Royce Hart - 1967 - A Dream Debut

A Dream Debut

In the first half of the twentieth century, Richmond had been a powerhouse club with a large supporter base, but the club fell on hard times in the 1950s. A rejuvenation of the club began with a move to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1965 and an extensive recruiting program, which included the young Hart.

Hart made his senior VFL debut in the opening round of the 1967 VFL season against Essendon at the MCG, playing at full forward. Although he got plenty of the ball in attack, he disappointed with his inaccurate goal-kicking, with three goals and seven behinds.

Subsequently, Hart taught himself to use the drop punt when kicking for goal, and became one of the best exponents of the kick at a time when many players still favoured flat punts or drop kicks. In Round 4, he kicked an amazing goal, which bounced along the ground for the last thirty metres before going through, to win a match with Carlton. After only four games Hart was selected to play for the Victorian Second team, but a week before the game, Ron Barassi pulled out with injury and Hart was promoted. He booted seven goals playing at full-forward against Western Australia. With the Tigers on top of the ladder and heading for their first finals appearance since 1947, Hart was shifted to centre half forward, the position where he would make his name.

The Tigers went into the finals without a single player who had played finals before, which seemed the only chink in the team's armour. However, in the semi final against Carlton, Hart led the way with a best afield performance and booted six goals. Two weeks later, Richmond played a Grand Final against Geelong considered as one of the classic matches of Australian football. Hart gathered 13 kicks and six handpasses but it was one of his seven marks that remains eternally etched in the memory. In the dying minutes, Hart rose above his opponent to grab the ball from a kick in by Geelong's Roy West and helped keep the momentum going the Tigers' way. In the end, Richmond hung on to win by nine points to end a 24-year premiership drought. Richmond's emphasis on attacking and kicking high scores became the new trend, and within a few years the game would be much more offense-orientated. To cap an extraordinary first year, Hart won the club goalkicking award, was voted recruit of the year and represented Australia in Ireland in the first contact between Australian and Gaelic football.