Royce Hart
Encyclopedia
Royce Desmond Hart is a former Australian rules football
player and coach who played for the Richmond Football Club
in the Victorian Football League between 1967 and 1977, and coached Footscray (now Western Bulldogs) between 1980 and 1982.
Hart was a supremely gifted, determined player who was acknowledged by all in his era as the best exponent of the centre half forward position, usually considered the most demanding place to play in Australian football. He was the focal point of one of the great teams of the modern era and earned virtually every accolade the game could bestow after arriving as an unheralded teenager from Tasmania
in the mid 1960s. His unique style of marking the ball earned the most attention, but every other facet of his game was top class, even though the second half of his career was blighted by injury.
) in 1964 to play for the club's under 17s, but was immediately included in the under 19 team and went on to win the competition's best and fairest and goal kicking.
These performances caught the attention of Harry Jenkins, the Tasmanian-based recruiting scout for Richmond. Acting on Jenkins' recommendation, club secretary Graeme Richmond flew to the island state to watch Hart in action, but he missed seeing Hart play. Nevertheless, Richmond was prepared to sign Hart sight unseen. Hart's mother warned that he would need suitable clothing to wear to work, which he didn't have. Graeme Richmond
countered by offering the youngster a suit and six shirts, then posted papers to the Hart household, which were readily signed. At a time when untried players were asking VFL clubs for large signing on fees, Richmond knew he had a bargain. Aged 17, Hart crossed Bass Strait
determined to develop his precocious talent, which was unusual; most Tasmania players played a number of seasons in the local competition before crossing to Victoria as mature age recruits.
, on a half forward flank. This match, played as a curtain raiser to the famous St Kilda-Collingwood clash, was as dramatic. Hart took a mark a long way from goal as the siren sounded with his team one point down. The huge crowd watched on as Hart carefully lined up the goals and booted a goal to give his team the premiership. Richmond knew they had a star in the making. During the off-season, Hart continued working on his physique and created an air of anticipation with his performances in the practice matches leading into the 1967 season.
at the MCG
, Hart played at full forward and excited the big crowd with a great game, only marred by inaccurate shooting for goal. Subsequently, he utilised the drop punt
when kicking for goal, and became one of the best exponents of the kick at a time when many players still favoured flat punts or drop kick
s. In Round 4, he kicked an amazing goal, which bounced along the ground for the last thirty metres before going through, to win a match with Carlton. After a handful of games he was selected to play for Victoria
and booted seven goals against Western Australia
. With the Tigers on top of the ladder and heading for their first finals appearance since 1947, Hart was shifted to centre half forward, the position where he would make his name.
The Tigers went into the finals without a single player who had played finals before, which seemed the only chink in the team's armour. However, in the semi final against Carlton, Hart led the way with a best afield performance and booted six goals. Two weeks later, Richmond played a Grand Final
against Geelong
considered as one of the classic matches of Australian football. Hart gathered 13 kicks and six handpasses but it was one of his seven marks that remains eternally etched in the memory. In the dying minutes, Hart rose above his opponent to grab the ball from a kick in by Geelong's Roy West and helped keep the momentum going the Tigers' way. In the end, Richmond hung on to win by nine points to end a 24-year premiership drought. Richmond's emphasis on attacking and kicking high scores became the new trend, and within a few years the game would be much more offense-orientated. To cap an extraordinary first year, Hart won the club goalkicking award, was voted recruit of the year and represented Australia in Ireland in the first contact between Australian and Gaelic football.
. 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 Australia
n 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 professional
ism 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.
, 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 over-confident club.
An early highlight in 1973 came when Hart skippered Victoria against South Australia. Unfortunately, Hart's courageous style now began to catch up with him and he suffered the first of a series of serious problems when he injured. He made it back for the finals, but looked likely to miss the preliminary final against Collingwood. Desperate to have him play, the selectors put him on the bench (in this era a replacement could only be used once) and watched folornly as the Tigers slipped to a six-goal deficit at half time. Coach Tom Hafey
gambled 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. Hart dominated against Carlton in the Grand Final, 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.
, who became Hart's successor on the forward line. Like Hart, Roach became known for his accurate and penetrating drop punts. After coaching the Richmond reserves in 1979, Hart decided to take the coaching position at the struggling Footscray (now Western Bulldogs), to fulfill an ambition he stated in his autobiography a decade earlier. Richmond earned derision when they asked Footscray for a clearance fee for his services – Hart quickly recalled the price they had paid to get him to Melbourne in the first place. Hart's stint at the club was troubled. He set very high fitness standards and summarily sacked players who couldn't meet those standards, turning over many players in the process. The Bulldogs were a club that had accepted mediocrity for too long and needed to take a step back before they progressed.
Under Hart, the Bulldogs won just seven games in his first two years, but had one notable moment of glory when Kelvin Templeton
won the Brownlow medal in 1980. Hart had taken on Templeton, a century-goalkicker who was seen as a little bit brittle, as a personal project, getting him on a weight program and moving him to his old position at centre half forward. It seemed that Hart worked well with those who were similarly talented and motivated as himself, but struggled to relate to those who were not. This is a common refrain in Australian football: simply put, the best players don't always make the best coaches.
The 1982 season began with Hart under immense pressure. There was talk that Footscray may be relocated and the club's finances were under scrutiny in the wake of South Melbourne's move to Sydney. On opening day, the Bulldogs copped a 109-point flogging from Essendon and a 143-point loss to Hawthorn followed in round three. After just one win in the first ten rounds, Hart left the Western Oval. Coincidentally, in the same week, Hart's old mentor Tom Hafey lost his job at Collingwood. The cash-strapped Footscray had disingenuously demoted Hart to thirds coach to avoid a payout clause in the contract had he been sacked. In the mid-1980s, Footscray improved markedly under coach Mick Malthouse
, and some observers of the club were prepared to argue that Hart had done the hard spade work necessary to get the team competitive.
Hart returned to Punt Road and coached the reserves again, in 1984. During the Tigers' tumultuous years in the mid-1980s, there was some speculation that he would be appointed coach of the club, but this never happened. Hart was one of a number of ex-Richmond players to speak about the club's financial troubles in 1989–1990. During the Save Our Skins appeal, he urged members to sign up and stay with the club.
In the 1990s, Hart returned to his native Tasmania, living on a farm and involving himself in commentating for the ABC and junior football. Eldest son Damien played at his old club Clarence, while another son, Simon, spent a couple of years on Richmond's supplementary list at the turn of the century. For a number of years, Hart had little official contact with the Tigers, a situation that drew criticism to Richmond – the club was seen to be indifferent to some of its ex-players. The Tigers moved to rectify this a few years ago, which pleased many followers of the club as Hart was the best loved player among the fans during the club's greatest era.
would've got Hart's place. In the 2001 book Heart Of the Game a large panel of experienced commentators voted for a team of the television era (i.e. 1956 to 2001) and gave the position to Carey, with Hart on the bench. Now that Carey is also retired, the debate arises, who was the best centre half forward?
Undoubtedly, centre half forward is the hardest place on the ground to play. The number of truly great players to play the position can be counted on one hand. In the years between the end of Hart's career and the beginning of Carey's, the only man to come close to the duo was Dermott Brereton
of Hawthorn
. It is no coincidence that all three played in the team considered the best of their respective eras. It is also worth noting that all three instantly lifted their teams from the middle order of the ladder to regular finalists (and ultimately premiers) and when all three departed, their clubs went back to struggling. Another commonality is the shortened nature of their careers, due to the stress that playing centre half forward places on the body.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
player and coach who played for the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
in the Victorian Football League between 1967 and 1977, and coached Footscray (now Western Bulldogs) between 1980 and 1982.
Hart was a supremely gifted, determined player who was acknowledged by all in his era as the best exponent of the centre half forward position, usually considered the most demanding place to play in Australian football. He was the focal point of one of the great teams of the modern era and earned virtually every accolade the game could bestow after arriving as an unheralded teenager from Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
in the mid 1960s. His unique style of marking the ball earned the most attention, but every other facet of his game was top class, even though the second half of his career was blighted by injury.
Early days
Hart grew up in central Tasmania with an older brother, Lance and two younger sisters Gayle and Cheryl. He gravitated toward sports, in particular Australian football, which upset his mother, who thought the game too rough. At high school, he represented Tasmania as a rover and won selection as an All-Australian schoolboy. Playing on the ball helped develop his ground skills, but he was able to exert greater presence on the field when he underwent a sudden growth spurt in his mid-teens. Eventually, he grew to 187 cm. He was invited to Clarence (Tasmanian Football LeagueTasmanian Football League
Tasmanian State League is the highest ranked Australian rules football league in Tasmania, Australia.The league has a long and convoluted history which dates back to its founding on 12 June 1879 Tasmanian State League (TSL) (formerly known as the Tasmanian Football League (TFL), Tasmanian...
) in 1964 to play for the club's under 17s, but was immediately included in the under 19 team and went on to win the competition's best and fairest and goal kicking.
These performances caught the attention of Harry Jenkins, the Tasmanian-based recruiting scout for Richmond. Acting on Jenkins' recommendation, club secretary Graeme Richmond flew to the island state to watch Hart in action, but he missed seeing Hart play. Nevertheless, Richmond was prepared to sign Hart sight unseen. Hart's mother warned that he would need suitable clothing to wear to work, which he didn't have. Graeme Richmond
Graeme Richmond
Graeme Richmond was a long time administrator of the Richmond Football Club.Recruited from Geelong College, he played mainly as a defender in Richmond's Thirds from 1951 to 1953. He captained this side and won its Best & Fairest in 1952. He also played 13 games for the Richmond Seconds side in...
countered by offering the youngster a suit and six shirts, then posted papers to the Hart household, which were readily signed. At a time when untried players were asking VFL clubs for large signing on fees, Richmond knew he had a bargain. Aged 17, Hart crossed Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
determined to develop his precocious talent, which was unusual; most Tasmania players played a number of seasons in the local competition before crossing to Victoria as mature age recruits.
Arrival at Richmond
Hart arrived in Melbourne with 20 pounds in his pocket (contrary to some accounts of his life, this money was his own and not provided by Richmond) and initially boarded with Graeme Richmond. He started work in bank and began a comprehensive weight training regime at Frank Sedgeman's gym. Starting the 1966 season with the Richmond thirds (under 19), Hart was the leading goalkicker for the team when late in the season he was promoted to the reserves and played in the Grand Final against CollingwoodCollingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
, on a half forward flank. This match, played as a curtain raiser to the famous St Kilda-Collingwood clash, was as dramatic. Hart took a mark a long way from goal as the siren sounded with his team one point down. The huge crowd watched on as Hart carefully lined up the goals and booted a goal to give his team the premiership. Richmond knew they had a star in the making. During the off-season, Hart continued working on his physique and created an air of anticipation with his performances in the practice matches leading into the 1967 season.
The 1967 Season
In the first half of the twentieth century, Richmond had been a powerhouse club with a large supporter base, but the club fell on hard times in the 1950s. A rejuvenation of the club began with a move to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1965 and an extensive recruiting program, which included the young Hart. In the season opener against EssendonEssendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
at the MCG
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, Hart played at full forward and excited the big crowd with a great game, only marred by inaccurate shooting for goal. Subsequently, he utilised the drop punt
Drop punt
A drop punt is a type of kick in various codes of football.It is the primary method of disposing the ball by foot in Australian rules football and the name describes its technique. The ball is held vertically, and dropped and kicked before it hits the ground, resulting in the ball spinning...
when kicking for goal, and became one of the best exponents of the kick at a time when many players still favoured flat punts or drop kick
Drop kick
A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it when it bounces off the ground. It contrasts to a punt, wherein the player kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first....
s. In Round 4, he kicked an amazing goal, which bounced along the ground for the last thirty metres before going through, to win a match with Carlton. After a handful of games he was selected to play for Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and booted seven goals against Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. With the Tigers on top of the ladder and heading for their first finals appearance since 1947, Hart was shifted to centre half forward, the position where he would make his name.
The Tigers went into the finals without a single player who had played finals before, which seemed the only chink in the team's armour. However, in the semi final against Carlton, Hart led the way with a best afield performance and booted six goals. Two weeks later, Richmond played a Grand Final
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...
against Geelong
Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
considered as one of the classic matches of Australian football. Hart gathered 13 kicks and six handpasses but it was one of his seven marks that remains eternally etched in the memory. In the dying minutes, Hart rose above his opponent to grab the ball from a kick in by Geelong's Roy West and helped keep the momentum going the Tigers' way. In the end, Richmond hung on to win by nine points to end a 24-year premiership drought. Richmond's emphasis on attacking and kicking high scores became the new trend, and within a few years the game would be much more offense-orientated. To cap an extraordinary first year, Hart won the club goalkicking award, was voted recruit of the year and represented Australia in Ireland in the first contact between Australian and Gaelic football.
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 Carnival1969 Adelaide Carnival
The 1969 Adelaide Carnival was the 17th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition....
. This was a remarkable effort as he was based in Adelaide with the Royal Australian Artillery as part of his National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
. During the year, he actually trained with South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n 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
Sturt Football Club
Sturt Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League. The club is best known for its period of dominance from 1966–76 under legendary coach Jack Oatey, during which it revolutionised the style of play by emphasising teamwork and accurate ball...
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 professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
ism 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.
Inspirational Captain
Nominated captain to succeed the ageing Roger DeanRoger Dean (Australian rules footballer)
Roger Edward Dean was an Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL between 1957 and 1973 for the Richmond Football Club. Dean was one of the last elite Australian footballers born and bred in the local suburb for which he played...
, 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
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
. Pitted against the man who became his hardest opponent, Bruce Doull, Hart was powerless to stop the Tigers suffering a loss that shocked his over-confident club.
An early highlight in 1973 came when Hart skippered Victoria against South Australia. Unfortunately, Hart's courageous style now began to catch up with him and he suffered the first of a series of serious problems when he injured. He made it back for the finals, but looked likely to miss the preliminary final against Collingwood. Desperate to have him play, the selectors put him on the bench (in this era a replacement could only be used once) and watched folornly as the Tigers slipped to a six-goal deficit at half time. Coach Tom Hafey
Tom Hafey
Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey is a former Australian rules football Victorian Football League player and coach. Hafey played for Richmond between 1953 and 1958, and coached four clubs—Richmond, Collingwood, Geelong and Sydney—between 1966 and 1988, leading teams to a total of four premierships...
gambled 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. Hart dominated against Carlton in the Grand Final, 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
David Cloke
David Cloke is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL/AFL.Cloke was a powerful ruckman and occasional forward who enjoyed a marvellous career at two VFL/AFL clubs. He began with Oakleigh where he played alongside his brother Peter, and in 1974 he went to Richmond...
as a second centre half forward. Hart got through most games, and played brilliantly in the finals against another top opponent in North Melbourne
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
's David Dench
David Dench
David Dench is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League. He played his whole career with North Melbourne Football Club at one of its most successful periods....
. 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
Francis Bourke
Francis William Bourke is a former Australian rules football player who played in the Victorian Football League between 1967 and 1981 for the Richmond Football Club and coached the club between 1982 and 1983. One of the most respected Australian footballers of any era, Bourke was nicknamed "St...
. 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
Back pocket
In Australian rules football, the back pocket refers to a position on the field deep in defence.Back pocket players, situated in the backline, need to have good spoiling skills and usually, quality back-pockets are noted for their hardness....
. 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.
Coaching Disappointments and Return to Tasmania
Hart had great success individually tutoring another Tasmanian, Michael RoachMichael Roach (footballer)
Michael Terrence Roach is a former Australian rules football player who represented Richmond in the Victorian Football League from 1977 to 1989....
, who became Hart's successor on the forward line. Like Hart, Roach became known for his accurate and penetrating drop punts. After coaching the Richmond reserves in 1979, Hart decided to take the coaching position at the struggling Footscray (now Western Bulldogs), to fulfill an ambition he stated in his autobiography a decade earlier. Richmond earned derision when they asked Footscray for a clearance fee for his services – Hart quickly recalled the price they had paid to get him to Melbourne in the first place. Hart's stint at the club was troubled. He set very high fitness standards and summarily sacked players who couldn't meet those standards, turning over many players in the process. The Bulldogs were a club that had accepted mediocrity for too long and needed to take a step back before they progressed.
Under Hart, the Bulldogs won just seven games in his first two years, but had one notable moment of glory when Kelvin Templeton
Kelvin Templeton
Kelvin Templeton is a former Australian rules footballer. At sixteen years of age Templeton kicked 100 goals for Traralgon in the 1973 Latrobe Valley FL season...
won the Brownlow medal in 1980. Hart had taken on Templeton, a century-goalkicker who was seen as a little bit brittle, as a personal project, getting him on a weight program and moving him to his old position at centre half forward. It seemed that Hart worked well with those who were similarly talented and motivated as himself, but struggled to relate to those who were not. This is a common refrain in Australian football: simply put, the best players don't always make the best coaches.
The 1982 season began with Hart under immense pressure. There was talk that Footscray may be relocated and the club's finances were under scrutiny in the wake of South Melbourne's move to Sydney. On opening day, the Bulldogs copped a 109-point flogging from Essendon and a 143-point loss to Hawthorn followed in round three. After just one win in the first ten rounds, Hart left the Western Oval. Coincidentally, in the same week, Hart's old mentor Tom Hafey lost his job at Collingwood. The cash-strapped Footscray had disingenuously demoted Hart to thirds coach to avoid a payout clause in the contract had he been sacked. In the mid-1980s, Footscray improved markedly under coach Mick Malthouse
Mick Malthouse
Michael "Mick" Malthouse is a former Australian rules footballer and the former coach of the Collingwood Football Club.While his playing career included a premiership for Richmond in the VFL, he is best known for his Australian Football League coaching career.Malthouse is the most successful coach...
, and some observers of the club were prepared to argue that Hart had done the hard spade work necessary to get the team competitive.
Hart returned to Punt Road and coached the reserves again, in 1984. During the Tigers' tumultuous years in the mid-1980s, there was some speculation that he would be appointed coach of the club, but this never happened. Hart was one of a number of ex-Richmond players to speak about the club's financial troubles in 1989–1990. During the Save Our Skins appeal, he urged members to sign up and stay with the club.
In the 1990s, Hart returned to his native Tasmania, living on a farm and involving himself in commentating for the ABC and junior football. Eldest son Damien played at his old club Clarence, while another son, Simon, spent a couple of years on Richmond's supplementary list at the turn of the century. For a number of years, Hart had little official contact with the Tigers, a situation that drew criticism to Richmond – the club was seen to be indifferent to some of its ex-players. The Tigers moved to rectify this a few years ago, which pleased many followers of the club as Hart was the best loved player among the fans during the club's greatest era.
Hart v Carey
Hart was an inaugural inductee to the AFL Hall of Fame in 1996 and it was no surprise when he was voted into the team of the century at centre half forward. At that time, some commentators made the point that had the vote been taken a few years down the track, then North Melbourne skipper Wayne CareyWayne Carey
Wayne Carey is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne and Adelaide Football Clubs in the Australian Football League ....
would've got Hart's place. In the 2001 book Heart Of the Game a large panel of experienced commentators voted for a team of the television era (i.e. 1956 to 2001) and gave the position to Carey, with Hart on the bench. Now that Carey is also retired, the debate arises, who was the best centre half forward?
Undoubtedly, centre half forward is the hardest place on the ground to play. The number of truly great players to play the position can be counted on one hand. In the years between the end of Hart's career and the beginning of Carey's, the only man to come close to the duo was Dermott Brereton
Dermott Brereton
Dermott Hugh Brereton is a former Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League, regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. Of Irish descent , he is known for his aggressive style of play. Brereton kicked 464 goals and played in five Premierships for during...
of Hawthorn
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
. It is no coincidence that all three played in the team considered the best of their respective eras. It is also worth noting that all three instantly lifted their teams from the middle order of the ladder to regular finalists (and ultimately premiers) and when all three departed, their clubs went back to struggling. Another commonality is the shortened nature of their careers, due to the stress that playing centre half forward places on the body.