Terry keeps the lid on
richmondfc.com.au
Geoff Dodd
6:45 PM Sat 21 June, 2008
DESPITE his club sitting just one game outside the eight, Terry Wallace is refusing to talk up Richmond's finals' prospects.
The exciting four-point win over Port Adelaide sets up a blockbuster clash next Saturday afternoon against Carlton at the MCG, with the winner destined to be right in the September mix.
But Wallace wasn't using the 'f' word after today's match at AAMI Stadium – at least not in the immediate sense.
"We're a young developing side that's showing improvement, that's getting better performances more regularly,"' he said.
"We still have our ups and downs, but we're getting better performances more consistently out of more players.
"We're not comfortable with the fact that we haven't played finals for a long, long time, but what we've said is we want to get to the stage when we get back into finals contention – whether that's this year, next year, whenever it may be – that we're there to actually stay for years to come.
"It's a long time since this footy club's made finals, but an even longer time since they've made multiple finals. And that's where we've got to try and grow and develop the team."
Wallace credited the win to a high-possession game-plan – the Tigers had the ball 392 times to the Power's 306 – mixing attacking footy with tempo footy to deny Port's match-winners the ball in open space.
"We thought our ability to keep the ball and control the tempo of the game (would be) important,"' he said.
"We still wanted to play an attacking game – which it was in the first quarter – but the balance between the two is what we've got to get right.
"Sydney are probably the best defensive side in the competition, at closing down space. Port Adelaide like to play a running, free-flowing game. We wanted to make their brilliant players have to defend at times throughout the game.
"If you let them run and carry and play on their terms, they're going to beat you."
But the execution of tempo footy in the last quarter – which Port won by five goals to one to almost snatch the game – still had Wallace concerned.
"Well it was five goals to one, so I wouldn't have thought (we handled it) extremely well," he said. "But we still kept our nerve.
"We said at three-quarter time that we believed if we kicked three goals in the last quarter we thought it would be beyond the opposition. We kicked one.
"There were shades of a couple of other games we've played in this season – particularly the Western Bulldogs game, where we drew it – where we were well in front. It's something that we need to get better at.
"But in the end, when it gets down to three or four minutes to go, you've just got to let them play, you can't be really trying to manufacture too much at that stage."
Wallace praised his young forwards, with Adelaide Hills product Cleve Hughes having a breakthrough match with six goals, and Mitch Morton booting a career-best five while also doing a defensive job on Peter Burgoyne.
"I've always thought that Cleve had the ability to make the grade, and he showed that today,"' he said.
"People will say straight away 'Where's Cleve Hughes been, why hasn't he been in?' But from our point of view, you've got to give them time to mature. They all mature at different times.
"And to have Mitch Morton step up and play a game like that was a real bonus as well."
And as for Joel Bowden.
"Pretty good wasn't he? He was outstanding. Certainly it was the best game that Joel's played for the year. He's had some ups and downs throughout the season, gone back to VFL level at times, but handled that magnificently well.
"Over the last couple of weeks he hasn't been in stellar form, but he's actually been doing jobs for the team.
"This week he got out a little bit and that allowed him to play the freelance role he likes to play; 23 marks – it's a pretty fair day at the office for any player."
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