The 2011 season marked the 104th season in which the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

participated in the

AFL/VFL The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...

. This season was

Damien Hardwick Damien Patrick Hardwick (born 18 August 1972) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is the senior coach of the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 2010, and has the longest continuous servi ...

's second season as senior coach. It was also the first season Richmond played against the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, and was also the first time the club played a home-and-away game at

Cazaly's Stadium Cazalys Stadium is a sports stadium in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It is situated in the suburb of Westcourt. The stadium is named after the social club which abuts the oval, Cazalys, which itself was named after Australian rules footballe ...

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Season summary

The start of the 2011 season was hopeful for the Tigers. In round 1, the Tigers were in front at three quarter time, to lose by 20 points to Carlton in the traditional blockbuster. Media commentators and AFL fans alike noted Richmond's improvement. In round 2, the Tigers shocked the AFL world when they drew with grand finalists from the previous year, St Kilda, even with their goal kicking star

Jack Riewoldt Jack Riewoldt ( ; born 31 October 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player, a three-time Coleman Medallist, a ...

going down with a concussion in the first quarter. In rounds 3 and 4, the Tigers suffered significant losses to Hawthorn and Collingwood, but showed promise in their fightback in the third quarter against Collingwood. Their breakthrough came in round 5, when they beat North Melbourne at

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

in front of a packed crowd. This started a good run for the Tigers. Richmond defeated Brisbane in round 6, then Fremantle in round 7. This put them just outside the Top 8. They had a narrow loss to the Western Bulldogs in round 8. In round 9, the Tigers had a big win against Essendon in the traditional "Dreamtime at the G" match after going in the underdogs. The crowd of over 80,000 people were treated to an intense game, with Richmond coming out victorious. Richmond then had a complete form turn around, with a 15-point loss against bottom-ranked Port Adelaide in Alice Springs after the club decided to host the home game match interstate, a decision that was roundly questioned by fans and the media. The bye followed, then another loss to Sydney. Richmond then had a return to form, beating Brisbane at the Gabba. Richmond's poor form continued, with straight losses to Melbourne, Carlton, Essendon, Gold Coast and Geelong. The Tigers got a badly needed bye in round 19 and then travelled to Perth in round 20 to face the West Coast Eagles where they were beaten. Richmond had a win against Sydney in round 21 and then also won their next two games, against Melbourne and Adelaide, but lost their round 24 match to North Melbourne.

2010 off-season list changes

Retirements and delistings

Trades

Note: All traded picks are indicative and do not reflect final selection position

National draft

Preseason draft

Rookie draft

2011 squad

2011 season

Pre-season

Richmond was to have played an exhibition match against the Indigenous All-Stars on 4 February, but the match was cancelled. The match was originally to have been played at

TIO Stadium Marrara Oval, currently branded TIO Stadium under a naming rights agreement (and previously also known as Football Park), is a sports ground in Darwin, the capital of Australia's Northern Territory. The ground primarily hosts Australian rules ...

in Darwin, but monsoonal rain made the surface unplayable; the league worked to move the game to

Traeger Park Traeger Park (currently known under naming rights as TIO Traeger Park) is a sports complex located in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, and is named after Alfred Hermann Traeger. The park was officially opened by Anne Catherine Sma ...

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

, but after concerns that either the match or the transport of players into and out of Alice Springs could have been affected by

Cyclone Yasi Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi () was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that made landfall in northern Queensland, Australia in early 2011, causing major damage to the affected areas. Originating as a tropical low near Fiji on 26 Jan ...

, the match was cancelled altogether. NAB Cup

Home and away season

Ladder

Awards

League awards

All-Australian team

Rising Star

Nominations:

Brownlow Medal tally

Club awards

Jack Dyer Medal

Michael Roach Medal

References

External links

2011 Richmond Tigers FixturesRichmond Tigers Official AFL SiteOfficial Site of the Australian Football League
{{2011 AFL season Richmond Football Club seasons

Richmond Tigers The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...