Blues a measuring stick for Wallace
2:11:01 PM Fri 6 May, 2005
Andrew Wu
Sportal for afl.com.au
Despite thrashing reigning premiers Port Adelaide last week, Richmond coach Terry Wallace believes this Saturday's clash with Carlton at the MCG will give him a better indication of how much his side had improved this season.
Wallace downplayed the significance of the victory over the Power, believing that clubs had to win at home, especially when playing against interstate sides, if they were to be a threat in the competition.
"I still don’t think we've proven much. Sides playing on their home ground ought to beat interstate sides," Wallace said after training at Punt Road Oval on Friday morning.
"If you were playing a home game with all your home supporters there, and they’ve got to do the travel and they're got to do everything like that, if you're going to be any good in this competition you win your home game. And I thought that’s all we achieved last week."
Wallace said a victory against arch-rival Carlton, who the Tigers have not beaten since the 2001 finals series, would be a more accurate yard stick of the progress his side had made.
"If we want to be a good team, if we want to be a good Richmond side you got to beat Carlton sides. That's what it's all about," he said.
"We might be going in as favourites but you know with Denis Pagan sides they're always pretty hungry for success."
The Tigers practiced thumping the ball into space from stoppages at training but Wallace said that was not an indication that his side would be trying to avoid playing the tough one-on-one style of football, which Carlton, under coach Denis Pagan, has been renown for.
"All we're trying to do is we're trying to get our running and flowing game going as much as what we possibly can. It’s a way that we want to play football. We want to play a good attacking style of footy," he said.
"They play a nice tight hard game. Denis has always played an inside game and we need to match them in that inside football."
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=200931Terry might be stretching the motivation factor here a touch lol.