Not sure what I was expecting from this game, or the season. I even tried not to expect anything. Actually, I could’ve been happy with nothing. Woulda been better than the uncompetitive rabble we got to see.
For Richmond supporters, that second quarter could easily be referred to as “welcome to my nightmare”. Anything that could go wrong did. After that it didn’t get much better. Even though we kicked 15 goals, it didn’t really feel like it. Felt more like being kicked in the guts 25 times or more.
Probably should’ve listened to the warning signs going off in my head after what Brisbane did to the Saints the other night. If I wasn’t listening then, I was way before the end of the game on Sunday.
I already knew it, but just brought home how long-term this project really is. It’s going to take a lot of time, patience and a couple more clean outs before we start to get things heading in the right direction.
At least Deledio gave us something to cheer about and look forward to, early in the game.
After that it gets a bit tough to find anything good to come out of the game.
Hopefully TW will lose patience with selfish players quicker than me. Maybe he already has.
Only problem with that is that I saw the second half of the Coburg game and there really didn’t seem to be much there that could come into the seniors and make any real difference to the team, short-term.
Staff, Hartigan, Tambling and maybe Moore, Raines and Meyer could come in for a few games, without thinking about it too much. After that they’re all pretty much project players and will take time.
So, unless TW is Merlin the Magician then we’re going to have to play a similar line up for the majority of the season. Not because we want to, but because we probably have to. Unless of course TW decides to throw the baby out with the bath water, at some stage of the season, and play a team of Tiger cubs. Probably not.
The midfield rotations kept coming, especially late in the game. Not sure whether that was to keep players’ minds on the job (there’s a thought) or what, but in the last quarter it seemed that just about after every goal there was a new midfield set up. We did outscore the opposition in the last quarter, probably coz the opposition got bored, and there wasn’t much to play for by that stage, apart from percentage and pride. Hardly worth worrying about really and not like we’ve worried about in the past.
Couldn’t really find any 4 quarter players. Believe me, I tried. Even sat through the replay. For anyone with a weak stomach, don’t bother and if you do, turn the volume off. At least if you’re watching the nightmare unfold you don’t have to hear how bad it really is. That way, you could even pretend you’re watching the Keystone Cops vs the Harlem Globetrotters. How funny could that be?
S’pose it could be funny, in a bent and twisted kinda way, but I just don’t feel like laughing right now. No sense of humour some people.
If Ottens was a player coming to Richmond, under similar circumstances, he would have crumbled under the pressure. The difference being that he was treated like a long lost brother by the Geelong players and made to feel part of the team. Not only that, they really supported him to the hilt and shared the burden of the pressure he had been under through the week. Something he couldn’t have expected at Richmond. He would’ve been a lone figure, trying to do it himself. Which is the biggest slap in the face and indication that we’re a million miles from being anywhere near a good team. As if we didn’t already know.
Their team work, team spirit, camaraderie and whatever else they’ve developed is in another stratosphere to where we’re at. Let’s not forget that Thompson has been there more than five years and that it has taken that long for them to get to this point and they haven’t won anything of any significance just yet. It hasn’t been all plain sailing over those years, so let’s not get too disheartened just yet. Says me.
The really galling part is that it wouldn’t surprise me if Ottens feels more part of Geelong after that one game than he felt part of Richmond in 7 years here. Whose fault that is, who knows, but I doubt we helped the situation any. Says something about our team environment and is something that has bugged me for a number of years. Even way before Danny got to RFC. Why don’t they see it?
Hopefully TW, and anyone else who can do something about the situation, will cotton on, sooner rather than later, to what players coming to RFC are up against.
Being in a group/team environment is supposed to help people learn and grow quicker than in an individual situation. There’s something seriously wrong when it just sends our players backwards.
Is it just that we don’t have the right mix of players, so you don’t get that team work/spirit working until you get that right? Or is there some individual mentality ingrained into our players that continues to work against them?
If selfish players don’t get it then the sooner we turn over the playing list the better, because the past is like a cross to bear. No matter what changes and what happens, the old habits and traits are always there. Under pressure, we just go to pieces. What chance have the younger players got when senior/experienced blokes just don’t stand up? And the inexperienced players are supposed to follow their example? Am I the only one that thinks there’s something wrong with that?
I’m sure TW always knew he had a tough job ahead of him, but if he can get any semblance of team work/spirit happening by the end of this or the next season then that’ll be a miracle in itself.
Eventually it will happen and the difference will be significant. But at the moment, it’s like we have no idea about teamwork and working together, you know, for the good of the team. And like putting on a Richmond jumper means “every man for himself”.
What sort of habits and traits can players coming into the side be picking up? Nothing they should remember, especially the bit about being selfish. There may be a few who could do with a good dose of amnesia after that effort. I know I go on about this, but the sooner some of the up and comers are ready to start showing the way for others the better off we’ll be. Because the concern is that, in the meantime, the example being shown to them cannot be helping their development.
How basic and simple is it to “man up”. Obviously not basic and simple enough for some of our players. So how long do you give players until they’re beyond persevering with? Ok, it was the first ‘real’ game and there was a lot of difference for players in different roles, etc. to take in first up, against a better drilled team. Anyway, we don’t have much choice at the moment, other than to persist, purely because others aren’t ready to take their spot. Otherwise, you could be tolerant for only so long, especially when you see the same ordinary efforts time after time.
It is only one game and at least we have had things well and truly put into perspective, if they weren’t already. Unlike other seasons where we have come away from games thinking we were on the improve, when a win only distorted the truth.
At least this way we know what needs to happen and how far we have to go. Just hope the patience and tolerance levels can survive the journey.
