By Paul Frederickson
Drew Petrie wrestles Trent Cotchin away from the ball.
For the third year in a row the Richmond Football Club has briefly graced the pantheon of AFL finals football and disappeared into chuckles of mirth from the football community. Their recent nemesis, North Melbourne, was well rested and overran a Richmond team whose leaders went missing again at vital stages of the match.
But this is not about the match report, it's not about dissecting vital decisions or even what Richmond needs to do to move forward. This is about the heart and soul of the club the supporters.
I am a Tiger fanatic and due to work commitments I could only watch parts of the first half. As I entered a flight back home I was content with a hard fought first half lead. But I dreaded turning the phone off flight mode when we landed. I'm a pessimist when it comes to my beloved Tigers. Sure enough the first message that popped up was from my Kangaroo supporting brother, four words that froze my heart, "I told you so!". Being the true masochist I checked the score hoping beyond hope that he was wrong. Alas I was to remain disappointed.
Messages from friends poured in. Conversations with close family and fellow Tiger supporters were muted and not of the anger I'd expected. It was a level of shock and disappointment mixed with the dread of the long post season of ribbing and waiting for the new season.
Then a strange thing happened and I didn't care about rival supporters or the memes and news story of our failed season, I started thinking about the other Tigers supporters that I know. I smiled, I smiled because only they would know what we are collectively feeling. Only they know the indignation of our 35 year wait for a flag, of finishing 9th year after year and of being a joke of the football world. Only they know that our sense of humor gets us through these times.
So I started reminding them why following Richmond is so special, it's the tribe, the roar and the feeling of belonging to something so much bigger than ourselves. We are truly a family and we will be so beyond any results. GO TIGES!
