A letter to ... Richmond supportersBy Jennifer Witham
Wed 16 Feb, 2011Dear Richmond supporters
This isn't a letter designed to convince you everything is going to be okay this season. It probably won't be. But I honestly believe it will be better than what you witnessed on Saturday night.
Despite the fact your side against Carlton and Collingwood closely resembled Coburg and most of the guys who played won’t be there in round one, it was clear things will be different this year.
They have to be: this is the year the club has marked as the first year in a plan to bring the premiership cup back to Richmond.
Remember when Brendon Gale arrived as CEO: he confronted the club, and challenged it to get its winning mojo back again. He put it to the players that they were the Geelong of 2004 - the foundation of a champion team that can turn over premierships.
Remember he said he wanted the eleventh flag by 2015, and have won THREE by 2020. This is not a man who is a Johnny-come-lately at Tigerland; he’s a man who played almost 250 games for Richmond, for ONE final.
Your pain is his pain.
You can trust his plan. It started last year with the appointment of the no-nonsense, premiership winner in Damien Hardwick.
You saw the results, gently gently in 2010. Expect more this year.
Hardwick's game plan has clearly been adopted by every player on the list. There is some depth beyond the better known absent players on Friday. Hope flows from the fact a virtual 'B' side could stay with the team that won the premiership four and a half months ago for the first half.
When more of a contest didn't evolve, the usual cries were heard from jaded Richmond supporters who have been through their fair share of pain in recent years.
"I might as well tear up my membership now. Bottom four again," one said.
"Another year and nothing changes," said another pessimist.
"When does the cricket start again?" asked a real pessimist.
Forget all that: it’s early, the football department was experimenting and there was a lot to like about what was on offer.
Okay, so the players' skills were average. Big deal. Name one team that moves the ball smoothly and without the occasional error in February. That’s the idea of the pre-season competition - to allow players to blow the cobwebs away and get used to running with a football again in match conditions.
So the second half against both sides was disappointing. Pretty much your entire midfield was missing. As Hardwick said after the match, the last centre bounce against Collingwood saw Brad Helbig, Pat Contin and Reece Conca go head to head with Dale Thomas, Jarryd Blair and Scott Pendlebury.
Conca was the Tigers’ first pick in last year's NAB AFL Draft. Helbig was their third pick. Contin is a second-year rookie.
Thomas, Blair and Pendlebury have 225 games of experience between them and are all recent premiership players. It was no match.
Tom Derickx got monstered by Robbie Warnock in the ruck in the first game but held his own against Cameron Wood in game two. Derickx also has one of the coolest-looking surnames in the AFL.
Jake Batchelor got his hands dirty across half-back and didn’t look out of place.
Conca and Helbig also pressed claims for a round one berth with composed performances even against the experienced and hardened Collingwood side.
Alex Rance looked more at home in defence than he has before, David Astbury appears to have stepped up his game and had the ball on a string and Jake King had a real crack - and didn’t start any fights.
Ben Nason has lost none of his courage and showed signs of taking another step in his development. He has also retained the sickest dreads in the AFL and made Pendlebury's short stumps look like a lame experiment.
Daniel Connors looked good and Shane Tuck - the most experienced Tiger on the field with 130 games - got plenty of the ball, as usual.
Mitch Morton kicked some goals against Carlton but we already knew he could do that. The inclusion of Jack Riewoldt and the emergence of players like Troy Taylor will enable the continuation of Morton's push up the ground as an occasional midfielder.
Hardwick admitted afterwards there were 10 to 12 players who would walk into that side. Brett Deledio, Chris Newman, Daniel Jackson, Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Riewoldt and Nathan Foley - who is finally fit - are certain starters in the Tigers' best.
Throw in the other mature-bodied midfielders recruited last year - Shaun Grigg and Bachar Houli. There’s compelling evidence supporting the positives of a change in scenery and challenge, and both will be anxious to impress in their first year at Tigerland after a lack of opportunities at their former clubs.
At the very least, they'll increase the depth of midfielders with AFL experience.
Look at what your players got out of facing the reigning flag holders. The Pies put out a huge squad with 16 premiership players and the young Tigers withstood their battery in the first half; an important life lesson early on.
Against the Blues, you were 15 points up at half time and had drawn almost level in clearances despite the dominance of their ruckmen.
The final scoreboards might not have been flattering when they showed an 18-point loss to Carlton and a 43-point loss to Collingwood. But with 16 first- and second-year players in the Richmond squad, it could have been much, much worse.
If you put an inexperienced side out against an experienced one, the distance between the two will be a gulf - and not a true representation of where the clubs are headed when the real deal starts in March.
Yours is headed for better days, especially with the off-field dedication to the Fighting Tiger Fund that is set to haul the club out of the red.
Richmond legends are coming back. Kevin Bartlett has reconciled after 16 years, Matthew Knights has been brought back into the fold and Gale is lifting the Tigers into a new era.
With all this optimism generated from above and a season being built around unity with a collective goal on the table, there are exciting times ahead.
Chin up. This year won't be as bad as you think.
Yours kindly
Jennifer Witham
PS. Fremantle lost both games too. So did Port Adelaide.
PPS. Hawthorn was beaten by 57 points in the quarter-final of last year's NAB Cup and went on to play finals.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/107897/default.aspx
