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Yellow and black: A season with Richmond
A Season with Richmond reveals the intimate story of the Richmond Football Club through the highs and heartaches of the 2017 season.
With unprecedented access to club officials, players and coaches, author Konrad Marshall takes the reader inside the rooms at the key moments the campaign, chronicling the Tigers' journey towards premiership contention. This is not just a book of wins and losses, it's the story of a professional football club and how it operates at every level: from the fitness staff, to the coaching panel, the players, and the Board. Football has changed enormously since Richmond's last flag, in 1980, and Marshall explains in great detail the enormous amount of work and thought that goes into every decision made-on and off the field. Whether the Tigers make it to the last Saturday in September or not, their story is rich and explosive.
A Season with Richmond is full of unparalleled access to all the key moments, including frank and occasionally emotional interviews with all the key figures. A Season with Richmond is a compulsory read for all football fans.
With unprecedented access to club officials, players and coaches, author Konrad Marshall takes the reader inside the rooms at the key moments the campaign, chronicling the Tigers' journey towards premiership contention. This is not just a book of wins and losses, it's the story of a professional football club and how it operates at every level: from the fitness staff, to the coaching panel, the players, and the Board. Football has changed enormously since Richmond's last flag, in 1980, and Marshall explains in great detail the enormous amount of work and thought that goes into every decision made-on and off the field. Whether the Tigers make it to the last Saturday in September or not, their story is rich and explosive.
A Season with Richmond is full of unparalleled access to all the key moments, including frank and occasionally emotional interviews with all the key figures. A Season with Richmond is a compulsory read for all football fans.
484 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 28, 2020
The drought breaker for Tiger fans, particularly for this attendee, at their last grandfinal victory in 1980!! A brilliant insight to a football club and how the ultimate goal was achieved after the disaster that was 2016. A must for Tiger supporters and sports fans interested into the environment of a major sports club.
January 5, 2018
An amazing insight into an incredible year. Great for any Sports fan, but a truly emotional experience for followers of the Mighty Tiges.
December 10, 2017
Great read. Lots of interesting stories about the players, but if anything I found it more interesting as a book on successfully building organisational culture, and "lead, don't manage".
December 17, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyed it. A great book about football, not just for Richmond fans.
Gives a great incite into the workings of an afl club and all the people behjnd the scene.
Gives a great incite into the workings of an afl club and all the people behjnd the scene.
October 29, 2020
As a Richmond tragic since I was 6 & with family members supporting successful teams through the 90'ss & 00's I've coped every remark about the Tigers failure in that time. So when the 2017 underdog fairytale was complete & news of the book was released I knew I had to get my hands on it & I was definitely not disappointed!
In previous sports book I've read they all followed the structure & format providing a game by game account with minor contributions from players & staff. What I read was totally the opposite & I'm so glad it was!
The book touches on the monumental games through the season & key moments that happen within the games, however it was personal stories of the players, coaches & staff that kept you reading & continually made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Konrad told their stories with so much passion that you felt like giving Brandon Ellis a hug after he opened up to the team or to be a fly on the wall when Hardwick & Dusty would talk about cuisine or literature.
By the end of the book (Spoiler .... Tigers win!) you feel like you have spent a year yourself being a fly on the way with the detail in which Konrad narrates.
Everyone has books that sit on their shelves immortalized & are deemed non-lendable to friends & family. This is one of those books for me!
In previous sports book I've read they all followed the structure & format providing a game by game account with minor contributions from players & staff. What I read was totally the opposite & I'm so glad it was!
The book touches on the monumental games through the season & key moments that happen within the games, however it was personal stories of the players, coaches & staff that kept you reading & continually made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Konrad told their stories with so much passion that you felt like giving Brandon Ellis a hug after he opened up to the team or to be a fly on the wall when Hardwick & Dusty would talk about cuisine or literature.
By the end of the book (Spoiler .... Tigers win!) you feel like you have spent a year yourself being a fly on the way with the detail in which Konrad narrates.
Everyone has books that sit on their shelves immortalized & are deemed non-lendable to friends & family. This is one of those books for me!
November 16, 2017
“Yellow and Black: A Season with Richmond” (Y&B:ASWR) by Konrad Marshall is a book that takes an in depth look within “the four walls” of the Richmond Football Club (RFC) during its 2017 season.
This book is not a blow by blow recap of each game of the 2017 season but a compelling narrative of how the Tigers turned around a horrible 2016 season (where they finished a lowly 13th out of 18), to defy all critics and experts alike to claim the ultimate prize - the AFL Premiership.
In the “Acknowledgments and Afterword” in thanking the RFC Board for approving and endorsing this project Marshall sums up what this book is about beautifully - it’s a book that “...allows all fans to understand the truth of a modern, professional sporting club. There is so much more to it than coaches and players.”
Marshall gives the reader not just insights from players and coaches, but also from people such as the club doctor, nutritionist, player welfare officer, recruiters, members of the football department, the CEO and Board Chairwoman, right through to property steward, volunteers, and members of the Cheer Squad.
This book is more than a “year in the life”; it is narrative of the Tigers journey (one that started before 2017) of how it went from the perennially underachieving club to one that climbed to the top of the mountain. What makes the timing of this book even more amazing is that this was the Tigers first Premiership in 37years.
It goes without saying that Y&B:ASWR is a must read book for every RFC fan out there - I am a Tigers fan myself and have been a club member for over half of my life - but this is also a book that supporters of Australian Rules Football can enjoy. This is truly just a great “football” book.
Y&B:ASWR gets 5 out 5 stars!
This book is not a blow by blow recap of each game of the 2017 season but a compelling narrative of how the Tigers turned around a horrible 2016 season (where they finished a lowly 13th out of 18), to defy all critics and experts alike to claim the ultimate prize - the AFL Premiership.
In the “Acknowledgments and Afterword” in thanking the RFC Board for approving and endorsing this project Marshall sums up what this book is about beautifully - it’s a book that “...allows all fans to understand the truth of a modern, professional sporting club. There is so much more to it than coaches and players.”
Marshall gives the reader not just insights from players and coaches, but also from people such as the club doctor, nutritionist, player welfare officer, recruiters, members of the football department, the CEO and Board Chairwoman, right through to property steward, volunteers, and members of the Cheer Squad.
This book is more than a “year in the life”; it is narrative of the Tigers journey (one that started before 2017) of how it went from the perennially underachieving club to one that climbed to the top of the mountain. What makes the timing of this book even more amazing is that this was the Tigers first Premiership in 37years.
It goes without saying that Y&B:ASWR is a must read book for every RFC fan out there - I am a Tigers fan myself and have been a club member for over half of my life - but this is also a book that supporters of Australian Rules Football can enjoy. This is truly just a great “football” book.
Y&B:ASWR gets 5 out 5 stars!
June 26, 2018
Being an avid Collingwood fan this book didn't really cross my path untill someone I know recommended it to me- in his words he thought I would enjoy it because of the processes and the behind the scenes look you fet, not because it's book about Richmond.
Sadly he was right!
While the genesis of this book was in 2016 (which the author glosses over and makes me question a few things but never mind), Yellow and Black focuses on the 2017 season of the Richmond Tigers- a club that hasn't won a flag in a VERY long time!
Written in "real time" this book gives the reader a real "worts and all" behind the scenes look at the Tiggers as they attempt to chase that elusive glory of being a Premiership Team.
While this book could have been written a bit better (I admit I rolled my eyes a few times) the content itself, an a whole anyway was extremely enlightening; and not just from a behinds the scenes prospective. You get an insight into the psyche of both players and staff and there's a few passages where my skin got goosebumps- hell at one point I even cried.
As both a voracious reader and a fan of AFL I highly recommend this novel; it's a long book but I couldn't put it down!
Sadly he was right!
While the genesis of this book was in 2016 (which the author glosses over and makes me question a few things but never mind), Yellow and Black focuses on the 2017 season of the Richmond Tigers- a club that hasn't won a flag in a VERY long time!
Written in "real time" this book gives the reader a real "worts and all" behind the scenes look at the Tiggers as they attempt to chase that elusive glory of being a Premiership Team.
While this book could have been written a bit better (I admit I rolled my eyes a few times) the content itself, an a whole anyway was extremely enlightening; and not just from a behinds the scenes prospective. You get an insight into the psyche of both players and staff and there's a few passages where my skin got goosebumps- hell at one point I even cried.
As both a voracious reader and a fan of AFL I highly recommend this novel; it's a long book but I couldn't put it down!
September 29, 2018
This is the ultimate book on the inner workings of a top-level club in team sports. The author did a fabulous job of both going through the chronology of the 2017 season that saw Richmond coming from the bottom half of the ladder the previous year to winning the AFL Premiership, and giving detailed profiles of the various figures of the club, from the head coach to the players to the staff and the front office. While the club worked on skills and strategies like in any other era, it also placed importance on newer or overlooked topics like player welfare, nutrition and mental health. Even if you support another AFL team, the way all the Richmond personnel handled themselves throughout the season, both the good times and bad, makes it hard not to like anyone from that club. I think every fan, player or even coaching staff and management of any team sport should take a look at this book. Only drawback is that this book is hard to find outside of Australia - I bought this at the Tigerland Superstore while in Australia and noticed that Amazon in the US does not sell it.
June 19, 2018
More than just one season actually, as it covers two seasons, 2016 & 2017.
A great insight into the functioning of a professional sports team engaged in Australia's largest sport, Australian league Football, AFL.
I'm a little biased, as I have followed this team for circa 40yrs, and whilst providing no spoilers, it has been a long and conflicted 40yrs. So, I read this from the point of view that it was an insider look at my club from an outsider. The author was given excellent access to the club, the personnel and some of the behind the scenes makings of a full year within the club.
It is an engaging read, well structured, written and presented for both the die-hard AFL sports fan, a sports fan or someone who wants an insight into one of the top 18 AFL clubs.
A great insight into the functioning of a professional sports team engaged in Australia's largest sport, Australian league Football, AFL.
I'm a little biased, as I have followed this team for circa 40yrs, and whilst providing no spoilers, it has been a long and conflicted 40yrs. So, I read this from the point of view that it was an insider look at my club from an outsider. The author was given excellent access to the club, the personnel and some of the behind the scenes makings of a full year within the club.
It is an engaging read, well structured, written and presented for both the die-hard AFL sports fan, a sports fan or someone who wants an insight into one of the top 18 AFL clubs.
January 22, 2018
This is the best insight into a sporting Club that I've ever read. Actually, it's the best sporting book I've ever read. Actually it's the best non-fiction book I've ever read. And I'm struggling to find a better book - either non-fiction or fiction!
Well done Konrad Marshall. Well done to the visionaries in the Richmond Football Club for providing such access.
A truly wonderful year captured in beautiful detail in this book!
Well done Konrad Marshall. Well done to the visionaries in the Richmond Football Club for providing such access.
A truly wonderful year captured in beautiful detail in this book!
March 5, 2018
Most of these books that recount the magic season when the team won it all are quickly written and forgettable. Marshall's is not because he spent 2 seasons with the team and each chapter covers someone at the Club and their role - from coaches to leadership to all the support staff. I found it fascinating, and normally would only recommend this book to Tigers fans, but I think this book is worth reading for all AFL fans.
February 12, 2018
Terrrific. Great read from several perspectives into what makes a team. Also why they went the direction they did. Makes it clear you can't just copy the methods used in this book, you need to work with your people and find out what is best.
Enjoyed the profiles with specific players and the stories were well told. Great book.
Enjoyed the profiles with specific players and the stories were well told. Great book.
November 14, 2018
I’ve never read a sports book but chose to read this one because it was a Christmas present from my wife but also because you are a passionate fan of the Richmond football club. I found it gave amazingly detailed insight into the success of an AFL club and if anyone is interested in this or learning about the Richman success of 2017 then this is the book for them.
June 10, 2018
Not only for tigers fans, afl fans or sports fans. This book is full of life lessons. I loved it.
October 11, 2019
Took me awhile to read this but good timing as we hit Premiership week and another GF win.
June 13, 2020
GO TIGERS
December 31, 2020
Brilliant for tigers fans - or anyone who wants to get a deeper look at the inside of a footy club. Fascinating and full of wonderful people and stories.
February 24, 2026
beautifully written and narrated
December 5, 2023
A great insight to the behind the scenes success of the Richmond Football club with eye towards the Sports psychology aspect of their ultimate triumph.A true Richmond Tigers love story.
February 7, 2021
I think for a book about about aussie rules football this is pretty good. I think the narrative of the season is great. The focus on individuals within in the team was probably a little too much for me. The book could have been half as long and twice as good. It gets bogged down in the minutiae of coaches titles and training plans etc, that took me out of the main story which is the teams journey from 13th to 1st. As a Richmond supporter I'm happy to have this as a keepsake of the year but I want as blown away as many other people have been with Yellow and Black.
November 18, 2018
Great book. As a Tigers fan, Yellow & Black gave me a real insight into the club, staff, players and how a footy club works from the inside. It wasn’t doused in macho clichés and Marshall’s style makes for easy reading, even when you didn’t watch a specific game. Highly recommend.
September 15, 2018
Great book about the greatest team
January 12, 2018
Great read! Not just for the footy fans. This book gives great insight into the importance of positive culture in an organisation.
January 30, 2018
This is the book to read if you want to understand AFL. The competition keeps information so tightly held that really, supporters and commentators have absolutely no idea what is going on, as this book makes abundantly clear. Marshalls inside access let's us peer through that screen - a little.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews