Toast Alan Richardson

[SaintLex]

Credit to this guy, he is one of our better appointments in the past few years (Finnis aside).

The most important thing for a coach is to have the players on side and willing to play for you, and the game against the bulldogs showed that the Saints players are absolutely buying into what Richo is selling.

In his post-game interview, Billings mentioned that Richo hardly said anything at the HT break, just told the players to show him what the club means to them; that was motivation enough to turn around a 55 point deficit and keep coming after the Dogs kicked the first two of the last.

Armo is in career best form, and in his interview on the Sunday Footy Show on ch 9, he mentioned that this stemmed from Richo's belief and encouragement that instilled the idea that he could become one of the comp's premier mids.

Robbo also credits Richo's words as a key part of his resurgence this year:

Funnily enough, when he was at his lowest ebb, about halfway through last season, it was a familiar face that spurred him on.

“Richo had a similar sort of injury when he played, so he was really good about it and understood how hard it was to get right,” Roberton said.

“He understood where I was coming from because he’s been through it. This gave me some comfort even though I knew that physically I was struggling.”

Add Longer and Bruce to the list of Saints players in career best form this year.

I haven't always agreed with some of the selection and in-game decisions, but there's no doubt Richo has pure buy in from the players, and that is worth its weight in gold.



Bonus pic of Richo looking like a proud father after the Doggies game.

 

[crasha301]

Credit to this guy, he is one of our better appointments in the past few years (Finnis aside).

The most important thing for a coach is to have the players on side and willing to play for you, and the game against the bulldogs showed that the Saints players are absolutely buying into what Richo is selling.

In his post-game interview, Billings mentioned that Richo hardly said anything at the HT break, just told the players to show him what the club means to them; that was motivation enough to turn around a 55 point deficit and keep coming after the Dogs kicked the first two of the last.

Armo is in career best form, and in his interview on the Sunday Footy Show on ch 9, he mentioned that this stemmed from Richo's belief and encouragement that instilled the idea that he could become one of the comp's premier mids.

Robbo also credits Richo's words as a key part of his resurgence this year:


Add Longer and Bruce to the list of Saints players in career best form this year.

I haven't always agreed with some of the selection and in-game decisions, but there's no doubt Richo has pure buy in from the players, and that is worth its weight in gold.

View attachment 133985

Bonus pic of Richo looking like a proud father after the Doggies game.

I spoke to Leigh brown about him a couple of weeks back and his said his one of the best development coaches in the business and is surprised its taken this long for him to get a senior gig.

 

[busso_mick]

I am a huge fan of Richo and would love to see him associated with our club for a long time. I am not sure what his length of contract is but I would suggest an extension might be in the offing if our development is maintained in it's current direction. The faith he has showed in our young guys is very courageous for a new coach and the fact that we had a huge commitment in contract extensions in between seasons by a younger brigade is testament to his value. I am very confident with him at the helm at the moment.

 

[Cannavaro20]

Toast to richo yes.

But shouldnt we toast Pelchen as well?

 

[SK_MD_#7]

Love that picture of him smiling after the match.

 

[Munga]

Toast to richo yes.

But shouldnt we toast Pelchen as well?

Yeah it's a whole bunch of people that make success possible. Trading intelligently to get better picks. Scouting to be able to effectively use those picks. Developing the guys you get with those picks. And matchday. And facilities. Sponsors. Etc...

Seems we are just about nailing it all.

 

[Defacto]

good early start. speaks very well.

good test will be for him to bring out the things that made the players great and why we drafted them, last thing we need is a dimma type development where every player ends up very vanilla and soldier like, and we just end up in and around the 8

i want to see more of what happened with billings on the weekend. i want to see more of what he and the coaching staff have been able to do with bruce (that capper sure was the turning point). i want to see more of what he's been able to do with david armitage and savage

some things i really want to see:
i'd love to see the line breaking highlights we saw in josh saunders draft package come out on game day
i'd love to see spencer white come out and stamp himself on a game and show that run he had in his draft highlights
i'd love to see eli adapt to the tough stuff, start to stick some tackles and show that he can play on the wing
i'd love to see him turn acres into a genuine tall midfielder that can play either end

 

[hayes]

Toast to richo yes.

But shouldnt we toast Pelchen as well?

Not when the thread title is Alan Richardson.

 

[hayes]

good early start. speaks very well.

good test will be for him to bring out the things that made the players great and why we drafted them, last thing we need is a dimma type development where every player ends up very vanilla and soldier like, and we just end up in and around the 8

i want to see more of what happened with billings on the weekend. i want to see more of what he and the coaching staff have been able to do with bruce (that capper sure was the turning point). i want to see more of what he's been able to do with david armitage and savage

some things i really want to see:
i'd love to see the line breaking highlights we saw in josh saunders draft package come out on game day
i'd love to see spencer white come out and stamp himself on a game and show that run he had in his draft highlights
i'd love to see eli adapt to the tough stuff, start to stick some tackles and show that he can play on the wing
i'd love to see him turn acres into a genuine tall midfielder that can play either end

Unless Richo teaches Saunders how to kick I don't think we'll be seeing much of him no matter how fast he runs. Couldn't hit the ocean if he was sitting in a boat. Same as Wright unfortunately.

 

[Present Not Past]

I am hoping Alan will be our next premiership winning coach

 

[Mowman]

Good thread

Very happy with Richo so far, I believe the Saints have a very honest coach who seems to talk a lot of common sense and a very level headed coach

 

[SaintLex]

Toast to richo yes.

But shouldnt we toast Pelchen as well?

Absolutely yeah.

Richo, Finnis and the combination of Pelch/Trout/Bains all deserve credit in our club's push up the ladder.

 

[Barrels]

Credit to this guy, he is one of our better appointments in the past few years (Finnis aside).

The most important thing for a coach is to have the players on side and willing to play for you, and the game against the bulldogs showed that the Saints players are absolutely buying into what Richo is selling.

In his post-game interview, Billings mentioned that Richo hardly said anything at the HT break, just told the players to show him what the club means to them; that was motivation enough to turn around a 55 point deficit and keep coming after the Dogs kicked the first two of the last.

Armo is in career best form, and in his interview on the Sunday Footy Show on ch 9, he mentioned that this stemmed from Richo's belief and encouragement that instilled the idea that he could become one of the comp's premier mids.

Robbo also credits Richo's words as a key part of his resurgence this year:


Add Longer and Bruce to the list of Saints players in career best form this year.

I haven't always agreed with some of the selection and in-game decisions, but there's no doubt Richo has pure buy in from the players, and that is worth its weight in gold.

View attachment 133985

Bonus pic of Richo looking like a proud father after the Doggies game.

Loved that shot when I saw it on AFL360...

The coach we've been waiting 49 years for IMO.

 

[Simple Jack]

That shot is infectious. It gives me a massive beaming smile every time I see it. All aspects of the club are killing it atm. It just makes me wonder how long until it all falls apart (frankly I thought señor Pelican leaving on the eve of the draft was going to be the start). I'd be thinking about backing him in for a few years. Stability with the head coach is extremely important in making the final step.

 

[Saint Luke]

Couldn't be more wrapt with Richo. He is exactly what a young team needs. Paul Roos, someone I have endless respect for, has talked about trying not to be emotional and being honest more often. Richo is already there in that department. Despite that, he clearly shows he is invested in their success and isn't completely a robot.

Again on Roos, he was saying on 360 that Richo is doing things exactly the right way and that it was similar to what McCartney did at the Dogs. I think the big difference there is that Richo is much more in tuned with strategy.

One answer I particularly loved was when Richo was asked if this win against the Dogs gave him confidence in strategy being a new coach, and he said that one of the benefits to his background was that he walked in to the job after being Director of Coaching at Port, which he said was a highly strategic role, knowing exactly what he wanted from the beginning. That comfort from the beginning will serve him really well.

Considering the near panicked fashion in which we got him, we sure did do an excellent job in finding a candidate.

 

[dewah07]

Ripper devolment coach, but by the time we are contending the game will have changed and it'll be up to him to change with the times, that's the only Q I have on him.

I feel hiring a head of coaching (like bev was going to be) is the next major appointment our club needs outside of players.

 

[Periphery]

I love Richo and the way he goes about it.

David Parkin once said on league teams that Richo is one of the best talent developers the game has seen. Bucks said something similar on 360 the other night and the on field development of our kids so far is tending to agree (although it's still very early).

It all makes me feel that if players are being played in the VFL (Saunders, Lee, White etc) then it's because they have things they genuinely have things they need to improve/develop for them to reach their full potential. It makes me less inclined to think that Richo has 'favorites' or players he just wont play. He seems like a very level headed and rational coach that looks for the potential in each player. Whether the 'fringe' players can handle this is another matter. But I get the feeling that he is a good people manager and he's clearly been successful in selling the plan to the rest of the team. So why wouldn't he be able to sell his development vision to individual players?

 

[VDS66]

Well his 2 key moves on Saturday weren't that if you ask me.

Have a read of today's Age.

1: Roo up the ground on wing and 3rd man up.

2: small forwards to stay forward of the ball and not drift back. Get the ball forward at all costs at clearances and let the smalls take care of the rest.

Not bad for a lousy development coach.

 

[Mowman]

I love Richo and the way he goes about it.

David Parkin once said on league teams that Richo is one of the best talent developers the game has seen. Bucks said something similar on 360 the other night and the on field development of our kids so far is tending to agree (although it's still very early).

It all makes me feel that if players are being played in the VFL (Saunders, Lee, White etc) then it's because they have things they genuinely have things they need to improve/develop for them to reach their full potential. It makes me less inclined to think that Richo has 'favorites' or players he just wont play. He seems like a very level headed and rational coach that looks for the potential in each player. Whether the 'fringe' players can handle this is another matter. But I get the feeling that he is a good people manager and he's clearly been successful in selling the plan to the rest of the team. So why wouldn't he be able to sell his development vision to individual players?

If I remember correctly last year Bruce played a few games as forward for Sandy and a few of us (myself included) say he is a defender what the hell are they doing, I just think a lot of the young guys are getting a lot of education on how to play AFl which is a great thing

 

[VDS66]

I love Richo and the way he goes about it.

David Parkin once said on league teams that Richo is one of the best talent developers the game has seen. Bucks said something similar on 360 the other night and the on field development of our kids so far is tending to agree (although it's still very early).

It all makes me feel that if players are being played in the VFL (Saunders, Lee, White etc) then it's because they have things they genuinely have things they need to improve/develop for them to reach their full potential. It makes me less inclined to think that Richo has 'favorites' or players he just wont play. He seems like a very level headed and rational coach that looks for the potential in each player. Whether the 'fringe' players can handle this is another matter. But I get the feeling that he is a good people manager and he's clearly been successful in selling the plan to the rest of the team. So why wouldn't he be able to sell his development vision to individual players?

Here's the thing...

All coaches have a game plan philosophy. The ability to build the list and get them to execute it is the hard part.

Just look at GT and Lyon. When the opposition asserted itself, we lost. When we controlled it, we won.

Good teams play on their terms. That's what we should aspire to... Saints Footy!

 

[Dopey BJ]

If I remember correctly last year Bruce played a few games as forward for Sandy and a few of us (myself included) say he is a defender what the hell are they doing, I just think a lot of the young guys are getting a lot of education on how to play AFl which is a great thing

Hmmm that makes me wonder what Tom Lee might look like if he gets a crack at AFL level in the back line

 

[Strahany]

All the talk about Richo is that he is an excellent youth developer, but I've not heard much about him being a good coach, period. Of course, this is just arguing semantics, and it will be some time before any kind of judgement can be made, but do we think there is the possibility that he is much like Grant Thomas (great developer but not quite up to scratch on game day) and we may need Lyon 2.0?

I hope not, but food for thought.

 

[Mowman]

All the talk about Richo is that he is an excellent youth developer, but I've not heard much about him being a good coach, period. Of course, this is just arguing semantics, and it will be some time before any kind of judgement can be made, but do we think there is the possibility that he is much like Grant Thomas (great developer but not quite up to scratch on game day) and we may need Lyon 2.0?

I hope not, but food for thought.

Someone that will get us close again and wreck our list

 

[Strahany]

I was more implying the tactician style of coach!

 

[Periphery]

Here's the thing...

All coaches have a game plan philosophy. The ability to build the list and get them to execute it is the hard part.

Just look at GT and Lyon. When the opposition asserted itself, we lost. When we controlled it, we won.

Good teams play on their terms. That's what we should aspire to... Saints Footy!

Gameplan/philosophy wasn't really what my post was about. It's clearly too early to tell if Richo's gameplan will be able to win a flag, but I think he seems to have the right idea over the basics so far. We are clearly focusing on work-rate (defensive probably most important), pressure/contested footy and being willing to take risks. While I'm about a million miles from being a AFL coach, those three things are the cornerstone of a successful gameplan. Getting players to fully commit to those three things is half the battle. Richo being such a highly regarded development coach will play a major part in the long term success of the team.