Is it really hatred?
It's hatred with Tigers and Dogs
RICHMOND and the Western Bulldogs will head into tonight's clash at the MCG with hate in their hearts, according to former Tigers coach Danny Frawley.
Pipedream reality: 23-year-old Plumber Jake King will finally make his debut for Richmond in tonight's match against Western Bulldogs at the MCG.
Frawley, who was a central figure in the infamous 2001 encounter at the MCG, said it was comical to listen to the two clubs try to pretend that the undisguised antagonism between them would not be factor in the match.
"I laughed during the week when (Richmond president) Gary March said, 'We'll bury the hatchet and put it behind us'," Frawley said.
"I can tell you now from being involved in that match in 2001, while they might say it's no more than four points to the winner and none to the loser, the win will feel like a mini-final and the loss like a dagger to the heart."
Frawley said the fallout from the 2001 Round 2 match had been the catalyst for a modern-day rivalry to match any in the game. The feeling has been inflamed by the defection of two high-profile Bulldogs to Punt Rd: coach Terry Wallace and gun forward Nathan Brown.
"I've got no doubt there is hatred there, hatred as far as footy goes," Frawley said. "I don't think either coach will have to motivate the players too much."
The whole thing began when Richmond star midfielder Matthew Knights was felled by a blow from Bulldogs tagger Tony Liberatore well off the ball in the first minute of play in that 2001 match.
Knights left the ground with blood streaming from a cut above the eye that needed seven stitches.
It might have ended when Liberatore was suspended for five matches after an AFL investigation, but inflammatory remarks from various protagonists, including Frawley and the two club presidents, kept fuel on the fire for a long time.
Now the opening of an old wound on the eve of the match has ensured the 2001 match will not be forgotten in a hurry.
It came courtesy of former Bulldog Paul Dimattina, who said he was convinced ex-Richmond captain Wayne Campbell had not told the truth to the tribunal that suspended Liberatore.
Campbell famously broke the players' code of silence, testifying that he had seen Liberatore hit Knights.
"I'm pretty sure all Wayne Campbell saw was the aftermath. I don't think anyone really saw what happened," Dimattina said.
Frawley might be out of coaching these days but his strong response to this charge this week left no doubt about the impact the match had on the participants.
"That's crap. Wayne didn't make it up. I think Wayne was unfairly treated in the whole scenario. He saw what happened. I know he did the right thing," Frawley said.
Just to add more spice to tonight's match, Campbell is now an assistant coach at the Bulldogs. However, as with Knights and Liberatore, he declined to comment.
If there was any chance the heat in this rivalry was dissipating, especially as both teams have been pre-occupied with stuttering starts to the 2007 season, it evaporated recently when Bulldogs president David Smorgon said his club was much better off without Brown and that Wallace should stop writing newspaper articles about the Dogs.
His counterpart March responded as expected, telling Smorgon to worry about his own club, which hadn't won a flag for over 50 years and hadn't made a profit for almost as long. Both presidents have since kissed and made up but no one is fooled.
"Gary March tried to defuse it during the week but I'm tipping come Friday morning when all parties from both clubs wake up, they'll be thinking this is one game they desperately want to win," Frawley said.