The Campaign to Extend Shane Tuck's Contract

[Stylo]

Like a fine wine, Tucky keeps getting better and better with age. If he keeps improving like this he will be in our top 5 players this year IMO.

As such, if the club allows him to retire as was postulated late last year then it will be a massive, immediate blow to our inside capabilities.

In order to prevent this I'm starting a campaign to extend Tuck's contract beyond this year. As a supporter base, it is our duty to convince a player of his pedigree to continue playing until he's a qualified pensioner. He's too important to us to leave now!

In this thread, leave your sentiments and gratitude for all Tucky is to this club and what it would mean to you if he retired at the end of this year.

Please keep going Shane

 

[JAKLAUGHING]

Whats the hurry Tucky...plenty of time left.... ...

 

[Tzatziki_Man]

Keep going!!!

 

[Cotcho]

Top 5 players at the club in terms of importance. Has a good 3/4 years to go. Good luck Tucky and keep smashing them.

 

[Groupie_]

5 year contract tbh

 

[TigerBlood87]

Needs to keep playing until forced out by one of Arnot, Vlastuin or Helbig.

 

[The full package]

I love Tuck, doesn't seem to do anything wrong, kicks good team goals, has a AFL legend dad, has Ablett blood, Tuck will be playing for another 4 years.

 

[JAKLAUGHING]

looking forward to the Father/Son Tucky progeny too...

 

[Harmichael]

looking forward to the Father/Son Tucky progeny too...

Will sign one last 1 year contract so they can play together.

 

[3rdManUp]

With those Tuck genes, he could give Fletch a run for his money IMO
He has been fantastic the last couple of years and that's with the Celiac disease!

I know that he does like the 1 year contracts though so he can't feel complacent and always needs to turn it on on game day. Is a competitor our Tucky and hopefully he rubs off on the next generation

 

[Dyerstraits]

Shane Tuck, you are the epitome of what AFL football is all about, See ball, Win ball, Kick ball.

 

[partycorolla]

Understated importance to our club.... need him for a few seasons yet. Something for the young bucks to aspire to.... Arnott, Conca, Helbig etc..

 

[Madison]

I honestly would love to see him run around for a few more years. Is one of my top 5 favourite players. I think he can go round for 2 more. He has never had speed so that's not a factor.

That article in the age about him recently said he thought about retiring last year cos he was feeling so sluggish and sore during the year, but as that was due to a gluten intolerance I imagine he will have no problems seeing this year through, and hopefully a couple more.

 

[TOOs_Finest]

Subscribed. Someone should ring the club

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

He'll retire at seasons end !

 

[tunksy]

keep him on for another year or two please. is consistent and rarely injured.

 

[carn tigez]

He'll retire at seasons end !

Mods, red card this man.

 

[blaisee]

Tuck , his mum is Gary Abletts' sister, and his dad is the games record holder, Michael Tuck

Gary Snr ( Shanes' uncle ) played until he was a couple of weeks shy of his 35th birthday, and his dad Michael Tuck played until he was 38 years old.

Shane is currently on 162 games and will be 32 years old at the end of this year.

With his genetics I wouldn't rule him out of playing at least another 3 seasons, after this one and topping 250 games. Not bad for a bloke who hasn't played a final ( yet ) has been dropped for a large chunk and didn't play his first game in the AFL seniors until he was 22 years old.

Star

 

[Wally Matera]

We need to get Cotchin and Jack over the line first. Whilst they wont go anywhere, you watch Carlton make a HUGE play for Jack, he wont go, but they'll make us pay.

 

[BF Tiger]

He's not going anywhere.

 

[mellowyellow]

5 year contract tbh

Based on his old mans pedigree anything less then 10 is an insult

 

[cairo tiger]

mad if we dont go after another one year contract with this bloke, also would like to see kids like vlas, arnott and others to come in....balance

 

[Equus]

Tuck is one of those old-fashioned honest footballer.
I love him to bits. He should be given a 1 year contract with option to renew another year.

 

[jreesosb]

Such a legend

 

[Rayzorwire]

From its beginning to its hopefully distant end, Tucky's career has been a great story of guts and determination overcoming adversity.

Delisted from Hawthorn, Shaun Rehn revived his career in the SANFL:

"Shaun Rehn helped me a lot with my footy and he's a big reason why I got drafted, which was good," Tuck said. "The way Rehny made me play was to play my own game and do whatever came naturally. The way he wanted me to play was just to go and play footy - he didn't give me too much structure, which I needed."

After a tough debut year at Richmond and some fallouts with certain teammates and the coaching staff, Tuck was almost delisted by the incoming Wallace football department:

TERRY Wallace sat at his desk with the Richmond list in front of him.

It was October, and a line had already been drawn through 11 names. One more had to go.

That one would be either tough nut Tim Fleming or Shane Tuck, best known as the son of AFL games record-holder Michael Tuck.

It was not an easy call. Fleming was a favourite with Tiger fans and teammates. Tuck had played just three games in his first year at Punt Rd.

Wallace agonised over the decision for 48 hours. Then, he recalled this week, something clicked.

"For 48 hours it was a really difficult decision, but I had one night at home and it became crystal clear that we had to go down one path and one path only," Wallace said.

"I came back to (football director) Greg Miller and said, `Look, this is what's happening: he's gone (Fleming) and he's staying (Tuck)'."

Wallace has said since that knowing Tuck Sr took a while to establish himself as a senior player played a part in his decision. This week he described it as "gut feel".

Whatever the reason, it didn't take long for Wallace to know he had made the right call.

"When I would come down to clean the joint over the summer, there was one bloke here every day and that was Tucky," Wallace said. "In the gym, I thought he was a big unit, and for him to be here in his time, he seriously wanted to play senior footy."

When pre-season training started in earnest, Wallace went from being confident he made the right decision to thinking he might have something special on his hands.

"We started doing some marking drills over summer and he just monstered the other guys who play a similar sort of role," Wallace said.

The Tigers coach said while Shane hated comparisons with his legendary father, the similarities were eerie.

"I had my locker next to Tucky for nine years in my playing days at Hawthorn and they are very similar in personality," Wallace said.

...

After taking on opponents such as Anthony Koutoufides and Scott Burns, the biggest accolade came last week when Wallace let him go head-to-head with Brisbane Lions veteran Michael Voss. Voss was one of Brisbane's best, but Tuck was rated by most experts as best on ground.

"This year I have started every game on the ground and I don't have to worry about it," Tuck said.

"The faith my teammates and coaching staff have shown me has been fantastic."

If Shane needs it, his famous dad is always happy to provide a word of advice. And Tuck Jr said he spoke the way his son plays.

"Dad doesn't muck around and he'll tell it the way it is," Tuck said.

"If I played crap, then he'll tell me I played crap."

But Michael Tuck said those sort of assessments were rarely required this year, and the reasons were simple.

"Mate, he played three games last season and it's all about confidence," Michael Tuck said.

"Terry believes in him, pure and simple."

Some tough years followed, as Coughlan, Johnson, Foley and every ruckman we had succumbed to injury, but Tucky was always there, fighting his heart out in the middle for the club. From playing so injured he couldn't kick with his right foot at all, to being forced to play as our no.1 ruckman and rove his own ball, few mids in the history of the game gave had a tougher run, but despite that, he played 104 consecutive games for the club until Rawlings decided he belonged in the VFL.

Things got tougher for Tucky following the appointment of Hardwick, with the club desperate to trade him rather than use the year remaining on his contract:

RICHMOND midfielder Shane Tuck says he is determined to extend his career at a rival club after confirming the Tigers want to trade him.

The 27-year-old son of AFL games record-holder Michael yesterday spoke of his shock at being told by the club he was no longer a required player.

Tuck, leading the AFL in hardball gets and second in contested possessions mid-year, was on the outer at Richmond as soon as caretaker coach Jade Rawlings took over.

New coach Damien Hardwick is ringing the changes, with up to a dozen players set to be moved on.

...

Tuck yesterday told the Herald Sun he was mystified to be moved on so quickly, but optimistic of finding a new home.

"I am only 27 so I think I have at least three years in me,'' he said.

"They are pretty keen to move me on but, with next year on my contract, if I can't find a trade I will probably end up at Coburg so I am happy to be traded.''

History shows that Tuck stayed after no suitable trade could be found, but relations with Hardwick were difficult, with the latter very reluctant to embrace Tuck's ability to make us a better side:

Hardwick said today many of his key onballers deserved to be dropped after the Tigers' Round 1 defeat.
"If our midfield's not better than last week we're in a lot of trouble, they were very very poor," he said.
"I think we got smashed in clearances by 18, which is a smashing of Biblical proportions.
"So we need our midfield to generate some ball. We had some really disappointing performances in there which we spoke about this week and if those guys get up and going and the ball gets going in our direction it solves a lot of problems."







..."(Tuck) is thereabouts, he had a reasonable game at Coburg last week, it's just a matter of how we fit him in. There's only a certain number of players you can play in those positions."

Hardwick's ambivalence towards Tuck culminated in an end of season meeting where Tuck expected to volunteer to retire:

"I actually retired, believe it or not, at Round 22 last year," Tuck told the Herald Sun.

"I was going to retire because I thought I was going to get the a---.

But his form and his place in our late season revival in 2011, prompted Hardwick to ask him to stay on:

Hardwick, who had taken serious convincing Tuck was up to the demands of the modern game, told him his resignation would not be accepted.


"We had a good chat and he said he wanted to keep a few developed players around," Tuck said.

"He liked the mix and said he was going to play blokes on their merits and not worry about age.

"If you were playing well you'd get a game."

Since the decision to play the best available players was made heading into season 2012, Tucky has gone from strength to strength and at 30 years of age, his current form is arguably the best of his career.

Typically humble about the resurrection of his career, Tuck had this to say:

"I just want to try my best, hang in there and be successful. If you work hard and do the right things, it just seems to work out," Tuck said.

Tucky's always worked hard and done the right things at Richmond and if ever there was a player who deserved a campaign to show him how highly he's regarded and wanted to play on as long as he can, it's surely him.