Tom Hafey (5th August 1931 – 12th May 2014)
Only a day after Rugby League lost the Immortal Reg Gasnier comes the news that Tom Hafey passed away after a brief battle with cancer.
Heafy was one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game and had a unique ability to leave behind clubs stronger than the found them.
He took over at Richmond in 1966 at the age of only 34 and proceeded to lead the club to its most successful period. During this era they won 4 grand finals in 1967, 1969, 1973 and 1974.
After leaving Richmond in 1976 he took over a Collingwood team that had just collected it first ever wooden spoon. In a remarkable turnaround they finished top of the table only to lose to North Melbourne in the Grand Final with essentially the same list of players that finished last the season before.
He took them to more grand final appearances before moving on to Geelong in 1983 and then 1985 to Sydney before finally retiring after the 1988 season.
One of the most decorated coaches in the game he coached 522 games with a 64.75% winning average, coached in 10 grand finals and won 4 of them. He was an inaugural inductee into the AFL Hall of Fame, was a Richmond Immortal and named in Richmond’s team of the century
A well-known fitness freak and you could easily run into him every morning exercising on St Kilda beach.
Vale Tom Hafey
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