Roger Dean Won 30 of His First 103 Games. How Did He End Up Captaining Richmond to the 1969 Premiership?
Roger Dean’s Richmond story began in a club that barely resembled the one he would eventually captain.
He came through the fourths, under-19s and reserves before making his senior debut in 1957. Across his first 103 league games, Richmond won only 30. Finals belonged to other clubs. September was something Dean watched rather than played in.
Then the football world around him changed. Richmond’s rise accelerated, Tom Hafey arrived and Dean became one of the experienced players connecting the struggling years to the new era. He was vice-captain of the 1967 premiership side and, two years later, captain of the team that beat Carlton for the 1969 flag.
How did a footballer shaped by a 29 per cent winning start become the captain of one of Richmond’s great premiership teams — and what did surviving the bad years add to Roger Dean’s leadership when the club finally became powerful?
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