Anyone who saw "Bull" develop over 1966, and saw him flourish in 1967 — being Richmond's unchallenged best on the ground in the Grand Final, when he played his heart out with a superb display of ruck-roving and handball, until he was replaced early in the last quarter due to severe cramps after having more than 20 "possessions" — and seeing him lurking behind the pack, collecting the hitout, and then making one of his unique looping hand-passes could not fail to identify "Bull" as the glue that held the whole of Hafey's team together. In 1967 he played in Richmond's first premiership team since 1944 when Richmond beat Geelong 16.18 (114) to 15.15 (105).