Shane Edwards on SEN 29-3-21

[one-eyed]

Sheds on Dwayne's Russell's show this arvo:

Listen here: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=808660

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Summary:

* Pressure on spots keeps us hungry.

* When you taste it you want to taste it again. If you take your foot off the pedal you get run over. Crucial to be at full throttle all the time.

* Yeah you would tag Dusty but it's hard to find a midfielder who could close him down in the midfield and then shut him down up forward. Burgoyne was/is probably the closest. Dusty destroys us at training too.

* We're not unbeatable. We haven't won every game over the past 5 years. If I did know how to stop us I wouldn't be telling you (laughs).

* Dusty doesn't even know he is the best. He plays with so much freedom that it's almost child-like. Love playing with him.

* Both games so far have been tough. End to end footy. We don't really like shoot-outs but we see ourselves as a fit side to be able to play them. Don't think we've figured it out yet. Watching other games, Port and Swans are probably ahead of us on that front. Think the game will settle down defensively later on in the year when everyone is match fit and hardened. It is great footy to watch at the moment.   

* Last year: Baby arrived two weeks before the due date which allowed me to go up in time for the finals. So things worked out for me. Club was good to me and my family situation.

* Played 267 games. Embarrassing to be on that list of Richmond's most games played (KB, Dyer, Bourke, Campbell, Titus, Riewoldt, Richo, Knights, Weigthman, Newman then Edwards). Probably if judged on number of best games it would be different. One person who is on the list that is happy about it is Jack (laughs).

* Dimma just finds different ways to inspire us. He is such as good in-game coach as well. Little messages about adjustments at half-time which gives you confidence in the coaches box and that belief in ourselves. We want to make sure we spread that belief through the young guys so it doesn't stop with us older blokes.

* Impressed with our young cubs. Hard to train/get your hands on the footy at training given how good they are.

* Dan Rioli came into the system with this chase mentally. We thought if he can do it then we all can. That was a turning point for us. Caracella and Rutten were also important when they arrived and brought in ideas for a new gameplan. Leppa was enormous for our KPPs.

[one-eyed]

THE PLAYER WHO HELPED SET THE “BENCHMARK” FOR TIGERS REVIVAL

Andrew Slevison
SEN
30 March 2021

In recent years the Richmond Football Club has experienced a remarkable transition.

After well-documented and lengthy struggles, the Tigers have flipped their history on its head to win three premierships in the last four years.

The turnaround has been quite sensational with many contributing factors making the success possible.

Three-time flag hero Shane Edwards has touched one of the under-the-radar aspects that has helped the Tigers rise to the top.

Asked what he would pinpoint if he were to write a book on the club’s dynasty, Edwards revealed how the attributes of a certain player assisted in turning things around at Punt Road.

“First of all I wouldn’t write a book because we’ve got about five different blokes who have written a book at Richmond now,” he joked on SEN’s Dwayne’s World.

“One thing that stands out to me, that I don’t think gets mentioned as much, is when we drafted Daniel Rioli (in 2015). He had this really natural thirst for chasing and pressuring.

“It was almost like he was brought up on chase pressure. I know he’s a Rioli so he probably was, but he came into the system and it was almost like a benchmark that’s been set for all the other forwards.

“If our 18-year-old is doing it, there’s absolutely no excuse for anyone else not to be doing something like that.

“That set the scene and almost showed everyone else how to do it. We didn’t really have anyone that would put any chase pressure on or really 100% dedicated that part of their game towards it. Ever since we had Daniel, it’s almost like that is now normal for our forwards.

“That’s something that I would start with as the turning point.”

As is generally the case with gun teams, there are many factors that help deliver success.

Edwards also mentioned a number of other elements, specifically coach Damien Hardwick’s revised game style, plus the additions of particular personnel which have seen the Tigers become the envy of the competition.

“There are obviously others,” he added.

“‘Dimma’ coming back with a new game plan (after 2016), us getting Ben Rutten and Blake Caracella who were huge for our club in terms of a modern game plan, bringing Justin Leppitsch back as well was enormous for our key position players.

“Recruiting (Toby) Nankervis, Josh Caddy and Dion Prestia was enormous, and the same year we got Jack Graham, so there’s a whole bunch of things that kind of just built up and created something that worked really well.

“It was well-oiled towards the end of 2017 after all of those changes came earlier that year.”

After providing such insight, the 267-game Tiger was a bit more forthcoming with that book idea.

“Yeah I don’t know, maybe I should write a book!”

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/03/30/the-player-who-helped-set-the-benchmark-for-tigers-revival/