smasha said:
The media again making false accusations about Richmond when as you said he listed players he would like to play with.
I wouldn't blame the media.
It's been discussed by us Tiger supporters on here smasha. Nobody, from my recollection, clarified or questioned it. I have the book and I certainly was of the impression that he'd named himself in his team of bests.
This is from an article by Tiger Tony Greenberg. Sorry I didn't include a link when I posted it on PRE in 2002. Tony refers to it as Royce's "perfect side" rather than a team of the best players he'd like to play with.
Right On Royce
Tony Greenberg
9:34:37 AM Wed 1 May, 2002
"The Royce Hart Story", published in 1970, caused quite a stir in football circles at the time due to the forthright comments of its author, the brilliant Richmond centre half-forward.
Hart had just completed his third season of VFL football with the Tigers when he wrote the book, which today has become something of a sporting collector's item.
Most of the publicity surrounding the book at the time revolved around Royce Desmond naming himself at centre half-forward in his "perfect side." He copped some flak for being so bold and brash as to do that at age 21, and with only three years' experience in the big time.
Indeed, there were those critics who seriously questioned Hart's credentials to write his football life story so early in his league career.
It didn't take long, however, for Hart to silence his knockers. By 1972, he was Richmond's captain, and by the end of the 1974 season, he had led the Tigers in superb style to back-to-back premierships.
When he retired midway through the 1977 season, he had 187 games, 369 goals, four premierships and two Best and Fairests to his credit, plus the acclamation of the football world as one of the greatest players in the history of the game.
In 1996, Hart was inducted into the AFL's Hall of Fame. Three years later, he was named at centre half-forward in Richmond's Team of the Century. Then, on the eve of the 2002 season, he became one of 24 inaugural inductees into the Tigers Hall of Fame.
Safe to say, therefore, that Royce has more than justified his place in his own best-ever team. Perhaps he had foreseen his own greatness -- just as he'd accurately foreshadowed, in The Royce Hart Story, so many of the changes that would take place in league football over the years.
While recently browsing through the book (my autographed copy, which has taken pride of place in my library since 1970), I was amazed at how many of Royce's suggested improvements to the competition had taken place.
Here's an example . . .
