Adelaide, Richmond cause seismic shift * Mick Malthouse
* The Australian
* July 10, 2010 ONE of the great things about football is that it's an ever-changing landscape.
There has been a seismic shift in momentum over the past few weeks and it has been terrific for the competition.
I've got the upmost respect for Adelaide coach Neil Craig.
Having coached the Eagles for a decade in Perth, I know what it's like coaching in a one-team then a two-team town.
I know he's a South Australian coaching in Adelaide but the pressure is far greater for him and his staff carrying the aspirations of most SA football followers compared to coaching in Melbourne, where there are so many teams.
Given how badly the Crows started, most sides would have ticked them off as a win but not over the past month as they have got some good players back and the younger players are starting to stand up.
Adelaide has started a mini-revolution which sees them playing well enough to be a finalist and, with eight games to go, there may just be enough time for them to sneak in. As a regular finalist they certainly know all about September football.
The way they have demolished sides in recent weeks, they're a very dangerous team.
The big Cinderella story of the season is Richmond.
Having been a player there for many years and just recently visited the club to sign the 1980 premiership 30-year anniversary jumper, I maintain a side interest in the Tigers and their progress.
Their showing in the past five weeks has been absolutely remarkable. They've won two on the road, which is often the stumbling block of lower sides which don't have a belief that they can win interstate.
Last Sunday, Richmond put a massive dent in the finals hopes of Sydney and is capable of doing that to other teams over the next two months.
All teams need a player that the fans can embrace, particularly the kids.
At Collingwood it was Nathan Buckley. For more than a decade every Collingwood kid had number five on their back. At Essendon it was Matthew Lloyd or James Hird. At Geelong it was Gary Ablett Sr and now Gary Ablett Jr. At Hawthorn it's Buddy Franklin.
Suddenly at Richmond it is Jack Riewoldt. For him to be leading the Coleman Medal playing for a side which was on the bottom until last week is amazing.
He is double-teamed every week and was the victim of a side still learning its trade under new coach Damien Hardwick.
To see Riewoldt and Richmond emerge the way they have is fantastic for football.
It wasn't so long ago the critics were claiming that Richmond was going to be the first team not to win a game during the season since Fitzroy in 1964.
In the blink of an eye they have now won four out of five and it is no fluke. They have been very well structured.
It has given the supporters plenty of hope for the future and all those kids who follow Richmond a number to wear on their back. Kids need heroes and now a whole generation of Richmond supporters will grow up wanting to be Jack Riewoldt.
It's almost like Richmond are just starting their season after a long and exhausting pre-season.
We are now seeing the full talents of players like Brett Deledio, Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin and, most of all, Riewoldt.Conversely the team which replaced Richmond on the bottom last week, West Coast, is now probably looking at next year.
I think West Coast has a good mix of players. Some of its older players have been the walking wounded but it has some exciting youngsters.
I was most impressed with young Brad Sheppard last weekend. A first-round draft pick from last year, he's going to be an outstanding half-back.
Brisbane will be bitterly disappointed. They've won just one of their last 10 matches and it happened to be against Collingwood so we know how good they can be.
There will be questions about the amount of players they have drafted from other clubs. Brent Staker has probably been the best of their mature recruits. Xavier Clarke is yet to take the field, Amon Buchanan, Matt Maguire and Andrew Raines have struggled and, as we all know, Brendan Fevola can be very good or very bad.
The player at Brisbane who has caught my eye is Todd Banfield, who was a fourth-round draft pick in 2007 and shapes as a fine player.
Having made the finals last year and recruited a Coleman medallist in Fevola, they would have had high hopes of a top-four spot.
Brisbane's struggles are no reflection on coach Michael Voss. He has been brave and has coached with passion but has been a victim of bad luck.
Captain and inspiration Jonathan Brown struggled with injury and was then forced out all together, a loss that would put a big hole in any side.
Another side which has struggled is Essendon but it had the most horrendous draw and its attrition rate through injury has been terrible. These factors more than anything explain Essendon's difficult season.
If you keep playing quality sides without your best players you're going to get beaten.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/adelaide-richmond-cause-seismic-shift/story-e6frg7t6-1225890016864
