had such a great time with the U19s at Richmond.

One of the greatest things I got from Richmond was we were just taught so many basic great things about football. When I went to Oakleigh there were players from other League clubs, and I’m remember thinking “how come you don’t know this, and how come you’re not doing this.” 

You got such a great education at Richmond by the coaches. To come out of that system at Richmond you could still use stuff today that they taught that sticks with you and works.

Rhett:

Were you a Richmond supporter?

David:

No. Mum dragged us along to watch Melbourne every week. Then I became a Richmond supporter and got absolutely filthy with the club when they went through the war with Collingwood and stopped playing their local kids and bringing in players. It was just everything I thought Richmond was against. But I’m absolutely ecstatic the way the club is running now. It’s just what you remember it as, a power in the competition.

Rhett:

In a sense you’ve come back into the Richmond family.

David:

I sort of never went back to Richmond. I thought, “oh well I’ve finished” and as time goes by I thought no one will probably remember me anyway.

I caught up with Peter Williams, who lives down my way, he organised a get-together at one of the pubs down here. He asked me and a mate of mine Laurie Devitt to come over and I sort of walked in and here’s Emmett Dunne who I used to watch as a 15 year old, and there’s Michael Roach who I hadn’t seen for years, and Bruce Tempany who I played in a premiership side with, and Frank Bain was there.[21]

It was like we've all got older but we all got on so well. And it really sparked my interest about catching up with people.

Rhett:

Thank you for taking the time for a chat.

David: 

Thank you Rhett. When I look back it was a privilege to play with such a great club and it certainly made me a better person. Thanks very much.

 

Footnotes

[1] The crowd was 92,436. Miller was 19yrs 200 days old.

[2] Hafey’s Collingwood drew the 1977 Grand Final, then lost the 1977 Replay by 27pts

[3] Geoff McMillan played 11 senior Richmond games from 1978-79. He died on Christmas Day in 2001 aged 43.

[4] Miller did kick 8 goals in the Reserves Rd 1 1977 match vs Fitzroy.  Tigers won 28.16.184 to Fitzroy 19.8.122 Other goalkickers were Dickson 5, Borchard 2, Boyanich 2, Freame 2, Hummel 2, McMillan 2, Taubert 2, Keane 1, McGhie 1, Scrimshaw 1.

[5] After 8 goals in the opening Reserves match of 1977, Miller then kicked 5 in Rd 2 v Hawthorn, and 5 in Rd 3 vs South. Miller was second on the Reserves Goalkicking table after the opening 3 Rounds with 18 goals, 1 goal behind Nth Melbourne’s John Frazer.

[6] Barry Richardson coached Reserves 1976, 1 Senior match in 1976 when Hafey was coaching the Vics, then Seniors 1977-1979

[7] Don Davenport coached Under 19s 1975-1977, including the 1975 and 1977 flag.

[8] Richmond’s 1973 U19s side kicked 15.18.104 to Essendon’s 13.16.94 to win the flag. Gary Miller lined up in the back pocket.

[9] Richmond’s 1975 U19s side kicked 13.16.94 to defeat Melbourne 12.17.89.  Miller kicked 1 goal.

[10] North Melbourne were stripped 58 of the 78 premiership points on September 2 1975 after it was discovered Stephen Easton who played in 17 home and away games was residentially tied to Geelong.

[11] Laughlin played 16 U19 games in the 1975 season, while Miller played 17.

[12] Rd 17 1975 - Richmond U19s 20.13.133 def Collingwood U19s 14.20.104

[13] Melbourne U19s 11.8.74 def Richmond U19s 10.6.66 in the Second Semi Final. Kevin Sims for Richmond kicked 7.

[14] Richmond U19s 17.7.119 def Collingwood U19s 10.17.77 in the Preliminary Final. Daryl Freame kicked 6.

[15] Richmond U19s won the 1975 Grand Final 13.16.94 to Melbourne U19s 12.17.89. Daryl Freame kicked 6 again. Miller kicked 1 goal.

[16] Tony Marshall played 17 games in the U19s 1975 season.

[17] Miller played as a 15 year old for Richmond U19s in Rd 10 1973 vs Sth Melbourne U19s. He kicked 5 goals.

[18] Ray Jordon coached North Melbourne’s U19s from 1974 to 1980 including the 1976 flag.

[19] Malarkey stood 6ft 1 and weighed 89kg (196 pounds)

[20]Richmond were down by 67 points against Collingwood at three-quarter time. They lost by 63 pts. Miller finished the game with 2 kicks and 2 marks. It was his last Senior game.

[21] Bruce Tempany played with David Miller in the U19 1975 flag.  Frank Bain was a member of the U19 1977 flag