Media reports: Tigers vs Saints

[one-eyed]

Graham Polak not in the mix for Round 1
Mark Stevens | March 06, 2009 12:00am

CLEARLY, there is no football God. A goal with his first kick back in senior competitive footy would have been the ultimate Graham Polak story - and we almost got it.

Polak finally touched it out on the half-forward stuff, and quickly threw the ball on to his right boot from 40m.

It landed in the centre of the goals, no more than two metres out, but the ball took a vicious turn to the left and dribbled towards the boundary.

At least Richmond's coach last night, David King, could see the funny side.

"There was only one person at the ground happy about that -  it was Richard Tambling who grabbed it and kickd the goal," King said.

The cruel moment was the highlight of an otherwise predictable Richmond-St Kilda practice match at Shepparton's Deakin Reserve.

St Kilda, close to full-strength beat a depleted Richmond lineup by 52 points - 16.13 (109) to 9.3 (57).

The Saints had 66 forward entries to the Tigers' 25, summing up the domination.

"Handball happiness" was alive and well again, underlining the changing face of the game.</p>

The Saints had 28 more handballs than kicks and the Tigers 27 more as they worked on ways of finding a way through heavy traffic.

Luke Ball continued his impressive pre-season form for the Saints, supported by usual suspects Sam Fisher and Brendon Goddard.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said Ball had improved his speed with a full pre-season and he showed no signs of the osteitis pubis that has hobbled him in the past.

Michael Gardiner and Steven King also again showed signs they may be a formidable ruck combination this year, allowing Justin Koschitzke to play as a deep forward.

Koschitzke started slowly, but worked his way into the game and finished with three goals.

But St Kilda coach Ross Lyon was not totally content, walking away frustrated that that so many forward entries didn't lead to a bigger margin.

"There's some concerns on efficiency," Lyon said.

Lyon said his team was "getting there", but warned of bigger challenges ahead.
 
"I'll go and see teams on the weekend and think 'gee, how are we going to be beat them?" Lyon said.

Lyon said Nick Riewoldt was on track to return next week.
 
Polak didn't emerge until after the half-time break, playing 18 minutes on a miserly Max Hudghton for that one touch.
 
He returned in the final quarter, playing mainly on the wing and floating down back to have another two kicks and three handballs.
 
Polak, almost killed when hit by a tram last July, has made stunning progress, but still looks some distance off playing senior football for four points.

King indicated Polak was not in the mix for Round 1.</p>

Shane Tuck dominated for the Tigers, picking up 26 disposals.

But Jay Schulz provided the highlight for Richmond fans, kicking four goals and showing his contested marking prowess.

King said Schulz had "frustrated" supporters in the past, but was fitter than he had been in recent years.

The final margin was understandable given Richmond was without eight of last year's best-and-fairest top 10.

Absentees included Matthew Richardson, Brett Deledio, Nathan Brown, Nathan Foley, Chris Newman, Kelvin Moore, Ben Cousins and Troy Simmonds.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25150794-19742,00.html

[one-eyed]

Polak makes successful return for Tigers
Sam Saracino
March 6, 2009 - 11:04PM

Richmond's Graham Polak made a successful comeback to AFL in the Tigers 52-point loss to St Kilda at Deakin Reserve in Shepparton on Friday night.

Polak sat out the first half and then come off the bench to play a large part of the second half in the Tigers' 16.13 (109) to 9.3 (57) loss.

He finished with six possessions, five of them coming in the last quarter on the wing.

Acting coach David King said the club was thrilled for Polak to get through his first competitive match since sustaining a serious head injury when hit by a tram last June.

"We are thrilled for him that he got through the game," King said.

"He is just happy that he got through without incident and he can now get on with playing footy."

King said it was too early to discuss the future plans for Polak.

"It is a bit early to talk about when he will play next, but the plan will be to build on it. At the moment we just wish him the best in his comeback to the game," he said.

"He played 20 minutes and he is now collecting his thoughts. We will see where he is at in the next 24 hours."

St Kilda was able to establish an early advantage by kicking the final three goals of the first term to head to quarter time with a lead of 19 points.

The Saints - with the majority of their star players in the line up - extended their lead to 25 points by half time.

Richmond remained in the contest when it booted three of the first five goals of the third quarter.

However, the Saints steadied with two of the remaining three goals to extend their advantage to 33 points at the last change.

In the last quarter, St Kilda did as it pleased and eventually ran out winners by 52 points with Brendan Goddard booting his fourth goal as the final siren sounded to end the match.

For the Saints it was the usual suspects of Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna and Sam Fisher who proved the stars.

Richmond had few winners on the night, but Jay Schulz, Richard Tambling and Jordan McMahon can hold their heads high after good performances.

Both teams got through the match without any injuries, with Richmond likely to welcome back several of the notable absentees from the match.

The Tigers went into the NAB challenge match without 12 of its best 22, including Matthew Richardson, Nathan Brown, Nathan Foley and Ben Cousins, while St Kilda was missing skipper Nick Riewoldt, Steve Baker and Sean Dempster.

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-sport/polak-makes-successful-return-for-tigers-20090306-8rkm.html

[one-eyed]

Tigers lose but Polak's a winner
richmondfc.com.au
By Sam Saracino
Sat 07 March, 2009

RICHMOND’S Graham Polak made a successful comeback to AFL in the Tigers 52-point loss to St Kilda at Deakin Reserve in Shepparton on Friday night.

Polak sat out the first half and then come off the bench to play a large part of the second half in the Tigers' 16.13 (109) to 9.3 (57) loss.

He finished with six possessions, five of them coming in the last quarter on the wing.

Acting coach David King said the club was thrilled for Polak to get through his first competitive match since sustaining a serious head injury when hit by a tram last June.

"We are thrilled for him that he got through the game," King said.

"He is just happy that he got through without incident and he can now get on with playing footy."

King said it was too early to discuss the future plans for Polak.

"It is a bit early to talk about when he will play next, but the plan will be to build on it. At the moment we just wish him the best in his comeback to the game," he said.

"He played 20 minutes and he is now collecting his thoughts. We will see where he is at in the next 24 hours."

St Kilda was able to establish an early advantage by kicking the final three goals of the first term to head to quarter time with a lead of 19 points.

The Saints - with the majority of their star players in the line up - extended their lead to 25 points by half time.

Richmond remained in the contest when it booted three of the first five goals of the third quarter.

However, the Saints steadied with two of the remaining three goals to extend their advantage to 33 points at the last change.

In the last quarter, St Kilda did as it pleased and eventually ran out winners by 52 points with Brendan Goddard booting his fourth goal as the final siren sounded to end the match.

For the Saints it was the usual suspects of Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna and Sam Fisher who proved the stars.

Richmond had few winners on the night, but Jay Schulz, Richard Tambling and Jordan McMahon can hold their heads high after good performances.

Both teams got through the match without any injuries, with Richmond likely to welcome back several of the notable absentees from the match.

The Tigers went into the NAB Challenge match without 12 of their best 22, including Matthew Richardson, Nathan Brown, Nathan Foley and Ben Cousins, while St Kilda was missing skipper Nick Riewoldt, Steve Baker and Sean Dempster.

St Kilda       4.1    8.3   12.6    16.13 (109)
Richmond    1.0    4.2    7.3      9.3  (57)

GOALS
St Kilda: Goddard 4, Koschitzke 3, Gilbert, Armitage, Milne 2, X Clarke, S Fisher, Gwilt.
Richmond: Schulz 4, Connors 2, Collins, McMahon, Tambling.

BEST
St Kilda: Hayes, Goddard, Gilbert, S Fisher, Dal Santo, Ball, Montagna, X Clarke.
Richmond: Tuck, Schulz, McMahon, Tambling, Silvester.

Injuries
St Kilda: Nil.
Richmond: Nil.

Umpires: Not available.

Reports: Nil.

Official crowd: 7000 at Deakin Reserve, Shepparton.

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/tabid/6301/default.aspx?newsid=72950