Summary
Adam White: It's a big year for the footy club Shane. I've been noting comments made by Brendon Lade yesterday that there's been two years of list regeneration and this year is the one to really push.
Shane Edwards: Yeah that's right. We're an improving list and all the young guys have improved and improved on their body size from last season and over the preseason. But yeah we really need to take the steps towards finishing in the top 8.
Mick McGaune: It's important to get that balance between offence and defence. Watching the Tigers a few times last year while you were defensively working better you lost a lot of your offence flair at times. Is that a fair comment?
SE: It's a fair comment. We were all one or the other. We really need to yeah work on getting a good balance. Attacking but attacking with a defensive mindset as well.
MM: Has that been a huge part of your preseason training over the summer? Trying to get more attack from your defence?
SE: It has. Always attacking with that defensive mindset. Covering the backdoors. Last year we got (gave away) a lot of goals over the top which are the easiest goals to get. So you really don't want them this year. Just always having that defensive mindset which a lot of the good teams have now.
MM: What about your role. Will we see you down behind the ball again or will you elevate yourself further up the ground?
SE: I think maybe a bit of both. Cause there's a lot of rotations now it's hard to be definite. Midfielders, half-forwards and half-backs have the same roles and rotate off their own initiative during games now. It could be a whole lot of roles.
AW: Have you noticed Shane a change in the mindset of the playing group over the course of this summer. We mentioned before it's the year to start to push. Is there a bit more belief starting to get into the footy club?
SE: Yeah I think there is. The training standard is definitely a lot better than in other years. Like with the gameplan we've been doing the same things for two years now. We're adding things to it and getting better and adding other things. Better players to the list as well. A lot of the younger guys are improving. There's a lot more competition for spots which can only improve us.
AW: Now I want to talk about the young draftees shortly but who are the players you've seen who ... I want you to name names ... guys who have improved over the summer who are going to take that next step. I don't think there's any doubt your top echelon of players lead by Riewoldt, Deledio, Cotchin and Martin are almost elite already. But who are the next group of guys who are going to take that next step you do you think?
SE: I think Reece Conca has trained really well. He's really fit at the moment. Guys like Dylan Grimes who has come back and is training the house down. Alex Rance has a really good year last year and is leading the way once again. Big Ivan Maric has been really good on the track. He's causing a lot of competitiveness between all the ruckmen. There's a wide spread of players who have improved over the preseason going into the new year in good shape.
MM: What about the young boys - Brandon Ellis selection No.15 - how has he fitted in?
SE: They have all fitted in really well. Brandon, he won our time trial pre-Christmas which is a really good effort for a first year player. He's done really well. Same for Matty Arnot. He's also training well.
MM: Fair effort to knock off Matty White as he can run.
SE: Yeah he can. First time he's been knocked off in a couple of years. Just more competition.
MM: In terms of Ivan Maric I think he is a fantastic recruit for the Tigers because as good as Browne and Graham have been for periods, Maric gives you that real competitive urgency you need around the stoppages.
SE: Yeah that's true and it's more about having more players to select from. Having more competition means you have to play a lot better. Angus is training the house down as well. You can't take anything away from those boys. Browne is in rehab while Derickx is also training well up forward. Yeah big Ivan brings a lot of hussle around the contest which is exactly what you need from a ruckman.
MM. How's Kel Moore going?
SE: He's going well. Staying positive. He's had a long way to come and is in pretty good shape considering the injuries he's had.
MM. If everyone is healthy, who is in your back six as most teams try to get that consolidated as you possibly can. We spoke earlier about a huge part of the game being defensive before you attack. What's your best back six in that part of the ground?
SE: A tough one to say. Because we are rotating a lot of our small defenders through the midfield now it probably won't be as stable as other years has been. The talls like Grimes, McGuane, Rance and Astbury when he's fit ... there's a lot to pick from which is good for the competition of spots. Alex Rance is the general there at the moment which is a credit to himself as he had a good year last year.
MM: So Rance will be key back high mostly?
SE: Maybe most dangerous opponent. We prefer him at the back because his instruction is really really good and he's loud and he knows the structures very well.
AW: So Shane for Richmond fans, what's the messages to the ones thinking about jumping on board this year - is it about aiming high or more about continuing to improve? The reason I ask that question is because it's dangerous to come out at the start of the year and say we expect to make finals. What is the general feeling within the group?
SE: It's more about taking the necessary steps to get to where we want to get to. We know where we are at and are being realistic given we finished 12th last year. What we want to do is take steps to finishing in the top 8 and knocking over a top 4 side as we haven't done that. So we need to be competitive with them. Our best football is good enough; we just need our 'bad' football to be still good which is the case with a lot of the good teams but we are just trying to put things in place with our structures, have players healthy and have a real crack at having a good year.
MM: It's always interesting to ask this question - why is that the case? Is it attitude? Is it effort? We had Michael Firritto and Scott Thompson talking about North Melbourne and how they, in a very similar to you, would get into the Eight. It's all very well talking about it but it's the how you are going to do it. They mentioned about using the ball better with their feet, to make the right decisions and being able to execute that kick. Has there been a consistent message from Damien Hardwick over the summer saying this is the part of the game we must nail for us to make inroads to beat the top 4 teams?
SE: Yeah very similar in you need good footskills and we need to work the ball our of defence well. We haven't been good at that in the past with our transition from the back half. A lot of this year has been about winning the contest ... contested football where we get the ball going our way first. Collingwood are really good at that as is Geelong. So we can set up behind the ball early rather than being on the back foot. Mainly about contested footy and skills this preseason. The added maturity of the group this year will improve having being through the system and what we've put in place the last two years.
