Yellow and Black on the attack . . .
5 May, 2005
Richmond coach Terry Wallace
richmondfc.com.au
Every supporter wants to go along and watch a fast, exciting brand of AFL football. Therefore, it is my belief that the current league coaches do have a responsibility to the game, as well as orchestrating victories for their club.
The game can only prosper if the fans want to come through the turnstiles. I have always felt that fast, free-flowing, high-scoring football, is what is attractive to most of us who love the game. And, this has been the basis of my coaching philosophy over the decade I have coached.
AFL football has become far more defensive over the past five seasons, with scores diminishing. In my opinion, however, it’s a lot more negative in nature, due to teams being frightened of blowout losses.
Personally, I have tried not to let this trend influence my own thinking. I’ve long held the belief that if a team can kick 16 goals per match, it will be competitive each and every team it goes out on to the field, and is likely to win on most occasions.
From the day that I walked into Punt Road as coach, I have tried to instill this attacking nature into the playing group. I’ve coached them to play with more flair and natural run and carry in their game.
The team had averaged 11 goals per game over the 2003-04 seasons, which simply put, is not a competitive score. Even when winning games, this means the final scores may be 11 goals to 9, which doesn’t make for a particularly attractive brand of football . . .
I thought last Sunday’s match against reigning premier Port Adelaide was a huge step in the right direction for us. After only an average start to the contest, and one goal in the first quarter, we ended up kicking 19 goals for the match.
When you examine our style of play now, you only need to look at Matthew Richardson’s position, and structure in the team, to see how much things have changed. Last year, he still had a fine season, but needed to kick bags of goals for the side to win.
When you consider he kicked 10 against the Western Bulldogs, and the team just got over the line, then seven out of 10 against Sydney, to win another tight game, there was too much emphasis on Matthew and his scoring ability in the team’s structure.
Matthew is a wonderful player, but what it enabled opposition clubs to do was double and triple-team him, to curb his influence. And, with that type of structure in place, if ‘Richo’ kicked only three goals, the team basically had no chance of winning.
He is now playing a more mobile role across half-forward, keeping the ball in the forward line and bringing teammates into the game. Against Port Adelaide he took 17 marks, yet kicked ‘only’ three goals. The dramatic change was that the team was able to find other targets and finish the match with 19 goals.
Matthew worked so hard during the pre-season to get his athleticism up to higher levels than in 2004, and both he and team are now reaping the rewards of those efforts on the training track.
Each and every time you go to a Richmond game, you should now know that the coaching staff will not be happy unless the team is working towards that 16-goal mark.
Currently, we are the sixth-highest scoring team in the competition, which is a significant jump from 15th place at the end of the ’04 season. Although the playing personnel has changed quite a bit, it is possible from a coaching point of view to train and get an attacking mindset into a group.
We have not always reached our target, and in a couple of games this year have suffered massive blowouts because we haven’t been defensively sound.
Although we certainly have an attacking flavor to our game plan, it does not, for one minute, mean that we are not looking to find the best defenders in the land for the team’s future. Quite simply, you can’t win premierships without a solid backline structure as well . . .
I will not be happy as coach until I see the turnstiles clicking over more regularly, and Richmond supporters coming back in droves to watch their team play. Part of the reason I returned to Punt Road, was for the excitement of seeing 70,000 people at home-and-away games.
Of the three clubs that I have been involved with at AFL level, only Richmond has that genuine ability to draw huge numbers through the gates. So, when the Yellow and Black hordes start descending on the MCG, I’ll know we are playing the style of football that our supporters want to see.
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=200536
