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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er and current media personality who represented

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

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(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-perfo ...

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 1930s, Titus was one of the great forwa ...

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 Laws of Australian rules football#Scoring, goals in the Australian Football League#Premiership season, home- ...

. 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 a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

. Richardson was one of the most popular players in the competition; this was shown when the crowd at the

2008 Brownlow Medal The 2008 Brownlow Medal was the 81st year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Adam Cooney of the Western Bulldogs won the medal by polling t ...

cheered every vote he got. Mark Robinson from the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, 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 American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'' 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 The 1992 AFL draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League. It consisted of the main national draft, the pre-season draft an ...

, and was recruited from Devonport,

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. 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 club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

. 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 t ...

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. 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 the f ...

, 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. Richardson retired in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

after 282 senior games for Richmond; he became a 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 former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2005 to 2013 and the Sydn ...

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 sixt ...

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 the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

shows. In 2010, Richardson became part of the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

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 Seven News (stylised 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 South Eveleigh, Sydney, while its flags ...

'', 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 colour commentator in '' AFL Evolution'' 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 retir ...

. 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 a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is an All-Australian, a three-time Jack Dyer Medal, Richmond be ...

and coach

Damien Hardwick Damien Patrick Hardwick (born 18 August 1972) is a current Australian rules football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League. He is the former senior coach of the Richmond Football ...

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 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, 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 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, 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 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, 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 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, 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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, 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 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, 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 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, 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 year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

, 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 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, 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 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, 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 60 ...

, 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 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, 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 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, 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 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, 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 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, 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 Bu ...

Nominee (1993) *

All Australian 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-perfo ...

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

International rules football International rules football (; 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 to facilitate international represe ...

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

olled 22 votes*

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

Life Membership 2009 *

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

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. 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