The Richmond Football Club hit rock bottom on Sunday afternoon.Faced with an opponent fresh off their worst season in 150 years and like Richmond winless in season ’09, the Tigers showed no fight, no fury and risked neither head nor skin against an inferior team in Melbourne.
Wallace must be wondering what he is doing wrong?
Terry Wallace has had five pre-seasons to mould and make his impact on this side yet they remain as toothless as a newborn child. It pains me to say this as the Tiges have forever been my second favourite team but they have become the worst run organisation in the league.
In fact they are a disgrace, worse then even Fremantle. So much is wrong with this once proud and mighty football club and Wallace was ambitious to think that he could fix a train wreck within five years. The odds are that ‘Plough’ will not see this season out and rightly so.
Back to the Future – Diagnose of 3 clubs
At the end of 2004 the 16th placed Tigers, 15th placed Hawks and 14th placed Dogs were all on the lookout for a new senior coach.
Hawthorn Reviewed
The Hawks went for the inexperienced but headstrong Alastair Clarkson; who has managed to not only instill the character that made him such a gutsy player but teach his charges a revolutionary game plan which they adhere to meticulously and which has been subsequently copied by many other clubs. The discipline, mateship and a determination shown by the Hawks is the reason why Clarkson is now a Premiership coach.
Despite a surprisingly average record of 45-47 (4-1 in finals) there can be no doubt that Clarkson has made the team his own and has definitely made an impact at the club.
Dogs Reviewed
The Dogs had their sights set squarely on Rodney Eade and he too has been a perfect fit. The Dogs needed a high profile and media savvy candidate to lift them out of the dark clouds that descended during Peter Rhode’s tenure. ‘Rocket’ was a wise choice. He has taken the Dogs from being an undisciplined, lazy and soft bunch of ‘downhill skiiers’ and turned them into a well drilled and highly organised side with breathtaking speed and skills that play to their strengths. Eade is a teacher who gets the best out of his men.
He has turned Lake from a basket case to a best and fairest, Gilbee and Morris into All Australian’s and Cooney into a Brownlow Medallist. He too has made his mark with a record of 51-2-39 in H&A and 2-3 in finals.
Could you Tiger fans imagine both Buddy & Morris in the Yellow Stripe?
Tigers Reviewed
Which brings us to Richmond, they were always keen on ‘Plough’ and to be honest he had the toughest job of the three men. Where the Dogs had the talented bunch of ’99 draftees and the Hawks had the super tough boys from ’01, the Tigers had/have Richo.
Wallace’s chance to build a new culture at Tigerland came on draft day in 2004 and he well and truly failed. Between the aforementioned 3 clubs they had 12 of the first 22 picks that day. Wallace exclaimed at the Richmond family day that the Tigers had secured the best two teenagers in the land with picks one and four. He was dead wrong.
The Tigers picked Deledio, Tambling, Meyer, Pattison and Polo (interestingly they traded for Adam Thomson last year who was no 11 pick in ’04) passing on the twin powers of Roughie and Buddy, elite midfielders in Griffen and Lewis as well as a host of other young talents including Van Berlo, Morris, C.Young, Monfries, T.Murphy, Prismall, Maric, Sherman, Slattery, M.Egan and Pratt.
Mistake one: Recruiting
We all know hindsight has 20/20 vision but imagine what the Tigers line up could have looked like had they taken say; Roughead, Deledio, Van Berlo, Morris and Prismall. No doubt they would be playing finals now. Mistakes are made in recruiting and there is a certain element of pot-luck but when the same mistakes continue to happen the man in charge needs to be seriously looked at.
A year after passing on some of the most exciting talent in the country the Tigers took Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls with their first choice in the ’05 draft and missed out on names like Higgins, Birchall, N.Jones, Gilbert and Stokes. List management is the key to building a premiership unit and whilst all clubs make blunders the Tigers have had ample opportunities to build a list at least capable of playing finals footy. They have failed miserably.
Mistake two: Game Plan
Wallace’s record sits at a painful 35-2-55. His message, whatever it is, has failed to reach the players, there remains no solid or even inventive game plan and their skill level is the worst in the comp.
Mistake Three: Old List
Things will only get worse too as Richo, Brown, Cousins, Johnson, Bowden and Simonds are all close to retirement and there is bugger all left to cover them. With Gold Coast and West Sydney looming on the horizon now is the worst time to be where the Tigers are at the moment. The time for change is right now, not another second needs to be wasted.
Leigh Mathews as the Tigers Coach? May not seem as silly as first though.
The Solutions
- The Tigers need to stop drafting and trading for skinny blokes who can’t kick. (McMahon, Edwards, Tambling), they need to see what they can get for their elder statesmen (Richo included) on the open market as none of these blokes will be around when the Tigers next play in a GF. See more at Time to Smarten up Player Trading.
- They need to call on the ghosts of their past and re-create the fierceness and fire that permeated throughout their great sides of the 70′s and early 80′s. The Tigers need to get tough, in fact they need to get lethal.
- They need a coach who will stop all of the political rubbish that has dragged on for decades, a man of strong conviction who takes not a backwards step, a man who sets standards and expects them to be met with absolutely no excuses, a man with a high profile to bring confidence and enthusiasm to the supporters and most of all a man who knows how to win Premierships. It is time to step forward Leigh Matthews and take on the biggest challenge in AFL history. Matthews has a history of turning around poor cultured teams, winning long awaited flags at Collingwood and Brisbane and has the smarts, game plan and toughness to turn the Tigers around.
The Richmond Football Club is one of the proudest and most passionately followed teams in Australia’s greatest sport and the time has come for them to rise again. For too long they have let mediocrity engulf them whilst practicing cannibalism in an almost blood thirsty manner. Three finals appearances in a quarter of a century is appalling and they now have the opportunity to finally get things right.
Forget about Sheedy, Knights, Campbell or anyone with Black & Yellow in their veins. An outsider with a proven record and hard nosed attitude is desperately needed and it has to be Leigh Matthews.
I implore all Tiger fans to do what you can. Make phone calls, write e-mails, start petitions, do whatever it takes to make sure the powers that be ensure that Leigh Matthews is wearing Yellow and Black this year. In 1999 your club had the chance to get 6 time All Australian Pavlich and let it slip. In 2004 your club had two chances to secure the most electrifying force in AFL today in Buddy Franklin and blew it.
Don’t let them do it again. Take charge of YOUR club and do not let the chance to sign one of the greatest coaches and football people of all time and the man who is the perfect fit for your club pass you by. Do everything you can to become strong and bold once more. Eat ‘em alive boys.
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April 22nd, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Lethal as coach, now that does have a good ring to it. His sides always had that killer aspect (like him) with good skills and his trading/ recruiting was always good as he got the best of out them (Pike, Michael etc).
While im no Tigers fan, I can understand how getting the 70′s players around could be good, they need as much good winning culture as possible and its laughable how they can allow KB and these types of legends not be a part of the team. Surely the team is bigger than the individual feuds.
Maybe Richo to the Gold Coast could be a good swap (if he is still playing) as GC get a market player, Richmond do not loose anything and they can maybe get a pick out of it as well.
I agree not allowing anyone with Tiger’s blood in them as coach would be good. Guess that means Malthouse wont get a spot either. Do you think they need an experienced senior coach or just someone not involved? Like Buckley? Williams could be another good choice.
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April 22nd, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Matthews is the only one for mine. Tigers have stuffed around for too long and they need someone decisive and someone not afraid to make hard decisions. Frawley and Wallace were/are too matey with the playing group. Richmond’s culture has been shocking for decades and Lethal will more than sort it out.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 7:48 am
I hear it – but I don’t think that Matthews is interested. Mick Malthouse is the man I’ll be petitioning for (though if Matthews was interested he’d be fine). We desperately need someone who will belt Brett Deledio around the head every time he’s getting lazy, who will drill into the minds of our players that we’re there to play together as a team.
The talk about game-plan is rubbish: there’s not a gameplan in the world that works if you don’t a) pressure defensively, and b) kick to your own players. Wallace does fine in terms of game-plan, but he doesn’t have the player development abilities to actually improve the skills of a decidedly poor kicking team.
There are three things I want from any coach:
1. A culture of discipline. If you don’t tackle once, you get dragged. Twice, dropped. Three times delisted. (OK – maybe not quite, but close)
2. Players who kick to one another.
3. The courage to go backwards to make 1 and 2 happen long term.
I’m 25 and can only remember 1 year where these things were true.
I don’t buy that Malthouse has too much yellow and black in his veins. He came from an era where these things were true of Richmond. I don’t like him as a person but I’m willing to put up with that. I don’t think a Buckley or Campbell could possibly do these things. Brad Scott is a name that I’ve heard bandied around who probably could.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 7:54 am
OK – one more while I’m running hot. The recruiting thing has been done to death, and I think it’s ultimately pathetic. Has Richard Tambling been a better prospect than Franklin? No. Did a number of people think he would be on draft day? Yep. Could a lot of that have more to do with a culture that is lacking in discipline at Richmond than that Tambling is necessarily just not that good? Absolutely.
We’ve sacked Miller. Maybe it’s time we just accept that Richard Tambling isn’t Buddy, and shut up about it.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 8:31 am
so can the same be said for oakley nicholls as well?? Tambling wasn’t my only target, as i made mention Meyer, Pattison and Polo have proven to be pretty poor choices too when you consider the talent that came after them.
You may have sacked Miller but stupid decisions have still been made like trading a top 20 draft pick for Jordan McMahon, plus the drafting of guys like Kent Kingsley and Mark Graham for god’s sake. What’s pathetic is that Richmond have been at the shallow end of the ladder for a quarter of a century yet have failed to build a list capable of playing finals whilst teams like Geelong and Adelaide haven’t had a top 5 selection or priority pick in over a decade yet both regularly play finals. If you want players who can kick to each other then you need to draft players who can kick the bloody footy!!!
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April 23rd, 2009 at 9:13 am
You don’t need to tell me how pathetic that is – I’m yellow and black through and through, but my point is that all of the decisions you’ve listed above came about under the reign of Greg Miller. I’d be happy if Jordan McMahon never played another senior game, but I really do feel that Richmond have dealt with those mistakes in getting rid of Miller, and accepted that the direction those players represented is toxic. And like it or not, the draft IS in lots of ways a lottery. The same draft that brought us Meyer, Pattison and Polo as early picks also brought us Luke McGuane, one of the most underrated tall defenders in the league, at a meagre 36. One pick after Dean Polo, Hawthorn picked Thomas Murphy, and the pick after that the Western Bulldogs picked Jesse Wells. The pick after Adam Pattison, St Kilda picked up Andrew McQualter. But we don’t hear about those players because these teams also had some luck with the other players they drafted – and because these teams have developed the players they have. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_AFL_Draft)
The Richmond recruiting discussion has been done and dealt with. And if they trade away decent draft picks for players with 1 to 2 years left again this year, then you’ll hear me joining your outcry.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 10:52 am
@Geoff – True that some players just do not develop. Even the Eagles who have great success in developing players have picked up duds at times. It is the luck of the draw but most clubs seem to have a higher success rate.
Well T Johnstone has looked a number 1 pick under Voss but struggled playing for the Demons. Scary to think that Tambling could be better than Buddy…
I do think Malthouse could be a good choice as he does have teh hungry to coach which Leigh may not have.
Is this NOt what every player should be doing already?
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April 23rd, 2009 at 11:15 am
“Mistakes are made in recruiting and there is a certain element of pot-luck” this is a quote i made in the above article so i do understand the variables of the draft system.
Miller is not the one to blame. The Hawthorn recruiting blokes did not want to touch Stuart Dew yet Clarkson stuck to his guns and used his authority as the HEAD COACH to get his man. Dew set the GF alight with his mix of aggressiveness and skill and is now a 2 time premiership player.
Wallace should have learnt from his mistakes where he traded and drafted guys like Bartlett, Hunter, Wills and Winmar. He seems to think he has the ability to get more out of these blokes then other coaches but he can’t. His argument that McMahon was once a top 10 player as a junior so should be now is ridiculous. A change of colours does not put weight on your frame or a heart in your chest. Patrick Bowden was another who springs to mind. If he wasn’t good enough too draft as a father-son pick why bother five years later when he had done nothing at the Dogs. Stupid, stupid decisions. miller was able (with the aid of Denis Pagan) to assemble a list capable of 7 straight prelims and 2 flags so he couldn’t have been too bad at his job.
the Richmond recruiting discussion has not been dealt with because your list is STILL a shambles.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 am
Miller was the recruiter. Wallace was the coach. When Miller started he had almost complete control over the list. Your analogy with Hawthorn speaks more about the structure of Hawthorn’s football department than anything else. Richmond haven’t operated like that. Miller was sacked mid-way through last year. Of course the list is still a shambles – there’s only been about 7 or 8 months since Miller was sacked BECAUSE the list is a joke. What I’m saying is that there’s no way they’re going to keep making the same mistakes, because that’s what sacking Miller was all about.
The core of the Roos was coached by Pagan through the Kangaroos then under 18′s side, so I don’t think that Miller is the man to take the credit for that. I’m not saying Wallace doesn’t need to go – if Tigers don’t make the 8 this year then there is no question at all, but I don’t think it’s fair to lump all the poor recruiting decisions on him when I don’t think he had that much to do with lots of them. We’ve effectively turned over our whole recruiting department: that’s why I believe that the discussion is dealt with.
Jermayn, of course players should be doing that, but the fact is that Richmond haven’t ever done that while I’ve been watching them play. And that’s why I suggest number 3: we should be ready to go backwards in order to go forwards.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
For a club to be successful, you need the whole club to be working together just like the whole squad and the different areas of the side working as a team. You need the backline, midfield and Forward line functioning etc.
btw so is recruiting Cousins a bad decision now?
@geoff – Sorry why your comments keep on becoming spam but ill try and have that fixed. If it happens, just leave it and I will get your comment approved…
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April 23rd, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Ben Cousins has both my number 1) Discipline as a player and 2) the ability to kick it to his teammates. So if it’s about changing the culture of the club: then maybe he’s not a bad man to have around. If the younger players learn from him, like that, then it’s worthwhile. I think the verdict is still out.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Yeah agree with that diagnoses about Cousins. From what I’ve read his professionalism of training etc has been outstanding and players like Deledio etc have found it eye opening. I know his training work rate was highly regarded at the Eagles (before the drugs took a real grip on him).
Little things like running on the boundary side of the huddle of players when they do laps around the oval etc.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
we are going to have to agree to disagree on Miller, don’t forget he signed Carey, Longmire and Buckley (Before Brisbane did a backflip)as teenagers. Like with most clubs there have been some great gets, as you mentioned McGuane is very good, Foley, Kel Moore, Thursfield etc, to go with the not so good picks. ok we will move on from the drafting issue, you can’t change what has happened so where to now?? What are your thoughts Geoff on trading the elder blokes, (btw i noticed Garry Lyon stole my article on trading Pavlich), would you be happy to move Bowden, Dr.Pink and dare i say it Richo if the right deal came along?
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April 23rd, 2009 at 1:26 pm
A decent deal for any of those players would be fine, but I can’t see one coming along. Bowden has 1-2 at best in him, and Richo could well be in his last year. Browny might be a chance, but he hasn’t done enough to show other teams that he would be worth trading for a middle-ing pick. More likely is someone like a Shane Tuck or (strange as it sounds) even captain Newman. And like I said, it’ll take someone gutsy enough to make those calls for us to be able to really move forward.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Do not forget we have the Gold Coast team coming in on 2011. Maybe you could offload a few there, as I am sure they will be after a senior player or two.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
good to see we are sort of on the same page Geoff. i think Brown would be a perfect fit for the Swans (in every way, i think he would blend right in down at oxford street.) and they don’t mind giving out picks for established players. Richo could go to the Cats and give Hawkins another year or two to develop. The thing people need to remember is that these guys will be retired in a year or two so why not grab a young kid or draft pick while they still have something to offer to a club closer to a flag.
have always liked Newman and feel you have a solid backline forming with the likes of Thursfield, McGuane, Moore, Raines and Rance (though the latter two need to improve their kicking.) having someone other than Richo to kick to seems to be the biggest problem, that and the lack of depth. a fully fit Richmond is capable of going with anyone, the problem is that now that Cotchin, Coughlan, Cousins, Raines and the likes are out injured there is not much left to cover them. Ruck is a worry too.
This week the Dogs could be without Aker,Welsh,Murphy and Cooney who kicked 140 goals between them last year yet we will still go in as a solid chance to win. It is the depth of the guys at 23-30 on your list that determines whether you play finals or not.
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April 24th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Wallace is a passenger in a bus crash — and the bus is being driven by Richo
“Notwithstanding his seven hundred-odd goals, or his obvious dedication to the Tigers’ cause, or his undoubted physical work ethic, Richo’s status as hugely-favoured hero of the Tiger faithful in spite of his appalling disposal, goal-kicking and decision-making at crucial times simply means that there is no real pressure for the Tigers’ lesser lights to aspire to anything better. Even those, like Andrew Raines, who arrive at the club with silky skills are, within a few short seasons, reduced to virtual turnover factories. Jordan McMahon looks a shadow of the precise deliverer who once played with the Bulldogs.
It will take a turnover of at least a generation of footballers after Richo retires before the Tigers can contemplate the return to a skills-based gameplan.”
Any new coach will have to deal with this cultural back story before being able to move forward. Who, really, would want this poisoned chalice? Will the Richmond board take a chance on another coach, even Matthews or Malthouse, and give then sufficient time to mould a new culture? I think they’ll go for the shortest term they think they can get away with so they have an escape route.
aussierulesblogs last blog post..Of Emperors and clothes . . .
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April 24th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Aussierulesblog – that’s just crap. It’s all Richo’s fault that none of the team can kick to one another. Sorry, but that’s a pathetic attempt at reasoning. There was a reason Jordan McMahon wasn’t getting a game at the dogs before he was traded, and it wasn’t Matthew Richardson. If the way Richo plays really had that much effect, then we’d have the best contested marks in the league, the best work effort, and we’d be pushing for a top 4.
It’s the same stupid reasoning: Freo do badly so it’s Pavlich’s fault. St Kilda go through a rough patch and it must be Nick Riewoldt. Hawthorn have lost a few so why isn’t Luke Hodge carrying the team.
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April 24th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Personally I think Wallace has been great for Richo. Richmond no but Richo yes! Wallace has reinvented Richo from a bad tempered hot/ cold forward to one of the best midfielders in the comp.
Think it may be the coaches and not Richo AussieRulesBlog. While Richo is Richmond, he is not the skills coach (as far as I know), so at the end of the day the lack of skills comes down to the coaches (who pick them in the squad) and the recruiters who draft them…
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April 24th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Geoff, it’s not Richo’s fault, per se. And you make an excellent point on the apparent lack of influence of his good points. I’m not suggesting that he’s intentionally undermining the club’s efforts — that WOULD be stupid. Nevertheless, I think my reasoning stands up. Has there been a time during the Richo ascendancy where the Tigers’ disposal has routinely been quality? Or have two coaches in succession who were themselves pretty ordinary disposers been happy to accept a mediocre standard of disposal from the whole list?
I certainly wouldn’t extrapolate my Richmond/Richo theory to Fremantle, although I think there’s a cultural issue there too.
I’m also not a subscriber to the “Riewoldt is a Superstar” club and I think the Saints may regret their reliance on two deeply-flawed key position players (Riewoldt and Koschitzke).
Hawthorn are clearly hamstrung by injuries and their situation is quite, quite different.
aussierulesblogs last blog post..Of Emperors and clothes . . .
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April 24th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
ok keep in mind that i am very passionate about the RFC but i think aussierules has a valid point. Why is it that for 15 years no other forwards have been able to consistently co-exist with Richo?? He is the ultimate catch-22. on the one hand he bleeds for the yellow and black and you have to admire that enthusiasm but on the other he so demanding of his players that it sucks the forward line dry. Jermayn you stated that wallace had turned him from being bad temepered but again on the weekend he threw his head back in disgust as a teammate did not honour his lead in the last quarter, then when they do kick it to him and he takes the mark, he misses the most important shot of the day!!
if you think of it from the perspective of his teammates, imagine you have the ball on the half forward flank 60 from goal. Richo leads but he is covered and he starts carrying on, the other players aren’t offering much ‘cos they don’t wanna get in his way, then he leads again and under pressure you half heartedly kick at him, no wonder the ball gets turned over. Remember that incident with David Rodan in the goalsquare, Rodan is a neatly skilled player who was trying to do the right thing and give it to Richo but over committed. Richo showed his true leadership skills by berating his little midfielder and Rodan has since gone on to play some exciting footy at Port. Ottens too has been a much better player since he left the Tiges and it would be interesting to hear these guys opinions on whether it was tougher to play next to Richo given the expectations he placed on them. don’t get me wrong i think richo is a wonderful footballer but i also think he is terrible for morale. i stated to a friend in about 94 or 95 that the Tiges would never win a flag as long as Richo was in the side and is it turns out he has only played in one finals series in nearly 300 games, that has to be saying something.
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April 24th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Interestingly enough, there was a media report in 2006 that Wallace had instituted a system of mentors and coaches from within the playing group. Richo was chosen as goalkicking mentor.
Of course my point is not that Richo coaches others in skills, but that his example is accepted, even lauded in many ways, by the football department hierarchy and the club in general, and is therefore an inadvertent example to the rest of the playing group of the standard that is acceptable.
But surely the coach’s job includes honing and developing the skills required? For every Nathan Buckley, with natural skill and the drive to push himself to excel, there are hundreds who need to be directed and instructed. The fact is that after five pre-seasons and four regular seasons under Wallace, the Tigers’ skills haven’t noticeably improved — in many cases they’ve seemed to go backward.
In my post on aussierulesblog (link in previous post), I contrasted Richmond’s skills with those of the Bulldogs under Wallace. That would seem to suggest that Wallace CAN create/coach a skillful team. That four and a bit years later, Richmond’s skills remain ordinary would suggest that there’s one or more factors OTHER THAN Wallace at work. Richo’s position, reputation and standing in the club seem to me to fit the bill. It’s heresy, I know.
In regards to Richo’s more recent midfield role, it seems to me that the role removes a significant source of frustration and anxiety from him — standing in front of goal, with the ball in his hands, with the expectation of thousands weighing heavily on his shoulders. Kicking to a target that can move to compensate for a shank is a much more comfortable scenario. It’s hardly a surprise that such a release from stress sees him playing with the enthusiasm and joy of a new recruit. Sadly, the move means that the team doesn’t have a focus up forward, so he’s regularly required to return to the scene of previous errors.
aussierulesblogs last blog post..Of Emperors and clothes . . .
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April 27th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Ok I cannot understand why Richo is the goal kicking mentor (guessing kicking 700 odd does help) but I doubt it is the reason why they suck so much!
Yesterday I watched a 2000 game featuring the Dogs and they indeed where very skilled, maybe its not Wallace but maybe the Dogs had a different skills coach then who made them skilled.
I do not think its the senior coach that deals with the skills but rather someone else who is employed just for that. Also I think players do not focus enough on skills…
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April 27th, 2009 at 10:50 am
@aussierulesblog – I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure he was named the forward-line mentor, rather than specifically goal-kicking.
And all this talk about Richo carrying on when the ball doesn’t end up in his hands is about three years out of date. The man’s a different player these days, and doesn’t get any credit for having changed his attitude and on-field body language.
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April 27th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
@ Geoff: Fair enough mate. It could have been forward line. I didn’t keep the article. I only have a note I made about it at the time.
Your Tigers looked way better after quarter time — started hitting targets and running to support the ball carrier.
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April 28th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Geoff – i’m not being a smart arse here i sincerely want to know the answer to a question i posed before. given you are an extremely passionate tiger i would like your opinion on why you think no other forward has been able to consistently co-exist with Richo??
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April 28th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I don’t think it’s been completely true, I just don’t think that any of our forwards were ever that talented. I do think that rucks like Ottens and Stafford have both done well enough resting up forward. Pettifer had a good season or two as Richos sidekick and pre broken leg N Brown was getting Brownlow talk as a small forward. But I couldn’t name a forward who played much below their talent next to his big dumb ugliness
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April 28th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I’d respectfully disagree that Ottens has been a much better player at Geelong. 2001 Richmond made the finals almost off Ottens’ back.
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April 29th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Not many clubs can successfully have two power forwards in the one team. Even Kangaroos struggled to fit Longmuire in the forward line with Carey imo.
Personally I do not rate him. Think he is a better ruckman than forward where he played a lot at Richmond but I think his value as an important person for Geelong is over the top.
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April 29th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
i’ll throw a few names at you from the 90′s and 00′s, Mark Merenda, Justin Murphy, Marty McGrath, Andrew Krakouer, Kayne Pettifer, Nathan Brown, Justin Charles, David Rodan and Marc Dragicevic. All with varying degrees of talent yet all have struggled to put more than one or two decent seasons together. you would think being at the feet of one of the hardest working forwards and a bloke who probably gets to more contests then most others would have been easier for them to find the goals more consistently.
Geoff, Were there any of these blokes that in your opinion played below their talent, which ones did you think would be better, which ones disappointed you and are there any that you think that maybe Richo had something to do with them playing below their level of talent?
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April 29th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Players in your list who I believe have played below their level of talent: Nathan Brown, David Rodan, Dragicevic, Krakouer. I’d put both the first three of those down to injury. Rodan got delisted because Richmond mistakenly didn’t think he would come back from knee reco. And he was being developed into a midfielder at any rate. Brown shouldn’t need explanation. Dragicevic did a knee (from memory it was knee) and was never the same player. And I don’t think that Andrew Krakouer had the mental toughness to play AFL football.
McGrath barely played next to Richo – he had bigger issues than who the big forward was. Merenda was average without being amazing – did no better at West Coast. Justin Charles never really played up forward (at least that I can remember).
It seems to me that Jermayn might actually be closer to the money. The under-achievement must have more to do with the ordinary culture at Richmond than the forward you have to crumb off.
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April 29th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
No doubt the culture is atrocious and has been for a long time as it was/has been at the Saints, Dogs, Cats, Demons and any other team that has had a Premiership drought. What perplexes me about Richmond and Richo is the fact that these sides were still capable of playing at least finals. Guys like Leowe, Grant, Neitz etc, were probably not as good as Richo but all were able to lead their sides deep into September. They were all good footballers who made their teammates better players and in a roundabout way i think that is the point i’m trying to get at here. Richmond had talented sides during the 90′s and early 00′s but the senior players like Richo, Wayne Campbell, Nick Daffy were all very selfish players. The biggest problem imo is the fact that Richmond have failed to have a group of blokes lead the club out of it’s cultural problems. Tony Free and Matty Knights were good leaders but who else stands out as a quality leader in the past 15 years?? Geelong have changed their image of being ‘handbaggers’ around through the senior players taking control of the decisions and setting the standard. What standards have been set at the RFC?? The Swans broke a 72 year drought on the back of guys like Kirk, Bolton, Hall, Barry etc setting the standard as blood brothers and doing things the right ways. The Dogs have had some horrendous teams in the last 15 years but the constant was Grant, Darcy, West, Johnson and Smith were all quality people and whilst there were some downtimes they all played finals regularly. There is only one way to change a culture and that is to employ people who are strong enough to recognise what is wrong and have the nuts to stand up and change it and whilst Richo has been a wondeful talent and i applaud him for his changed attitude in the past couple of seasons he has not done enough to lead the club he loves so much out of its culture of mediocrity. That is why i think Matthews is the best fit. If nothing else he will separate the men from the boys and find the true leaders within the club.
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April 29th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
The difference between Richardson and Loewe, Grant and Neitz is Harvey, West, Viney, etc. It wasn’t the key forwards that got these teams into the finals, it was the midfields.
But the culture absolutely needs to be corrected, and Matthews (if available) or Malthouse are ideally positioned to do that.
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April 29th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
so you obviously didn’t rate Knights and Capmbell either??
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April 29th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Not in the same league as Harvey or West and not the same level of second rung players
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April 30th, 2009 at 7:35 am
I think a lot depends not on the top 5 players but rather the 2nd & 3rd tier of players that are in the best 22 and sitting out of the best 22. You look at the Hawks at the moment and they have players like Moss, Tuck, Morton, Thorp etc who did not get much of a game last year. The Eagles had it in Armstrong, Fletcher, Green & Jones etc and the Lions had it in Bolton, Headland, Charman, Bradshaw etc during the 2001-2004 era. & the list is just as big with Geelong and even the Bulldogs to a lesser extent.
Richmond always had talented top 5-10 players but like said before they where selfish, one way runners (did not run back) etc which all added to the bad culture that has built up to the next players. & the players behind the top 5-10 where average to say the best.
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June 5th, 2009 at 9:59 am
It looks like Tommy Hafey agrees with Deano that they need to get Lethal and also Malthouse.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,25589477-23211,00.html?from=public_rss
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June 5th, 2009 at 10:56 am
i don’t mind who they go with as long as he is hard as nails and from outside of richmond. matthews just seems ideal for mine.
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June 6th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Well they ended up going for Jade Rawlings, An outsider to the Richmond club. Good move…
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June 6th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Rawlings makes plenty of sense as interim. Unlikely to get the job long term – leaves the field wide open.
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