Jack Dyer Coached Richmond to the 1943 Flag. What Did He Actually Change After 1942?

Jack Dyer is so large in Richmond history that the legend can make the football problem look easier than it was. Richmond had been torn apart by Essendon in the 1942 Grand Final, then beaten by the Bombers again in the 1943 second semi-final.

Calling Dyer inspirational does not explain how a player-coach changes a team that keeps being exposed by the same opponent. Essendon had shown Richmond problems in the next possession, the handball chain, the runners around the contest and the way one phase could become another before the Tigers had reset.

What, then, did Dyer actually alter? Was the answer tactical, positional, psychological, personnel-based — or some combination that only becomes visible when the 1942 defeat, the 1943 season and the Grand Final are read together?

The full member feature strips away the easy mythology and tests what Richmond’s player-coach had to make work before the 1943 premiership could become possible.

Read the full RTSSG investigation: Jack Dyer’s 1943 Test: What Richmond’s Player-Coach Actually Had to Change

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