Chris Newman is the Tigers' new captain, and will wear the famous number 17 jumper from next season, keeping the Richmond tradition of club skippers wearing Jack Dyer's famous guernsey.
To celebrate, here are 17 things about Chris Newman that you may or may not already know.
1. He was born in the year that Richmond last played in a Grand Final – 1982 (May 1
.
2. He was selected by the Tigers with their 5th pick (No. 55 overall) in the 2000 National Draft behind Kayne Pettifer, Mark Coughlan, Chris Hyde and Andrew Krakouer.
3. At this stage only one other player from that 2000 National Draft has gone on to captain his club – St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt, who was that year’s No. 1 pick.
4. He spent the entire 2001 season with Richmond’s VFL affiliate Coburg, although he was named as an emergency for the AFL side in Rounds 7 and 10.
5. He made his AFL debut with Richmond at age 20 years, 7 days, against St Kilda at Telstra Dome in Round 9, 2002 on May 25. He had 4 kicks, 2 handballs, 1 mark, 1 tackle, and the Tigers lost by 9 points (10.12 to 9.9).
6. His first nine games of league football were in losing sides, with his first win coming against Melbourne at the MCG in Round 18 of the 2002 season.
7. He had a career-high 32 disposals against St Kilda in Round 22 of the 2007 season.
8. He took a career-high 13 marks against Hawthorn in Round 20 of the 2008 season.
9. He has polled 11 Brownlow Medal votes all-up in his 133-game career, with his best result being 5 votes in 2007.
10. He was nominated as one of the Tiger Treasures of the Century this year in the goals category, for his “monster” torpedo-punt six-pointer against Fremantle at Subiaco in 2007.
11. His best goal return in a season was 5 in 2003.
12. He has played 44 consecutive games since returning from a severely broken leg, which he suffered against Collingwood at the MCG in Round 13, 2006.
13. He finished 4th in the Tigers’ Best and Fairest award this year.
14. He becomes the 39th captain in Richmond’s 100-year VFL/AFL history.
15. The No. 17 will be his third guernsey number since joining the Tigers. He started in No. 35 and took over No. 1 a couple of years ago.
16. He will become the third Richmond player to wear the “Captain’s No. 17” since its inception five years ago, following Kane Johnson and Wayne Campbell.
17. At 26, he is the youngest Richmond captain since Tony Free was appointed at age 24 in 1994
http://www.afl.com.au/AFL2008/News/Article/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=69904
