Controversy, Another Premiership and That Autobiography
A let down followed in 1968. The year started badly when Hart was drafted into the army, which the club was able to defer for a year. Player and club performed in fits and starts for most of the year, before the team came roaring home, missing the finals by a whisker. A similar sceanrio was unfolding the following year, but the players pulled together and Richmond sneaked into the finals in fourth place. They then won all three finals to complete a remarkable turnaround, win the flag comfortably and leave everyone wondering what they might have done had they maintained concentration and made the 1968 finals. Hart had been the star player, winning his first best and fairest award, and he was made All-Australian after the 1969 Adelaide Carnival. This was a remarkable effort as he was based in Adelaide with the Royal Australian Artillery as part of his National Service. During the year, he actually trained with South Australian league club Glenelg and flew to Melbourne for matches. When Glenelg made the SA Grand Final, they asked Hart to play in the match. This move wasn't well received, particularly when it became known that Hart would get $2000 for 100 minutes of football. The opposition Sturt players took matters into their own hands and Hart was knocked out early in the game. He had little impact as Glenelg slipped to a loss.
In 1970, Hart attracted major attention with the publication of The Royce Hart Story, a ghosted autobiography. Very few biographies of Australian football players had been released thus far, and never one by a current player, especially not one by somebody 22 years of age. Hart received universal criticism for naming a team of best players where he was placed at centre half forward. But the team was not a "greatest team ever", rather a team of the best contemporary players that Hart would like to play with. The book contains some perceptive opinion about the future of Australian football. Hart's ideas on full-time professionalism were well ahead of the time. He wrote about his dedication to making the most of his talents and what it takes to succeed. At times, Hart also reveals the somewhat uncompromising attitude that could often get him offside with people. Notably, he had a number of disagreements with teammate, Kevin Sheedy.
After missing the 1970 finals, Richmond finished third in 1971. Now vice captain, Hart finished second best and fairest, was again leading goalkicker and passed his century of games.
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