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19 April 2004 Herald Sun
Scott Gullan
THE LEAD UP:
SMOKESCREEN or not, Danny Frawley's verbal stoush with St Kilda coach Grant Thomas kept the blowtorch off his troubled side for a couple of days.
After going off his tree at the post-game press conference, Frawley showed up at the Tigers' recovery session on the Tuesday morning alongside Shane Morrison to defend his player's honour.
The tribunal then took over the limelight with Saint Steven Baker getting four weeks for his right hook on Kane Johnson that started the extraordinary Thomas-Frawley blue.
With Matthew Richardson already ruled out because of a hamstring injury, Frawley then lost ruckman Greg Stafford at the AFL Tribunal for kneeing.
By this time, the momentum was building about the Richmond-Geelong clash. The loser was in serious trouble, with both coaches in very vulnerable positions.
On Friday, Frawley declared it would be "back to basics" for his team. The short-kicking, stagnant gameplan that was evident against St Kilda would be gone.
"We've had a good hard look at where we are at. I'm looking to a different game tomorrow night and so are the players," Frawley said.
Gameplan/tactics
The biggest question going in was how the Tigers would line-up without Richo.
Jay Schulz, playing his second game for the year and sixth overall, started in the goalsquare with boom recruit Nathan Brown, who made his living at the Bulldogs as a goalkicker, alongside.
Regular defender Andrew Kellaway popped up at centre half-forward with Shane Morrison the other tall presence.
This new structure never really got a chance to get going, with Ben Graham and the Cats bouncing out of the blocks kicking six in a row in the first 20 minutes.
When Graham slotted his fourth at the 20-minute mark, Frawley was forced to move his No. 1 defender, Darren Gaspar, off him.
Gaspar went to Henry Playfair, who kicked a goal and, before long, Gaspar, who has never played forward, turned up at centre half-forward.
By then the horse had bolted and the Cats were eight goals up.
But any chance of a comeback went out the window with the way the Tigers used the football.
Disgraceful. Shocking. Embarrassing.
Players that should have known better (like Mark Chaffey), kept giving it back to the Cats who had only just figured out that moving the ball fast and long was the key to success.
The stats sheet revealed all, with the Tigers having 12 more possessions (314-302), including 18 more handballs. They went inside 50m only three fewer times than the Cats, yet lost by 49 points.
"It really hurts you," Frawley lamented. "To turn the ball over the way we did tonight on this ground.
"You can chase and tackle and harass as much as you like, but our ball use really did let us down . . . it's disappointing."
Clangers
THERE were plenty of embarrassing moments for the Tigers, but sadly captain Wayne Campbell was pivotal to a section of play that summed up his team.
Midway through the third quarter, Campbell had possession in the back pocket and, with nothing on ahead, ran back towards goal and the opposite pocket.
Still none of his teammates offered an option and, with a couple of Cats bearing down on him, Campbell took three steps back across the sanctuary of the goal line for a rushed behind.
The symbolism was significant. All he needed was a white flag to help make the point that the Tigers were surrendering.
In the last quarter, ruckman Ben Marsh found himself in a similar predicament. With possession on the Cats' goal line he decided to handball across to Ty Zantuck, who barely had time to take the ball before he was driven across the line by two Geelong players.
Leadership
PRESIDENT Clinton Casey didn't miss his team's leadership group in his assessment of Saturday night's performance.
"I think you have to say that the leadership group clearly needs to take a long, hard look at themselves," he said on 3AW. "The leadership group could really take a leaf out of (the young players') book and say, `Have a look at these guys, they are standing up'.
"They are the highest paid players in the club and we need them to stand up."
After dumping Richo from a leadership role this season, the eight-man group consists of:
Wayne Campbell (captain): Again found plenty of the ball, but his 22 touches didn't really have any impact and, in the end, his colours were lowered by his opponent, Cameron Ling, who was pivotal in the Cats' win, with 23 touches.
Darren Gaspar (vice-captain): Had an absolute shocker. Was moved from Graham after he kicked four goals in 20 minutes and then moved forward for no result. He's struggling to come back after a serious knee injury last season.
Brad Ottens: Dominated the hitouts, with 32, but the Tigers were smashed out of the middle in clearances. Finished with 15 touches, five marks and two goals, but never threatened to take control of the match.
Kane Johnson: Was tagged by young Cat David Johnson and really struggled. Just eight kicks for the night.
Andrew Kellaway: Started in the unusual role of centre half-forward with no success and quickly ended up back in his regular role as defender.
Greg Tivendale: Battled hard and was the Tigers' leading possession winner with 32. Kicked a nice goal.
Mark Chaffey: Had one to forget with the normally reliable left-footer making numerous kicking errors. Looks badly out of sorts.
Greg Stafford: Suspended for three weeks during the week.
Injuries/excuses
FOR all the bagging Richo gets, the Tigers are hopeless without him. To think some wanted to get rid of him at the end of last year.
The forward line was non-existent in his absence and if it wasn't for the class of Brown (4.3 goals) it would have been even more embarrassing. Having no Stafford took away from Frawley the luxury of playing Ottens forward.
Young gun Mark Coughlan is also obviously struggling with a lower stomach/groin problem and again failed to have his normal impact, despite getting 19 possessions.
"It's frustrating," Coughlan told The Sunday Footy Show yesterday. "We mucked around with the ball a lot which is a trend that has come into our game and the forwards had a particularly bad night."
Kids
DESPERATE to try and salvage something from the wreckage, Frawley managed to pluck the performances of some of his younger players as a token positive.
Tom Roach, in his first game, showed a bit and had 14 touches while Brent Hartigan continues to look like a player who has been around for five years instead of five minutes.
The most exciting part of the Tigers' start has been the improvement of Andrew Krakouer, and he again showed plenty. Along with Brown, they were the only two Richmond players you could vaguely get excited about.
Fall-out
RADIO talk-back was clogged with angry Richmond fans on Saturday night and all of yesterday. Frawley's head was what most wanted, with some even burning their membership tickets.
The unofficial Tiger websites had some rippers, including this one on PuntRoadEnd.com: "90 per cent of our list is total suburban football standard garbage. That possibly explains why crap sides like Geelong beat us by 50 points."
Terry Wallace – the man many Tiger fans want as a replacement for Frawley – was on that theme when summing up the game on 3AW on Saturday night.
"There are blokes in this Richmond team who shouldn't be playing AFL football," he said.
Scott Gullan
THE LEAD UP:
SMOKESCREEN or not, Danny Frawley's verbal stoush with St Kilda coach Grant Thomas kept the blowtorch off his troubled side for a couple of days.
After going off his tree at the post-game press conference, Frawley showed up at the Tigers' recovery session on the Tuesday morning alongside Shane Morrison to defend his player's honour.
The tribunal then took over the limelight with Saint Steven Baker getting four weeks for his right hook on Kane Johnson that started the extraordinary Thomas-Frawley blue.
With Matthew Richardson already ruled out because of a hamstring injury, Frawley then lost ruckman Greg Stafford at the AFL Tribunal for kneeing.
By this time, the momentum was building about the Richmond-Geelong clash. The loser was in serious trouble, with both coaches in very vulnerable positions.
On Friday, Frawley declared it would be "back to basics" for his team. The short-kicking, stagnant gameplan that was evident against St Kilda would be gone.
"We've had a good hard look at where we are at. I'm looking to a different game tomorrow night and so are the players," Frawley said.
Gameplan/tactics
The biggest question going in was how the Tigers would line-up without Richo.
Jay Schulz, playing his second game for the year and sixth overall, started in the goalsquare with boom recruit Nathan Brown, who made his living at the Bulldogs as a goalkicker, alongside.
Regular defender Andrew Kellaway popped up at centre half-forward with Shane Morrison the other tall presence.
This new structure never really got a chance to get going, with Ben Graham and the Cats bouncing out of the blocks kicking six in a row in the first 20 minutes.
When Graham slotted his fourth at the 20-minute mark, Frawley was forced to move his No. 1 defender, Darren Gaspar, off him.
Gaspar went to Henry Playfair, who kicked a goal and, before long, Gaspar, who has never played forward, turned up at centre half-forward.
By then the horse had bolted and the Cats were eight goals up.
But any chance of a comeback went out the window with the way the Tigers used the football.
Disgraceful. Shocking. Embarrassing.
Players that should have known better (like Mark Chaffey), kept giving it back to the Cats who had only just figured out that moving the ball fast and long was the key to success.
The stats sheet revealed all, with the Tigers having 12 more possessions (314-302), including 18 more handballs. They went inside 50m only three fewer times than the Cats, yet lost by 49 points.
"It really hurts you," Frawley lamented. "To turn the ball over the way we did tonight on this ground.
"You can chase and tackle and harass as much as you like, but our ball use really did let us down . . . it's disappointing."
Clangers
THERE were plenty of embarrassing moments for the Tigers, but sadly captain Wayne Campbell was pivotal to a section of play that summed up his team.
Midway through the third quarter, Campbell had possession in the back pocket and, with nothing on ahead, ran back towards goal and the opposite pocket.
Still none of his teammates offered an option and, with a couple of Cats bearing down on him, Campbell took three steps back across the sanctuary of the goal line for a rushed behind.
The symbolism was significant. All he needed was a white flag to help make the point that the Tigers were surrendering.
In the last quarter, ruckman Ben Marsh found himself in a similar predicament. With possession on the Cats' goal line he decided to handball across to Ty Zantuck, who barely had time to take the ball before he was driven across the line by two Geelong players.
Leadership
PRESIDENT Clinton Casey didn't miss his team's leadership group in his assessment of Saturday night's performance.
"I think you have to say that the leadership group clearly needs to take a long, hard look at themselves," he said on 3AW. "The leadership group could really take a leaf out of (the young players') book and say, `Have a look at these guys, they are standing up'.
"They are the highest paid players in the club and we need them to stand up."
After dumping Richo from a leadership role this season, the eight-man group consists of:
Wayne Campbell (captain): Again found plenty of the ball, but his 22 touches didn't really have any impact and, in the end, his colours were lowered by his opponent, Cameron Ling, who was pivotal in the Cats' win, with 23 touches.
Darren Gaspar (vice-captain): Had an absolute shocker. Was moved from Graham after he kicked four goals in 20 minutes and then moved forward for no result. He's struggling to come back after a serious knee injury last season.
Brad Ottens: Dominated the hitouts, with 32, but the Tigers were smashed out of the middle in clearances. Finished with 15 touches, five marks and two goals, but never threatened to take control of the match.
Kane Johnson: Was tagged by young Cat David Johnson and really struggled. Just eight kicks for the night.
Andrew Kellaway: Started in the unusual role of centre half-forward with no success and quickly ended up back in his regular role as defender.
Greg Tivendale: Battled hard and was the Tigers' leading possession winner with 32. Kicked a nice goal.
Mark Chaffey: Had one to forget with the normally reliable left-footer making numerous kicking errors. Looks badly out of sorts.
Greg Stafford: Suspended for three weeks during the week.
Injuries/excuses
FOR all the bagging Richo gets, the Tigers are hopeless without him. To think some wanted to get rid of him at the end of last year.
The forward line was non-existent in his absence and if it wasn't for the class of Brown (4.3 goals) it would have been even more embarrassing. Having no Stafford took away from Frawley the luxury of playing Ottens forward.
Young gun Mark Coughlan is also obviously struggling with a lower stomach/groin problem and again failed to have his normal impact, despite getting 19 possessions.
"It's frustrating," Coughlan told The Sunday Footy Show yesterday. "We mucked around with the ball a lot which is a trend that has come into our game and the forwards had a particularly bad night."
Kids
DESPERATE to try and salvage something from the wreckage, Frawley managed to pluck the performances of some of his younger players as a token positive.
Tom Roach, in his first game, showed a bit and had 14 touches while Brent Hartigan continues to look like a player who has been around for five years instead of five minutes.
The most exciting part of the Tigers' start has been the improvement of Andrew Krakouer, and he again showed plenty. Along with Brown, they were the only two Richmond players you could vaguely get excited about.
Fall-out
RADIO talk-back was clogged with angry Richmond fans on Saturday night and all of yesterday. Frawley's head was what most wanted, with some even burning their membership tickets.
The unofficial Tiger websites had some rippers, including this one on PuntRoadEnd.com: "90 per cent of our list is total suburban football standard garbage. That possibly explains why crap sides like Geelong beat us by 50 points."
Terry Wallace – the man many Tiger fans want as a replacement for Frawley – was on that theme when summing up the game on 3AW on Saturday night.
"There are blokes in this Richmond team who shouldn't be playing AFL football," he said.
