7:17:35 PM Sun 13 June, 2004
Barry Levinson
Sportal/Exclusive to richmondfc.com.au
Richmond's loss to Fremantle by 10 points at the MCG may have bordered on inexcusable, given the Tigers led by 39 points late in the second quarter, but coach Danny Frawley said his side must remain positive.
The fact that Richmond kept Fremantle scoreless in the first quarter didn't make the pill any easier to swallow either.
Frawley found it difficult to explain the second half fadeout, which saw his side outscored by nine goals to three, but felt his players lacked the belief and confidence to build on their dominant first half.
"Their runners probably ran a little bit harder than us… not probably, they did. They did run harder, they got first use of the ball in the second half, but I still believe our group's good enough to win games of football and the buck stops with me," Frawley admitted.
"We've just got to pull them through and get them playing with a lot of confidence."
"That's the challenge for our club. We're up against it in a whole lot of areas, so we've just got to make sure that we keep their spirits up. They really were looking forward to this challenge today against Fremantle."
But if confidence cannot be gained from holding a sizeable lead just before half-time, it is difficult to see how it can be created in the future.
It was particularly frustrating for the coach and the Tiger supporters to witness a promising first half display amount to nothing.
"The belief comes about (from) being confident. Our first half was probably the best footy we've played for a number of weeks; we've just got to look at that and use it as a positive. We've got to make sure we keep coaching the positives, look at why we got such a great lead and look a why a side like Fremantle today was allowed to get back in the game.
Frawley dismissed a lack of fitness as an issue, even though it was the third consecutive week the Tigers had badly fallen away in the second half.
In round 10 against West Coast they were level at half-time, in round 11 against the Roos they were in front. Both games concluded in heavy defeats.
This time, Frawley said his team just made too many mistakes.
"Our ball use, coupled with our decision making, at times really hurt us," he said.
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