Royce Hart - Captaincy and Later Career

Captaincy and Later Career

Nominated captain to succeed the ageing Roger Dean, Hart had another brilliant year in 1972, winning the best and fairest, scoring a career-high seven goals against South Melbourne and leading the team into the finals. Hart was dominant in the lead-up finals, but was overwhlemed in the Grand Final when Richmond lost a famously high-scoring match to Carlton. Pitted against the man who became his hardest opponent, Bruce Doull, Hart was powerless to stop the Tigers suffering a loss that shocked his overconfident club.

An early highlight in 1973 came when Hart captained Victoria against South Australia. Unfortunately, Hart's courageous style now began to catch up with him and in Round 15 against St Kilda he tore cartilage in his left knee. He missed the next four matches, doing gym work to strengthen the muscles around his knee.

Hart was back in time for what would be a memorable Finals series. In the Qualifying Final defeat to arch-rivals Carlton, Hart kicked five goals and was among Richmond's best players. He was again among the best players in the cut-throat Semi-final against St Kilda, but had to get his knee drained of fluid the following Monday and continued limping until the Wednesday. Desperate to have him play, the selectors put him on the bench (in this era a replacement could only be used once) for the Preliminary Final against Collingwoodand watched forlornly as the Tigers slipped to a six-goal deficit at half time. Coach Tom Hafey took a big risk by bringing Hart on at this point; Hart's inspirational performance in booting two goals lifted the Tigers to an amazing victory, thus underlining Hart's reputation as one of the truly great leaders in the game. In the 1973 VFL Grand Final, Hart dominated against Carlton, winning 19 possessions, seven marks and kicking three goals, even though his knee had improved only marginally since the previous week.

But the cloud of injury hung constantly over his head. For 1974, Richmond sought to ease his workload by using rookie David Cloke as a second centre half forward. Hart got through most games, and played brilliantly in the finals against another top opponent in North Melbourne's David Dench. Richmond easily disposed of the upcoming North in the Grand Final and Hart held the premiership cup aloft for a second time.

North turned the tables in the 1975 finals series. Once again, injury problems forced Hart to the bench in the preliminary final and he was brought on with his team behind in the third term. Hart immediately goaled, but this time the effort was in vain and Richmond lost. Hart believed it prudent to hand over the captaincy to Francis Bourke. A number of premiership players left the club and the Tigers faced a rebuilding period.

Injuries compounded Richmond's problems and the team slumped to seventh in 1976, a season when Hart only played half of the games. Pressure was placed on coach Tom Hafey, and he eventually resigned after being reappointed for the next year, to be replaced by Barry Richardson.

With the change of coach for 1977, it was decided that Hart's body would need nursing through a tough season, and he was used on the backline. It was an unedifying spectacle for Richmond fans, all of whom idolised him, to see the greatest forward of the era slugging it out in a back pocket. Another knee injury mid-season left Hart with a choice: more major surgery or retirement. He chose the latter and was appointed a skills coach with Richmond.