Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (born August 5, 1931) was an Australian rules football player and coach in the VFL/AFL, playing for Richmond between 1953 and 1958, and coaching four clubs (Richmond, Collingwood, Geelong and Sydney) between 1966 and 1988.

Although Hafey was born and bred in Richmond, he played football in the neighbouring suburb of East Malvern, starting with their under 19 team and graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952, which earned him an invitation to train at Richmond. At this time, the Tigers were in some turmoil, as the legendary Jack Dyer, had just quit as coach. In an effort to reinvigorate the team after a number of mediocre seasons, Richmond recruited some highly considered young players, such as Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, the unheralded local Hafey was the rookie who exceeded expectation by playing twelve of the eighteen matches and booting eight goals.

The following season was less productive for Hafey - he managed just four games, spending most of the year in the reserves. Now a regular in the back pocket, Hafey played in that position when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best, and this performance helped to gain him regular senior selection in 1955-56. In these two years, he managed 28 games without becoming a household name.

After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey's fortunes waned, and was often relegated to the bench. He believed that the Tiger selectors now preferred Ken Ward to play in the back pocket. The Tigers had slipped to the bottom reaches of the ladder and as a regular place in the team looked out of the question, Hafey left VFL football at the end of 1958, aged 27. The average life span of an AFL player is just under five seasons - Hafey had lasted six. 15 of his 67 games had been started on the bench. Hafey made the transition to the local Richmond Amateurs, where he played in their 1959 premiership team.

Then came the transition. Hafey left the city for the first time, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. With his tenacious attitude to the game, his fanatical devotion to fitness and his ability to engender team spirit, Hafey made his team into a power in one of the best quality country leagues in Australia. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then completed a hat trick of flags between 1963 and 1965. Meanwhile, his old team Richmond had raised itself from many years of slumber and were on the march, aggressively recruiting in country Victoria. During this time, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his area.

Hafey's performance had drawn the attention of Tiger secreatry Graeme Richmond. When Richmond faced a coaching dilemma in 1965 (incumbent Len Smith had suffered a heart attack), the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as a stand-in until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to two candidates - Hafey, or former club captain Ron Branton, now coaching at Myrtleford. The two men had started at Richmond at the same time, but Branton went onto great success that included three best and fairest awards and a runner-up placing in the Brownlow medal. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season.

On his return to Punt Road, Hafey found the place buzzing. A list of young, high quality players was his to mold. Hafey recalled that he felt some apprehension about his youth (34) and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates, all of whom could boast a greater reputation than his own. But he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing an intensity and desire that the Tigers needed to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style - kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training, and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition, and often finished a game running as hard as at the first bounce.

Richmond began 1966 in brilliant form. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. But two losses relegated the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw, the best performed team to miss out since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Stung by the near miss, Richmond cleared a number of players who failed in the two crucial defeats and boosted by two champion new players in Royce Hart and Francis Bourke, dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In particular, the critics were impressed by Hafey's ability to succeed in the finals with a team that went into September without a single player with finals' experience.

With hindsight, the premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and betters standards of fitness.

However, Hafey was powerless to prevent a premiership hangover the following year, and although the Tigers made a last-gasp bid to play finals by winning the last six games, they were denied. The club believed that had they made it, they would have gone all the way. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accustaions of under-achievement arose. The Richmond administration were not above spreading a few rumours with the press that Hafey was on the way out. But the players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season brilliantly, snatching fourth place before winning all three finals to take a seconfd premiership. It was noticeable that Hafey was able to get his players to peak at the business end of the season.

Inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame during its inauguaration in 1996, Hafey coached four clubs: Richmond, Collingwood,Geelong and the Sydney Swans

He was a premiership coach four times (1967, 1969, 1973, 1974), all with Richmond. Hafey coached 522 games over his career, a tally exceeded only by Kevin Sheedy (who Hafey coached), Jock McHale and Allan Jeans.

The main ingredient of Hafey's success as a coach was the gruelling pace he set at training for his players. He focused his team on fitness and a simple, direct, long-kicking game plan.

Hafey's passion for fitness still exists today, and every morning he wakes up at 5:20 and goes for an 8km run, a swin in the bay and when he gets home, he does 700 situps.

• Richmond Football Club Official Site - Hall of Fame
• 1971 Tiger Year Book - Richmond Football Club

• ABC - 2002 interview with Tom Hafey