Tambling_30
Senior List
Show stopper
richmondfc.com.au
Sebastian Hassett
5:02 PM Wed 09 April, 2008
THE YOUNG defender on many people’s lips might be Collingwood’s Nathan Brown, but Richmond’s Will Thursfield is already staking his own claim for being one of the most promising young defenders in the competition.
Thursfield has been played on the likes of Brendan Fevola, Nathan Thompson and Anthony Rocca in the first three matches of the year, arguably coming out on top on each occasion.
While each week appears to be a case of ‘Who’s he getting next?’ for Brown, Thursfield, by contrast, is hardly getting the headlines. But he’s getting just as many big roles, and could well be the man identified by coach Terry Wallace to take on Fremantle superstar Matthew Pavlich this Sunday.
“[Pavlich] won them the game last week; he’s just an awesome player,” Thursfield told afl.com.au on Wednesday afternoon.
“I could be in the mix to play on him. I’m not sure about the match-ups this week. I might be an option.”
Some might be overawed by the prospect of taking on the game’s elite forwards, but Thursfield remains unperturbed at the thought of going one-out with the best.
“They’re pretty good players, so it’s a little bit scary at first, but once you do your homework and get your head around it, I find it pretty exciting and personally I enjoy the responsibility of having to play on those fellas,” he said, upbeat at the idea of facing Scott Welsh, Lance Franklin and Nick Riewoldt over the next month.
“Hopefully I can continue to keep going like the way I have been, because things have been going pretty well for me lately.”
The optimism is justified, but it wasn’t always the case. Thursfield, still only 21, has had more than his fair share of obstacles to overcome on the path to an AFL career.
He started football life with the uncertainty of the Tigers’ rookie list, before earning a promotion in 2005 alongside another star in the making, Nathan Foley. But while Foley would make an immediate impression in 2006, Thursfield lasted one game before succumbing to a knee injury.
“At the time it was shattering because I was starting to get a game and establish myself and right at the start of the year, to have that happen, I was pretty disappointed,” Thursfield recalled.
“But I was only 19, and they say it’s better to do it when you’re young and it can heal better. It was pretty bad at the time, but I can look at it all now as an experience.
“I’ve had a few injuries and things like that. They make life a lot harder but I’m enjoying being fit, having a pre-season and I reckon that helps a lot to be injury-free so you can show your stuff.”
Thursfield’s form has largely been overshadowed by the prospect of club icon Joel Bowden being demoted from the senior team – and from losses incurred in the Eureka and Rivalry Round matches against North Melbourne and Collingwood.
“Obviously the end results haven’t been too good, but it’s always enjoyable playing at the MCG in those big games, so it was good from that point of view. But obviously we haven’t played well enough to get the results we needed,” Thursfield said.
“It was a good effort in round one, but the poor starts in our past two games have been really costly for us.
“We’ve been able to break even in the second half for both of those games, but we’re giving away too much of a head start. It’s what we need to work on, and if we can start games the way we finish them, we’ll be playing a lot better.”
Thursfield is adamant training on the maligned Punt Road surface isn’t a huge problem for the players, but acknowledges they’d much prefer to be training over the hill.
“I don’t find Punt Road to be too much of a problem, but it would be nice to train a bit more on the ‘G,” he said.
“It’s getting better as we speak, they seem to be doing a bit more work on it, but we love getting a run on the MCG.”
In light of the Bowden debate, it’s interesting to note Thursfield lists his biggest in-house teachers to be players who were criticised toward the end of their careers, lending weight to the belief that experienced players can sometimes be equally important as mentors for younger players.
”Definitely Darren Gaspar when he was here a huge influence, we got on really well and he taught me everything,” Thursfield said.
“He’d be the one I’ve learned the most of, and I still keep in touch with him.”
“Another one in my first year was Mark Graham, who came over from Hawthorn. He was only there for one year, but he taught me a hell of a lot, and it’s those two who I’ve mainly tried to play like.”
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/6301/Default.aspx?newsId=57638
Keep it up Will!!!
richmondfc.com.au
Sebastian Hassett
5:02 PM Wed 09 April, 2008
THE YOUNG defender on many people’s lips might be Collingwood’s Nathan Brown, but Richmond’s Will Thursfield is already staking his own claim for being one of the most promising young defenders in the competition.
Thursfield has been played on the likes of Brendan Fevola, Nathan Thompson and Anthony Rocca in the first three matches of the year, arguably coming out on top on each occasion.
While each week appears to be a case of ‘Who’s he getting next?’ for Brown, Thursfield, by contrast, is hardly getting the headlines. But he’s getting just as many big roles, and could well be the man identified by coach Terry Wallace to take on Fremantle superstar Matthew Pavlich this Sunday.
“[Pavlich] won them the game last week; he’s just an awesome player,” Thursfield told afl.com.au on Wednesday afternoon.
“I could be in the mix to play on him. I’m not sure about the match-ups this week. I might be an option.”
Some might be overawed by the prospect of taking on the game’s elite forwards, but Thursfield remains unperturbed at the thought of going one-out with the best.
“They’re pretty good players, so it’s a little bit scary at first, but once you do your homework and get your head around it, I find it pretty exciting and personally I enjoy the responsibility of having to play on those fellas,” he said, upbeat at the idea of facing Scott Welsh, Lance Franklin and Nick Riewoldt over the next month.
“Hopefully I can continue to keep going like the way I have been, because things have been going pretty well for me lately.”
The optimism is justified, but it wasn’t always the case. Thursfield, still only 21, has had more than his fair share of obstacles to overcome on the path to an AFL career.
He started football life with the uncertainty of the Tigers’ rookie list, before earning a promotion in 2005 alongside another star in the making, Nathan Foley. But while Foley would make an immediate impression in 2006, Thursfield lasted one game before succumbing to a knee injury.
“At the time it was shattering because I was starting to get a game and establish myself and right at the start of the year, to have that happen, I was pretty disappointed,” Thursfield recalled.
“But I was only 19, and they say it’s better to do it when you’re young and it can heal better. It was pretty bad at the time, but I can look at it all now as an experience.
“I’ve had a few injuries and things like that. They make life a lot harder but I’m enjoying being fit, having a pre-season and I reckon that helps a lot to be injury-free so you can show your stuff.”
Thursfield’s form has largely been overshadowed by the prospect of club icon Joel Bowden being demoted from the senior team – and from losses incurred in the Eureka and Rivalry Round matches against North Melbourne and Collingwood.
“Obviously the end results haven’t been too good, but it’s always enjoyable playing at the MCG in those big games, so it was good from that point of view. But obviously we haven’t played well enough to get the results we needed,” Thursfield said.
“It was a good effort in round one, but the poor starts in our past two games have been really costly for us.
“We’ve been able to break even in the second half for both of those games, but we’re giving away too much of a head start. It’s what we need to work on, and if we can start games the way we finish them, we’ll be playing a lot better.”
Thursfield is adamant training on the maligned Punt Road surface isn’t a huge problem for the players, but acknowledges they’d much prefer to be training over the hill.
“I don’t find Punt Road to be too much of a problem, but it would be nice to train a bit more on the ‘G,” he said.
“It’s getting better as we speak, they seem to be doing a bit more work on it, but we love getting a run on the MCG.”
In light of the Bowden debate, it’s interesting to note Thursfield lists his biggest in-house teachers to be players who were criticised toward the end of their careers, lending weight to the belief that experienced players can sometimes be equally important as mentors for younger players.
”Definitely Darren Gaspar when he was here a huge influence, we got on really well and he taught me everything,” Thursfield said.
“He’d be the one I’ve learned the most of, and I still keep in touch with him.”
“Another one in my first year was Mark Graham, who came over from Hawthorn. He was only there for one year, but he taught me a hell of a lot, and it’s those two who I’ve mainly tried to play like.”
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/6301/Default.aspx?newsId=57638
Keep it up Will!!!
