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Vardy emerges as unlikely hero
By Caroline Wilson
March 23 2003
Royce Vardy is famous in football's insular world for two reasons. One is
his Tigerish first name, and the other is for the night over the Christmas
period of 2001 when he drove after a couple too many.
Sure, Vardy was a victim of his own stupidity, but he paid a ridiculously
high price as a result of some poor judgement by the Richmond Football Club
which erred in its determination to appease its sponsor, the TAC.
The Tigers were not the only ones who lost the plot over Vardy. The TAC,
too - thanks largely to the Tigers' ineptitude that allowed it - made a
cruel and disproportionate public scapegoat out of the relatively
little-known AFL player.
The Vardy story dragged through January and too much of February in 2002
and you didn't have to be a genius to predict that his season was finished
before it began. A ridiculous pre-season ban coupled with injury resulted
in the tall back-up forward managing just six games in a poor year for him
and his club.
Vardy is a man of remarkably few words, so it is unlikely that anyone
outside his own special circle will ever hear from him about the silver
lining that emerged from his clouded season. But to an organisation that
deals with circumstances that make Vardy's seem trivial, he has become, in
a small way, something of a hero.
Sentenced to three months' community work for his drink-driving offence,
Vardy chose Very Special Kids, an organisation whose mission is to improve
the quality of life for families of children with progressive
life-threatening illnesses. VSK guided Vardy to a degree but pretty soon he
had devised a football game involving both the hospice and his football
club.
Next Sunday, March 30, marks the second annual Very Special Kids Cup to be
held at Tigerland. It is not a public event, but something of a blast for
those children well enough to take part along with their siblings and the
staff and footballers from the Richmond Football Club. Captain Wayne
Campbell umpired the inaugural cup.
Vardy and his committee - consisting of Greg Stafford, David Rodan, Andrew
Kellaway, Chris Newman, Mark Chaffey and Martin McGrath - meet with the
organisation once a fortnight to plan community and fund-raising events.
Life has changed at Richmond along with the turnover of senior executives
and staff since the end of the 2002 season. Summer transgressions still
took place, of course, but this time the culprits, Justin Blumfield and Ty
Zantuck - who in fairness were not convicted of drink-driving offences -
were dealt with quickly and presumably cleanly. Their stories seemed to be
over before they began, unlike the little-known Vardy, who suddenly became
football's public enemy No. 1 for a good six weeks early last year.
In football terms, Vardy appears to be reaping the benefits of a reasonably
impressive injury-free pre-season. The loss of Brad Ottens and absence of
Ben Holland mean that he will almost certainly line up against Collingwood
at the MCG five days from now.
But for a significant number of families staring not at football but mortal
deadlines, it will be Vardy's six-a-side game at Punt Road on Sunday that
could make a difference. But just don't ask him to tell you about it.
By Caroline Wilson
March 23 2003
Royce Vardy is famous in football's insular world for two reasons. One is
his Tigerish first name, and the other is for the night over the Christmas
period of 2001 when he drove after a couple too many.
Sure, Vardy was a victim of his own stupidity, but he paid a ridiculously
high price as a result of some poor judgement by the Richmond Football Club
which erred in its determination to appease its sponsor, the TAC.
The Tigers were not the only ones who lost the plot over Vardy. The TAC,
too - thanks largely to the Tigers' ineptitude that allowed it - made a
cruel and disproportionate public scapegoat out of the relatively
little-known AFL player.
The Vardy story dragged through January and too much of February in 2002
and you didn't have to be a genius to predict that his season was finished
before it began. A ridiculous pre-season ban coupled with injury resulted
in the tall back-up forward managing just six games in a poor year for him
and his club.
Vardy is a man of remarkably few words, so it is unlikely that anyone
outside his own special circle will ever hear from him about the silver
lining that emerged from his clouded season. But to an organisation that
deals with circumstances that make Vardy's seem trivial, he has become, in
a small way, something of a hero.
Sentenced to three months' community work for his drink-driving offence,
Vardy chose Very Special Kids, an organisation whose mission is to improve
the quality of life for families of children with progressive
life-threatening illnesses. VSK guided Vardy to a degree but pretty soon he
had devised a football game involving both the hospice and his football
club.
Next Sunday, March 30, marks the second annual Very Special Kids Cup to be
held at Tigerland. It is not a public event, but something of a blast for
those children well enough to take part along with their siblings and the
staff and footballers from the Richmond Football Club. Captain Wayne
Campbell umpired the inaugural cup.
Vardy and his committee - consisting of Greg Stafford, David Rodan, Andrew
Kellaway, Chris Newman, Mark Chaffey and Martin McGrath - meet with the
organisation once a fortnight to plan community and fund-raising events.
Life has changed at Richmond along with the turnover of senior executives
and staff since the end of the 2002 season. Summer transgressions still
took place, of course, but this time the culprits, Justin Blumfield and Ty
Zantuck - who in fairness were not convicted of drink-driving offences -
were dealt with quickly and presumably cleanly. Their stories seemed to be
over before they began, unlike the little-known Vardy, who suddenly became
football's public enemy No. 1 for a good six weeks early last year.
In football terms, Vardy appears to be reaping the benefits of a reasonably
impressive injury-free pre-season. The loss of Brad Ottens and absence of
Ben Holland mean that he will almost certainly line up against Collingwood
at the MCG five days from now.
But for a significant number of families staring not at football but mortal
deadlines, it will be Vardy's six-a-side game at Punt Road on Sunday that
could make a difference. But just don't ask him to tell you about it.
