Richmond will rise for Newman, says Knights Brent Diamond
The Age
September 3, 2013 - 1:33PM Former Richmond captain Matthew Knights says the Tigers will be inspired by veteran Chris Newman as they attempt to win their first final since 2001 against rival Carlton.
"Chris has been a very accomplished player for that team for a long time and he's also been, what's really important, a great leader and has really good values," Knights said.
"I'm sure the rest of his teammates will lift for him and do him proud on the weekend."
In the year that Newman started his career at the Tigers, Knights was in the twilight of his own. But Knights has strong memories of the Tigers' last finals win, the 11-point semi-final victory over the Blues in 2001. He recalled the the shut-down role he played on Craig Bradley, and a tackle that injured Anthony Koutoufides, who threatened to be a match-winner.
He believes Newman, playing in his first final as a 31-year-old, is set to have a big influence on the result, having had to wait 233 games to play a final.
"I was probably at the end of my career when Chris joined the club along with Chris Hyde and I was thankful to have a really good relationship with those two guys," Knights said.
Like Newman, Richmond fans have been forced to be patient.
If the Tigers triumph against Carlton on Sunday, it will be just the club's fourth finals win in more than three decades.
Yet while Richmond has had a knack of missing September action, it has proved that it almost a sure thing when it plays Carlton in a final.
The Tigers have remarkably won 16 finals matches against the Blues. But of their five finals losses to Carlton, four have been grand final defeats.
Knights remembers the "amazing, intense rivalry" between the two clubs and believes this season, the Tigers' round-one win over Carlton would have broken the shackles after several round-one losses to the Blues.
"I think one good thing that Richmond did do this year is beat Carlton in round one after previous years. It has been a tough encounter for them so it would have given them a lot of confidence going into these clashes in the future," Knights said.
"I think it's 1-1 for the season and it's going to be good seeing two class midfields go at it as well."
The midfields of the clubs are bristling with top 10 draft picks – Brett Deledio, Trent Cotchin, Nick Vlastuin, Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy, and Chris Judd, who remains a strong chance to play.
While Knights has crossed to Geelong as a development coach, having previously been the senior coach at Essendon, he admits that he still has a "soft spot" for the Tigers.
"I think it's natural that when you've played for a club for all of your career, you do have an inclination to want to see them do well. And I've also got a 13-year-old son who would more than love to see them do well, he's a fanatical Tiger," he said.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/richmond-will-rise-for-newman-says-knights-20130903-2t2ci.html
