Small win a starting point
richmondfc.com.au
By Michael Rogers 1:49 PM Sun 11 April, 2010
WHEN your side has lost all 11 quarters of football it's contested in a season, any victory is worth acknowledging.
And so it was when Richmond finally broke its duck during the final term of its 55-point loss to the Sydney Swans on Friday, outscoring the home team by two points.
Ruckman Troy Simmonds said the break in play to allow a concussed Relton Roberts to be carried from the field in the last quarter gave the Tigers a chance to set themselves for one last effort.
"We really dug deep. I thought it was good character from the guys," he said.
"We were blown in the Carlton game and the Bulldogs game, so we really dug deep. When 'Relts' went down, we got together and said we weren't going to let the last quarter slip."
Simmonds acknowledged it was difficult to come to terms with the Tigers' poor start to the year but he said there was sufficient reward to make the effort worthwhile.
"It's tough losing but you can see the direction we're going," he said.
"We've trained all pre-season with Damien and the other coaches [who] have brought in a certain game plan ... and tonight I thought we took a step forward in that.
"There were some really good signs. Sydney only beat us by three points in the second half.
"The way we wanted to move the ball and some of our defensive acts really shone ... we just couldn't get on the scoreboard early."
Also encouraging was the fact that it was youngsters Dustin Martin, Ben Nason and Jack Riewoldt who were at the heart of Richmond's second-half rally.
Simmonds said the club would support the young players as they adapted to the demands of senior football.
"They're going to make mistakes; it's just inexperience but to have those guys, they just keep having a crack. They just get in there and have a good go at it," he said.
"You've got to keep encouraging them [to] take the game on and once they get games into them, they'll improve all year."
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/92074/default.aspx
The Herald-Sun this morning was mocking us over this ....
Tigers progress Herald Sun, 14-04-2010, Pg: 78 IN A sign of how desperate things are Richmond, the club ran a story on its website on Monday celebrating the fact it had won its first quarter of the season in its loss to Sydney on Saturday night. The Tigers kicked 3.4 to the Swans' 3.2.
