mellowyellow
𝑅𝐹𝒞
4:41:13 PM Fri 10 December, 2004
Richmond coach Terry Wallace will structure the Tigers’ forward line for next season around potential multiple goalkickers.
Wallace, aiming to avoid putting all the Yellow and Black eggs in the ‘Richo’ basket, wants to develop several viable goalscoring options.
“I’m really keen to make sure that we have forwards who are threatening,” Wallace wrote in the December issue of the Richmond members’ newsletter, ‘The Fighting Tiger Bulletin’.
“They have to be potential multiple goalkickers because if you haven’t got players who are threatening in your forward structure, sides are so good at zoning off nowadays that they’ll just chop you up.”
Wallace has a clear view on where the Tigers’ No. 1 forward, Matthew Richardson, is best suited in the team’s front half.
“What I’d like to do with Matty Richardson is play him out at half-forward,” Wallace said.
“I just think that when he plays solely deep, the opposition can actually plan for him to be there and double-team – or sometimes even triple-team – him.
“If Richo plays out across the forward 50, it allows us to get him one-out with his direct opponent more often, whether that be working back towards the goals, which he’s very good at doing, or just being further up the ground.
“My whole aim is to try to get him one-out with his direct opponent because from a contested marking point of view, with his power and his strength, he just doesn’t get beaten when he gets those opportunities.”
Wallace is looking at other players, such as Nathan Brown, Andrew Krakouer, Wayne Campbell, Troy Simmonds and Greg Stafford, to add the required potency to the Tigers’ forward mix in ’05.
“I see Nathan Brown as being a player who should be kicking 35-plus goals for the season. That doesn’t mean he won’t spend time in the midfield, too, but he clearly has the ability to be the type of threatening forward we’re looking for.
“Andrew Krakouer also has a natural instinct around the goals as a crumbing forward, but he needs to raise the bar in this regard and become a 25-plus goalkicker for us next season if we’re going to become a consistently higher-scoring side . . .
“I think Wayne Campbell has shown in the past that he’s very smart coming out of the goal square. He’ll be used in that type of role fairly regularly next year and certainly will be working during the pre-season as a leading forward, learning the tricks of the trade in that region.
“Troy Simmonds will also spend time in attack. Specifically, the reason we got him to the Club was to replace Brad Ottens. I think he’s a very, very good replacement because he can go forward and kick goals as he’s done over the past couple of years, but he can also be the ruck option for us.
“Greg Stafford is another big man who has shown he can be quite dangerous when ‘resting’ up forward. He’s such a strong mark and a reliable kick for goal as well . . .
“So, when you look at all that, we’ve probably got four or five players there straight away, who are capable of kicking multiple goals, which is a real plus.”
Richmond coach Terry Wallace will structure the Tigers’ forward line for next season around potential multiple goalkickers.
Wallace, aiming to avoid putting all the Yellow and Black eggs in the ‘Richo’ basket, wants to develop several viable goalscoring options.
“I’m really keen to make sure that we have forwards who are threatening,” Wallace wrote in the December issue of the Richmond members’ newsletter, ‘The Fighting Tiger Bulletin’.
“They have to be potential multiple goalkickers because if you haven’t got players who are threatening in your forward structure, sides are so good at zoning off nowadays that they’ll just chop you up.”
Wallace has a clear view on where the Tigers’ No. 1 forward, Matthew Richardson, is best suited in the team’s front half.
“What I’d like to do with Matty Richardson is play him out at half-forward,” Wallace said.
“I just think that when he plays solely deep, the opposition can actually plan for him to be there and double-team – or sometimes even triple-team – him.
“If Richo plays out across the forward 50, it allows us to get him one-out with his direct opponent more often, whether that be working back towards the goals, which he’s very good at doing, or just being further up the ground.
“My whole aim is to try to get him one-out with his direct opponent because from a contested marking point of view, with his power and his strength, he just doesn’t get beaten when he gets those opportunities.”
Wallace is looking at other players, such as Nathan Brown, Andrew Krakouer, Wayne Campbell, Troy Simmonds and Greg Stafford, to add the required potency to the Tigers’ forward mix in ’05.
“I see Nathan Brown as being a player who should be kicking 35-plus goals for the season. That doesn’t mean he won’t spend time in the midfield, too, but he clearly has the ability to be the type of threatening forward we’re looking for.
“Andrew Krakouer also has a natural instinct around the goals as a crumbing forward, but he needs to raise the bar in this regard and become a 25-plus goalkicker for us next season if we’re going to become a consistently higher-scoring side . . .
“I think Wayne Campbell has shown in the past that he’s very smart coming out of the goal square. He’ll be used in that type of role fairly regularly next year and certainly will be working during the pre-season as a leading forward, learning the tricks of the trade in that region.
“Troy Simmonds will also spend time in attack. Specifically, the reason we got him to the Club was to replace Brad Ottens. I think he’s a very, very good replacement because he can go forward and kick goals as he’s done over the past couple of years, but he can also be the ruck option for us.
“Greg Stafford is another big man who has shown he can be quite dangerous when ‘resting’ up forward. He’s such a strong mark and a reliable kick for goal as well . . .
“So, when you look at all that, we’ve probably got four or five players there straight away, who are capable of kicking multiple goals, which is a real plus.”
