As befits an AFL superstar in footy-mad Melbourne, Matthew Richardson is familiar with being compared to other greats of the game.

But it's probably fair to assume he hasn't been stacked up too often against former prime minster Bob Hawke - another Australian who knows a thing or two about the trappings of fame.

In the newly-released biography Richo, co-author Martin Flanagan makes the astute observation that the man popularly known as Richo has benefited from what he calls the Hawke effect.

"If you're going to have a long career in the public eye, showing your worst side early on is a good idea," writes Flanagan.

"Richo had done that and, as with Bob Hawke, the Australian public decided they didn't really mind - in Richo's case that he could be ill-tempered on the field.

"The emotion of it was more complex than they were aware but that didn't matter in so far as his public life was concerned."

The truth was that when Richo got mad on the footy field, it was only because he cared so much.

He cared about winning, he cared about trying his very best all the time and he cared about Richmond - the club he had supported all his life and for whom his father won a premiership in 1967.

In an age where elite sport was becoming more and more about business, Richardson's passion - not to mention his spectacular marking, gut-busting running and at-times idiosyncratic goalkicking - resonated with the fans in the stands.

And not just those wearing yellow and black.

Of course, the big fella could play a bit as well.

He is a member of Richmond's team of the century, won 13 club goalkicking awards and was the Tigers' best and fairest winner in 2007.

Then there was his third-placed finish in the 2008 Brownlow Medal count, when seemingly every non-partisan viewer at Crown Casino and watching on TV around Australia was willing him to win.

That Richardson came up just short - eventually finishing two votes behind winner Adam Cooney - was somehow symptomatic of a 282-game, 800-goal career where the Tigers were beaten far more often than not.

The fact he took the loss in good grace surprised nobody.

Away from the field of battle, it's hard to imagine a sportsman handling the potential downside of fame as well as Richardson.

"Obviously, if you play Australian Rules football in Australia, particularly in Melbourne, there are going to be a lot of people who recognise you and know who you are, but I've never found that to be a problem," he told AAP.

"I reckon I lead a pretty normal, everyday life, like all of my mates who don't play footy.

"I do all the things they do and it's never really bothered me.

"For instance, I've been going to music festivals and concerts for years, it's something I've always loved outside football and I've never had a problem.

"People love to see you there and see you have something in common with them - that you love the same bands.

"I've never had an issue with it at all."

Once it became clear he had a rare talent for Australia's indigenous football code, the son of Alan "Bull" Richardson was always destined to play for Richmond.

Never mind that his 17-year career from 1993-2009 coincided with the lowest period in the club's proud history.

For much of that time, Richardson was just about the only good reason to watch the Tigers.

"Looking back, if I'd played one or two years somewhere else at the end I wouldn't have felt a part of that club and I would have felt a bit funny going back to my original club," he said.

"It was always my goal to be a one-club player, because of my history and my dad being there, being a supporter of the club I never really imagined playing for anyone else.

"So it is something I'm proud of, even though I didn't have much team success."

Richo the book details many other aspects of his career, including the injuries and the friendships forged on and off the field.

There is plenty about the importance of a close-knit family and what it was like growing up in Tasmania.

What the biography doesn't do is get bogged down in mind-numbing detail about statistics and who did what in which games.

And there's definitely no searing criticism of any former coaches, teammates or opponents.

"I don't find any value digging up any animosities, I don't see what would be gained by doing that," he said.

"There wasn't going to be any controversy, I wasn't going to bag anyone or dig up any dirt.

"That was deliberate.

"I wouldn't have done the book if that was what was wanted."

That says plenty about the reasons for Richardson's enduring popularity among those who know him well and the countless others who have only met him in passing.

Richo by Matthew Richardson and Martin Flanagan. Published by Random House Australia. RRP $49.95.

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