Former Richmond midfielder Ben Cousins collapses after tearing his hamstring in his first match in Tigers colours. Picture: Michael Dodge Source: Herald Sun
RICHMOND has made an art form of turning football's grand Colosseum into its own personal torture chamber in March.
Think five Round 1 losses against Carlton by margins of a combined 220 points, as countless summers of optimism are laid to ruin for the Tiger Army.
Or captain Kane Johnson kick-starting the 2007 season by winning the first stoppage of the game, then booting the ball 50 metres into Carlton's forward line.
Yet none of it compares to the 2009 season, in which Terry Wallace led Richmond into battle, only to be mortally wounded as a coach in just two hours of football.
When the dust settled on a weekend of hell, new recruit Ben Cousins was hamstrung, coach Terry Wallace was already fighting for his job, and the players knew their season was in tatters.
Richmond's Kane Johnson and Carlton's Chris Judd. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun
For former Richmond and Western Bulldogs forward Nathan Brown, that loss encapsulates the club's inability to front up and perform in Round 1.
"The 2009 season was a perfect example. We finished 2008 with a bang and everyone was picking us to play finals.
"Our practice match form was brilliant, and we went into Round 1 so confident. To walk off having lost by 83 points, of any game I played in for my entire career, that was the most devastating loss,'' he said yesterday.
"I have played in preliminary finals, but that loss was more devastating. I have never been more shattered and I take responsibility as one of the senior players.
"The mood in the room afterwards was just eerie. It wasn't a final, it was Round 1. We still had 21 games to go, but we felt right there that we couldn't get back from that, and we couldn't.''
By the following Monday, president Gary March was defending Wallace's position against claims he should be replaced by Kevin Sheedy.
He would not last out the year.
Once more this week Richmond enters a season full of anticipation, desperate to be a contender.
The Tigers have wisely gone into lockdown mode, restricting the publicity and hype that has tripped them up before.
Brown is just one of a raft of commentators who believe this time be different - that Richmond's fleet of matchwinners and steady hand at the tiller from Damien Hardwick will have them in the contest to the death.
But we have heard that before.
As former Carlton Denis Pagan puts it, Richmond's five Round 1 defeats from six seasons, and nine consecutive losses to the Blues, haven't filled the football world with confidence.
"How many times we have been looking forward to AFL footy all summer, and how many times have Richmond been pumped? All I know is you look forward to your Round 1 footy fix, and Carlton pump Richmond and you leave flat as a pizza,'' Pagan said.
"I reckon this time will be different. Richmond's midfield has grown and we see the maturity of Trent Cotchin. But then we have said that before.''
Tigers captain Johnson started the culture change at Punt Road before the baton was passed to Chris Newman, then Cotchin.
Yet even he would acknowledge that 2007 clanger encapsulates everything about the Tigers' Round 1 ineptitude.
That game he tagged Carlton's Nick Stevens - the ex-Port Adelaide star was best-afield.
Gippsland Power TAC Cup coach Stevens was a part-time assistant at Richmond two years ago, but while he believes in Richmond's resurgence he still laughs about Johnson's first-bounce nightmare.
"I remember it clearly. They were always wound up and "Sugar'' (Johnson) would normally come to me, and we had good duals over the journey. He won the clearance, kicked it 50m to the top of the square, and everyone looked at each other and realised what he had done. It was a little surreal,'' he said.
"He hit the kick that well - it was a 50m kick to the hot spot. Everyone got into him and then he realised what he had done.''
Richmond's Kane Johnson and Carlton's Chris Judd. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun
Richmond premiership coach Tommy Hafey actually walked out after attending that 2009 loss with his grandkids.
He sees signs that Richmond's gradual improvement might not be a false dawn.
"It is so very important this time,'' he says of Thursday's clash.
"We have lost too many games by small margins, and I see big improvement in this squad. The losses have been so much tougher because we have been arch rivals with Carlton for so long.
"We have got to make the finals this year. It's not much good just being up there. We have to make finals, as simple as that.
"If we are going to be a power and keep improving as a team, we have to start winning these games. It's just been so long since we have made the finals.''
RICHMOND ROUND 1 DISASTERS
2007: Carlton and Richmond kick off their Round 1 tradition, but the Blues prevail by 17 points from 40 scoring shots as Nick Stevens runs riot, with Kane Johnson kicking the ball the wrong way to open the game.
2008: Richmond's sole Round 1 victory against the Blues comes after Carlton finished 16th, 16th and 15th the previous three years. Matthew Richardson and Nathan Brown combine for eight goals in a 30-point victory.
2009: A much-hyped Richmond is smashed by 83 points, with Ben Cousins injuring his hamstring on debut for the Tigers and coach Terry Wallace immediately under siege.
2010: The Blues wallop Richmond in Damien Hardwick's first game after extending the margin at every break to win by 56 points. Retired great Matthew Richardson does a lap of honour pre-match.
2011: Tiger hearts are broken as Richmond leads by 20 points at one stage but is over-run in a 20-point defeat. The Blues are on the march, despite Richmond's improvement under Hardwick.
2012: Carlton inflicts what would end up Richmond's heaviest loss of the season - 44 points - withstanding a comeback from 32 points up before steadying with the Tigers in touching distance.
Carlton 5 wins
Richmond 1 win
RICHMOND Contested Possessions Tackles
2007 - 01 v Carlton (L) -15 -17
2008 - 01 v Carlton (W) 14 -1
2009 - 01 v Carlton (L) -17 -28
2010 - 01 v Carlton (L) -9 -19
2011 - 01 v Carlton (L) -21 -23
2012 - 01 v Carlton (L) -15 1
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