On each weekday of the 2011 Toyota AFL Finals Series, Leigh Matthews will count down his 20 Moments of Greatness from the finals. Today: moment No. 20, when Richmond's Laurie Fowler set the tone in the 1973 Grand Final with a ferocious bump on Carlton's John Nicholls.

THERE were no greater rivals in the mid-1970s than Richmond and Carlton, and they put on some fearsome contests in that era.

None of their matches were tougher than the 1973 Grand Final, which the Tigers won by 30 points.

It is the game-changing incident from that September afternoon at the MCG that Leigh Matthews has selected as number 20 in his series of Moments of Greatness.

The incident in question is the bump that Richmond hard-man Laurie Fowler laid on Carlton's captain-coach John Nicholls.

An inspirational leader, Nicholls had booted six goals in the Blues' win over the Tigers in the 1972 decider.

But Richmond, which was coached by Tom Hafey, was desperate to keep 'Big Nick' quiet in '73.

The clash between Nicholls and Fowler occurred five minutes into the opening quarter when Nicholls tried to mark a long kick from Alex Jesaulenko.

Nicholls kicked a goal from the resultant free kick and 15m penalty, but he suffered blurred vision during the remainder of the game and had little impact on the outcome.

"He was a man mountain, and to see their man mountain go down obviously hurt his teammates," Matthews said.

"It was a big blow to the psyche of the Blues in that particular year, and of course Richmond went on to win that Grand Final.

"It was a big moment."