From Pingaring cub to Tiger king: WA star Liam Baker’s journey to 100 games for Richmond

Once described as “the second-best thing to come out of Lake Grace” by teammate Jack Riewoldt, Liam Baker will face the only man that pips him for that honour in his 100th game against Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Saturday. While dual Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe has just about every individual accolade in footy, Baker boasts not one, but two of the most important: Premierships. In his first 42 games, Baker had played in back-to-back flags in 2019 and 2020, adding to the collection for the Lake Grace-Pingrup Bombers — started by Mitch Morton with Sydney in 2012. From a wheat and sheep farm in Pingaring to Punt Road, Baker’s journey to the AFL took more guts and determination than most but it’s part of how he got to where he is. Overlooked in his 2016 draft year, dad Kim said it was “very tough” for his son when his name wasn’t read out. “We drove down to Perth during harvest and spent the day there... it was hard to take, him missing out,” he said. Moving from West Perth to Subiaco that off-season, Baker endured heartache again the next year — but not for long. “In the 2017 draft, he missed the main draft and the rookie draft wasn’t televised,” Kim said. “He just got a call from his manager saying ‘you got picked up’. His manager didn’t even know (he was going to get selected). They (Richmond) didn’t let on... it just came out of nowhere.” Baker was thrown a rookie lifeline by reigning premiers Richmond and the rest is history. “We’re very pleased. We didn’t know where this was going to take us at all and there’s certainly been more high points than low,” Kim said. “Who would have thought? Just getting drafted to Richmond to start was a real bonus. As (Liam) said he was in the right place at the right time and he’s grabbed his opportunities.” At just 173cm, Baker’s small stature hasn’t stopped him from taking on the biggest bodies in the league, whether it’s going back with the flight or diving head-first into a contest. The 25-year-old was last year recognised by his peers as the AFL’s Most Courageous Player, while Richmond great Matthew Richardson went one step further this week. “There’s been a lot of courageous players play at this club (Richmond) but I don’t think there could be many more than what Bakes has shown in his career,” Richardson said. But there’s one person who wouldn’t mind if he pulled back, even just a little — his dad. “As a parent maybe you wish sometimes he didn’t (go so hard at the footy),” Kim joked. His dad, mum Karen and sisters Corrina and Julia donned yellow and black at the MCG for his first grand final victory in 2019 before COVID kept them in WA for his second. As he lifts the bat for his ton, coincidentally in his home State, his loved ones will be watching from the stands with pride. But his dad still remembers the little West Coast fan that would kick the footy to himself on the family farm. “He’d get off the bus (from school) every afternoon and kick the footy around all the time,” he said. “He had plenty of room. “I made him some goals and he used to set up and kick through those. Mainly he used to just kick and mark himself. He hasn’t got a brother.”