Richard Tambling (born 12 September 1986) is a former

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 who played for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

and the

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

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).

Early life

Tambling is from the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, he grew up in a remote aboriginal community until the age of 13 before moving to

Jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has also been reported in Mississippi, Oklahoma ...

in Kakadu where he spent most of his childhood, he played footy as a junior but not seriously. English was not his first language growing up. As a teenager he moved to

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( Larrakia: ') is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. The city has nearly 53% of the Northern Territory's population, with 139,902 at the 2021 census. It is the smallest, wettest, and most northerly of the Australi ...

to live with his grandmother where he got more serious about football joined the NT Thunder program and played in the underage national championships. It was there that he was identified by talent scouts. He had long been considered a dominant player up in the

with his explosive speed and ability to read the play; he only confirmed that status throughout the 2004 pre-season. Terry Wallace was particularly impressed, saying he and Deledio were the "best young kids in the country". In the 2004 AFL Draft Tambling was a first round selection, the number four pick overall, and drafted to the

. Richmond had the opportunity to recruit

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 ...

, some say this was bad judgement made by the Richmond recruitment personnel. In comparison to Franklin, Tambling's tenure at Richmond has been enigmatic.

AFL career

Richmond (2005-2010)

He played in 12 games in the

2005 AFL season The 2005 AFL season was the 109th 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 a further 21 in the

2006 AFL season The 2006 AFL season was the 110th 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 ...

. In the latter stages of 2005, Tambling struggled with

injury Injury is physiological damage to the living tissue of any organism, whether in humans, in other animals, or in plants. Injuries can be caused in many ways, including mechanically with penetration by sharp objects such as teeth or with ...

, including a broken toe and a consistent hamstring problem. By 2009 the constant criticism of the underperforming midfielder reached new heights in the round 3 match between the Western Bulldogs and the Richmond Tigers. Tambling's game was viewed by many experts as one of the worst performances of faltering career due to the amount of costly turnovers from his small total of 12 possessions. He received a bronx cheer from the Richmond fans after getting his first kick which also happened to be a turnover. Coach Terry Wallace later explained that Tambling had become a father in the two days earlier, which had affected his sleep before the match. Tambling was dropped from the Richmond team for the following match against the Demons. After a week at Coburg, he returned to the AFL in arguably the best form of his career. Very influential against Sydney, Fremantle, and the West Coast Eagles, he was finally showing the ability that was expected of him with his high draft pick.

Adelaide (2011-2013)

On 6 October 2010 Tambling was traded to the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

in exchange for a first and a third round draft selection. He was delisted at the end of the 2013 season, following 16 AFL matches over three years at the club.

State league football

After playing for Sturt in the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

, he has since played for the NT Thunder in the 2015, 2016 and 2017 NEAFL competitions.

Statistics

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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 ...

, , , 30 , , 12 , , 9 , , 4 , , 73 , , 38 , , 111 , , 41 , , 28 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 6.1 , , 3.2 , , 9.2 , , 3.4 , , 2.1 , - ! 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 ...

, , , 30 , , 21 , , 14 , , 19 , , 176 , , 76 , , 252 , , 92 , , 48 , , 0.7 , , 0.9 , , 8.4 , , 3.6 , , 12.0 , , 4.4 , , 2.3 , - 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 ...

, , , 30 , , 20 , , 17 , , 9 , , 160 , , 112 , , 272 , , 93 , , 49 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 8.0 , , 5.6 , , 13.6 , , 4.6 , , 2.4 , - ! 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 ...

, , , 30 , , 22 , , 10 , , 9 , , 202 , , 182 , , 384 , , 113 , , 72 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 9.2 , , 8.3 , , 17.4 , , 5.1 , , 3.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, , , 30 , , 20 , , 8 , , 11 , , 241 , , 189 , , 430 , , 128 , , 63 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 12.0 , , 9.4 , , 21.5 , , 6.4 , , 3.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , 30 , , 13 , , 3 , , 3 , , 79 , , 84 , , 163 , , 38 , , 57 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 6.1 , , 6.5 , , 12.5 , , 2.9 , , 4.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , , 1 , , 10 , , 0 , , 0 , , 68 , , 77 , , 145 , , 36 , , 28 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.8 , , 7.7 , , 14.5 , , 3.6 , , 2.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , , 1 , , 5 , , 1 , , 0 , , 36 , , 44 , , 80 , , 23 , , 15 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 7.2 , , 8.8 , , 16.0 , , 4.6 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 124 ! 62 ! 55 ! 1039 ! 804 ! 1843 ! 566 ! 359 ! 0.5 ! 0.4 ! 8.4 ! 6.5 ! 14.9 ! 4.6 ! 2.9

Personal life

Richard is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

and his ancestry can be traced to the Woolna, a Northern Territory tribe.AFL Record. Round 9, 2009. Slattery Publishing. p. 74.

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tambling, Richard 1986 births Richmond Football Club players Adelaide Football Club players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Living people Southern Districts Football Club players Sturt Football Club players Northern Territory Football Club players Coburg Football Club Australian rules footballers from Darwin, Northern Territory 21st-century Australian sportsmen