Good Knights?

[CJH]

Matthew Rogers was dropped for consistently insipid performances this year. I just wonder if Matthew Knights will be next in line to join him? I am convinced that he has now become a playing liability - oppositions players don't seem to fear him making them look stupid anymore and he doesn't do a lot to hurt them.

On current form I cannot see him going on beyond this year.

I also thought I had a very clear look at the future of our playing list - Coughlan, Rodan and Zantuck all played well and should be given more time in the middle.

 

[diggler]

Knights has had a great career and carried our midfield for years. Unfortunately he has lost a yard of pace and is far to slow to get rid of the ball. Better of at Coburg than MCG.

 

[damnfine]

Originally posted by CJH


On current form I cannot see him going on beyond this year.

I also thought I had a very clear look at the future of our playing list - Coughlan, Rodan and Zantuck all played well and should be given more time in the middle.

Its funny , on the one hand our midfield is at its lowest ebb since 1997 but with these players coming on as well as some good outside types in the side we have potenitally a very good midfield..

Hopefully now they will start to play these guys and others more in the midfield but i hope they can manage them well enough to allow them play good footy till the end of the season..

 

[kretchy]

Agree Knights has got to have a spell back at Coburg. Fiora should also be given some more time in the middle along with the others you mentioned CJH. Poyas also deserves more of a chance.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

knighter has been a great servant for the club however i agree with you chris this has to be his last year and if he honest with himself he should know it as well.go out on your terms knighter go out with dignity.
the problem knighter has apart from playing in the midfield his size dosent warrant a place up fwd.
cheers!

 

[RichmondTiger5]

Knighter is a True Tiger champion but sadly age is catching up with him and after this year he will probley retire.what a shame he will probley never be a part of a Richmond winning grand final team.

 

[nut]

CJH on the money..............

Rodan may eclipse Knights

By MARK ROBINSON

April 30, 2002
FORMER skipper Matthew Knights is under pressure to keep his position in the team as Richmond yesterday began their week of soul-searching.

It's understood Knights will be the topic of long debate at the selection table as coach Danny Frawley tries to find the answers to a brittle Tigers midfield.

Frawley last night forecast changes to a line-up that has been smashed twice in a fortnight, but wouldn't comment on specific players.

Livewire forward David Rodan, 18, has been tipped to play a more significant role in the midfield, possibly at the expense of Knights or Steve Sziller.

"We really haven't had a look at it yet. We'll have a look in the morning and spend a bit of time on it obviously," Frawley said. "We've got to show some faith but we know we can fix up a few things about the way we were playing very quickly."

He conceded the club was under real pressure.

"We all are. We're all in it together," he said. "It's one of those weeks. These are the times you find out a lot about yourself and how well you coach."

The Tigers yesterday took the first steps in identifying problems and solutions when the entire playing list attended a two-hour meeting at Punt Rd. Training had earlier been cancelled.

"It was the game review and we went through it with a fine-tooth comb," Frawley said.

"It was a good, honest and frank discussion about the game and where we're at.

"It was one of those session you don't want to have all the time and I think everyone's walked away with a positive attitude."

Frawley wouldn't back away from accusations his midfield was brittle and needed urgent attention.

"We talked about that issue ... it's a fair comment," he said.

The meeting was followed by a two-hour bowls session at Middle Park Bowling Club and then a team dinner that was also attended by every player on the list.

"We're not shying away from responsibilities. We know we've got a lot of work to do to turn it around," the coach said. "We've been down this road before and we've got to work through it."

Frawley said the two losses, to Fremantle by 66 points and Hawthorn by 42 points, were the result of Richmond losing its accountability.

Last season, where the Tigers made the preliminary final weekend, Frawley often described his team as ugly but effective.

"We've probably got away from our disciplines a little bit," he said. "In the Wizard Cup we were definitely like that. The Collingwood game was a good start for us and I thought we got back to it in the Melbourne game.

"And then we've gone away from grinding out games."

The Tigers will be boosted by the return of key forward Matthew Richardson, while Kayne Pettifer (four goals in the VFL) and Craig Ednie (midfield) were named in the best players for Coburg and could be promoted.
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Tigers face tough call on Knights career

By Caroline Wilson

Danny Frawley yesterday cancelled training at Tigerland, giving every indication that the biggest problem at Punt Road lies in the minds of his players and not their bodies.

The verbal soul-searching that took the place of a physical workout was held in the room the inner sanctum has appropriately re-named the "GR" room after the late Graeme Richmond - the man who tapped Tom Hafey and Francis Bourke (as coaches) and Royce Hart and Kevin Sheedy on the shoulder.

Appropriate because the time has come for Frawley to make a tough call himself, his toughest at the selection table, in fact, since becoming a senior coach, the call that could signal the end of the career of the club's decorated former skipper Matthew Knights.

Knights, at 31 and after 268 games, is at the football crossroads. At the end of last season he was given the choice of taking a pay cut in the short term but extending his contract until the end of 2003. Knights refused the offer. Now, with his current deal up at the end of the season, 300 games is looking a long way away.

From the club's perspective the current form slump coupled with the manner in which the midfield has struggled against the "Big Two" (Brisbane and Essendon) over the past 12 months puts Knights squarely in the match committee's sights. Already David Rodan and Mark Coughlan have more than justified their onball positions and in the VFL, Kayne Pettifer and Craig Ednie are pushing for selection.

A less decorated player - Knights captained Richmond for four years, has two best and fairests and was named on the bench in the club's Team of the Century - would probably be axed for this week's Adelaide game. At best he surely must expect to spend more time off the field.

And at some point, Frawley must bite the bullet and work to develop a new combination in the middle. Hawthorn took the tough decision against Richmond by dropping Shaun Rehn and the following day Geelong's team of kids once again justified Mark Thompson's faith in the long-term view.

Last year, Frawley fell short of dropping Knights but did start him on the bench. In the week leading up to the round-11 Carlton game, the former skipper spent time away from the club contemplating his form and responded with a solid performance against Craig Bradley.

But Knights' form this season would indicate that Frawley's decision has only become tougher with time. Like Garry Hocking before him, Knights is a proud player unlikely to be ready to come to terms with what is becoming increasingly apparent to the rest of the football world. That he is running out of time.

On Saturday, the struggling Hawk midfielder Daniel Harford picked up more possessions on Knights in the first half of the first quarter than he had in the previous fortnight. Like Shaun McManus the previous week, he attacked off a player once regarded as a pivotal bullet in the Tigers' line-up.

Frawley was not known for backing away from issues as a player and since joining Richmond he has responded with unprecedented aggression to off-field indiscretions. In the spring of 2000 he threw himself into retaining Brad Ottens and had he not turned up on Ron Joseph's doorstep two nights before the 2001 grand final with Darren Crocker in tow and pleaded his case as never before, then Darren Gaspar would probably be at Fremantle.

But Knights, from whom he controversially stripped the captaincy after his first season as coach, is testing him once again.
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Looks like you could be on the money CJH...............sad but he needs something to get him stirred up again if he is to continue.

 

[TheFoxhat]

All players have to be accountable not just sh1t canning knighter
They all need to go to the room of mirrors

 

[TigerGar]

Knighter

Originally posted by TheFoxhat
All players have to be accountable not just sh1t canning knighter
They all need to go to the room of mirrors

You are partly right, not just the players but the coaching staff as well (Re: Frawley on Ottens). Maybe players are not putting good games together because they are being played out of position.

We have the players but we must know how to use them in their most productive position. Try using Knighter off the bench as a pinch hitter forward similar to Brodders last year. Play the Young rookies more(Re: Geelong), have faith, they'll either make it (add another dimension to the team) or break it (opportunity for someone else). Stringing rookies along on the bench can be confidence sapping to them, and leaves everyone guessing on their viability to the team.