Watching Richmond star Brett Deledio’s brilliant goalkicking blitz in the first quarter of last Friday night’s blockbuster clash with Hawthorn at the MCG, my mind wandered back 42 years, to the 1973 Grand Final.

It was Richmond versus Carlton back then, with the Tigers seeking revenge for the shock loss they had suffered at the hands of their arch rival in the previous year’s premiership-decider.

In the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the momentous occasion, Tiger star Kevin Sheedy stepped up superbly from the outset, to provide the impetus for a memorable Yellow and Black triumph.

Sheedy, formerly a tough, uncompromising back pocket, had developed into one of the best ruck-rovers in the competition.

But on Grand Final day, 1973, it was Sheedy’s ability to hit the scoreboard that proved so decisive . . .

He kicked all of Richmond’s three goals in the opening term to seize the crucial early initiative for the Tigers, who ended up leading by nine points at the first change (3.5 to 2.2).

Read More at RichmondFC. 

Football codes are walking a fine line with Anzac Day. More than ever, they must be careful about hijacking an occasion when the game should come second, our war veterans always should come first. Kevin Sheedy understands this better than anyone.

"Our veterans and the work of our defence forces must never fall back into the shadows on Anzac Day," insists Sheedy, who did two years of national service in the late 1960s and conceived the first Anzac Day game in 1995 involving his club, Essendon, and Collingwood.

Sport has - and hasn't - been played on our truly national day during the past hundred years.

Read more - http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/kevin-sheedy-says-footy-must-always-come-second-on-anzac-day-20150424-1ms655.html

In the 11th of a special richmondfc.com.au nostalgic series celebrating Richmond’s 50 years at home at the MCG, Tony Greenberg reflects on a cunning piece of football brilliance produced by Kevin Sheedy that turned the tide for the Tigers in the 1974 Grand Final. 

Richmond will celebrate its rich, proud history with a weekend of celebrations in July. ‘Homecoming’ will be a must-see event

Richmond took a ferocious ‘us against the world’ approach into its 1974 Grand Final encounter with North Melbourne.

Going into the ’74 premiership-decider, there was an enormous groundswell of support for the Kangaroos, who had been ‘cellar-dwellars’ for many years, until legendary football figure Ron Barassi took over their coaching reins in 1973. Barassi immediately lifted the Roos to the fringes of the finals, before taking them all the way into the ‘big one’ the following year.

And there is the special love that joins people who don’t share bloodlines, but end up sharing just about everything else along the journey of life. I love Tommy Hafey.

He was the Tommy who stepped into my life when my father, also called Tom, died when I was still a teenager.

He was the Tommy who, as like any young footballer I had ups and downs with early in my career, picked me up when the ball bounced the wrong way and I got clobbered.

He was the Tommy who pulled me down when I got ahead of myself.

“You’re not that good Kevin, remember you’re just a back pocket player and the world’s got plenty of those.”

He was the Tommy who started out as this huge, almost unreachable figure — my first VFL coach — and over the years became one of my best friends, someone I reached out to almost on a daily basis.

Read more - http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/former-afl-coach-kevin-sheedy-remembers-his-mentor-tommy-hafey/story-fni5f9jb-1226919323593