Holding Ground - Brown back, but Tigers look long termRichmond season preview
21 February 2006
Herald Sun
Mike Sheahan
RICHMOND might have been too good for its own good in the first two months of 2005.
After an embarrassing return of four wins in 2004, seven wins from the first nine engagements last year had supporters spruiking Terry Wallace as a miracle-worker.
Nine rounds in, Richmond was equal second (with Geelong), one win behind West Coast. Too good to be true, the cynics warned.
Six days later, Nathan Brown and his right leg moved violently in opposite directions in the game against Melbourne, and the season for both player and club was in ruins.
The Tigers slid south, finishing 12th with 10 wins, having won three of the last 13.
The question now is whether the first or the second half of the season was the more accurate indicator of where the Tigers sit in the short term.
Brown's loss (and the gory circumstances) was devastating, but surely the club's dramatic change of fortunes can't be down to one player, as good as he is.
As it happens, Brown is making a solid recovery and is expected to run out against his old team, the Western Bulldogs, in Round 1 on March 31.
Wallace, though, continues to talk conservatively about his star, saying, no matter what, he will be better in 2007.
The Tigers face a testing start: the Bulldogs and St Kilda at Telstra Dome, the Eagles and the Lions away in successive weeks.
In 2005, their first eight rounds were equally divided between the MCG and Telstra Dome.
If they can replicate the 2005 return, they will have done well.
But, Richmond under Wallace is a long-term proposition, courtesy of a five-year contract.
He has the time and faith to build a future on the foundation of Brown, Mark Coughlan, Chris Newman, Brett Deledio, Shane Tuck, Jay Schulz, Richard Tambling and company rather than try to scrounge a couple of extra wins out of players who might help today but won't be around tomorrow.
Richmond's fundamental weakness remains a lack of elite players.
Brown and Matty Richardson aside, there are no matchwinners. Not yet, anyway. Deledio looks destined to become an elite performer, but the Tigers basically are a blue-collar brigade.
Hence the need for Tambling, Schulz and Adam Pattison to forge ahead.
All three are young. Tambling has blistering speed and can kick goals; the other two are tall and earmarked for key positions.
If Pattison and Schulz live up to expectations, they will be the long-term centre half-forward and centre half-back.
Pattison was given a taste in two games last year, but hardly enough for even Wayne Carey to have made an impression in that time.
Schulz has shown glimpses in his stop-start career and might be ready to blossom.
What is known about Richmond is it can be a potent force when Richardson and Brown work in tandem.
Which brings us all the way back to Brown.
His injury was so severe, it is hard to imagine, even with the marvels of modern medicine, how he could be 100 per cent within nine months.
Richo, though, is in fine fettle. The big fella is a magnificent athlete and still averages three goals a game for his career.
Wallace continues to try to refine his game, even though Richardson will turn 31 in March.
For all his faults, he takes the best opposition defender every week and he is becoming more predictable. OK, slightly more predictable.
Joel Bowden, club champion in the past two years, is likely to play centre half-back this year. He will concede height on most occasions, but is a smart player and will be better than most opponents when the ball hits the deck.
He will be even happier, too, with brother Pat finally in black and yellow.
The younger Bowden is tall (191cm), can take a nice mark and is a goalkicker, although he can spray the ball.
The downside for the Tigers going into the season is the osteitis pubis that has afflicted Mark Chaffey.
He thrived in his redefined role as a midfielder last year before osteitis pubis forced him out of the last five games.
David Rodan is another "best 22" player carrying a query. He needed a knee reconstruction 12 months ago and the impact on his blistering pace is not yet known.
Richmond won't play finals this year, but will be highly competitive -- and innovative -- under Wallace.
It will do well to match the 2005 bottom line, and will be better in 2007-08, given its aggressive recruiting of the past two national drafts.
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