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RFC - FORTY YEARS AGO, 1967
- Thread starter Growl
- Start date
Hart find of the year
(The Age)
(The Age)
RICHMOND’S 19-year-old forward Royce Hart is the undisputed “king” of the VFL recruits this year.
Hart has won this title on the votes of The Age football writers, Percy Beames, Ron Carter and Greg Hobbs.
Geelong ruckman Chris Mitchell is rated the second-best recruit of the season.
Both Hart and Mitchell played well under the pressure of the final series.
Other votes went to Carlton half-forward Alex Jesaulenko and St. Kilda defender Jim O’Dea.
Peter Hudson (Hawthorn) and John Bonney (St. Kilda), from Tasmania, and Barry Pascoe (North Melbourne, from South Australia, were not considered, because they had represented their States in senior football before coming to Melbourne.
Votes were:–
PERCY BEAMES: R. Hart (Richmond) 3; J. O’Dea (St. Kilda) 2; C. Mitchell (Geelong) 1.
RON CARTER: R. Hart 3; A. Jesaulenko (Carlton) 2; C. Mitchell 1.
GREG HOBBS: R. Hart 3; C. Mitchell 2; A. Jesaulenko 1.
TOTALS: Hart 9; Mitchell 4; Jesaulenko 3; O’Dea 2.
ROYCE HART
By RON BROPHY
By RON BROPHY
This boy shows more potential than I’ve seen from any player, let alone recruit, in my many years of football.
Not only did he set the football fans alight during the season with his magnificent marking and kicking, but his great performance during the final series must certainly stamp him as the outstanding recruit of the year.
This only goes to prove that irrespective of the youngness of players, if they have the ability, this is soon brought out by the coaching methods of today.
Hart is one of the most exciting football prospects on the horizon for many seasons — ask anybody who was at that Grand Final.
His interstate debut, his final-round performances, stamps him as a player with exceptional ability and a young man who is not overawed with the occasion.
I cannot speak too highly of this youngster.
Alex Jesaulenko — according to the Brownlow Medal voting — was the third best footballer in Victoria this year.
And, according to the voting, he was easily the best recruit of the year.
But The Sun football experts say the title of the year’s best newcomer is not so settled. In fact, they vote for Richmond’s champion full-forward Royce Hart as the year’s Number One recruit.
The Sun writers voted Hart first, Jesaulenko second and St Kilda’s Jim O’Dea and Geelong ruckman Chris Mitchell equal third.
Royce, in his first season, has captured the imagination of the Victorian football public.
At the moment he is third on the goal-kicking list with 52 goals and stands a good chance of moving into second position after Saturday’s Grand Final.
Royce’s rise has been remarkable.
This time last year he was a member of Richmond’s premiership Reserves team. And it was in the Reserves grand final that Royce first attracted interest when he kicked the winning goal.
Right from his first League match, in which he kicked 3-7, Royce was the glamour recruit of the year. “I’ll never forget that game,” said Royce. “I just wish it could have been the other way around — 7-3.”
Royce came to the Tigers two years ago from a Clarence (Tasmania) junior team.
He was not rushed into the senior team but played his first year with the Under 19s and Reserves, gaining valuable experience.
“That’s one of the reasons I think I’ve gone well this year,” said Royce. “I was able to get used to the pressure and style of play in the Under 19s.
“I’ve had a much better season than I ever dreamed of. I never thought at the start of the season that I would be playing in a State team.”
Royce says playing in the interstate game was the highlight of the year – “But it will cap it all off if we can win the Grand Final on Saturday.”
Royce has only got to keep on improving to become one of the best full-forwards Victoria has seen for many years.
And his tip for prospective League players? “Come on down to Melbourne early and don’t expect to go straight into the senior side. Be prepared to have a solid grounding in the junior sides first.”
“It’s mine,” says Hart [pictured]. Umpire Sheales, coming in, seems to agree.
Selecting the best League football recruit of this season was so easy this year. Richmond full-forward ROYCE HART made it no contest.
Hart, only 19, already has everything — skill, pace, courage, kicking ability and a tremendous leap.
He shares with the great John Coleman the remarkable ability of being able to take sky-scraping marks from in front. He does not have to climb an opponent.
Who will forget that amazing mark of his in the last quarter against Geelong in the Grand Final? He sprang in front of Geelong half-back Peter Walker and went so high that his foot rested on Walker’s chest, then he got extra lift from there.
Hart can mark from in front, from behind, and from the side.
All this from a 19-year-old who two years ago was playing in an under-19 side in Clarence, Tasmania.
Quick to spot him
His success at Richmond is a tribute to the recruiting skill of Richmond secretary Graeme Richmond who saw this 17-year-old in Tasmania and correctly assessed his chances of success in League football.
Hart was not an immediate success at Richmond. In the early practice games last year his form barely was good enough to get him a game with Richmond Thirds. But once he found form nothing could stop him.
He was in Richmond Reserves before the season ended and was a member of the Reserves side that won the premiership. In fact, Hart more or less won the flag — he kicked the winning goal.
Hart cannot be compared with Coleman but he has one edge — he can star at centre half-forward. The few times I saw Coleman play at centre half-forward, he did not take charge of a forward line.
Switched, starred
But when Richmond switched Hart to centre half-forward after quarter-time last Saturday, he starred against Walker, rated by some critics as Victoria’s best centre half-back.
Hart has great reflexes and remarkable recovery. He is like a cat on the ground — he can miss a mark yet a split second later win the ball on the ground.
He has great courage and tenacity. Several times in the Grand Final he crawled on hands and knees towards the ball on the ground. Nothing deters him; nothing stops him.
He got concussion in a match against North Melbourne this year, but the next Saturday kicked five goals against Hawthorn.
Hart has great pace and his teamwork is excellent. He is not goal hungry and often handballs to team-mates even when he probably could goal himself.
Hart kicked 55 goals for the season and it would have been more but for coach Tom Hafey’s habit of switching him from full-forward to centre half-forward.
Most full-forwards are shifted to centre half-forward only when they are being beaten. Hart goes there when he is on top either to liven up the half-forward line or because Hafey wants to confuse the opposition with quick changes.
Winning goal
This gambit has won matches. Hart kicked four goals at Carlton in the middle of the season, and then was switched to centre half-forward from where he kicked the winning goal.
Who knows, Richmond may not have been premiers if Hart had stayed at full-forward throughout Saturday’s game. Hafey has such tremendous confidence in Hart that he gambles on him.
If Richmond had lost, Hafey would have been criticised for keeping Hart away from full-forward for the last three quarters.
Success has not affected Hart. After a season of plaudits and the winning of a Victorian guernsey in his first year he is still the same quiet player I first met at Richmond last year.
The Age VFL Team of the Year
Percy Beames
B: Gerlach, Murray, Nicholls.
HB: Jillard, Goold, Griffiths.
C: Dwyer, Barrot, Clay.
HF: Mann, Hart, Baldock.
F: Farmer, Wade, Goggin.
Foll: Thompson, Barassi.
Rov: Smith
Res: Marshall, Ditterich.
Ron Carter
B: Dean, Murray, Nicholls.
HB: Jillard, Goold, Marshall.
C: Dwyer, Barrot, Clay.
HF: Mann, Hart, Sharrock.
F: Farmer, Wade, Birt.
Foll: Thompson, Barassi.
Rov: Goggin.
Res: Ditterich, Smith.
Greg Hobbs
B: Dean, Lofts, Nicholls.
HB: Jillard, Goold, Marshall..
C: Dwyer, Barrot, Clay.
HF: Noonan, Hart, Mann.
F: Birt, Wade, Thompson.
Foll: Farmer, Barassi.
Rov: Goggin.
Res: Smith, Arthur.
