The 2011 season marked the 104th season in which the Richmond Football Club participated in the AFL/VFL. This season was Damien Hardwick's second season as senior coach. It was also the first season Richmond played against the Gold Coast, and was also the first time the club played a home-and-away game at Cazaly's Stadium in Cairns.
Season summary The start of the 2011 season was hopeful for the Tigers. In round 1, the Tigers were in front at three quarter time, to lose by 20 points to Carlton in the traditional blockbuster. Media commentators and AFL fans alike noted Richmond's improvement. In round 2, the Tigers shocked the AFL world when they drew with grand finalists from the previous year, St Kilda, even with their goal kicking star Jack Riewoldt going down with a concussion in the first quarter.
In rounds 3 and 4, the Tigers suffered significant losses to Hawthorn and Collingwood, but showed promise in their fightback in the third quarter against Collingwood. Their breakthrough came in round 5, when they beat North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium in front of a packed crowd. This started a good run for the Tigers. Richmond defeated Brisbane in round 6, then Fremantle in round 7. This put them just outside the Top 8. They had a narrow loss to the Western Bulldogs in round 8.
In round 9, the Tigers had a big win against Essendon in the traditional "Dreamtime at the G" match after going in the underdogs. The crowd of over 80,000 people were treated to an intense game, with Richmond coming out victorious.
Richmond then had a complete form turn around, with a 15-point loss against bottom-ranked Port Adelaide in Alice Springs after the club decided to host the home game match interstate, a decision that was roundly questioned by fans and the media. The bye followed, then another loss to Sydney. Richmond then had a return to form, beating Brisbane at the Gabba.
Richmond's poor form continued, with straight losses to Melbourne, Carlton, Essendon, Gold Coast and Geelong. The Tigers got a badly needed bye in round 19 and then travelled to Perth in round 20 to face the West Coast Eagles where they were beaten.
Richmond had a win against Sydney in round 21 and then also won their next two games, against Melbourne and Adelaide, but lost their round 24 match to North Melbourne.
2010 off-season list changes
Retirements and delistings PlayerReasonClub gamesCareer gamesRefTroy SimmondsRetired93197Graham PolakRetired38111 Ben CousinsRetired32270 Tom HislopRe-rookied1724 Dean PoloDelisted5677 Jordan McMahonDelisted34148 Adam Thomson Delisted 432Relton Roberts Delisted22 Alroy Gilligan Delisted00
Trades DateGainedLostTrade partnerRef 7 October End of first round compensation pickPick 51 Richard Tambling 9 October Shaun Grigg Andrew Collins Note: All traded picks are indicative and do not reflect final selection position
National draft RoundOverall pickPlayerStatePositionTeam fromLeague fromRef 16Reece ConcaWAMidfielderPerthWAFL 230Jake Batchelor VICMidfielderDandenong StingraysTAC Cup 347Brad HelbigVICDefenderWest AdelaideSANFL 351Dean MacDonaldVICMidfielderGippsland PowerTAC Cup 463Tom DerickxWARuckClaremontWAFL 694 (Rookie Promotion)David GourdisVICFull BackAFL
Preseason draft RoundOverall pickPlayerPositionTeam fromLeague fromRef 1 3Bachar Houli Half-Back AFL
Rookie draft RoundOverall pickPlayerStatePositionTeam fromLeague fromRef 111Ben Jakobi VICMidfielderCoburgVFL 228Brad Miller VICUtilityAFL 345Tom Hislop VICMidfielderAFL
2011 squad
2011 season
Pre-season Date Score Opponent Opponent's score Result Home/away Venue Attendance Friday, 4 February All-Stars Match cancelled Away TIO Stadium/Traeger Park Richmond was to have played an exhibition match against the Indigenous All-Stars on 4 February, but the match was cancelled. The match was originally to have been played at TIO Stadium in Darwin, but monsoonal rain made the surface unplayable; the league worked to move the game to Traeger Park in Alice Springs, but after concerns that either the match or the transport of players into and out of Alice Springs could have been affected by Cyclone Yasi, the match was cancelled altogether.
NAB Cup Round Date Score Opponent Opponent's score Result Home/away Venue Attendance Pool Saturday, 12 February 7:15 pm 3.5 (23) 6.5 (41) Lost by 18 points Away Etihad Stadium 40,300 Pool Saturday, 12 February 8:20 pm 1.1 (7) 7.8 (50) Lost by 43 points Home Etihad Stadium 40,300
Home and away season Round Date Score Opponent Opponent's score Result Home/away Venue Attendance Ladder 1 Thursday, 24 March 7:40 pm 13.6 (84) 14.20 (104) Lost by 20 points Away MCG 60,654 14th 2 Friday, 1 April 7:40pm 14.11 (95) 13.17 (95) Draw Away MCG 41,465 12th 3 Saturday, 9 April 7:10pm 6.16 (52) 17.13 (115) Lost by 63 points Home MCG 46,369 13th 4 Friday, 15 April 7:40pm 13.12 (90) 24.17 (161) Lost by 71 points Home MCG 58,050 14th 5 Sunday, 24 April 4:40pm 17.10 (112) 14.19 (103) WON by 9 points Away Etihad Stadium 36,461 12th 6 Saturday, 30 April 7:10pm 18.16 (124) 14.14 (98) WON by 26 points Home MCG 37,438 10th 7 Saturday, 7 May 4:10pm 23.10 (148) 14.15 (99) WON by 49 points Home MCG 34,090 9th 8 Sunday, 15 May 1:10pm 18.10 (118) 23.15 (153) Lost by 35 points Away Etihad Stadium 39,141 10th 9 Saturday, 21 May 7:40pm 16.9 (105) 13.11 (89) WON by 16 points Home MCG 83,563 9th 10 Saturday, 28 May 8:10pm 10.14 (74) 13.11 (89) Lost by 15 points Home TIO Stadium 11,506 9th 11 BYE 9th 12 Sunday, 12 June 2:10 pm 9.11 (65) 9.21 (75) Lost by 10 points Away SCG 23,782 11th 13 Saturday, 18 June 7:10 pm 18.17 (125) 14.10 (94) WON by 31 points Away Gabba 21,510 10th 14 Saturday, 25 June 2:10 pm 13.13 (91) 17.16 (118) Lost by 27 points Home MCG 61,900 11th 15 Saturday, 2 July 2:10 pm 12.9 (81) 28.16 (184) Lost by 103 points Home MCG 59,650 13th 16 Saturday, 9 July 7:10 pm 9.12 (66) 15.15 (105) Lost by 39 points Away MCG 55,442 13th 17 Saturday, 16 July 2:10 pm 9.16 (70) 12.13 (85) Lost by 15 points Home Cazaly's Stadium 10,382 13th 18 Sunday, 24 July 1:10 pm 7.9 (51) 17.11 (113) Lost by 62 points Away Etihad Stadium 33,761 13th 19 BYE 20 Sunday, 7 August 2:40 pm 14.6 (90) 22.15 (147) Lost by 57 points Away Patersons Stadium 38,106 14th 21 Sunday, 14 August 2:10 pm 14.15 (99) 7.14 (56) WON by 43 points Home MCG 34,337 13th 22 Sunday, 21 August 4:40 pm 17.15 (117) 17.8 (110) WON by 7 points Away MCG 36,321 12th 23 Sunday, 28 August 12:40 pm 17.19 (121) 15.9 (99) WON by 22 points Away AAMI Stadium 38,023 11th 24 Sunday, 4 September 4:40 pm 13.13 (91) 15.14 (104) Lost by 13 points Home Etihad Stadium 32,890 12th
Ladder
Awards
League awards
All-Australian team PlayerPositionAppearanceNominatedBrett Deledio--
Rising Star Nominations: RoundPlayerRef 9 Reece Conca 16 Jake Batchelor
Brownlow Medal tally
Player 3 vote games 2 vote games 1 vote games Total votes PlaceTrent Cotchin2411517thDustin Martin2221221stNathan Foley111650thBrett Deledio02 1563rdBachar Houli300395thJack Riewoldt0102128thTy Vickery0022128thRobin Nahas0022128thChris Newman0011167thShaun Grigg0011167th Total8101155 -
Club awards
Jack Dyer Medal
Position Player Votes Medal 1stTrent Cotchin236Jack Dyer Medal 2ndBrett Deledio203Jack Titus Medal 3rdDustin Martin198Maurie Fleming Medal 4thBachar Houli181Fred Swift Medal 5thTy Vickery161Kevin Bartlett Medal
Michael Roach Medal
Position Player Goals 1stJack Riewoldt62 2ndTy Vickery36 3rdDustin Martin33 4thRobin Nahas29 5thJake King25
References
External links 2011 Richmond Tigers Fixtures Richmond Tigers Official AFL Site Official Site of the Australian Football League