Building a midfield for the future
11:28:33 AM Thu 14 April, 2005
Richmond coach Terry Wallacerichmondfc.com.au
I’ve always had a great belief that teams who have genuine success in the AFL competition have extremely strong midfields.
You look at the premiers over the past few years, and both Brisbane and Port Adelaide have so many quality players rolling through the middle of the ground. A key aspect of these two top sides is that they have a balance between strong-bodied, hard footballers, who play over the ball, and fast, exciting runners, who can break up the play and set up midfield goal-scoring opportunities for teammates.
My first objective at Richmond was to try to develop that type of group for our future. If we are to rely on Campbell, Johnson, Bowden, to be our key midfielders, we are not really progressing towards future opportunities. It does not mean these guys do not have a role to play, but others must be given the chance to be a part of a new midfield for the future.
When I was watching the Tigers in the latter part of last season, the one thing that really pleased me was the fact that I thought the squad had already attracted some strong-bodied players, who could offer a real contest in the middle of the ground. At that stage, due to age and experience, these guys had not been given much of an opportunity in midfield roles. But on my arrival, one area of focus was to give these younger players a chance to mix it with the best in the land.
When you consider the hard nuts of our younger brigade, I think Jackson, Coughlan, Roach, Tuck and Hyde fit the bill extremely well. These guys are all super fit, which you need from current-day midfielders. They have strong bodies (with the exception of Hyde and Roach), and have good height, which normally gives them an advantage over their opposition. Each of them has the ability to win the ball in close, but can also spread, run and carry through the lines. For some of these guys to make top-level midfielders, they will need to improve their skill and decision-making, but all have a fierce desire to succeed and commitment to the contest.
The other aspect for a successful midfield is quality, running, skilled players, and I thought we were a little light on in this brigade. Certainly, we have drafted players such as Raines, Rodan, Hartigan to the Club in recent times, but it was my belief we needed a few more. So, in last year’s National Draft, we selected Deledio, Meyer and Tambling, who are all super-quick and can run and carry, which adds to quick forward line movement. The blend of ‘inside’ players and runners at Punt Road is now well balanced.
There are so many other regions in football that need to be covered off. You need strong ruck options, which the Club now has, key defensive players, which we still need to develop for the future, as well as strong-bodied forwards and ‘crumbers’. But unless you get the midfield right, you will never play effective, winning football.
We now have 10 players who are young, vibrant and either hard, or skilled, with some possessing both qualities. This is the future of the Club, but it is only the start of the process. Some players will grasp their opportunities, while others will not quite reach full potential. It is the coaching staff’s job to ensure we get the best out of this group, and that we have very few who drop out of the system.
Greg Miller, and his recruiting team, will be responsible for bringing more quality players to the Club (you can never have too many!).
As discussed in the past, I am very strong on us never trading our early draft selections, unless it is for another young, quality player, who will be at Tigerland for 10 years. There are no guarantees in this business, but you need to have a strong plan and a strong understanding of what you are trying to achieve, and then be meticulous from both a recruiting and coaching point of view, to ensure that you develop the group into a powerful unit.
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