How Did Richmond’s 1980s Poaching War With Collingwood Become So Destructive?
Updated: Aug 30
The full RTSSG member feature, The 1980's Poaching War. One of our worst times., opens the investigation behind this Public doorway.
Richmond and Collingwood’s rivalry became something more dangerous in the early 1980s: a recruiting war involving major contracts, transfer fees and court action. Only a few years later Richmond would be fighting for financial survival.
How much damage can two clubs do when defeating the other becomes part of the recruitment strategy itself? Which player moves escalated the conflict? What happened when pride, money and football judgement became difficult to separate?
There is a remarkable coda. During Richmond’s 1990 Save Our Skins campaign, Collingwood was among the donors helping the Tigers survive. How did two clubs move from trying to raid each other to one contributing to the other’s rescue?
The rivalry is easy to romanticise. The member feature asks what the poaching war actually cost — and why this chapter belongs in any serious explanation of Richmond’s difficult 1980s.
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