Matthew Richardson (born 19 March 1975) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er and current media personality who represented

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully 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 the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). On 4 March 2014, Richardson became a member of the AFL's All Australian selection committee.

Background

Richardson is known for his marking prowess, speed and work rate. He was the club's key forward through the mid-1990s and the 2000s. He led the club's goalkicking for thirteen seasons, and was selected in the

All-Australian Team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

three times – in 1996, 1999 and 2008. Richardson's 800 career goals currently see him ranked second behind

Jack Titus Jack "Skinny" Titus (9 March 1908 – 19 April 1978) was an Australian rules football player who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1926 and 1943 for the Richmond Football Club. In the golden era of the 1930s, Titus was one o ...

at Richmond, and twelfth on the all-time list of AFL/VFL goalkickers. He also holds the record for most goals kicked without winning a

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most ...

. He currently holds the record for the most goals kicked at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

. Richardson was one of the most popular players in the competition; this was shown when the crowd at the 2008 Brownlow Medal cheered every vote he got. Mark Robinson from the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'' wrote "M. Richardson... I'm sure there wouldn't have been a more popular winner".

AFL career

Educated at St. Brendan-Shaw and Don Colleges in Devonport, Tasmania, Richardson was the fourth pick (a father-son selection) in the 1992 AFL draft, and was recruited from Devonport,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. He is the son of former Richmond and South Melbourne player Alan "Bull" Richardson. Combining a 197 centimetre frame with speed and athletic capacity for a large man, on his day he has been a dominant presence for the Tigers. He suffered a torn left ACL in Round 9, 1995.,against Sydney at the SCG after he hyper-extended his left knee while landing as he was running out of bounds and crashed hard into the fence and missed the rest of the season after reconstructive surgery on his knee, including the Tigers' finals series – the Sydney Cricket Ground was forced to increase the distance between the boundary line and the fence (which at the time was as short as 2.5m in places) in response to the injury. In 1996 he came back strongly, playing all 22 games and finished with 91 goals (49 behinds), earning All Australian selection for the first time. He sustained another knee injury in the pre-season of 2001, but recovered to play 22 games and kick 59 goals. In 2004, a decision to step down from the Tigers' leadership group (the small group of senior players who help lead the club on and off-field) and focus on additional strength training paid off, with good goal-kicking form in the early part of the season including a career best 10 against the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

. Richardson finished with a tally of 65 goals for the season. In 2005 he kicked 65 goals again, this time with much more consistency throughout the season. In 2007, in the

Dreamtime at the 'G The Dreamtime at the 'G is an annual Australian rules football match between Australian Football League clubs and . Since the 2007 season the match has been held annually on the Saturday night of the AFL's "Indigenous Round", also known as th ...

match against , Richardson played the game with a fractured eye socket and broken nose sustained only a week before. He still managed to kick four goals, and was denied a potentially match-winning fifth when he was penalised for a push-in-the-back against his opponent,

Mal Michael Malcolm Robert Michael (born 24 June 1977) is a Papua New Guinean-born former Australian rules footballer. He is notable for his successful professional career in the Australian Football League. In a career spanning 238 games and three clubs ...

. In the same year, he won his first ever club best-and-fairest, beating young teammate Nathan Foley by a single vote. He averaged 15.1 disposals & 9 marks per game, he also kicked 53 goals for the season. Matthew_richardson

Richardson spent a large part of the 2008 season playing on the wing, rather than in the forward line, which allowed him to have a much larger part in the play than previously. Although he did not win the club best-and-fairest, he was selected on the bench in the All-Australian team and finished third in the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

, polling 22 total votes. The 2008 season saw Richardson take 222 marks for the season, including 21 against Hawthorn in Round 20. He averaged 18.2 disposals per game, along with 11.1 marks per game, in which lead the entire AFL for the season and finals. Matthew also managed to kick 48 goals for the season. In Round 6, 2009 against Sydney at the SCG, Richardson kicked his 800th and last career goal, becoming the eleventh player to reach the milestone in VFL/AFL history. Later in the same match, he partially tore his hamstring off the bone; he missed the remainder of the season with the injury, and announced his retirement after the season. He received a rousing send-off in Round 1, 2010, appearing before the match in Richmond's season opener against

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

. Richardson retired in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

after 282 senior games for Richmond; he became an Richmond Football Club life member after playing more than 150 games for the club and an Australian Football League life member after playing more than 300 games, including representative and pre-season matches. His career tally of 800 goals was the eleventh-highest at the time of his retirement, and it remained so until

Lance Franklin Lance Franklin (born 30 January 1987), also known as Buddy Franklin, is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 20 ...

passed him in Round 6 of the 2017 season. Richardson took a total of 2,270 marks during his AFL career, which was the second-highest of any player at the time of his retirement (since the statistic was recorded, starting in 1974).

Media career

Following his retirement at the end of the

2009 AFL Season The 2009 AFL season was the 113th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured six ...

and during parts of the 2009 AFL Season when he was injured, Richardson was an AFL expert commentator for telecast matches and a panellist on the review show ' One Week at a Time', both

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

shows. In 2010, Richardson became part of the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

AFL telecast team, initially as a boundary rider and then as a member of the Friday and Saturday night commentary teams, providing expert comments. He also appears on the Thursday night edition of ''

Seven News Melbourne ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are p ...

'', to preview the weekend's AFL action, and as a panellist on Channel 7's

AFL Game Day ''AFL Game Day'' was an Australian television program broadcast on the Seven Network in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania and on 7mate in all other states. In Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania it a ...

. He also is the color commentator in ''

AFL Evolution ''AFL Evolution'' is a video game based on the AFL developed by Wicked Witch Software and published by Tru Blu Entertainment in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. A demo containing player and team creation tools was release ...

'' alongside

Dennis Cometti Dennis John Cometti (born 26 March 1949) is an Australian retired sports commentator, player and coach of Australian rules football. In a career spanning 51 years, his smooth voice, dry humour and quick wit became his trademark. Until his reti ...

. Richardson also works for Richmond's media department, presenting their ‘''Talking Tigers''’ weekly podcast show and other videos on the club's website. In September 2017, Richardson became a father for the first time when partner Genevieve Holliday gave birth to their daughter Zoey. The same month, Richardson worked the 2017 Grand Final pitting Richmond against Adelaide as a boundary rider and presented the Premiership cup to Richmond captain

Trent Cotchin Trent William Cotchin (born 7 April 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist, an All-Australian, a three-time Richmond best and fairest ...

and coach

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 ...

following the Tigers' victory. The following year, Richardson and fellow Richmond legend Kevin Bartlett featured on an official recording of ''We're From Tigerland''.

Statistics

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1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 14 , , 31 , , 24 , , 112 , , 53 , , 165 , , 92 , , 5 , , 2.2 , , 1.7 , , 8.0 , , 3.8 , , 11.8 , , 6.6 , , 0.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 19 , , 56 , , 40 , , 153 , , 32 , , 185 , , 108 , , 4 , , 2.9 , , 2.1 , , 8.1 , , 1.7 , , 9.7 , , 5.7 , , 0.2 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 9 , , 27 , , 3 , , 94 , , 21 , , 115 , , 60 , , 6 , , 3.0 , , 0.3 , , 10.4 , , 2.3 , , 12.8 , , 6.7 , , 0.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 22 , , 91 , , 49 , , 254 , , 77 , , 331 , , 177 , , 6 , , 4.1 , , 2.2 , , 11.5 , , 3.5 , , 15.0 , , 8.0 , , 0.3 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 19 , , 47 , , 35 , , 197 , , 49 , , 246 , , 148 , , 8 , , 2.5 , , 1.8 , , 10.4 , , 2.6 , , 12.9 , , 7.8 , , 0.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 16 , , 55 , , 41 , , 158 , , 41 , , 199 , , 113 , , 9 , , 3.4 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 2.6 , , 9.9 , , 2.6 , , 12.4 , , 7.1 , , 0.6 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 20 , , 67 , , 41 , , 247 , , 75 , , 322 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 172 , , 5 , , 3.4 , , 2.1 , , 12.4 , , 3.8 , , 16.1 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 8.6 , , 0.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 3 , , 13 , , 8 , , 41 , , 9 , , 50 , , 29 , , 0 , , 4.3 , , 2.7 , , 13.7 , , 3.0 , , 16.7 , , 9.7 , , 0.0 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 22 , , 59 , , bgcolor="b7e718", 36 , , 249 , , 54 , , 303 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 182 , , 9 , , 2.7 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 1.6 , , 11.3 , , 2.5 , , 13.8 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 8.3 , , 0.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 13 , , 36 , , 21 , , 126 , , 26 , , 152 , , 91 , , 7 , , 2.8 , , 1.6 , , 9.7 , , 2.0 , , 11.7 , , 7.0 , , 0.5 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 19 , , 33 , , 34 , , 215 , , 77 , , 292 , , 173 , , 11 , , 1.7 , , 1.8 , , 11.3 , , 4.1 , , 15.4 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 9.1 , , 0.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 18 , , 65 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 50 , , 188 , , 44 , , 232 , , 130 , , 10 , , 3.6 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 2.8 , , 10.4 , , 2.4 , , 12.9 , , 7.2 , , 0.6 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 22 , , 65 , , 46 , , 247 , , 49 , , 296 , , 166 , , 13 , , 3.0 , , 2.1 , , 11.2 , , 2.2 , , 13.5 , , 7.6 , , 0.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 18 , , 45 , , 40 , , 202 , , 67 , , 269 , , 150 , , 13 , , 2.5 , , 2.2 , , 11.2 , , 3.7 , , 14.9 , , 8.3 , , 0.7 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 22 , , 53 , , 40 , , 261 , , 72 , , 333 , , 197 , , 14 , , 2.4 , , 1.8 , , 11.9 , , 3.3 , , 15.1 , , 9.0 , , 0.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 20 , , 48 , , 30 , , 262 , , 102 , , 364 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 222 , , 11 , , 2.4 , , 1.5 , , 13.1 , , 5.1 , , 18.2 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 11.1 , , 0.6 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 6 , , 9 , , 13 , , 76 , , 31 , , 107 , , 60 , , 3 , , 1.5 , , 2.2 , , 12.7 , , 5.2 , , 17.8 , , 10.0 , , 0.5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 282 ! 800 ! 551 ! 3082 ! 879 ! 3961 ! 2270 ! 134 ! 2.8 ! 2.0 ! 10.9 ! 3.1 ! 14.0 ! 8.0 ! 0.5

Achievements & Honours

AFL *

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...

Nominee (1993) *

All Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led by ...

(1996, 1999, 2008) * All-Australian Squad: 2007 *

Alex Jesaulenko Medal The Alex Jesaulenko Medal refers to three unrelated medals in Australian rules football, all named in honour of Alex Jesaulenko, a legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. The medals are currently awarded annually to the best player in the ...

(1996) *

International rules football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed ...

(1999) * Tasmanian State of Origin Representative (1993) * The Allies Representative (1996), (1997) * Dream Team Representative (2008) * Third in 2008 Brownlow Medal olled 22 votes*

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

Life Membership 2009 *

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

Inductee as Player 2014 Richmond *

Leading Goalkicker (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) * Richmond Team of the Century (Half-forward flank) *

Life Membership 2002 *

Best and Fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

(2007) * 100 Tiger Treasures "''The Strong & the Bold''" Nominee (2008) * 100 Tiger Treasures "''Brave Act of the Century''" Nominee (2008) * 100 Tiger Treasures "''Mark of the Century''" Nominee (2008) Other * Tasmanian Team of the Century (Interchange Bench)

Personal life

His sister, Samantha, was married to retired Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne footballer

Jade Rawlings Jade Rawlings (born 9 October 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the AFL with the Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne Football Clubs. He served as the caretaker coach of the Richmond Football Club for 11 game ...

. Matthew also has an older sister, Tracey, and a younger brother, Andrew. In April 2017, Matthew Richardson and fiancée of eight years, Genevieve Holliday, announced they were expecting their first child a daughter. Their daughter, Zoey Isabella Richardson was born on Sunday 3 September 2017.

References

External links

*
Richmond Football Club website