Neil Balme on Sportsday SA 22-2-22

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Richmond's senior club advisor Neil Balme joined KG & Wilds.

LISTEN HERE: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/neil-balme-on-sportsday-sa-21-02-22/id1135852983?i=1000551740998

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Summary:

* Ever the optimist. We look fantastic. We have trained very well and put in a solid preseason. Our fitness is up. Half a dozen new players on top of another half a dozen who we haven't seen yet. Be really surprised this year if we're not back to where we were.

* Dimma has been a bit hard on himself which is the way you want it to be. We all can do better. Genuinely believe we just ran out of good teams good enough to win often enough last year (due to injuries).

* We're desperate. We believe we are really good team. Disappointed with 2021.

* We're working on team structure; not just what you can do individually. Will be surprised if we aren't very competitive this year.

* Lynch to play at least two quarters against Geelong.

* Dusty may or may not play against Geelong due to a couple of little things that are bugging him at the moment but he's fine and it won't affect his preparation for round 1.

* Stand rule - "I can't believe that some idiot came up with that idea in the first place. It's crazy."

  You've just got to deal with it and those behind the ball have just got to adjust. We would've done a fair bit of work on that.

* CCJ/Chol moves - Clubs are better these days. We take into account the needs of the individual not just the Club. In the old days the Club would've held onto them for another 12 months to see how things pan out. Players now know we care when it's there turn. We've got the players to cover them (CCJ/Chol).

* Part of our challenge is knowing our older blokes won't be around forever. Part of Dimma's job is to give chances to blokes like Ross, RCD, Dow, etc ... so we remain in premiership contention.

* Gibcus - the way he's going he may play early this season.

* Balta - we know he can play back but we think the real strength he's got is as a forward. So we're seeing how he goes up there.

* Captaincy? Thoroughly stripped back process. Several players could've been captain. Two stood out that we couldn't separate (Grimes & Nank). Needed different styles and it would've been unfair to select just one of them so we chose both as co-captains.

* Flattered and genuinely interested in the Adelaide gig but medically couldn't consider it which doesn't mean I would've left Richmond anyway.

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TIGERS “DESPERATE“ FOR ANOTHER FLAG, BUT MUST ALSO BLOOD YOUNGSTERS: BALME

By Nic Negrepontis
SEN
22 Feb 22

Richmond Senior Club Advisor Neil Balme believes the club is in an interesting spot where they still wish to contend for premierships, but need to start blooding the next generation.

The Tigers have 19 players on their list 22 or under, with only Noah Balta, Sydney Stack and Jack Ross having at least 20 games under their respective belts.

Up the other end, they have eight players over 30 and four more who will be 30 come the 2023 season.

Balme is bullish about the youngsters on Richmond’s list, but admits the craft is in working them into a competitive side without negatively affecting performance.

“The challenge is we’ve got half a dozen new kids who look like they’re going to be decent players,” he told Sportsday SA.

“Now we don’t need to play them much in the first 12 months at AFL level, though I think the way Josh Gibcus has gone as a defender he might get a game early, but we’ve got another dozen kids who show a hell of a lot that haven’t had enough opportunities to decide whether they’re players or not.

“That’s part of our challenge as well because our older blokes aren’t going to play forever and we’ve got to replace them and still be a premiership challenging team.

“We’ve got to make sure we work out whether the (older guys) can or can’t and that will be part of Damien Hardwick and the coaching staff’s job to give these kids the opportunity to show they can play.

“Jack Ross has played but not enough, Riley Collier-Dawkins, Thomson Dow, etcetera, etcetera, there’s quite a few who we just need to give chances to and you have to make a conscious decision to do that, which is one of the great things about footy.

“They’re the things you’ve got to solve and hopefully you make the right decisions.”

Balme has been particularly impressed with Balta, who will seemingly be reinvented as a forward-ruck this season.

“He’s been playing a little bit forward and ruck as well. We know he can play as a defender and we think the real strengths that he’s got could be very hard to stop as a key forward,” Balme said.

“We’re really having a look to see if we can build that into him and see how he goes and whether he takes that opportunity.

“He’s a very exciting player.”

Despite the focus on the club’s youth, Balme maintains they are all-in for a fourth flag since 2017.

“We’re all desperate. We really are. We believe we’re a damn good team,” he said.

“Over the last five years we’ve won three flags and always been close and we’ve kind of been the benchmark in a way, so we were really disappointed with what happened last year.

“We’re very committed to it. Our coaching has been terrific, the blokes have responded well on the track, we played an intra-club amongst ourselves on Saturday and I thought it went really well.

“They’re working really hard on team structure and what you should do in it rather than just driving yourself personally as a player, so I think we’re covering all the marks.

“We play Geelong on Saturday and then Hawthorn the week after, so I’d be surprised if we’re not very, very competitive.”

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2022/02/21/tigers-desperate-for-another-flag-but-must-also-blood-youngsters-balme/