sandeano
24 Jul 2002, 02:01
Caro has been pretty quiet about us lately. Today she makes up for it. Warning: It aint pretty.
From THE AGE
Tigers are wearing the look of the hunted
By Caroline Wilson.July 24 2002
The rot started with a humiliating preliminary final loss last year and has now really set in, says Caroline Wilson.
There is a crisis at Tigerland. It was in Matthew Knights' body language yesterday and his refusal to go quietly; it was in the strain in Danny Frawley's demeanour and Clinton Casey's increasing lack of conviction as a passionate, committed Tiger who knows when silence can be the greatest football weapon of all.
It has been in the massive drop in form by footballers who were all-Australian last year and their failure to show leadership when it counts. Last Friday night against Collingwood not one Richmond player went to the aid of captain Wayne Campbell, who was held so definitively by Paul Licuria that you could almost smell the blood.
The Collingwood players put around a story that the Tigers were fighting among themselves before half-time. If only there was the passion enough among the current playing unit to do so. Richmond has become a team of introverts who have missed the leadership of men such as Brendon Gale and - the albeit quiet - Paul Broderick.
It is telling that the most outgoing bloke on the field appears to be rookie David Rodan. Between them, vice-captain Darren Gaspar and Brad Ottens are earning close to $1 million this season and for this they must be feeling embarrassed. Ottens has gone from the most promising youngster in the game to playing like a newcomer.
Richmond fans applauded the retaining of Gaspar but clearly it should never have come to a showdown in grand final week. The club was stiff to watch its star centre half-back come out of contract in a year he was club champion and the only other club he wanted to go to finished 16th, but if it is true that a deal could have been done six months earlier this was a massive muck-up. Suddenly, the prospect of a 26-year-old on a five-year $2.5 million deal looks terrifying.
The Casey-Brayshaw-Frawley trio inherited a salary cap disaster area, but after three seasons it's time to stop blaming the old guard. Matthew Richardson reportedly knocked back $500,000 at the start of the season and is now being offered closer to $350,000.
Frawley appears determined to keep him, but it is not clear how the administration feels about Richardson. Already this season the erratic star forward has embarrassed the club he loves. Could he cause irrevocable divisions among the Tigers?
To be brutal, the club began to fall apart when it was humiliated by Brisbane in the 2001 preliminary final. The crisis was looming and had been well hidden by the team's on-field achievements during the season. Then came the ridiculous and long-winded Royce Vardy disaster and then the dire decision by Casey to tell the world that Frawley's new contract was performance-based.
The club has had to wear this all season.
There were signs that the off-field unit was struggling when Tony Liberatore clashed with Knights in round two last year.
For a week the club was in panic mode with Casey calling the shots from Queensland, chief executive Mark Brayshaw in constant talks with the AFL and Frawley running the show the only way he knows - straight from his occasionally hasty heart.
Frawley appears the first totally committed coach the club has had in years, but he remains a new boy in this tough game. He is not receiving the support required and clearly the football department is crying out for a strong leader and expert advice. Sydney did, too, and appears to have acted in snapping up Andrew Ireland.
President Casey suffers from football naivete at times but despite his tendency to speak on behalf of the coach too often, he also appears determined to fix things.
Ditto Brayshaw, who has not endeared himself to his players or their managers and who steered the most recent trade period as if in crisis management, but who does appear committed to a flag.
None of the above are the obvious Richmond people (those too have tried and failed) they are trying to be. Frawley at least showed restraint in his verbally gracious comments on Knights, who chose to tell Tiger fans he was going against his will whereas, over at the Whitten Oval, Tony Liberatore blamed his body. It was a telling comparison.
There are rumblings, too, at board level at Richmond where Casey is up for re-election this year. Frawley appears determined to rebuild the team from the bottom, which requires patience from a man committed to winning.
Whether the club can show restraint and leadership at the top and patience in a long-term football sense will indicate whether Richmond can survive.
From THE AGE
Tigers are wearing the look of the hunted
By Caroline Wilson.July 24 2002
The rot started with a humiliating preliminary final loss last year and has now really set in, says Caroline Wilson.
There is a crisis at Tigerland. It was in Matthew Knights' body language yesterday and his refusal to go quietly; it was in the strain in Danny Frawley's demeanour and Clinton Casey's increasing lack of conviction as a passionate, committed Tiger who knows when silence can be the greatest football weapon of all.
It has been in the massive drop in form by footballers who were all-Australian last year and their failure to show leadership when it counts. Last Friday night against Collingwood not one Richmond player went to the aid of captain Wayne Campbell, who was held so definitively by Paul Licuria that you could almost smell the blood.
The Collingwood players put around a story that the Tigers were fighting among themselves before half-time. If only there was the passion enough among the current playing unit to do so. Richmond has become a team of introverts who have missed the leadership of men such as Brendon Gale and - the albeit quiet - Paul Broderick.
It is telling that the most outgoing bloke on the field appears to be rookie David Rodan. Between them, vice-captain Darren Gaspar and Brad Ottens are earning close to $1 million this season and for this they must be feeling embarrassed. Ottens has gone from the most promising youngster in the game to playing like a newcomer.
Richmond fans applauded the retaining of Gaspar but clearly it should never have come to a showdown in grand final week. The club was stiff to watch its star centre half-back come out of contract in a year he was club champion and the only other club he wanted to go to finished 16th, but if it is true that a deal could have been done six months earlier this was a massive muck-up. Suddenly, the prospect of a 26-year-old on a five-year $2.5 million deal looks terrifying.
The Casey-Brayshaw-Frawley trio inherited a salary cap disaster area, but after three seasons it's time to stop blaming the old guard. Matthew Richardson reportedly knocked back $500,000 at the start of the season and is now being offered closer to $350,000.
Frawley appears determined to keep him, but it is not clear how the administration feels about Richardson. Already this season the erratic star forward has embarrassed the club he loves. Could he cause irrevocable divisions among the Tigers?
To be brutal, the club began to fall apart when it was humiliated by Brisbane in the 2001 preliminary final. The crisis was looming and had been well hidden by the team's on-field achievements during the season. Then came the ridiculous and long-winded Royce Vardy disaster and then the dire decision by Casey to tell the world that Frawley's new contract was performance-based.
The club has had to wear this all season.
There were signs that the off-field unit was struggling when Tony Liberatore clashed with Knights in round two last year.
For a week the club was in panic mode with Casey calling the shots from Queensland, chief executive Mark Brayshaw in constant talks with the AFL and Frawley running the show the only way he knows - straight from his occasionally hasty heart.
Frawley appears the first totally committed coach the club has had in years, but he remains a new boy in this tough game. He is not receiving the support required and clearly the football department is crying out for a strong leader and expert advice. Sydney did, too, and appears to have acted in snapping up Andrew Ireland.
President Casey suffers from football naivete at times but despite his tendency to speak on behalf of the coach too often, he also appears determined to fix things.
Ditto Brayshaw, who has not endeared himself to his players or their managers and who steered the most recent trade period as if in crisis management, but who does appear committed to a flag.
None of the above are the obvious Richmond people (those too have tried and failed) they are trying to be. Frawley at least showed restraint in his verbally gracious comments on Knights, who chose to tell Tiger fans he was going against his will whereas, over at the Whitten Oval, Tony Liberatore blamed his body. It was a telling comparison.
There are rumblings, too, at board level at Richmond where Casey is up for re-election this year. Frawley appears determined to rebuild the team from the bottom, which requires patience from a man committed to winning.
Whether the club can show restraint and leadership at the top and patience in a long-term football sense will indicate whether Richmond can survive.