Tigers' confidence on the rise MICHAEL COWLEY
July 2, 2010The rebuilding is almost complete as a rejuvenated Richmond host the Swans, writes Michael Cowley. Brett Deledio has reason to be optimistic. It was this time - round 14 - five years ago, and his Tigers had just beaten the well-credentialled Swans. They sat alongside Sydney on the ladder on eight wins and finals in the teenager's debut season beckoned.
The Swans would win seven of their next eight, a couple of finals, then the grand final. Richmond lost six of their last eight to finish 12th. Five seasons on, while Sydney have been regular finalists, Richmond have bottomed out. Deledio still hasn't sampled September football.
''Am I bit envious of the Swans? Definitely, but not because they have been in the finals so often,'' the 23-year-old said. ''But you do envy their culture and we've tried to model ourselves on that Bloods' culture. We played them last year and it was all about the Bloods. I think it was Mickey O's [O'Loughlin's] 300th, and all you could hear all game was Kirky [Brett Kirk] yelling out, 'This is Mickey O's day, do it for Magic'. That's what we wanted to create around our club, that everyone respect the club and the jumper for what it is, and we're definitely envious of what they have achieved.''
The one-point win that afternoon in 2005 was the last time the Tigers beat the Swans. They have suffered eight successive losses, Deledio a part of seven of those. While they flirted with success in 2006 and again in 2008, the kid selected at No.1 in the 2004 draft and his young teammates have had to handle a lot of losing as the club looks to rebuild.
Deledio knows it could have been very different. Hawthorn had the second pick that year (Jarryd Roughead) and won the flag in 2008. The Bulldogs had No.3 (Ryan Griffen) and have been regular finalists. Instead of him, the Tigers could have taken the player who went at No.5, Lance Franklin.
''There's nothing you can do about it. I envy those blokes and speak to them about it regularly. It is frustrating because we had a pretty good side back in 2005, but a few things didn't go our way and Nathan Brown breaking his leg didn't help,'' he said.
''But we're starting to develop something that's pretty exciting. You go from scratch and if you can become a successful side and play in finals and one day achieve the ultimate, that's more rewarding than coming straight in and winning it all.''
Since that Sydney win, Deledio - who already has two best and fairests and 119 senior games at the age of just 23 - has managed just 35 wins in the next 105 games. It's been just eight wins in the past season-and-a-half, with the Tigers rooted to the bottom of the ladder this year. ''It's no fun at all losing but you're going to get that during a rebuilding phase. After a loss and especially if it's a heavy one, you're looking for the end of the season and that happened a couple of times earlier in the year - you think: 'Geez, how long can this go on for. It gets hard'.
''We started off this season dismally, really, we weren't just losing - we were being smashed. But we picked that up and started to play some better footy and credit to the coaching staff and everyone else, they have stuck at what they believe will work for us and that's proving to work.''
After nine losses, the win finally arrived in May when the Tigers upset Port Adelaide on the road. The gusto with which they sang the team song was phenomenal.
Deledio is excited about the next few years. But is it too soon to be thinking top eight, top four, a flag perhaps? ''No, not at all. The talent is there … Francis Jackson [Richmond's recruiter] has done his job. We've got some damn good players here.''
http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-confidence-on-the-rise-20100701-zqpv.html
