Unsung hero helping rebuild Richmond from the bottom Mark Stevens
From: Herald Sun
July 03, 2011 8:54PM YOU probably haven't heard of Blair Hartley, for Richmond hardly shouts his name from the roof the Jack Dyer Stand.
But Hartley, the silent "poacher", is a key player in the Tigers' revival.
When the club was on the bottom last year and being compared to Fitzroy at its worst, Hartley started work with a brief to scour opposition lists in search of "opportunities".
Hartley had Bachar Houli and Shaun Grigg on his hit-list last year and nabbed them both.
It is not difficult to predict the targets on Hartley's whiteboard this year.
You might find the first 10 are 197cm or above. The Tigers need a gorilla down back, but most of all they need a ruckman. The ruck run-down might feature the following names: Hamish McIntosh (North Melbourne), Mitch Clark (Brisbane), Shaun Hampson (Carlton), Jackson Trengove (Port Adelaide), Max Gawn (Melbourne), Dawson Simpson (Geelong) ... and maybe, at a pinch, Mark Blake (Geelong).
More names may have been added in the past 24 hours given the smashing the Tigers suffered against Carlton on Saturday.
The Tigers, hobbled by the early loss of Ben Griffiths to injury, crumbled at the centre clearances.
They won it for the first time out of the centre 22 minutes into the second term and finished down 22-9 in the key stat. In clearances around the ground, it was 53-31.
Carlton scored 15.8 (98) from stoppages - the second biggest tally of the season - and Richmond just 5.5 (35) from the same source.
Overall this season, Richmond ranks 16th for hitout differential against its direct opponent, 16th for hitouts to advantage differential and 17th for scores from clearances differential.
The Tigers are so clean with their ball use on the burst, but are having their pants pulled down in close at key ruck contests. They have won the hitout count just twice this season. Tyrone Vickery was recruited as a ruckman, but doesn't possess the engine to play the role. Now, he is settled as a forward. Andrew Browne is a workhorse via the rookie draft. Angus Graham, another rookie elevation, has stalled.
The best way to judge a ruckman's influence at centre bounces is using the "clearance difference" stat and it is a sad story for the Tigers this year. Vickery has the best record (-2) in terms of clearances won and lost when he takes the centre bounce. Trouble is, he has been there only 69 times. Browne has attacked 139 centre bounces for a -18 record. Graham is -32 from 230 centre bounces. They are last on the list of regular ruckmen for the stat. To put that into context, Carlton's Robbie Warnock is +37, North Melbourne's Todd Goldstein - the beanpole who has surged ahead of McIntosh - is +28.
McIntosh is in contract at Arden St until the end of 2013 and was shocked when the Roos put him up for trade at the end of 2008. But at 25, he is the perfect fit for Tigerland. It is a luxury to get McIntosh, an All-Australian squad nominee in 2007 and 2009, as insurance.
Would the Tigers be prepared to give up a first-round draft pick for him? Would North consider it?
That man Hartley must at least be tempted.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/unsung-hero-helping-rebuild-richmond-from-the-bottom/story-fn7si05c-1226086702069
