Rawlings plays it cool in hot seat
Paul Daffey | June 14, 2009
JADE Rawlings, the Coburg coach who was brought into the hottest seat in football when he took over from Terry Wallace as Richmond coach during the week, last night played it cool after the Tigers had scored a fighting, 15-point victory over West Coast at Etihad Stadium.
Rawlings appeared open and relaxed, or as relaxed as a young man can be in the minutes after making his AFL coaching debut, when he said he enjoyed the experience of leading the Tigers to their third victory of the season. The Tigers' 24-point lead at the first change proved a match-winning break as the Eagles kept coming at them for the rest of the night.
"It's about this footy club," Rawlings said. "It's not about me."
Rawlings admitted he found the opening 15 minutes "frenetic", but it was in this period that the Tigers scorched into the ascendancy, largely through the dominance of Richard Tambling around the ball and Mitch Morton's three goals up forward.
Morton finished with five goals and his second victory in two games over his former club. His fellow former Eagle, Ben Cousins, was among the Tigers' best in picking up 28 possessions, mostly on a player who arrived at the Eagles after his departure, Scott Selwood.
Rawlings' optimism was evident in his demeanour when he hopped onto the boundary towards the end of the first quarter. But he was at his most animated when he gave Cousins, a player who is the same age as himself, a serve at three-quarter time.
"He took it like a man," Rawlings said. "His first couple of efforts after three-quarter time were very influential."
Rawlings was worried when the Tigers went into the final break with a lead of only 11 points. Nick Naitanui, the spring-heeled Eagles ruckman who had an exciting debut, threatened to give his team a winning chance early in the last quarter when he took an exciting mark after springing on to a pack next to the behind post.
But in stark contrast with his commanding grab, Naitanui, No.2 pick in the 2008 draft, betrayed his naivety by playing on and kicking a disappointing behind. The Tigers wrested back the momentum and pleased Rawlings with their pluck in a tense last quarter.
"I thought we looked a bit shaky in the third quarter," Rawlings said. "In the last quarter I thought we showed plenty of spirit. And we made some big defensive plays, which forced West Coast to turn it over … thankfully we scored enough in the last quarter to keep them out."
The other debutant on the night, Richmond's Tyrone Vickery, had little to no influence on the game, but Rawlings was pleased with his endeavour. Vickery was taken at No.8 in the 2008 draft. With Naitanui and Vickery making their debuts last night, only one player from last year's top 10, Adelaide's Phil Davis, is yet to play his first AFL game.
Of the other five youthful inclusions brought to the Richmond team on a night that earned the new coach the sobriquet "Jade the Blade", Rawlings was especially pleased with Tom Hislop, the former Essendon player, who had a forward defensive role on David Wirrpanda, and Shane Edwards, who kicked two goals in a dashing performance at half-back.
Hislop's crunching tackle on Matt Spangher late in the second quarter earned him a free kick from which he kicked an impressive goal from a 45-degree angle to settle the Tigers going into the break. Fellow forward inclusion, Robin Nahas, contributed his usual energy, while Trent Cotchin was subdued by what was described as a "slight cork".
Rawlings revealed that he shied from seeking advice from former coaches during the week; instead he relied on the counsel of his fellow assistant coaches and senior members of the club. "When I was a player, I sought too many people's advice," he said.
His main instruction to the players was to express themselves more; the inference was that they might have gone into their shells during the tense final weeks of Wallace's four and a half term.
"I wanted them to play with some freedom and some spirit; just keep for each other," he said.
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