Ian Owen

Recruited from Echuca East, Ian Owen made a rapid ascent through the Tigers' ranks, featuring in an Under-19s premiership in 1967 before breaking into the senior lineup in 1969. An athletic half-back flanker known for his safe hands and long kicking, he enjoyed a fairytale debut season, winning the club's Best First Year Player award. Owen etched his name into folklore by wearing the unusual guernsey number 52—the highest number worn in a VFL Grand Final for nearly three decades—during Richmond's 1969 premiership victory, famously taking the field with a depressed fracture of the cheekbone sustained in the Preliminary Final. His promising VFL career was subsequently derailed by persistent injuries, restricting him to just 33 games, though he remained a key figure at Punt Road as the Reserves captain. Owen eventually departed for the VFA, where he became a Port Melbourne legend, adding three more premiership medallions to his collection in a dominant era for the Borough.