Fatherly advice helps Raines
By Catherine Murphy
richmondfc.com.au
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
RICHMOND’S Andrew Raines says his dad Geoff, a former Richmond great, has been helping him through tough times at Punt Road.
Raines Snr won three best and fairest awards with the club and his son will hope to follow in his footsteps, having finished second in last year’s Jack Dyer medal.
“It’s a bit of a balancing act I suppose. He gives me a bit of advice, as all fathers do, and because he’s played the game,” Raines says.
“But having being at the club during a time of success, he obviously gets a bit frustrated with it all. He gives me a lot of time and space to deal with my own issues though.”
Raines is quick to point out that, despite the club heading into round eight without a win, the morale of the playing group hasn’t nosedived after the 157-point defeat to Geelong a fortnight ago.
“We’re sticking together. There’s been no whinging and whining around the place. That’s a positive,” he says.
“We had to move on quickly. We buried our heads for a while and obviously were embarrassed by the loss. We just went out (last week) and had a crack but obviously we didn’t get the result.”
The 21-year-old says that playing in Adelaide again this weekend can work to the club’s advantage.
“We’re looking forward to Friday night - two weeks in a row we’re over there. We’re familiar with the ground from last week so that will be good,” says Raines.
“It’s a big ground, so the running players that we’ve got in the side can use that to their advantage.”
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