Wallace rues late misses
7:48 PM Sat 1 September, 2007
By Jason Phelan
for richmondfc.com.au
LEADING St Kilda by nine points early in the final term, the Tigers had every chance to climb off the bottom of the ladder on Saturday, but coach Terry Wallace lamented his players' inability to grasp some gilt-edged chances to seal the win late in the match.
"We had opportunities, we had senior players who missed opportunities late in the game and that's not blaming them but they were guys that you would expect to kick them," Wallace said after Nathan Brown and Kayne Pettifer both missed gettable shots on goal.
"We had a few of our younger boys just miss targets late in the game that just left the door open for the opposition and, probably, a couple of their senior, stronger bodied boys just standing up at the end was the difference."
The result handed the Tigers their second wooden spoon in four years, but Wallace was heartened by the spirit and determination displayed by his young charges in fighting the game out.
"Clearly what it showed me was that we're [headed] in the right direction," he said.
"Early in the game we were poor and we were beaten comfortably early. Last year we played in a round 22 game [against West Coast] exactly the same and we just curled up our toes and lost by 80-odd points.
"This year they dug deep, they worked their way back into the game, outran the opposition for the next two-and-a-half quarters and, unfortunately through inexperience, couldn't get over the line.
"It shows me that we're heading in the right direction as a team and as a club, but it also shows we're not quite there yet and we just need a bit more experience into those players."
The Tigers now have a long, hot summer of soul searching and list refinement ahead of them, but Wallace is confident that he possesses the core of a playing group that can climb back up the ladder next season.
"Clearly, we're on an improving graph, there's no doubt about that," he said.
"What do we need? I need to get my ruckman back, I need Troy Simmonds back fit and well so that we can structure up accordingly.
"We've needed the experience of what's been the second half of this year for some of these guys to grow and develop.
"Our backline's nice and hard and tough, they're not physically mature yet, but they'll get better every time they go out there.
"We were winning and losing games 18 months ago with players, and no offence to those players, but payers who had been winning and losing games for the club for a long period of time. We're now winning and losing games with a fresh young group that should get better every time they go out there.
"To me whether you call it a transitional year or a year you needed to have, we had to get those young boys out there, we had to give them experience and show them that they're growing and developing from that experience."
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