Acknowledged Publicly at Last!

When I was a lad, way back in 1967 the Richmond Football Club had a full forward called Paddy Guinane. Paddy could kick goals from acute angles every time, but put him dead in front of the goal square and he would most likely miss. Consistent accuracy was his weakness.

When we returned to Oz back in 2002, I found that Richmond again had a full forward who also lacked a little on the consistently accurate aspect of Goal kicking.

Earlier this year, on the one day, (but in another game,) one player had ten scoring shots for an 8, 2 ratio. That is a total of 50 points. Our boy Matthew Richardson, also had 10 scoring shots but with a 2, 8 ratio that is only 20 points for his efforts.

But that is not to say our boy is a bad player. In fact this year Matthew again topped His team’s highest Goal Kicking list, and was the third highest Goal kicker, out of all 16 teams, so all in all not a bad effort for a guy who has been playing for them for 15 years now.

Not only that but he was also awarded as Richmond’s Best and fairest Player of the Year for the first time in 15 years. Mind you he came second on four previous occasions.

So erratic he may be, but he is also very consistent as a team player. On receiving his award Matthew said, “ You don’t play for personal glories but, in saying that, it’s nice to be recognised by the match committee. “

Some revere Matthew for his strengths and others ridicule his weaknesses. But he never let it bother him but kept on going. Even when others got the recognition and not him, he didn’t lose heart or give up but kept on going and finally official recognition has come his way. Instead of saying about time too, he graciously accepted it.

What about us? What about you and me? Do we always give our best even when we are not getting the scores on the board that we would like?

Are we real Team players or are we only after personal rewards and recognition? Are we prepared to plug away year after year, without getting the public acknowledgement that others are getting? And when public recognition does come our way, are we gracious in accepting it, or do we complain how long we had to wait? Over to you: Walter