The real MVP
12 March, 2003
Ashley Browne
afl.com.au
Who is the most valuable player in the AFL?
Powerful cases can be made for the usual list, such as Michael Voss, Nathan Buckley, Andrew McLeod and James Hird.
All are outstanding players and worth the price of admission alone. When on song, they play the game at another level.
Each has the grudging respect, and often the widespread admiration of supporters from rival clubs.
But are they the most valuable players in the competition? Perhaps not.
Brisbane boasts the last two Brownlow medalists, neither of whose surname is Voss, and while Voss isn't absent from the line-up all that often, the Lions have demonstrated they can win without him.
Buckley? The consummate professional, but again, the Pies have evolved under Mick Malthouse into a very even side that can win big games without their skipper. Buckley has even been beaten in the past two years for the time-honoured Copeland Trophy by Paul Licuria.
McLeod is integral to the Crows but with Mark Ricciuto providing the grunt and Simon Goodwin the dash, the Adelaide midfield is still fearsome. And with Wayne Carey now part of the mix, it is also intimidating.
And while Hird remains a class act and his comeback from various ailments over the years both complete and outstanding, there is a fair argument that a fit and firing Matthew Lloyd is the main weapon Essendon will need in its arsenal to remain a flag contender.
No, the most valuable player in the AFL might just be a bloke who wears yellow and black. When Matthew Richardson is fit and firing, there is a swagger in his step, his team grows enormously in confidence and the Tiger Army is at its loudest and most feral.
But when Richardson is struggling or out of the side - occurrences that are all too common for Tiger fans - Richmond is a different side and the club and its supporters, adapt a different mood.
In 2002, he polled 12 Brownlow votes from four matches. He opened last season with six goals and three Brownlow votes from centre half-forward as the Tigers beat Collingwood by six goals. The next week he tweaked his hamstring and the Tigers lost two of the three games he missed. Richardson returned to the side, but lasted just one match, and when the
Tigers embarked on their infamous nine-match losing streak, Richardson played just four of the matches with a return of seven goals.
It was during this spell that he spent a week in the VFL for disciplinary reasons after on-field gestures towards his teammates that earned the wrath of coach Danny Frawley.
Then came a remarkable three-match period in which he booted five, six, and five goals respectively against Melbourne, Fremantle and Hawthorn. Richardson looked a million dollars each time, earned the maximum Brownlow votes out of each match and led the Tigers to three great wins, particularly over the Hawks, which all but put paid to their finals hopes and led to a stream of "if only Richo had played all year…" stories throughout the footy media.
Look at the pre-season assessments of the Tigers. The recruitment of Justin Blumfield and Kane Johnson has been widely hailed. Why? Because, supposedly, they will ensure better delivery to Richardson.
And who could forget a greater soap opera than the "will he or won't he?" saga surrounding his contractual status at the end of last year. The surge of excitement around Tigerland when he re-signed was massive. One leading football writer, who admits to being a diehard Richmond supporter, confesses to only getting a decent night's sleep last October once he knew Richardson was signed and sealed.
This person should have known better, but couldn't help himself. Richardson has become pivotal to the entire psyche of his football club and its army of supporters.
And that makes him the most valuable player in the AFL.
Ashley Browne is the Managing Editor of the AFL-Telstra Network. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the AFL or the clubs.
