:bangheadSorry people but having been a tigers supported for 35 years i have seen alot of horrific performances but today i just had to post something on this site as a form of therapy otherwise i might do something drastic. What a rabble our playing group were today against the pies, 4 years under Wallace who now has the squad he wanted, no major injuries to speak of, perfect weather conditions, a full 7 day break after last weeks game, all pointed towards a more spirited showing by our team. Well as we all know by now it was embarrassing to watch, i have had a good think about the situation with us in comparison to other squads and it seems to come back to two main issues.
1/ Recruitment - Richmond over the last four years have recruited extremely poorly, we have selected the wrong types of players, not sure what plan of recruitment we have had (if any) but i would like to see the blueprint supposedly laid down 4 years ago. Why is it that all other clubs seem to be able to promote 1st or 2nd year players regularly and they perform yet our guys take years to mature if they mature at all? We obviously must be targeting the wrong style of player. We seem to go after gangly, weak bodied rag dolls who are so lightweight that it is basically a danger to their health to enter a pack. Start recruiting strong bodied 17/18 year olds like other clubs seem to find. We have had first and second picks yet other clubs seems to pick up better players with later picks. Is this just luck or do they just have better judgment? All we seem to do is recruit poorly and then 3 to 4 years later we let half the group go because they haven't fulfilled their potential, potential according to who? Obviously our recruiters see potential in kids that no one else sees, why is this? Unfortunately we have a group that just will not win a premiership now or any time in the foreseeable future, again we have to start from scratch and wait another 5 years while we get consistently belted each week, will this nightmare ever end?
2/ Senior playing group - Our current senior playing group it should be remembered have not won a premiership (bar Johnson). They are all from a losing culture and it shows, the look on Joel Bowden's face today was of a loser, he has received criticism in the past and i have given him the benefit of any doubt but today i am sorry to say may mean the end of an era. He is not the only one, Richo who i cannot fault with his efforts and in the past has been the only shining light in very poor sides is also someone who we just cant continue to carry. Yes he takes some strong contesting marks, yes he runs the New York marathon every match and yes maybe one day he will come out and kick 15 goals (would require 60 shots on goal to do it!) but hey, isnt he a forward, isn't a forward supposed to kick that red oval leather thing through the big white sticks regularly. For a seasoned AFL player it is just plain diabolical how bad his goal and field kicking is. At one stage today all our young guys through sheer desperation managed to move the ball along the wing until it reached Richo. He then managed to shank a supposed short pass straight to a pies defender who sets up another attacking raid resulting in a goal at the other end. How a player at this elite level still cannot kick correctly is absolutely beyond me. However he is not the only one, some of Bowden's disposals are also questionable, he must have shares in some private hospitals around the local area because that's where most players who receive them will end up.
Nathan Brown tried hard but he is currently playing without confidence, he just doesn't seem to have the same speed of the mark as he used to have so he is just that much easier to match up against and as a result ineffective meaning no potency in our forward line altogether.
Pettifer is another who was a high end draft pick who has his moments but unfortunately cannot do it all the time and is just not going to be a match winner on a consistent basis.
Unfortunately most other teams have a senior player who can influence a match, sadly the tigers don't have one of these, how do you then clean out the young and senior players at the same time, this is what really needs to happen but we know it wont. Today showed me that we don't have a game plan, once we reach the centre line that's when the players do not seem to have any idea what to do next, therefore Wallace needs replacing as well.
One last thing that i just have to say and that is please slap with a wet fish whoever is responsible for telling our players that they are quick, for God sake don't try to run around players who are quicker than you. We are slow compared to most teams so taking on opponents by trying to outrun them is just going to make you look silly. If i wanted to watch silly things i prefer to watch Kramer sliding in through the Jerry's front door or George Costanza being humiliated.
