Thanks smokey for a really great response... I found the above comment interesting. Am I right in my understanding of what you written that you have seen some impact (say up until the Essendon game) but none since (ie the last 3 weeks) or have I miss interepeted that and you believe there's been no impact at all?
I haven't seen an impact that can be identified as anything more than an (expected) emotive response in his first few games. These last few weeks we seem to have gone right back to the lack of intensity, lack of purpose, lack of teamwork that characterized the final months of Wallace's reign so I believe all we saw for a few weeks under Rawlings was emotion and little or no substance. I think if Rawlings was to be 'our man' in this current situation then we had a right to expect some change - not necessarily win any more games but certainly play with more purpose and do (or at least try) the team-oriented things. As I said, this is only my opinion based on observations of our playing style - I have no connection to any inner sanctums and there may be underlying reasons that the board are aware of to explain all this. And if Rawlings is the best our process can come up with then he gets my unqualified support. But I think he is now well and truly behind the eight ball.
good call.
our players still dont block, tackle and shepherd for one another.
under Rawlings i am yet to see our tackle count improve substantially even in the games we won.
Jade's stats are very similar to that of Terry when he was coach.
The games we won is as a result of players playing for their future not because of Jade
IMO these are the stats which show players are playing for their coach & each other not a few cheap wins against the Demons and Eagles
the games we won was due to other teams breaking down & having alot of injured players, we won or drew nothing, other clubs lost games & still nearly took them away from us
we are worse than St-Kilda back in the 70's & 80's
Developement they have no idea. Its never been there & still aint there, They dont train half as hard as other clubs & dont think for themselves nor do they push themselves.
Richmond problems is that the players think just because they have made it to the AFL that they dont have to think & put the hard work in anymore.
They are satified that they have made it to the elite level & dropped off the workrate. They are mentaly weak & until they are pushed hard & mentaly challenged, they wont improve
Exactly. Getting the right coach isn't just about being good on gameday or on the training track, or picking the right junior players when you come to Richmond, it's about getting players motivated and changing their mindset that now they have made the AFL they have no more levels to rise, and they plateau.
The coach we choose must show the capability and have an opinion on how he will turn it around and who they can bring with them to introduce a new culture to this football club. It was a positive in my opinion that Jade put it out in the open and hopefully having it straight from the horses mouth, thrown at the club as a whole, they have to asses it properly and get the right personnel to have the strength and effort to flush the crap culture out of the club.
For too long we have talked about what are deficiencies are on the field only but the real deficiency is in their own minds. We need to throw in the players faces and we need not only a strong coach, but have him capable of bringing strong assistants that can change these players attitudes for the better. Because we show in bursts the kind of football we can play, then a team will kick a couple of goals and it's all too hard to fight back. We must find the best candidate to change that and I'm not going to say who because I don't have the knowledge to know Hinkley, Hardwick or Richardson that well but I have no choice but to trust that the RFC are finally getting their poo together and realise what makes us a constant failure as a club. I can only hope.
