Tigers' Mr Versatile notches 200
5:14:27 PM Tue 16 May, 2006
Paul Gough
Sportal for afl.com.au
He might have played in just one finals series in reaching the coveted 200 game milestone but Richmond veteran Joel Bowden has far from given up hope of one day being part of a premiership side.
As he prepared for his milestone game against Adelaide at Telstra Dome on Saturday, Bowden revealed on Tuesday that he is using Sydney’s Paul Williams as inspiration as he seeks to emulate the feats of his father Michael during his remaining years in the game.
Michael Bowden was a member of the Tigers’ 1969 premiership side, beginning a long history of family involvement with the club which has continued not only through Joel but also his older brother Sean, who played at the club in the early 1990’s, while his younger brother Patrick joined the club this year from the Bulldogs.
While it has been lean pickings in terms of team success for Joel Bowden – who has won the past two Richmond best and fairest awards – he is confident the club is now laying the foundations for future success under coach Terry Wallace despite the club’s present struggles.
And the 28-year-old is determined to be around to reap the rewards from the hard work now being invested in so many youngsters with last week’s team, which lost to Sydney by 118 points, containing eight players with less than 20 games experience under their belt.
“I look at guy like Paul Williams and it took him until his 294th game (the longest wait in league history) to achieve the ultimate success (a premiership) and I am quite willing to say around that long here – if they want me – to wait for that success,” Bowden said.
“It’s enjoyable to get to this milestone but for me there is still a long way to go.”
“We’ve got a lot of young players developing here and I am looking forward to staying here for the next three or four or five years when those young players really blossom and hopefully I can enjoy success with those guys.”
Bowden has been Richmond’s “Mr Versatile” since debuting in 1996, having started his career as a forward before playing in the midfield for years and now turning into one of the league’s premier rebounding defenders, who even occasionally has to play as a key defender despite standing just 188cm.
He admits his present role as the Tigers’ full-back, in the absence of the likes of Darren Gaspar and Andrew Kellaway through injury, was a far cry from how he started out in the game.
“It certainly is a different scenario when you are on the last line of defence and lining up on a Scott Lucas or a Barry Hall,” he said of his opponents in the past fortnight.
“I’m always available to play in the forward line if Terry wants me to but I will play anywhere to accommodate the team and if that meant playing on-ball, that is fine as well.”
“It’s a team game and if you can’t be versatile and play anywhere then you are not going to succeed.”
But even when he has been in defence, Bowden has always remained true to his natural attacking instincts and only a fortnight ago he managed a staggering 31 possessions from full-back and set up the winning behind during the Tigers’ thrilling two-point win against Essendon, even though his direct opponent in Lucas threatened to win the game for the Bombers in the final term with three goals.
“I always tried to get the ball growing up and I am much happier with the ball in my hands,” Bowden said.
“I do have to add the part of beating my man into that (as a defender), but I much more enjoy a game of footy when I have my share of the ball.”
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=266137
