46 Facts About Royce Hart

Royce Desmond Hart was born on 10 February 1948 and is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League.

Royce Hart was an inaugural member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, and was elevated to Legend status in 2013.

Royce Hart grew up in central Tasmania with an older brother, Lance, and two younger sisters, Gayle and Cheryl.

Royce Hart gravitated toward sports, in particular Australian football, which upset his mother, who thought the game too rough.

Royce Hart was educated at Clarence High School and participated in football and athletics.

Royce Hart played as a rover in the Tasmanian under-15 schoolboys team before his growth spurt, and held a junior high-jumping record for about 20 years.

Royce Hart was invited to Clarence in 1964 to play for the under-17s team.

Royce Hart went on to win the best first-year player award, and then won the best and fairest the following season.

Royce Hart's mother warned that he would need suitable clothing to wear to work, which he didn't have.

Aged 17, Royce Hart crossed Bass Strait determined to develop his precocious talent, which was unusual; most Tasmania players played a number of seasons in the local competition before crossing to Victoria as mature age recruits.

Royce Hart arrived in Melbourne with 20 pounds in his pocket and initially boarded with Graeme Richmond.

Royce Hart started work in a bank and began a comprehensive weight training regime at Frank Sedgman's gym; at the time of his arrival in Melbourne, Hart weighed only 10 stone 12 pounds.

Royce Hart started the 1966 VFL season playing in the Richmond under-19s coached by Ray "Slug" Jordon.

Royce Hart had been the leading goalkicker for the under-19s when late in the season he was promoted to the reserves and played in the Reserves Grand Final against Collingwood, on a half forward flank.

Royce Hart promptly put a torpedo punt, his preferred kick at the time, through the goals to give Richmond the lead, and the siren sounded shortly afterward.

Royce Hart made his senior VFL debut in the opening round of the 1967 VFL season against Essendon at the MCG, playing at full forward.

Subsequently, Royce Hart taught himself to use the drop punt when kicking for a goal, and became one of the best exponents of the kick at a time when many players still favoured flat punts or drop kicks.

Royce Hart booted seven goals playing at full-forward against Western Australia.

However, in the semi-final against Carlton, Royce Hart led the way with a best afield performance and booted six goals.

Royce Hart gathered 13 kicks and six handpasses but it was one of his seven marks that remains eternally etched in the memory.

The year started badly when Royce Hart was drafted into the army, which the club was able to defer for a year.

Royce Hart had been the star player, winning his first best and fairest award, and he was made All-Australian after the 1969 Adelaide Carnival.

Royce Hart kicked two goals as Glenelg slipped to a 65 point loss.

Royce Hart received universal criticism for naming a team of best players where he was placed at centre half forward.

Royce Hart wrote about his dedication to making the most of his talents and what it takes to succeed.

At times, Royce Hart reveals the somewhat uncompromising attitude that could often get him offside with people.

Now vice-captain, Royce Hart finished second best and fairest, was again leading goalkicker and passed his century of games.

Royce Hart was dominant in the lead-up finals, but was overwhelmed in the Grand Final when Richmond lost a famously high-scoring match to Carlton.

An early highlight in 1973 came when Royce Hart captained Victoria against South Australia.

Royce Hart missed the next four matches, doing gym work to strengthen the muscles around his knee.

Royce Hart was back in time for what would be a memorable Finals series.

Royce Hart was again among the best players in the cut-throat Semi-final against St Kilda, but had to get his knee drained of fluid the following Monday and continued limping until the Wednesday.

Royce Hart got through most games, and played brilliantly in the finals against another top opponent in North Melbourne's David Dench.

Richmond easily disposed of the upcoming North in the Grand Final and Royce Hart held the premiership cup aloft for a second time.

Royce Hart immediately goaled, but this time the effort was in vain and Richmond lost.

Royce Hart believed it prudent to hand over the captaincy to Francis Bourke.

Injuries compounded Richmond's problems and the team slumped to seventh in 1976, a season when Royce Hart only played half of the games.

Royce Hart chose the latter and was appointed a skills coach with Richmond.

Royce Hart had great success individually tutoring another Tasmanian, Michael Roach, who became Royce Hart's successor on the forward line.

Royce Hart set very high fitness standards and summarily sacked players who couldn't meet those standards, turning over many players in the process.

Royce Hart had taken on Templeton, a century-goalkicker who was seen as a little bit brittle, as a personal project, getting him on a weight program and moving him to his old position at centre half forward.

Royce Hart returned to Punt Road and coached the reserves again, in 1984.

The Tigers moved to rectify this a few years ago, which pleased many followers of the club as Royce Hart was the best loved player among the fans during the club's greatest era.

In late November 2010, it was reported that Royce Hart had been admitted into intensive care in Hobart after severe complications which resulted from a hernia.

Royce Hart was due to have gone to Melbourne earlier that month to present his number four guernsey to Dustin Martin.

Royce Hart was an inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, and was named at centre half-forward in the AFL Team of the Century that same year.