Reluctant as we are to lean too heavily into the Richmond-related content this week lest we contribute to some sort of cosmic cause-and-effect that karmically helps set the club up for monumental disaster come Saturday (knocks on all the wood), being in Melbourne you can’t help but get swept up in the romanticism of an AFL Grand Final week featuring the long-suffering Tigers for the first time in 35 years.
And bless their yellow and black heart, Tiges fans are moving hella swiftly. It’s barely been 12 hours since gun midfielder Dustin Martin took home the Brownlow Medal with a record-breaking number of votes, but the all-conquering hero of Punt Road has already been enshrined with a mural in the shadow of the MCG.
The Rowena Corner Store, an institution of the Tiger Heartland, sprouted the exceptionally good tribute very quietly overnight, with the side of the store now baring Dusty’s trademark hardened visage.
The mural is a collaboration between artists Danny Awes and Dvate, put together with a little help from Puma and the Richmond Football Club themselves.
Yeah, no denying it: That bloody rules.
Martin took home Charlie at last night’s ceremony with a record-setting 36 votes, ahead of the ineligible Patrick Dangerfield on 33, and Hawthorn ball-magnet Tom Mitchell on 25.
Tigers fans have already been drawn to the mural, on the corner of Rowena Parade and Alfred Street in Richmond, paying homage to the great man ahead of his biggest challenge this weekend.
Praying at the altar of Dusty..@7NewsMelbourne @Richmond_FC @sunriseon7 pic.twitter.com/mUPtDdpMtI
— Nathan Templeton (@nathantemp7) September 25, 2017
All praise be to Based Dusty.
