Mike Richardson to be Swans' WAFL Ball Legend for 2023

Mike Richardson had a 300-game career across the country that is perhaps still a little underappreciated to this day, but the Swan Districts premiership player, Team of the Century member and life member will be the club's WAFL Ball Legend for 2023.

Richardson began his senior football career with Swan Districts in 1978 and became a star on the premiership team of 1982 forming a strong bond with coach John Todd which did have its moments, but the pair remain close to this very day.

On the back of that, Richardson headed east and put together a standout VFL career playing 156 games across Collingwood, Essendon and the Brisbane Bears.

While he played a variety of roles, it was as a half-forward where he truly shone and the fact he kicked seven goals on the same day he racked up 39 possessions in 1983 for Collingwood against St Kilda says all you need to know about what he was capable of.

Richardson's career might not quite be appreciated for just how outstanding of a career he had and what a true match-winner he truly was, but being the Swan Districts' WAFL Ball Legend for 2023 is something that should be the start of that changing.

Certainly Richardson's resume means he should be a natural to one day see his name sit in both the Swan Districts and West Australian Football Halls of Fame, but as for right now in 2023, being the Ball Legend for Swans is something that he does take pride in.

"It obviously is an honour," Richardson said.

"Being the 23rd player in the club's history to be recognised like this since they started it in 2000 means it is an honour. There's quite a number of brilliant players that played a part in the club before me who haven’t had this year, so it's an honour there's no doubt about that."

All you need to do is look at Richardson's career accomplishments and you can easily see why he deserves the honour of being the Ball Legend.

Not only did Richardson play 144 games with Swan Districts where he kicked 220 goals including 69 in the premiership year of 1982, but he's also a life member at the black-and-whites and is in the Team of the Century.

On top of that, Richardson played nine matches for Western Australia including six of those in State of Origin matches, and then across Collingwood, Essendon and the Brisbane Bears in the VFL/AFL, he played another 156 games for 174 goals.

After his last season at Brisbane in 1990, he returned to Swan Districts to join the reigning premiers and played some tremendous football for another three seasons including being runner-up in the Sandover Medal in 1993.

However, his career ultimately ended at West Perth with seven more games in 1994 so in the end he played 151 WAFL games, 156 in the VFL and another nine for WA.

To top it off, he was All-Australian in 1983 and recognised as a pure match-winner for his ability to win large amounts of the ball and kick multiple goals, highlighted by the fact he averaged 20.6 disposals and kicked 174 goals in his 156 in his VFL/AFL career.

All of that means that Richardson's face more than belongs on the footballs for Swan Districts' home games in 2023.

"I've got a whole bunch of people lining up for a footy now with my face on it, but it will be good to see them and have my own," Richardson said.

"I do have an old Burley here that's pretty old and goes way back to 1994 from my 300th game which was presented to me. It's pretty battered now and but they've actually really improved them over the years to try and bring them up to the standard of the Sherrin.”

Across a career spanning more than 300 games across the country, Richardson achieved an enormous amount but it's always going to be that 1982 premiership at Swan Districts that sticks out to him above everything else.

It's a journey that began when he arrived at Swans in 1978 to build to a Grand Final appearance in 1980 where the seeds for the future premiership hat-trick were sewn.

"John Todd took over coaching in 1977 and they finished bottom, then I came to the club in '78 and we finished bottom again, but then in '79 there was a movement in the second half of the year where we finished fifth and just missed finals," Richardson said.

"On the run home, we beat a couple of the teams that played finals that year and won the last five games of the season. We carried that into 1980 and won the first 13 games too so it was an 18-game streak before South ended that when they beat us.

"We ended up as minor premiers that year but we were really young and we didn’t have a lot of experience in finals but we still got to the Grand Final after beating East Perth in the preliminary final.

"We ended up getting smashed in the end by 58 points, but we held our own for about the first quarter and-a-half and then things went sideways after that. But it was a great experience and it set us up for what was to come."

While 1981 didn’t quite go to plan for Richardson or Swan Districts bowing out in a first semi-final, it did set the stage for what was to come a year later.

"We went into 1981 and ended up finishing second that year but it was a horrendous finals campaign where we went out in straight sets," he said.

"But we made a few adjustments to the squad for 1982 just to continue to tinker to get us where we needed to have some success.

"It had been a long time since the club had any premiership success but by '82 we were a lot more prepared and most of the young guys in that group were up and around that 60 to 80-game mark by that point.

"It really takes you three or four years to get a handle on what's going on and you have to keep the group together so you know the strategy and how everyone plays. So that was the year everything clicked.

"I had meant to leave for Collingwood, but stayed for 1982 because I missed the finals series the year before for off-field misdemeanours. I thought I owed it to the club to stay for another and I'm glad I did because I wouldn’t have played in a premiership in my whole career if I didn’t."

Richardson will forever be grateful for the experience of playing in that that 1982 premiership with the Grand Final win for Swans against Claremont.

"So I played in that flag and it was a fantastic year, and a fantastic result and even to this day it's the highlight of my career," Richardson said.

"I can remember the people at Bassendean Oval afterwards. The whole oval was packed, they had a semi-trailer in the middle with a band playing, the members was packed and you couldn’t move.

"I don’t think I bought a drink the whole night, but I can't remember the whole night either to be honest. All of us had no sleep and we had to front up the next morning to the press with all red eyes and hangovers, and whatever.

"But that was the journey going from the bottom team to end up winning the premiership so it was something special to be part of to start off being the powerhouse of the comp before I went to Collingwood while the club kept winning premierships."