Richmond at lowest ebb

julzqld

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21 April 2004 Herald Sun

RICHMOND is at its lowest ebb for a long time.

After watching the Tigers play on Saturday night, it's obvious they have serious problems with personnel and playing style.

Be assured, if Richmond continues its current brand of football, there is not a team in this competition it can defeat.

The playing group in general is playing "scared football".

With the exception of a couple of youngsters in Brent Hartigan and Thomas Roach, the Tigers are taking the careful approach. Simply, they're too worried about making mistakes.

The kids are playing with freedom. Those with reputations are being intimidated by the public scrutiny.

The biggest mistake you can make in this game is not being prepared to take a risk. This is Richmond's achilles heel at the moment.

Friday night's clash against Adelaide becomes crucial if the Tigers are to regain some confidence.

Have no doubt, the senior players would be worried sick about their form and where 2004 is heading.

But they must break the shackles and play with freedom if they are to have any success.

A new beginning

COACH Danny Frawley and his men are not the first team to be under this pressure.

Sometimes, we become so overwhelmed by our own problems it is difficult to realise that others have been in the same position.

Last year, Hawthorn and coach Peter Schwab were under siege early in the year for exactly the same reasons Richmond is now.

The Hawks, like Richmond, were over-possessing the ball and playing safety-first, resulting in an ineffective "chip-kicking" game, which stifles a team's natural run and diminishes inside 50m opportunities.

If you play this style of football, it cuts out a team's ability to run and carry through the centre corridor, which ensures that you lose.

If I was Danny this week I would try to take the focus off the positives and, more particularly, the negatives of the past few games and look for an example to show the group that there can be a "new beginning".

A perfect example of this would be to show the group a tape of Hawthorn's Round 11 game against Adelaide last season, where the Hawks turned their situation into a positive for not just that week, but for the rest of the year.

The Tigers play the same opposition in this week's game where a similar outcome is critical.

In that Hawks-Crows game, it was evident from the start that the Hawks were attacking the contest with a different mindset. They threw caution to the wind.

It was obvious they were going to run, bounce and carry the ball through the centre corridor at every opportunity.

Similar to the Tigers, there had not been a Hawk prepared to back himself and run with the ball for a month, but on this day every player selected took up the challenge and started charging through the lines.

The Tigers, ranked 13th in the AFL at running bounces, need to adopt the same kamikaze approach to Friday night's game.

If the Tigers choose to watch the Hawks match, they would not be viewing football perfection, particularly early in the game.

The out-of-form Hawks were run down from behind and still made fundamental errors.

What the boys from Punt Rd would witness is a team down on confidence, but high on persistence and adventure.

Eventually their mistakes diminished as they continued to persist. The brash new style of play paid off.

If the Tigers' playing group decides to play with freedom, it has enough quality players to turn its season around as the Hawks did last year.

Three non-negotiables

1. PLAY YOUR BEST PLAYERS IN THEIR NATURAL POSITIONS

WHEN a club's match committee is under pressure, it tries to manufacture success.

It looks for miracle moves to ignite the group.

At times, these decisions are based more on hope than sound logic.

An example of this was seen on Saturday evening when the Tigers placed Andrew Kellaway, an All-Australian defender, at centre half-forward at the start of the game.

To those who follow the game closely, it seemed highly unlikely to succeed, but to the decision-makers at Richmond it would have been perceived as a brave, calculated risk.

The only way that a team can recover from setbacks is to play its best players in their natural positions.

It may sound simplistic, but when the walls are falling around you, the one thing a footballer wants is to be given the opportunity to play the game that is most natural to him.

2. KEEP QUALITY PLAYERS ON THE GROUND

A MATCH committee needs to "back in" its senior group when the club is in trouble, even if some of these players are struggling for form.

This leaves no doubt in the leaders' minds that they are the ones who will turn the fortunes of the club around.

A gesture of the coaching group's faith is to back them in to remain on the playing arena and not rotate them through the interchange.

A struggling club does not have enough quality players to have the luxury of resting its senior group if it wants to remain competitive.

If the team leaders play midfield and need a break, such as Wayne Campbell on the weekend, he can rest in the goalsquare as a potential multiple goalscoring option.

On Saturday the Tigers on occasions had three quality leaders on the bench at the same time (Campbell, Kane Johnson and Joel Bowden).

3. ASSIST PLAYERS THROUGH TROUBLED TIMES

A COACH spends as much time in organisational and administrative roles as he does as a hands-on teacher.

The coach must always realise that even his most talented player wants guidance and direction.

When that player is out of form he is even more vulnerable and is desperate for a solution to his problems.

Darren Gaspar is going through a horror run. He has just returned from a major knee injury last season and has not been able to recapture past form, which may return if he is given time to re-adjust.

Unfortunately professional football is unforgiving.

He is paid and perceived as the club's No. 1 defender and each week is expected to take on the opposition's premier forward.

In the past three weeks he has been smashed by David Neitz, Fraser Gehrig and Ben Graham.

It is too simplistic to say he is well paid, so therefore must perform. On form he should not be selected on the opposition's best forward.

This is only occurring through status, contract and reputation.

When he fails, he is banished to an unnatural forward-line position, where he is not capable of succeeding -- which only compounds his lack of confidence.

The coaching staff and match committee must help Gaspar regain confidence by giving him roles over the next few weeks that he is capable of performing. They can then increase the priority of opponent as the weeks progress.

At the moment he must play in the backline, but be responsible for the third key forward rather than the best. When he gets a couple of scalps under his belt and his confidence returns, then set him some challenges.

Richmond can not afford to have an All-Australian defender wallowing in a forward pocket or dropped to the VFL.

This problem must be resolved by both player and coach.
 

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oxx

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#2
F-R-A-W-L-E-Y = Laughing stock of AFL.
He's embarrassing himself and his peers.

Wallace is coaching the boys this week from the media u DUD.
What shame you bring upon the RFC Danny.

:mad: ::mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
:mad: :mad: :mad:
 
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#4
It's really obvious that wallace wants to coach Richmond, he is practically drooling at the prospect !!!!

I say bring him on board b4 the hawks sack schwab and nab wallace before us.
 

itsintheblood

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#5
Originally posted by Coach Required
It's really obvious that wallace wants to coach Richmond, he is practically drooling at the prospect !!!!

I say bring him on board b4 the hawks sack schwab and nab wallace before us.
Wallace is THE man after sheedy if we fail to get him. He took the bulldogs from nowhere to almost playing in a grand final.
 
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