(136th Eagles player)
Another of the legion of experienced top-up players brought to the club under Ken Judge’s reign, Richard Taylor was a 112-game veteran at Hawthorn before crossing west.
Hawthorn career[]
A diminutive but tenacious rover, Taylor survived two knee reconstructions and a delisting early in his career to become a valued player at the Hawks. He finished runner-up to Shane Crawford in the best and fairest in 1999 before he and Michael Collica rejoined their former coach Judge at the end of the 2000 season.
West Coast career[]
Taylor was a mainstay during the club’s horror year of 2001, playing 21 games. His best game in Eagles colours came against his old club, racking up 30 touches and a stunning 7 tackles in almost a solo effort as Hawthorn handed out a thumping loss.
Taylor added just 7 more games the following year, and was chiefly noted for punching on with Phil Matera at training rather than anything he did on the field that season. He announced his retirement at the end of the season.
Post-AFL career[]
Following his retirement, Taylor spent a couple of years at Claremont as strength and conditioning coach before returning to Melbourne.
Stats[]
| AFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | Cl | WAFL | Gm | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 21 | 10 | 4 | 274 | 73 | 106 | 380 | 56 | 64 | EP | 0 | ||
| 2002 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 62 | 13 | 23 | 85 | 16 | 10 | SD | 9 | 9 | |
| Tot | 28 | 11 | 5 | 336 | 86 | 129 | 465 | 72 | 74 | ||||
| Avg | 0.4 | 12.0 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 16.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
Links[]
http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/R/Richard_Taylor.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Taylor_(Australian_footballer)