Simmonds did a good job: Wallace
By Sam Lienert
Foxsports
February 16, 2006
RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace believes ruck-forward Troy Simmonds was judged too harshly in his first season with the AFL club.
Simmonds joined the Tigers in a trade from Fremantle last year, lured partly by a five-year contract, an unusually long deal which raised some eyebrows at the time.
It also caused mumblings from sections of supporters as the season went on, as he produced just 19 goals, despite spending about half his time on the forward line.
But Wallace said overall he had been pleased with the 27-year-old, who ranked eighth in the AFL for hit-outs and would be used more in the ruck this season.
"I made more of his year than what most other people did," Wallace said.
"I thought he was a better performed player than perhaps the general populace thought he was, I thought he did a very good job for us.
"If you look at his year statistically it stands up pretty well.
"What he didn't do is he didn't kick the goals that he had kicked in the previous couple of years with Freo, but he had shots on goal.
"He just missed opportunities and that probably cost him."
Simmonds mixed his 19 goals with 23 behinds, including some missed sitters from close range.
But Wallace said the lumbering big man's best value had been in the ruck, and with that in mind, he had trimmed down slightly in the pre-season to increase his mobility.
"When we played him in the ruck more as the year went on, I thought he improved dramatically in that role," he said.
"I thought his later impact on the season probably holds him in good stead to improve on that.
"I think he's lightened himself up a bit, I thought he almost got too big and that maybe made him a little less mobile.
"Because we've said to him we'll probably give him more of a rucking licence this year he's tried to do something about that and I think that's probably helped him."
AAP
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,18167851-23210,00.html
