The Hard Way recounts Richmond football club’s journey to the 2020 AFL Grand Final. In this thrilling account, Konrad Marshall reconstructs an unprecedented season of footy and the team that came to shine through it all.  The 2020 AFL season was a season like no other, and the challenges faced by the premier team, due to the restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, were substantial. Richmond, the reigning premier, started the season slowly, were then relocated to a Gold Coast hub for 111 days, faced internal issues throughout, and came into the Grand Final against Geelong the hard way, after losing the qualifying final to Brisbane.
Including a foreward from Richmond president, Peggy O’Neal, The Hard Way tells this amazing story and reveals Richmond’s game plan – a playing system that is based as much on chaos as clockwork – in intricate detail. Konrad not only covers the club’s journey to their final’s campaign but also the adjustments made to move to Queensland, life in the hub, their relationship with their fans and the public, and of course, the Dustin Martin effect.
If they weren’t convinced already, this book will show all footy fans just how Richmond truly embodies the old sports saying: A champion team will always beat a team of champions.

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