How do the Tigers measure up?
02 September 2006
Herald-Sun
Mike Sheahan
REGARDLESS of what transpires at the MCG today, West Coast will finish ahead of Richmond for the 17th time in its 20 years in the AFL.
A West Coast win would stretch its head-to-head advantage to 18-11. No wonder the theme at Richmond this week has been about "measuring up".
Despite its injuries, West Coast does happen to be the top team at Round 21 after playing in the Grand Final in 2005.
Can there be a better measuring stick?
That's why the Richmond coaching panel has challenged its players to test themselves against the best.
Finishing just outside the final eight is nothing new for the Tigers, but it hasn't necessarily meant they move forward the following year.
As Terry Wallace said this week: "We haven't really proved anything."
What they have done is lift the 2005 return of 10 wins to 11, with the possibility of another win this afternoon. It is a better result than it looks, too, with minimal contributions from the highly-talented Nathan Brown (10 games, 11 goals), Mark Coughlan and Chris Newman.
They are three of the club's top 10 players and have played just 36 of a possible 63 games.
Eleven wins and maybe 12 is a good return in a transition year. Even better considering the Tigers were winless (and friendless) after three rounds.
Richmond has used 39 players this year and will say goodbye to Greg Stafford and Mark Chaffey this afternoon and probably half a dozen others after coach/player interviews next week.
Andy Kellaway is the interesting one. He is a revered figure inside and outside the club, but the modern game conspires against him, given he is rising 31 and his assets belong more to the past than the future.
Maybe his heart, passion and loyalty will earn him another 12 months. Tigers supporters hope so.
Wallace has introduced 12 players to the AFL in 2005-06 as well as bringing in Troy Simmonds from Fremantle and Patrick Bowden from the Western Bulldogs.
There's been plenty of criticism about the recruiting policy over the years, but the names of Brett Deledio, Nathan Foley, Dean Polo, Andrew Raines and Matt White are changing that perception. That's a classy quintet, and young White has a touch of Aussie Jones about him.
Cam Howat, Cleve Hughes, Luke McGuane, Danny Meyer, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Adam Pattison, Richard Tambling and Will Thursfield are others who need time.
We are too quick to judge in modern footy. Tambling, for example, has his critics and still looks out of place on occasions, but he is yet to turn 20.
Jay Schulz is a fourth-year player and turned 21 in April.
It is simplistic to bowl up Chris Judd and ask why "our kids" are taking so long.
Deledio, the No. 1 draft pick in 2004 and Rising Star of 2005, has found the going tougher this year, but has been much happier and more productive at half-back in recent weeks.
Deledio, remember, doesn't turn 20 until April.
Wallace is repositioning Richmond. In the past three rounds the Tigers have kicked 20 or more goals.
While the opposition has been modest, it is a mindset. He has Matty Richardson as the target in front of goal and a defence that virtually has become a second midfield.
It's a little premature to be likening the back six to Adelaide of earlier this year, yet there are similarities.
The Bowden boys manoeuvre their way out of defence, while Raines, Hyde, Deledio and White surge.
Big Richo must wish he was five years younger.
He has 43 goals from 17 games and finally can lead in the reasonable expectation the ball will be kicked in long and high.
Richmond has beaten Adelaide, beaten Port Adelaide in Adelaide, won in Brisbane and at Skilled Stadium, and beaten Collingwood this year.
But there is a sizeable blemish on an otherwise bright canvas.
The Tigers haven't cut the mustard consistently with the big boys: Sydney, St Kilda or the Western Bulldogs, all of which inflicted 100-point losses.
In fact, they are 2-9 in encounters with teams in the eight.
That's not good enough. That's why this afternoon's game will give us a much better indication of the state of the work in progress at Punt Rd.
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