The Richmond Football Club has certainly been a busy place since the end of the 2004 season.

I’m sure you’re all well aware that up to a dozen players from our ’04 list have departed the Club in the past few weeks.

Along with the 9-10 changes to the playing personnel we made last year, you can see that it doesn’t take long to significantly reshape your list.

Going forward, we’ll have a group of young men who will come through the ranks together at Tigerland and form the nucleus of our next premiership side.

They’re the Richmond stars of tomorrow, but for now, I want to talk about a true Tiger champion of the present.

I refer to our dual All-Australian representative and Club vice-captain Darren Gaspar.

While a lot has been said about how much Darren’s current playing contract is worth, let’s cast our minds back to 2001 when he won the Jack Dyer Medal and earned All-Australian selection following a superb season in the Tigers’ defence.

The Fremantle Dockers targeted Darren as their No. 1 choice in the pre-season draft at the end of that year, such was his standing in the competition back then as an outstanding backman.

Darren was offered a substantial five-year deal by the Dockers to return to his native WA, but ultimately decided to stay at Richmond for a little less money over the same period of time.

For various reasons since then – most notably the knee reconstruction he underwent midway through 2003, Darren’s form has not reached the heights of that stellar 2001 season.

The supporter and media pressure on Darren throughout this year was intense, to say the least.

I can understand members of the Tiger faith saying that if you are very well paid by the Club for your services, then you must perform accordingly.

Let’s, however, put some things into perspective here . . .

In 2004, Darren Gaspar answered the Club’s call to play from the opening round, even though a delayed start to the season would have been more beneficial to him from an overall fitness perspective.

But as vice-captain, he was keen to shoulder responsibility and help his teammates out. So, he put his hand up to play, even though he was still several weeks away from full fitness.

Unfortunately, as a result, Darren’s form suffered, and the pressure on him intensified.

There were times throughout the season that I would suggest the pressure on Darren from the grandstand, from the media, and also from himself, would have been unbearable.

When the season finished, we sat down with Darren, his wife Sarah, and his manager Ron Joseph, to discuss ways of alleviating this pressure, as well as restoring the respect he deserves within the football world.

I can assure you all that Darren has taken a significant pay cut for 2005 and 2006.

This, combined with a clear run fitness-wise in the pre-season, hopefully will enable him to get back to his best form. Clearly, he is a very important part of our team structure, and we need him firing in ‘05.

I only hope all Richmond fans appreciate Darren’s selfless act, and the critical analysis of him ceases.

Believe me, he deserves to be acknowledged for his commitment to the Tiger cause . . .