Drinks With Matthew Richardson

Like a romantic revolutionary fighting a doomed cause, Matthew Richardson carried the tattered Tigers’ battleflag into 282 games over 17 seasons.

Today’s kids are watched more closely off the field than in Richo’s first days
Images: Getty Images

As much folk hero as football star, he was Richmond’s leading goal-kicker for 13 years, booting 800 goals in total – No.11 on the all-time list. No one has kicked more goals than “Richo” at the MCG – a stage just epic enough for his Herculean proportions and labours. Richo’s undying commitment to the Tigers’ cause cost him a chance to play in grand finals and earned him the admiration of Tigers and opposition supporters alike. If you didn’t appreciate Richo, you didn’t love footy. “Never been a more loved player in modern football,” said fellow retiree and Essendon captain Matthew Lloyd during Richo’s lap of honour at the Richmond-Carlton season opener. Inside Sport kicked back with Richo on his oversized sofa and reflected on his celebrated career.

Such a low-key ending to a celebrated career ... Do you regret not acknowledging the fans and being feted on the MCG one last time?

Yeah, it would’ve been nice to finish in front of the fans, but it’s not always a fairytale ending. I played long enough to know that you’re always one injury away from the end of your career. And that’s what happened with me in the end.

Are you still getting used to being an ex-player, being in civvies, so to speak?

Yeah. I hadn’t really felt shattered about the whole thing. But then at the AFL launch I was watching the footage of the players, the captains came out and you really knew the season was starting. That was the first time I felt like, “Shit, I really would like to be out there still.” But if I went for a run now I’d soon be pulled back to Earth and realise that it’s probably finished. Or it is finished.

Do you feel you wrung the most out of yourself?

I was always pretty critical of myself, but I achieved 95 percent of what I wanted to. Obviously I didn’t play a lot of finals (three), which is the ultimate goal, the premiership. But I think most of the time I got the best out of myself – there’s a few things I probably would’ve changed.

Dealing with frustration better, the body language on the field – is that one thing you would do differently?

Yeah, it’s a topic that always comes up. Look, I played my best footy when I was passionate and emotional. If I didn’t have that, I don’t know whether I would’ve played as well. I was on the edge a lot of the time with it and it crossed over one or two times – they’ve been well-documented. It went too far and it looked bad. But I definitely wouldn’t change playing with passion and energy. Towards the end I got to channel it a lot better. I probably wish I had’ve realised that

a bit earlier.

Did football ever reduce you to tears?

No, it didn’t reduce me to tears. I think if you lost a grand final like the Saints last year, that would reduce you to tears. You have some pretty low moments and you’re feeling, “Why do I do it?” But then there’s always the next game, the next week. You have a win and it’s all positive.

You’ve been a footy gladiator all your adult life – what will get the adrenalin thumping now?

That remains to be seen. I don’t think you’ll ever replace being on the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 70,000 people. But I’m looking forward to what I’m doing now, working with Channel Seven on a couple of new shows and also the footy coverage. You want to be good at whatever you do, so a new challenge is in front of me now.

It’s the end of an era at Richmond – no Richo, Joel Bowden, Nathan Brown, Mark Coughlan or former captain Kane Johnson. A tough season ahead?

I think it’s an exciting time. It’s a new era – there are 16 players who haven’t made their debut. It’s a young team – new coach, new direction, new CEO. So I think it all fits that all us older players ended up going at the same time. Now the club can just focus on moving ahead and not worry about the past.

You’re definitely a glass half-full type, aren’t you?

With Richmond I am, definitely. I wouldn’t say I’m like that in every area of my life! But with footy, you always have to remain optimistic, because it’s a hard game and people are always looking to knock you down. If you’re not positive and looking forward, it’s going to be tough.

You saw dozens of team-mates come and go in 17 seasons – was there one departure you felt the most?

Probably Brendon “Benny” Gale when he retired. He was a real inspiration for me because he was from the same area (northern Tasmania) as me growing up. He played in similar positions – a big, marking player, always a good leader around the club. He was never captain but he was always a leader (Gale is still leading at Richmond, as the new CEO). When he left I was really disappointed because I always thought he was going to be around – and then he’s gone.

MatthewRichardson Images: Getty Images

You personified Richmond – how much was that a blessing and how much a curse?

It wasn’t a curse at all. I’ll never, ever say anything’s a curse that’s involved with playing for Richmond. I never thought it was a pressure – coming over (from Tasmania), it was almost easy for me to get involved in the club, having a father who played there. People accepted you pretty quickly. I loved the history of the place. I enjoyed getting to know all the people who I read about in scrapbooks and watched over the years. I played with guys who I watched as a kid. So I wouldn’t ever say anything was a curse. I think it was always an honour.

Are you keeping your distance from the Richmond Football Club a bit this year?

I’m certainly keeping my distance from the footy department. You don’t want to be hanging around all the time. I think it’s important to step aside while Damien Hardwick and the (other) new coaches are going about what they want to do. I’m still involved in the club, I’m doing some work in the commercial operations. I’ll be there supporting and I’ll be at some of the games in the rooms and talking to the boys,  but I’m not involved in any official role.

The Bounce, your new show on Channel Seven, is the 17th different AFL program on TV, not including the games telecasts. Footy has exploded as mass entertainment in your time, hasn’t it?

It’s grown enormously. The money that’s come on board, TV rights (the AFL is asking for $1 billion in the next round of TV rights contracts) – the game generates that money. It’s provided for a lot of different footy shows. They wouldn’t be on air if people weren’t watching them. I think with The Bounce, it’s the right time in Melbourne to have another footy show.

Is that because The Footy Show has become a bit mean and nasty, paving the way for more gentle humour as in Before The Game and The Bounce?

Not really. I think there’s enough room for the different networks to have different footy shows. The Footy Show’s an institution, obviously, but The Bounce is a different sort of show. It’s more family-oriented, it’s on in an earlier times lot.

You took Sam Newman to task last year on The Footy Show for being gratuitously mean …

You’ve gotta remember there’s a fair bit of theatre involved with The Footy Show. I think Sam plays a character pretty well.

Carlton’s “booze cruise” was one of the early footy storylines this year. How can you have an exemplary character like Chris Judd captaining a team with an admittedly poor culture?

I’m not going to comment on specific incidents at clubs, but I’ve been playing and involved for 18 years and I’ve seen the start of it and I’ve seen how players behave now and they’re a lot better behaved than 18 years ago. The problem is there’s so much scrutiny on guys now that any single thing that happens gets into the media. Players have never been better behaved. Players do more work in the community and with charity than they’ve ever done. People probably don’t want to write about that because it doesn’t sell newspapers.

My general point is, with these great champions and role models like yourself, a Judd, a Brad Johnson, a Brett Kirk, do footballers only look up to them for their football and not look at how they conduct themselves off the field?

Oh no, they do. But when you’ve got young men, between the ages of 18 to 25 and they’re out, they’re going to make mistakes. And that’s not just in football, that’s in everything. Doesn’t matter how great a leader you’ve got, there’ll always be one or two who’ll make mistakes. It’s never going to be perfect.

Was it more fun playing and watching 10 or 12 years ago?

Well, it was more enjoyable 10 or 12 years ago because you could actually go out after a game and relax a bit. There’s very little time for guys now to forget about footy for a few hours because there’s so much scrutiny on them. And that’s understandable – there’s huge interest in the game and a lot of money involved. It’s a huge industry. I don’t think it was enjoyable to play at the end – it was unrelenting. I’d play well but I didn’t get to enjoy it because I started to think about next week and the pressure that was going to be on to perform again.

Does the AFL chop and change its rules too much – the hands in the back versus the push in the back, the hard hit versus the illegal bump?

At times when they make changes you can be a little frustrated. But time usually proves that they make the right decisions; the game is in as good a shape as it’s ever been. Last year was a great season. There were more great games last season than any year I can remember. History proves they make the right decisions most of the time.

What are you looking forward to this football season?

I just think the timing’s right for the Bulldogs. They’ve only won one premiership (back in 1954) and I’ve had mates who’ve played there, good mates (including team-mate Nathan Brown). Knowing a few of the guys, I think the timing’s right. I think it might be their year.

– Suzi Petkovski