Midseason report, this will include many parts, for example preseason, current, different stats and future. For the current and future periods I haven’t done single player analysis but I will do it all in more depth come season end. Hope you enjoy, here goes:
Pre-season:
RICHMONDs Round 1
B l King, Thursfield, Bowden
HB l Newman, Polak, Moore
C l Tambling, Tuck, Raines
HF l Pettifer, Richardson, McMahon
F l Deledio, Schulz, Brown
R l Simmonds, Johnson, Foley
Int from l Jackson, Hughes, Pattison, Howat
EM l Hyde, Morton, Edwards
this is what I thought was the best team: This is how we lined up:
B l King, Thursfield, Bowden
HB l Raines, Polak, McGuane
C l Deledio, Tuck, Newman
HF l Pettifer, Richardson, Morton
F l Tambling, Schulz, Brown
R l Simmonds, Johnson, Foley
Int from l Polo, Hughes, Pattison, Edwards
This is what is said player needed to improve on:
Joel Bowden:since been moved to defence bowden become one of the most important players in the team, the way he sets up and directs play with his beautful and precise kicking, in years gone by he has been asked to do this aswell as man up on the oppositions key forward. with the development of other tall defenders in the main polak and thurfield, bowden should be freed up to play more attacking and be able to push further up the ground(which the forwards will like) also recruiting Mcmahon will put less pressure on bowden to deliver every week. Position: Half back flank
Nathan G. Brown: get back to full fitness no nigglimg problems is his first priority,secondly getting some match fitness and that killer goal sense back, just havin brown near the goals is a threat to any team and we need him to spend most of his time there say 70% forward -30% roaming.
Position: Forward pocket(70%) the rest james hirding! e.g. following the ball
Travis Casserly: same as brown get over the injuries then focus on improving, haven't seen much of him, but ones he gets some size(muscle) on him he could be a weapon moving forward A grade kicking on him
Position: Half back flank/wing
Andrew Collins:keep letting this young man develop at coburg, in the midfield nowhere else, he is an in and under type like foley just alot less muscle same football brain though.
Position: Rover
Daniel Connors+Trent Cotchin: these two players are very similar, both are midfielders with class and game to match, they will both be very damaging players, they both need to work on endurance so they can run allday and burn off taggers which they will get in a few years.
Positon: rover/ruck rover/centre
Mark Coughlan: again shake the injuries and then get the game time, hopefully will get back to his 2003 form and back to being in of the games elite, is also a leader and that is what our young midfielders desperately need
Position: half forward, half midfield rotation by end of year midfield only
Brett Deledio: as much as i want deledio to become a permant and dominant midfielder until he can shake the taggers he will need to push forward and become a forward threat and put the pressure back on the opposition
Positon: Centre(for centre bounces) come half forward
Shane Edwards:this kid has so much skill and desire to successed that he could become anything, i see a young ben cousins(on field only), startin as a half forward but when he gets the size on him he will become a superstar onballer and run and run till he can't no more like cousins did.
Position: Half forward and casual onball rotation
Nathan Foley: Nathan Foley say no more, can improve on last season by improving endurance to go all day, to become more of a forward threat by kicking more goals and by not getting a big head from last seasons.
Position: Rover
Angus Graham: Graham is a man mountain, has the physcal features just needs to get the footy side going, skillswise kicking and tapping, get a bigger engine and more aggresive, protect the onballers by tackling and bumping the opposition hard they'll soon learn to take him serious.
Position: Ruckman
Cleve Hughes:has the skills just needs the dedication to work harder on his game, play him at centre half forward for coburg and tell him to keep presenting and running and not to stop running till the end of the game, has vice like hands when marking and accurate kicking, towards the end of the quarters swarp to full forward and attack every ball that comes his way.
Position: Centre half forward
Daniel Jackson:showed us toward the end of last year he is a great attacking tagger, he tacks players out of the game while getting his own ball. get more physical tackle players to the ground make them earn every touch.
Position: Tagger
Dean Polo:is very similar to jackson but can also play as a more attacking opption
Position: Tagger/rover
Jake King:he attackes every ball like a bullterrier and gives 100% everytime, could improve his game by..... getting tall!!! he doesn't have much wrong, is a real team player.
Position: Back pocket
Luke McGuane:honest hard working backman, needs to improve body strength and kicking, he attackes the ball well but turns it over when he kicks alot,
Position: Third tall defender Back flank/pocket
Jordan McMahon:it'll be interesting how he goes, i for one like the idea of getting him, is an attacking defender with great skills is a bit outside but makes up for it with quick and accurate ball movement will help bowden alot.
Position: Back flank
Danny Meyer+Mitch Morton:Both players have awesome skills, you know they will either kick goals or pick out a player when they have it, but its the getting it part they struggle with, they need to lift their work rates and attack the ball hard and they could become the next nathan browns.
Positions: Forward pocket/half forward/wing
Chris Newman+Andrew Raines: people talk about moving these player to the midfielder but i like them where they are in defence, they have a good understanding of each other and both read the play well and put their bodies on the line.
Positions: Back pocket
Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls:he is starting to look like a footballer has put on some muscle but hopefully hasn't lost that speed and agailty, is a real utility back midfield wing, i like him on the wing helping back and push forward hard and fast with accuracy, needs to improve kicking.
Position: Wing
Adam Pattison+Dean Putt:both are tall forwards who can releave for a resting ruckman or even ruck in the forward50, both have big engines but pattison could improve his speed off the mark, while pattison is a few years ahead devevloped wise of putt both will be challenging for the same position.
Position: Forward come ruckmen
Kayne Pettifer: needs to continue his recent form, leads up the ground well and doubles back just as quick, kicks important goals but needs to become a bit more consistent, needs to attack the ball alot harder to, put his body on the line.
Position: Half forward
Graham Polak: start him at centre half back, teach him to play man on man and spoil when behind, peels off well when getting in front off the full forward, can be used in an Adam Hunter type role by being swung forward at the end of of quarters to kick a couple of goals and trouble small defences.
Position: Center half back(80%) swing forward(20%)
Alex Rance: a future centre half back needs time to get fitness and strength to be up to afl level, will eventually take over from Polak, will take the gorilla forwards but will also be an offensive weapon when we have the ball.
Position: Centre half back
Matthew Richardson:Its RICHO the heart of the football club
Position: Forward
Jack Riewoldt+David Goudis: Both are tall hit up type half forwards/centre half forwards who continually lead and give an options, they can also work back towards goals and kick a bag full, while i like them both as forwards Goudis could also be developed in to a full back with his quick speed off the mark.
Positions: Centre half forwards/half forwards, and full back
Jay Schulz: its up to him what he wants to do, be a footballer or not, when he brings his game is a very damaging full forward strong mark good shot on goal, just needs to keep working and hopefully the delivery into him will get better, if that fails try him at centre half back again...
Positions: Full forward
Troy Simmonds: hopefully gotten over his injuries and will be back to his all aussie form from 2006 as a dominant ruckman who picks up high numbers of possisions
Position: Ruckman
Richard Tambling:his confidence is down, needs to improve that and be confident in his own ability, is quick and agile and can get the ball out of packs has good skills, just needs to run and run and attack the ball and harass the opposion(tackle and pressure) when he doesn't have the ball.
Position: Ruck rover/half forward
Will Thursfield:gets some muscle to go with the skills and speed he has, is better suit to the athletic forwards that run alot, has good closing speed and is a good spoiler, could improve by peeling off his player and helping team mates more, but usually does his job.
Position: Full back
Shane Tuck:tucky needs to use his size to intimidate other midfielders he needs to get agressive and throw his weight around, hopefully like his old man he improves with age and exprience.
Position: Centre
Kelvin Moore, Matthew White, Greg Tivendale, Kane Johnson, Chris Hyde, Cameron Howat: the last 6 i didn't really have much to say about or the rookies.
Mid-season: :
What I think is the best team:
B King Thursfield Moore
HB Newman Schulz McMahon
C White Tuck Tambling
HF Morton Hughes Brown
FRichardson Riewoldt Cotchin
R Simmonds Deledio Foley
INT Johnson Polo Pattison Polak
How they lined up round 12:
B: Chris Newman, Luke McGuane, Graham Polak
HB: Jordan McMahon, Kelvin Moore, Daniel Jackson
C: Matthew Richardson, Shane Tuck, Matt White
HF: Mitch Morton, Jack Riewoldt, Richard Tambling
F: Adam Pattison, Nathan Brown, Trent Cotchin
Foll: Troy Simmonds, Brett Deledio, Nathan Foley
I/C: Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Chris Hyde, Joel Bowden, Jay Schulz,
EMG: Shane Edwards, Dean Polo, Alex Rance,
I won’t go through every player just categories them roughly:
Excellent: Richo, Deledio
Very Good: Moore, Foley, Thursfield,
Good: Brown, Johnson, Tambling, Simmonds
Average: Most of the rest
Needs work/ Work in project: Cotchin, Riewoldt, Morton, White, Jon, Edwards, Rance, Conners, Collins, most of the first, second and some third year players
In Trouble: Tivendale, Pettifer, Bowden, Hyde
The stats:
Richmond Tigers 2008 Totals
.......................Richmond...... Opponent...... Team/Opp.Diff.
Games .................12..................12....................12
Kicks....................2385...............2388.................-3
Hballs..................2007................1552................455
Disposals .............4392................3940................452
Marks...................1309................1220................89
Tackles.................558..................656.................-98
Goals ...................176..................190.................-14
Behinds................133..................157.................-24
Hitouts.................306..................411................-105
Frees For.............243...................267................-24
Frees Against......266...................240..................26
Richmond Tigers 2008 Averages Per Game
........................Richmond........ Opponent....... Team/Opp.Diff.
Games ..................12 ...................12 ....................12
Kicks ...................198.8............... 199.0............... -.02
Hballs ..................167.2 ...............129.3............... 37.9
Disposals .............366.0................ 328.3.............. 37.7
Marks ..................109.0................ 101.7............... 7.4
Tackles ................46.5 ...................54.7.............. -8.2
Goals ...................14.7................... 15.8............. -1.2
Behinds ...............11.1.................... 13.1 .............-2.0
Hitouts ................25.5................... 34.2.............. -8.8
Frees For .............20.2 ...................22.2 .............-2.0
Frees Against....... 22.2 ..................20.0 ...............2.2
Looking at the stats this is what I can interpret:
Kicks: not much difference
Handballs: Clearly over hand passing, and you can tell when you watch the games, we average 38 more handballs than our opponents and our ratio is almost 1:1, not good we need to kick more
Disposals: are distorted because of handballing but it shows we are getting the ball just not disposing of it right
Marks: we generally out mark opponents which is good but could be distorted from short kicking/sideways kicking
Tackles: Not enough pressure the stat tells me, we average 8 less tackles, needs improvement
Goals: we are getting close just not winning, 14.7 goals a game needs to improve to about 17 goals a game
Behinds: we are relatively accurate ?
Hitouts: big problem averaging 8 less hit outs, and only about 6-7 a quarter which is making our onballers work harder
Frees for: ?
Frees against: give away a bit to many but not bad
High Rankings
Ranked 3rd in Handballs Per Game
Ranked 5th in Disposals Per Game
Ranked 2nd in least Opponent Handballs Per Game
Ranked 2nd in least Opponent Disposals Per Game
Ranked 5th in least Opponent Marks Per Game
Ranked 1st in Team to Opponent Handballs Per Game Diff.
Ranked 3rd in Team to Opponent Disposals Per Game Diff.
Low Rankings
Ranked 16th in Tackles Per Game
Ranked 15th in Hitouts Per Game
Ranked 14th in least Opponent Points Per Game
Ranked 12th in Team to Opponent Points Per Game Diff.
Ranked 15th in Team to Opponent Tackles Per Game Diff.
Ranked 15th in Team to Opponent Hitouts Per Game Diff.
Weaknesses: TACKLING, HITOUTS, TO MANY HANDBALLS and SCORING
The current team needs to improve their skills, and use kicking more and playing more direct, run and carry and take on players, a lot of the team is very quick but they don’t use this to there advantages. The hitouts is another problem but we need to either recruit a ruckman (Warnock) or wait till we develop one, either way ones we do one it will help our midfield become dominate.
Future:
This is my future team:
These player will probably/might still be around but I just put in a rough under 23 team:
Newman
Meyer
King
McGuane
B | Kelvin Moore - Will Thursfield - Andrew Raines
HB | Dean Polo - Alex Rance - Daniel Connors
C | Daniel Jackson - Brett Deledio - Shane Edwards
HF | Mitch Morton - Cleve Hughes - Richard Tambling
F | Clayton Collard - Jack Riewoldt - Dean Putt
R | Angus Graham- Trent Cotchin - Nathan Foley
Int | David Gourdis - JON- Mat White – Andrew Collins
I obviously know a few of these players wont make it and there will be players that we draft that may come into this team.
Going into this year i thourght we'd finish between 12-6, so thats about right. I also thought at the star of the year our strength was our forwardline, and our major weakness was our backline with the midfield a weakness aswell.
Midseason i now think our backline well not our strength but has the most promise of all, its solid and works well together and there is still the likes of Rance and Casserly to come intoin, so im happy with he backline atm. Our midfield line our backline isn't a strength but shows alot of upside, key players like Deledio, Foley and Cotchin and support players like Polo, Collins, Conners, Tambling, Edwards, and White looks to be very promising. Now what was our strength i now think is our biggest weakness our forwardline, while midfielders can rest up there, we still need key forwards, Riewoldt looks more a HHF atm but with a bigger body could be a good CHF/FF, Hughes is showins signs irregularly but will hopefully come good, same with collard.
My major concerns looking at this team and the team at the moment are a tall first ruckmen, CHF and inside midfielders.
Source: i got the stats from footywire.com, and the rest ways put together by myself.
