One of the reprecussions of the Stafford controversy is that some of the spotlight has been taken away from Richmond's amazing win on Saturday.
Whatever you say about the opposition and the context of the game, to conduct the biggest comeback ever in the club's grand history was a momentus acheivement. It got deservedly significant coverage in the Sunday Herald Sun.
But it disappeared off the radar screen when the Stafford incident became the Gerard Healy-led media circus on Sunday morning. Since then, the Stafford incident and to a lesser extent Hawthorn's woes have got more mileage out of the match then Richmond's side of the tale. Notably Mike Shehan, notorious for jumping on and off bandwagons in his Monday column faster then a gymnast, ignored it entirely.
When it has been mentioned, it has been rather disparingly referred within the context of Everitt's injury being the deciding point of the game. Obviously it was a significant moment in the game, but by no stretch did it automatically mean that Richmond would kick the next 14 goals. And let's not forget that Richmond managed to outscore the Hawks in the last quarter despite coming off a five-day break and having their star forward Richo off the ground.
I'm not bitter or upset about this downplaying of Richmond's win, just making an observation. But I do think not enough respect has been given to the Tigers for their magnificent victory, an effort few even here thought they were capable of.
And it's easy to forget how dismal the sides hopes looked after Round 1 and a dismal pre-season; discussion amongst Tiger fans seemed to centre around when Frawley would get the sack. Now the Tigers have won 4 matches in a row by 20 points or more and a finals spot is there for the taking. Not only was the Hawthorn win courageous, but to turn around the season in just a month has been equally courageous.
The mass media can please themselves, but Richmond fans are entitled to have a lot more faith in their side for the rest of this season. I know they've earned my respect.
Whatever you say about the opposition and the context of the game, to conduct the biggest comeback ever in the club's grand history was a momentus acheivement. It got deservedly significant coverage in the Sunday Herald Sun.
But it disappeared off the radar screen when the Stafford incident became the Gerard Healy-led media circus on Sunday morning. Since then, the Stafford incident and to a lesser extent Hawthorn's woes have got more mileage out of the match then Richmond's side of the tale. Notably Mike Shehan, notorious for jumping on and off bandwagons in his Monday column faster then a gymnast, ignored it entirely.
When it has been mentioned, it has been rather disparingly referred within the context of Everitt's injury being the deciding point of the game. Obviously it was a significant moment in the game, but by no stretch did it automatically mean that Richmond would kick the next 14 goals. And let's not forget that Richmond managed to outscore the Hawks in the last quarter despite coming off a five-day break and having their star forward Richo off the ground.
I'm not bitter or upset about this downplaying of Richmond's win, just making an observation. But I do think not enough respect has been given to the Tigers for their magnificent victory, an effort few even here thought they were capable of.
And it's easy to forget how dismal the sides hopes looked after Round 1 and a dismal pre-season; discussion amongst Tiger fans seemed to centre around when Frawley would get the sack. Now the Tigers have won 4 matches in a row by 20 points or more and a finals spot is there for the taking. Not only was the Hawthorn win courageous, but to turn around the season in just a month has been equally courageous.
The mass media can please themselves, but Richmond fans are entitled to have a lot more faith in their side for the rest of this season. I know they've earned my respect.
