One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: mightytiges on October 22, 2004, 03:38:16 AM
-
Twist could send Zantuck into draft
22 October 2004
Herald Sun
Mark Stevens
TY ZANTUCK has almost certainly played his last game at Richmond – even though he still has one year of a contract to run at Punt Rd.
In a twist to the Zantuck saga, the rugged defender could yet find a new home via the national or pre-season draft.
Although the Tigers would not comment on Zantuck's future yesterday, it is understood they are happy to move on without him.
It is believed the Kangaroos head the list of clubs still interested in the 22-year-old. Essendon could be another option to re-start his career.
Zantuck would have been at Windy Hill had the Tigers and Bombers not been 30 seconds late with the paperwork on the final day of trade week.
For any move to come off, both Zantuck and the Tigers must agree to part ways.
Zantuck's contract would be terminated and he would be delisted. He would then have the option of nominating for either or both drafts.
But Zantuck would not lose out financially.
It is understood Zantuck could soon receive an offer from a rival club to pay out the final year of his contract and pick him up in the draft.
In that case all parties will win: Zantuck will find a home where he is wanted and the Tigers will move their unwanted man on without having to pay out his contract.
It is not a breach of the rules provided Zantuck and Richmond come to an arrangement.
It would be a similar case to Sean Wellman walking away from football with a year to run on his contract at Essendon.
But under the rules, the Tigers cannot negotiate a deal with a rival club – that is the domain of trade week.
All negotiations must be confined to Zantuck, his management and his suitors.
Zantuck's manager Anthony McConville last night said any talk about the move remained hypothetical.
"This scenario could happen with any contracted player, to be honest. He's no different," McConville said.
But McConville hinted the ball was in the Tigers' court.
"He's contracted. That's where it stands at this point of time," McConville said.
"Outside of that, decisions will have to be made from Richmond.
"A club and player could come to an arrangement to leave the door open to be picked up in the national or pre-season draft – not that it has happened in the past."
Zantuck managed 14 games last year for a career total of 68. He lost his way as the Tigers claimed the wooden spoon, struggling with on-field discipline.
The Kangaroos were the first to show interest in Zantuck during trade week, but no deal could be struck.
Essendon came in late, but missed getting Zantuck – who was on holiday in New York as the drama unfolded.
When the deal fell through, Tigers football director Greg Miller made it clear Zantuck had wanted out.
"You've got a player who doesn't want to play for Richmond and wants to play at Essendon and he's with Richmond now," Miller said at the time.
"That's unfair for the player, I guess. Essendon should've moved a bit earlier. It was Ty who wanted to leave us."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,11148147%255E20322,00.html
-
Zantuck's contract would be terminated and he would be delisted. He would then have the option of nominating for either or both drafts.
But Zantuck would not lose out financially.
It is understood Zantuck could soon receive an offer from a rival club to pay out the final year of his contract and pick him up in the draft.
In that case all parties will win: Zantuck will find a home where he is wanted and the Tigers will move their unwanted man on without having to pay out his contract.
It is not a breach of the rules provided Zantuck and Richmond come to an arrangement.
That makes sense. His final year's salary would still count towards our salary cap although we won't be forking out for it but as we will be reducing our TPP to 97% we have plenty of room under the cap to fit this nominal amount in.
-
Zantuck decision set to hit draft
By Stephen Rielly
October 26, 2004
A firmer outline of the pre-season draft landscape is likely to emerge within the next six days, with Richmond meeting Ty Zantuck today and Patrick Bowden's intentions to be known by Monday, when the Western Bulldogs begin pre-season training.
Richmond's director of football Greg Miller is to meet with Zantuck and his management this afternoon to discuss ways in which the disgruntled defender can take the last year of his $250,000-a-season contract elsewhere.
Zantuck and the Tigers agreed to part last month but were left with one another when deals mooted with the Kangaroos and Essendon during the trade period foundered.
Zantuck was in New York at the time on a holiday and will speak with Miller for the first time since returning to Melbourne last week about an unusual eleventh hour exit from Punt Road.
Essentially, if a new club commits to drafting Zantuck in December, the Tigers can delist him and not carry the full weight of his contract.
"All I can say is that we are meeting to sort through the issues," Miller said yesterday.
The outcome of today's discussions are certain to have a large bearing on the pre-season draft, for, if Zantuck remains at Richmond, the Tigers are unlikely to have a great deal of money to spend on an uncontracted player.
If he departs, they may be able to raise their sights and consider a player such as Brisbane ruckman Clark Keating, who is yet to agree to terms with the Lions.
Zantuck's future will certainly affect that of Bowden, who has a two-year offer from the Bulldogs before him, a new deal that is understood to enable him to earn $350,000 over seasons 2005-06.
With interest from Richmond, where older brother Joel has been entrenched for nine years, he has to date declined to commit to the deal and the Bulldogs believe they will know of his plans if he is absent next week.
With the first pick in the pre-season draft, the Tigers can offer Bowden a certain path to Punt Road if he, and they, decide to come together.
Richmond spoke with Bowden in early September, as it did with Lindsay Gilbee when he indicated he was keen to leave Whitten Oval, but has made no firm pre-season offer for the 191-centimetre forward while the calibre of player available in that draft remains uncertain.
Keating and Ashley McGrath remain uncontracted, with Collingwood declaring its interest in the 21-year-old Brisbane defender.
http://realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/10/25/1098667692407.html
-
Richmond's director of football Greg Miller is to meet with Zantuck and his management this afternoon to discuss ways in which the disgruntled defender can take the last year of his $250,000-a-season contract elsewhere.
I find it hard to see most other clubs picking Ty up for $250K a season :P. We may end up still forking out say $50K next year even if he goes to another club.
If he departs, they may be able to raise their sights and consider a player such as Brisbane ruckman Clark Keating, who is yet to agree to terms with the Lions.
While Keating has shown he steps up in the big games as a ruckman especially in the finals, he misses many games during the year through injury. With Stafford also near the end of his career and a young ruckman draftee starting his, we really need someone who'll play most of the next couple of seasons otherwise we could end up with too much workload left to Simmonds.
-
Richmond's director of football Greg Miller is to meet with Zantuck and his management this afternoon to discuss ways in which the disgruntled defender can take the last year of his $250,000-a-season contract elsewhere.
I find it hard to see most other clubs picking Ty up for $250K a season :P. We may end up still forking out say $50K next year even if he goes to another club.
If he departs, they may be able to raise their sights and consider a player such as Brisbane ruckman Clark Keating, who is yet to agree to terms with the Lions.
While Keating has shown he steps up in the big games as a ruckman especially in the finals, he misses many games during the year through injury. With Stafford also near the end of his career and a young ruckman draftee starting his, we really need someone who'll play most of the next couple of seasons otherwise we could end up with too much workload left to Simmonds.
This is the reason I would rather pick up McKee rather than Ackland. Ackland might be young but is VERY injury prone (look at his record) at least with McKee he will probably play every game and we need a ruckman that we know can do that.
-
While Keating has shown he steps up in the big games as a ruckman especially in the finals, he misses many games during the year through injury. With Stafford also near the end of his career and a young ruckman draftee starting his, we really need someone who'll play most of the next couple of seasons otherwise we could end up with too much workload left to Simmonds.
This is the reason I would rather pick up McKee rather than Ackland. Ackland might be young but is VERY injury prone (look at his record) at least with McKee he will probably play every game and we need a ruckman that we know can do that.
I agree about Ackland RR. Reminds me of Paddy Steinfort's career. Add to that he appeared to struggle at SANFL level this year.
The worry with McKee from my point of view is that the new ruck rules ("Primus" rule) seem have nobbled him. Malthouse said so much earlier this year. McKee likes to step across into the path of the opposing ruckman's run up and jump. Problem is now you're not allowed to do that anymore.
-
Yeah the "Primus rule" has stuffed him about quite a bit. Perhaps Stafford can take the centre bounces and McKee can follow the ball around the ground for throw ins and ball ups. McKee has improved quite a bit from when he was last with us in the around the ground stuff, he's got pretty good hands and can mark the ball and kick goals.
However the chances of us getting him are probably remote as in a few newspaper articles I've read he is being courted by the Saints and Carlton in the PSD. If we picked Bowden with our first pick then McKee would probably be gone by the time our second pick came about.
-
Richmond's director of football Greg Miller is to meet with Zantuck and his management this afternoon to discuss ways in which the disgruntled defender can take the last year of his $250,000-a-season contract elsewhere.
I find it hard to see most other clubs picking Ty up for $250K a season :P. We may end up still forking out say $50K next year even if he goes to another club.
I find it hard to believe that Ty's on $250K a season. :o :o
;D
It would be nice to be earning that sort of money. I could buy a couple of those $8000 President Club Coterie memberships - OK - 3 I'd buy 3 ;D
-
However the chances of us getting him are probably remote as in a few newspaper articles I've read he is being courted by the Saints and Carlton in the PSD. If we picked Bowden with our first pick then McKee would probably be gone by the time our second pick came about.
KB had McKee on his SEN show this morning. KB asked McKee if any clubs had spoken to him as a few were in need ruckman compared to the Pies and McKee quickly replied that Richmond had shown a fit bit of interest.
I'd presume RR the plan is we'd be hoping to pick whichever ruckman we chase after in the National draft at pick 52 and keep pick 1 in the PSD for Pat Bowden.
-
The WA footygoss site is saying McKee is going home to play in the Ovens and Murray League with Myrtleford, the club he was recruited from. Don't recall McKee saying that this morning. He seemed quite keen to be picked up in the draft.
-
I fell off my chair WP when I saw that as well.
$250000 a year is beyond my comprehension.
I think i could ask for a quarter of that and play better than Ty.
Its things like this that have driven me close to the edge with our club.
From recent events it looks like there might be a bit of logic and common sense creeping into the clubs direction.
I guess time will tell.
-
However the chances of us getting him are probably remote as in a few newspaper articles I've read he is being courted by the Saints and Carlton in the PSD. If we picked Bowden with our first pick then McKee would probably be gone by the time our second pick came about.
KB had McKee on his SEN show this morning. KB asked McKee if any clubs had spoken to him as a few were in need ruckman compared to the Pies and McKee quickly replied that Richmond had shown a fit bit of interest.
I'd presume RR the plan is we'd be hoping to pick whichever ruckman we chase after in the National draft at pick 52 and keep pick 1 in the PSD for Pat Bowden.
That's probably the best Idea, if we really want him I suppose.
-
The WA footygoss site is saying McKee is going home to play in the Ovens and Murray League with Myrtleford, the club he was recruited from. Don't recall McKee saying that this morning. He seemed quite keen to be picked up in the draft.
You'd expect that he would be keener to be picked up in the draft rather than park footy :o
-
Tigers try for Zantuck trade
By Stephen Rielly, Caroline Wilson
realfooty.theage.com.au
October 27, 2004
Disgruntled Richmond defender Ty Zantuck has been excused from the club's pre-season training until his future is determined.
Zantuck and his management met Richmond football director Greg Miller yesterday to discuss ways in which the two parties might find the amicable split that was unable to be negotiated during the recent trade period.
Zantuck asked to be traded, in part because of a fractious relationship with a number of senior players, and the Tigers agreed to find him a new home that, at various times, was mooted to be Melbourne, the Kangaroos or Essendon. Ultimately, though, club and player were left with one another and will be unless a club commits to draft him on a deal that will override his current agreement with Richmond.
Zantuck is contracted for 2005 on about $250,000 and the Richmond players of his experience are due to start their pre-season training tomorrow.
Zantuck's manager Anthony McConville said after yesterday's meeting with Miller that nothing had been agreed to and suggested that it would take a lot more time to reach that point.
It is believed that Essendon and the Kangaroos remain interested in Zantuck although the Dons and Tigers have not spoken since narrowly failing to swing a deal on him minutes before the trade deadline.
http://realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/10/26/1098667759152.html
-
Could we get shafted in this type of deal?
-
Could we get shafted in this type of deal?
Only if we stupidly agree to pay a fair portion of his contract. If we part ways we still lose him for nothing but at least it frees up $$$ for us to go after whichever out-of-contract player we want. Paying part of his contract would stuff that up.
Ty apparently wants to head off to Essendon.
-
Could we get shafted in this type of deal?
MT is right the only way we can get shafted is if we are left to pay most of the contract if Zantuck goes somewhere else.
I cannot see this happening - actually I would bet it wont happen :thumbsup
A nominal amount is all we should be left with.
-
pee him off and use pick 68 and/or our 2nd PSD pick.
-
If he wants the club to bend and let him go, we should not have to pay him anything.
Just cut our ties and he walks away. He then can nominate his salary when he applies for the draft and work it out with another club.
We are doing the right thing by him.
I cant believe that he would be on $250K. What has he done to deserve that money, its a joke.
-
By Stephen Rielly
The Age
November 4, 2004
Meanwhile, Ty Zantuck's career remains in limbo, with his manager Anthony McConville saying yesterday that there had been no progress made on a possible move from Richmond.
Zantuck and the Tigers have agreed to part but need a new club to agree to draft the 22-year-old before he can be released from the final year of his contract.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/11/03/1099362219460.html?oneclick=true
--------------------------------
Sounds like his $250K salary :help is becoming the sticking point. Other clubs aren't willing to pay anywhere near that to take him off our hands (don't blame them) and we're not rightly willing to pay a significant part of it to send him on his way.
-
Zantuck may stay at Punt Rd
By Jake Niall
The Age
November 11, 2004
Ty Zantuck is preparing to resume training at Punt Road next week, unless he finds a new home by tomorrow afternoon.
Zantuck's management last night said the disgruntled utility, whose desire to leave Richmond was based in part on his fractious relationship with the senior players, was ready to return to training next week should the Tigers fail to drop him off the list by tomorrow's deadline.
Zantuck's manager, Anthony McConville, said his client would return to training next week, since he was contracted to play for the Tigers in 2005.
Zantuck's return to Richmond would place the Tigers in a difficult position, given that the player has indicated his issues with senior players. New coach Terry Wallace recently told coterie group "the Hafey Club" that there was irreparable damage between Zantuck and the senior players and it would be best for all concerned if he left.
Wallace last night said he had not heard any suggestion that Zantuck would be returning. "He hasn't told me he's coming to training," he said.
McConville said that, with senior lists being lodged tomorrow before the national draft, Zantuck was preparing to return to Richmond. "If nothing happens by Friday, he'll be at training next week."
Zantuck's contract - which would see him paid well in excess of $200,000 should he play all the senior games - has made it difficult for the Tigers to off-load him, since other clubs are unwilling to pick up the bulk of the tab.
While Essendon and Richmond failed to strike a deal before the deadline that would have seen Zantuck become a Bomber, Essendon has not been as strong in pursuing the 22-year-old in recent days, having sniffed the possibility that it can acquire Blake Caracella, who has opted to leave Brisbane. The Kangaroos, the other major trade week suitor, are believed to have lost interest in Zantuck.
The Tigers, despite their desire to off-load Zantuck, have indicated that they will not delist him and allow another club to pick him up without picking up a reasonable portion of his contract. The club is understood to be willing to keep him on the list, despite his relationship issues with teammates and its preference for him to leave.
Wallace said it was up to Zantuck and his management to find a new home, given that he had wanted to leave Punt Road.
Brisbane has fended off the advances of Collingwood to re-sign youngster Anthony Corrie on a two-year contract. The Lions have also re-signed ruckman Clarke Keating for another two years.
The re-signings of Corrie and Keating means the Lions have all their players committed for 2005 bar Caracella, who wishes to return to Melbourne and is receiving interest from clubs including Essendon, Collingwood and Geelong, the latter considered a long shot to obtain him via the draft.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/11/10/1100021878932.html?oneclick=true
-
u know what?
Good on Ty for getting up the noses of afew certain senior players.
They're assholes and just become bigger assholes every year.
Campbell,Gaspar etc - Why wouldn't u stand up the their crap if u had a chance.
At least Ty has the balls to say what he has on his mind,unlike the gymps we've had on our list for 25 years.
This guy has copped an unfair crucifixion from supporters and media and all for showing some real spark.
Fact is he is a good player.
Fact is he,compared to the old schitters we have,is our future(along with the other youngsters)
I for one will be giving the guy my FULL stuffen SUPPORT if he should stay.
LMAOO@Our senior list being soo Gayyy
-
I kinda agree with you Ox. Though I don’t know why you would bad mouth teammates when trying to be picked up by another Club. Doesn’t make for a good impression when you want to be part of a team, but are happy to blame others when things go wrong.
He does have that “spark” that others lack and it’s good that he has enough spirit and confidence to stand up for himself. And we could use some of that out on the ground. Maybe if he had some guidance and direction, from someone he respected, and was prepared to listen, then he could learn to use that to his and his team’s benefit, rather than causing trouble for himself and others.
-
Can we just stuff this guy off and do it soon....
-
whom did he bag and what did he say?
Until we know this i will remain impartial.
IMO Several of the senior players deserve not only a good bagging but a jolly rodgering as well.
They're imposters
Tell me what we saw against hawforn(when he rag-dolled that idiot) wasnt pure frustration
most of which stemmed from an unworthy coach and a group of wimpy duds that all
played political pilots to ensure their spot in the team.
-
Not sure where I remember that from Ox, but somewhere along the lines I heard or read that he went in to interviews at another Club(s) and was none too complimentary about some senior players.
Who knows, maybe he had a point, but I don’t know if that’s the way to go about getting a gig at another Club.
Btw, I’m not disagreeing with your comments, I just don’t agree with the way this whole thing has unfolded. Because, at this late stage, it doesn’t look like he will get his wish to get to another Club. Why that is, I wouldn’t know for sure, just speculating.
-
I tend to agree with you Oxman.
I will give him credit for telling Tezza straight out that he wanted out - he could have just sat there and said "yeah yeah looking forward to 2005" and then 3-4 weeks later sent his manager to say I am outta here.
Got to give the kid credit for that.
Bottom line is if we de-list him we have to pay him out (like C'wood has done with McGough) the big difference being the Pies can afford it we cannot. We sack him and we go one short on the list (probably the rookie list) or we would have to take an extra re-cycled player at the expenses of a 17-18 y.o. and I don't think that's the way to go.
He can play good footy when his head is in order. He just has to be more disciplined about it.
TS makes a good point what he needs is a decent coach and or mentor teaching him the right way to go about being an AFL footballer - the ability is there it is just his application or lack of it that would appear to be his problem
-
Can we just stuff this guy off and do it soon....
Hear hear omster.
We will get more value for this dud paying half his salary and shipping him off rather than leaving him on the list and paying him full price.
His criticisms of the senior players may be legit but he has done bugger all for the club so I'm sure their criticisms of him are legit too.
lmfaoooooooooo@this dichead getting 250k a year so he can go on benders. That's absolutely insane. For what he has produced he should be worshipping at the feet of the club and begging to remain here.
-
No worries TS,
I was more asking the question about what he had said about other players to
those who knew.
Id like to see him under Wallace basically.
*premenition*
I feel JohnF is gonna say something like
"We will get more value for this dud paying half his salary and shipping him off rather than leaving him on the list and paying him full price"
In which case I would say,
"I'd take the gamble" :rollin
"
-
:cheers Ox. I’m no help about what was said. It was just stated that he wasn’t complimentary about some senior players.
If that’s correct then it’ll be interesting and probably awkward if he has to stay. But it’s probably nothing that all Clubs don’t have to deal with at various times, I suppose.
-
exactly TS.
:thumbsup
-
Ty appears to be one of these footballers who would add that something extra to a top side where as TS mentioned he would automatically receive guidance and direction from coaches and teammates but get easily frustrated and display a poor attitude in a poor one. He wouldn't last two seconds bad-mouthing say a Hird. I've mentioned before he reminds me of a Paul Banard. Also reminds me of ex-Tiger Peter Wilson from the late-80s in that way.
If a player wants to go then let him go which is what the Club has been trying to organise but to no avail. Not surprisingly no other club is stupid enough to offer him $250K when Caracella and possibly Notting will be in the same draft asking for similar money.
-
Ty in limbo
14 November 2004
Sunday Herald Sun
SCOT PALMER
RICHMOND remains anxious for defender Ty Zantuck to find a new AFL home as the breach between club and player shows no sign of heeling.
The Tigers will meet Zantuck and his management this week to explore the remaining pathways available to him.
Richmond football director Greg Miller said: "We don't think it's a fait accompli that he comes back to training -- we want to know more about what's happening in the marketplace."
Richmond's football division feels that with the number of available players of quality diminishing each day there might still be an opportunity for Zantuck to find a new home.
"There's always guys going in and out, it happens every year. You think there is going to be plenty in the draft, but then players sign up with their clubs," Miller said.
Zantuck's position at Punt Rd has become more delicate since interest at the Kangaroos and Essendon waned.
He is still contracted to the Tigers and his fee is a further obstacle to him moving to a new AFL club.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,11378085%255E19771,00.html
-
Looks like we're going to be stuck with Ty no matter how weak the PSD is. I can't see any club agreeing to pay the money he is getting even if we chip in a small fraction of it. We would need to fork out a large portion of it for hi the play elsewhere which defeats the purpose of saving $$$.
-
i heard he will be back at punt road on monday fr training :banghead
-
Cooling-off period for Zantuck, Tigers
By Lyall Johnson
realfooty.theage.com.au
November 16, 2004
Richmond has told disgruntled defender Ty Zantuck not to turn up at pre-season training for the next two weeks to give him further time to negotiate a deal with another club.
Through his management Zantuck had indicated that he was planning to attend his first full pre-season hitout yesterday, but Richmond director of football Greg Miller and Zantuck's manager Anthony McConville decided at the weekend it would be in the best interests of both parties if Zantuck had more time to explore all opportunities.
"Greg Miller had further discussions with his management over the last 24 hours and determined to leave it where it is for the next two weeks and his management can continue down the path of looking for other options . . . at which time we'll see where it sits," Richmond coach Terry Wallace said yesterday.
"We've determined now that in two weeks' time, if nothing else comes, we'll sit down over the table and see where it goes from them there. From what (Zantuck's) said to me so far, he has given every indication that he didn't want to be around (Richmond), so there would need to obviously be some change to that if there is going to be any chance."
Wallace described the club's relationship with Zantuck as "fractured, not broken". "Broken in the fact he's made some comments that would make it very difficult for him to return, but, saying that, that's not the be-all and end-all . . . there has been things said in relationships and footy clubs before that have been turned around, so I don't think you just say it is dead in the water."
Wallace would not be drawn on the feeling around the club of the possibility of Zantuck returning, but said "probably disappointed would be the call".
McConville said the decision for Zantuck not to take part in pre-season training was mutual and that he was continuing talks with a number of Melbourne clubs, although a potential deal was still a long way off.
Zantuck, who earns about $260,000 a season through a base payment, match payments and a job, has indicated he doesn't want to leave Victoria.
Richmond's 2004 club champion Joel Bowden said the mood among players about Zantuck's possible return was hard to define because until yesterday, most of them had simply assumed he would be leaving.
"But I'm not concerned whether Ty turns up or not, I think we have all moved on from worrying about it."
Richmond recruit Troy Simmonds was a massive presence at training for the Tigers yesterday, his bulk impressing his new coach. "People lose track of blokes that are over in the West, just how they play and what they do because they're not in the paper all the time. He's 102 kilos and not an ounce of fat on him," Wallace said.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/11/15/1100384496305.html
-
Terry said he hasn't sat down with Ty to talk about things. Said he hasn't spoken to Ty since Ty said he was looking for opportunites elsewhere.
We better hurry up as the cut is Oct 31st isn't it?
-
I'm feed up with this guy and I don't want him playing in the twos either because that will place him right in amongst our kids, which is exactly where we dont want him to be. I'd be happy just to cut our losses pay him his 190k and kick him as far down punt rd as possible. Asta la vista baby :thumbsup
-
Our only hope now is the shallowness of the PSD. Now that Sheeds is back maybe the Bombers might make another play for him as Caracella will be gone by the time of their pick and Ty is surely a better option than Blumfield. They were obviously willing to pay his current salary for a year with 2 minutes to go in the trade week provided they got him basically for nothing.
-
In the first of a new series, our resident medic trains his stethoscope on Punt Road.
If you are a Tiger, you would be feeling quite toothless right now - 25 years of failure, made of five consecutive five-year plans that have produced three wooden spoons. If I was a vet, I'd call for the tranquilliser; not for the tiger but for you.
Still, as a doctor, I feel well-qualified to fix it, so the AFL's champion of broken promises can leap 15 rungs and win the 2005 AFL premiership. How? By not changing a thing.
I consider 2004 a season full of interesting portents from the league's anorexic heavyweight. Four wins were scavenged from a possible 22. More ominous are the VFL/AFL records that show the Yellow and Black have not beaten 2005 premier Port Adelaide since 1998 or, for that matter, some club called University since 1914.
But this is where the bad news stops. On the field, Ty Zantuck, a backman who walks as though carrying invisible suitcases, has a public breakdown. It is, as we say in psychiatry, "positive anger". He can take no more and slams Hawk Mark Williams' rag-doll head into the MCG mud over and over again.
Then he pleads to leave Richmond. He's sick of the senior players. The club says yes, but counters he's a disruptive influence. So what senior players are the club protecting?
advertisement
advertisement
Surely it's not Darren Gaspar, the $600,000 defender whose house is hermetically sealed because he's allergic to dust. It might be Wayne Campbell, the only AFL footballer in history to do a career-threatening injury celebrating someone else's goal. It's not David Rodan, aka the Human Vacuum Cleaner, because he's too young to be old, and everyone loves young Krakouer, despite the fact the kid hardly touches the footy.
Most probably, Zantuck is sick of Richo, the big No. 12 who runs as though remote-controlled by a giddy four-year-old girl in pig tails.
At the end of season 2004, a fellow called Plough replaced another called Spud to mastermind a five-year plan, presumably one with a rural theme. Lying on the couch in my 24-hour psychotherapy surgery, Plough revealed his new forward strategy. Campbell will play forward-pocket and kick 25 goals, or, in Tiger leadership speak, be injured 25 times.
Nathan Brown will be in the other pocket to kick 40 or so. Richo will patrol the centre half-forward line for Iraqi terrorists and bees.
How did that make you feel, Plough? I asked. Plough said he held a man-to-man conference with Richo. He took the superstar through the strategy on the club whiteboard but warned him not to go too far the other way and stray into the back line, especially near Zantuck.
"There will be an invisible electric fence five metres beyond the centre half-forward line," he said. "If you cross it, you will be zapped!"
Richo startled and got up to leave. He missed the door, had another go, missed it, had another go, missed it. "Go straight at the door!" Plough said. He had another go, missed it, then finally walked straight through the middle.
But, as Plough confessed, if Richo swallows the invisible electric fence thing, he may be too scared to move at all.
The Tiger Army are on the march. The only way is up. Football is played in the mind and that loon Zantuck and his baggage are not gone yet. He is the future and should be captain.
I'm not a vet. I can't physically help a sick tiger. But in this case, I don't need to. At Tigerland, it ain't broke, so for goodness sake, don't fixx it.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/11/26/1101219746191.html
-
Forgot to mention yesterday morning on SEN that Patrick Smith said today (Tuesday) is D-day for for sorting out what we're doing with Ty. We will be sitting down with his manager to hammer out some sort of deal. According to Smith we will need to move Ty on somehow otherwise we won't be participating in the PSD.
This fits in with what I've been told about us wanting to move Cambo from the Vet's list back onto the senior list of 38 before Christmas.
-
12:57:27 PM Tue 30 November, 2004
Paul Gough
Sportal
Meanwhile the Tigers will tomorrow meet with disgruntled defender Ty Zantuck in a bid to sort out his future.
Zantuck, who has a year of his contract still to run, wants to leave Punt Road but was left stranded at Richmond when a proposed trade deal with Essendon was only minutes away from being completed before the end of the October trade period.
With all clubs having to finalise their playing lists by Friday - ahead of the December 14 pre-season draft - Miller said Zantuck's future would be known by the end of the week.
If the Tigers and Zantuck are able to come to an agreement over the remaining year of his contract and he is delisted, the 22-year-old would be free to nominate for the pre-season draft where the Bombers will be one of only a handful of clubs likely to participate.
At this stage the Bombers are likely to have pick five in the pre-season draft but with Richmond having pick one and Collingwood expected to take former Essendon and Brisbane premiership star Blake Caracella at pick two, Zantuck is likely to be available for the Bombers unless either Carlton (pick three) or Fremantle (pick four) decide to snap him up.
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=179203