foxsports.com.au
July 31, 2007
AAP
AS a wretched season heads towards a painful close for Richmond, coach Terry Wallace once again found some positives.
The Tigers have a fiendishly difficult finish to the season, starting with a trip to Skilled Stadium on Saturday to face ladder leaders Geelong, the team which humiliated them by 157 points earlier in the year.
That's followed by clashes against Collingwood, West Coast at Subiaco, Essendon and St Kilda - all still well in the finals hunt.
But a beleaguered Wallace isn't totally despondent.
"To play the better sides at this stage of the year is probably a good thing because the young players get to learn more from the better players in the competition," Wallace said.
"We don't want to get belted, but certainly you do learn quite a bit."
In keeping with the rebuilding theme, the Tigers will hand a senior debut to rookie-listed ruckman Angus Graham.
The 20-year-old from the Bass Strait farming outpost of King Island gets his chance against Geelong in what Wallace said is well-deserved reward for a strong season in the VFL (Victorian Football League).
Graham - the fifth Tiger to make his AFL debut this year - is as nervous as he is eager.
"I'm just trying not to think about it too much," Graham said.
"It's too early in the week to get worked up, I'm just trying to stay calm."
Graham's debut match has special significance - he comes from a family of lifelong Geelong supporters.
For his teammates it looms as a reminder of the lowest points in a low season.
Richmond suffered the worst defeat in the club's history going down by 157 points to Geelong in round six.
But Wallace has dredged a piece of positive spin to apply to that disaster.
"I keep going back to 1999 and some young, fresh-faced Geelong players in a VFL premiership," Wallace said.
"Eight or nine of them came through together and they are the Geelong side that we face at the weekend.
"I give credit to Geelong ... they deserve everything they're getting at the moment."
Wallace also sees another benefit in playing a team in the sparkling style of Geelong.
"We want to see how we go against a side that's playing in such great form," he said.
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