Matthew Richardson (footballer)

Matthew Richardson
Richardson in May 2008
Personal information
Full name	Matthew Richardson
Nickname(s)	Richo
Date of birth	(1975-03-19) 19 March 1975
Place of birth	Devonport, Tasmania
Original team(s)	Devonport (TFL)
Draft	Father-Son Selection, 1992 Richmond
Height/Weight	197 cm / 103 kg
Position(s)	Forward/ Wing
Club information
Current club	Richmond
Number	12
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1993–2009	Richmond	282 (800)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1993 1996–1997 2008	Tasmania The Allies Dream Team	1 (1) 2 (5) 1 (1)
International team honours
1999	Australia	2 (1)
1 Playing statistics correct to end of R3 2009 season.
Career highlights
AFL 3× All-Australian team: 1996, 1999, 2008 13× Richmond Leading Goalkicker: 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Jack Dyer Medal: 2007 Richmond Team Of The Century Richmond Hall of Fame, inducted 2015 AFL Rising Star Nominee: 1993 Australian Football Hall of Fame Tasmanian Team of the Century AFL Life Membership Representative Alex Jesaulenko Medal: 1996

Matthew "Richo" Richardson (born 19 March 1975 in Devonport, Tasmania), is a retired Australian rules footballer and current media personality who represented Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL).

On 4 March 2014, Richardson became a member of the AFL's All Australian selection committee.^[1]

Background

Richardson is known for his marking prowess, speed and work rate. He was the club's key forward through the mid-1990s and the 2000s. He led the club's goalkicking for thirteen seasons, and was selected in the All-Australian Team three times - in 1996, 1999 and 2008.

Richardson's 800 career goals currently see him ranked second behind Jack Titus at Richmond, and eleventh on the all-time list of AFL/VFL goalkickers. He also holds the record for most goals kicked without winning a Coleman Medal. He currently holds the record for the most goals kicked at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.^[2] Richardson was one of the most popular players in the competition, this was shown when the crowd at the 2008 Brownlow Medal cheered every vote he got. Mark Robinson from the Herald Sun wrote "M. Richardson... I'm sure there wouldn't have been a more popular winner".^[3]

Football career

Educated at St. Brendan-Shaw and Don Colleges in Devonport, Tasmania, Richardson was the fourth pick (a father-son selection) in the 1992 AFL Draft, and was recruited from Devonport, Tasmania. He is the son of former Richmond and South Melbourne player Alan "Bull" Richardson.^[4]

Combining a 197 centimetre frame with speed and athletic capacity for a large man, on his day he has been a dominant presence for the Tigers. He suffered a torn left ACL in Round 9, 1995 against Sydney at the SCG after he hyper-extended his left knee while landing as he was running out of bounds and crashed hard into the fence and missed the rest of the season after reconstructive surgery on his knee, including the Tigers' finals series – the Sydney Cricket Ground was forced to increased the distance between the boundary line and the fence (which at the time was as short as 2.5m in places) in response to the injury.^[5] In 1996 he came back strongly, playing all 22 games and finished with 91 goals (49 behinds), earning All Australian selection for the first time. He sustained another knee injury in the pre-season of 2001, but recovered to play 22 games and kick 59 goals.

In 2004, a decision to step down from the Tigers' leadership group (the small group of senior players who help lead the club on and off-field) and focus on additional strength training paid off, with good goal-kicking form in the early part of the season including a career best 10 against the Western Bulldogs. Richardson finished with a tally of 65 goals for the season. In 2005 he kicked 65 goals again, this time with much more consistency throughout the season.

In 2007, in a match against the Essendon Football Club, Richardson played the game with a fractured eye socket and broken nose sustained only a week before. He still managed to kick four goals. In the same year, he won his first ever club best-and-fairest, beating young team-mate Nathan Foley by a single vote.

Richardson spent a large part of the 2008 season playing on the wing, rather than in the forward line, which allowed him to have a much larger part in the play than previously. Although he did not win the club best-and-fairest, he was selected on the bench in the All-Australian team and finished third in the Brownlow Medal.

In Round 6, 2009 against Sydney at the SCG, Richardson kicked his 800th career goal, becoming the eleventh player to reach the milestone in VFL/AFL history. Later in the same match, he partially tore his hamstring off the bone; he missed the remainder of the season with the injury, and announced his retirement after the season.^[6] He received a rousing send-off in Round 1, 2010, appearing before the match in Richmond's season opener against Carlton.

Richardson retired in 2009 after 282 senior games for Richmond; he became an AFL life member after playing more than 300 games including representative and pre-season matches. His career tally of 800 goals was the eleventh-highest at the time of his retirement, and remains eleventh-highest as at the end of the 2012 season. Richardson took a total of 2,270 marks during his AFL career, which was the second-highest of any player at the time of his retirement (since the statistic was recorded, starting in 1974).

Media career

Following his retirement at the end of the 2009 AFL Season and during parts of the 2009 AFL Season when he was injured, Matthew was an AFL expert commentator for telecast matches and a panellist on the review show 'One Week at a Time', both Network Ten shows.

As from 2010 Richardson became part of the Seven Network AFL telecast team,^[7] initially as a boundary rider and then as a member of the Friday and Saturday night commentary teams, providing expert comments. He also appears on the Thursday night edition of Seven News Melbourne, to preview the weekend's AFL action, and as a panellist on Channel 7's AFL Game Day.

In 2010 Richardson joined the 3AW Football radio commentary team in a special comments role.^[8]

Richardson can also be seen on the Richmond Football Club website hosting some of their ‘Talking Tigers’ weekly podcast shows.

Statistics

^[9]

Achievements & Honours

AFL

• AFL Rising Star Nominee (1993)
• All Australian (1996, 1999, 2008)
• Alex Jesaulenko Medal (1996)
• International Rules (1999)
• Tasmanian State of Origin Representative (1993)
• Dream Team Representative (2008)
• Third in 2008 Brownlow Medal [Polled 22 votes]
• AFL Life Membership 2009
• Australian Football Hall of Fame Inductee as Player 2014

Richmond

• Richmond Leading Goalkicker (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
• Richmond Team of the Century (Half-forward flank)
• Richmond Life Membership 2002
• Richmond Best and Fairest (2007)
• 100 Tiger Treasures "The Strong & the Bold" Nominee (2008)
• 100 Tiger Treasures "Brave Act of the Century" Nominee (2008)
• 100 Tiger Treasures "Mark of the Century" Nominee (2008)

Other

• Tasmanian Team of the Century (Interchange Bench)

Personal life

His sister, Samantha, is married to retired Hawthorn, Bulldogs and Kangaroos footballer Jade Rawlings.

References

External links

• Matthew Richardson's statistics from AFL Tables
• Richmond Football Club website

Further reading

Richardson, Matthew; Flanagan, Martin (2010). Richo. Random House Australia. ISBN 978-1-74166-972-5

Australian squad – 1999 International Rules Series Akermanis Allan Ashcroft Bell Burgoyne Buckley (c) Burke Campbell Camporeale Cousins Crawford Croad Graham Hart Leppitsch McKay McRae Molloy O'Loughlin Richardson Silvagni (gk) Smith Waterhouse West Coach: Brereton