Dermott Brereton writes it’s time for Richmond forward Ty Vickery to ditch the L-plates and deliverHerald-Sun
March 26, 2014 9:32AMWHEN training half-forwards, or any key forwards for that matter, there is one rule that should always be adhered to: always prepare for the ball to come towards you in the worst possible scenario.
That way you maximise your chances to get hold of the footy more often than not. “Lace-out” footpasses are wonderful, but in reality they are a rarity.
Unfortunately, Richmond’s key forwards have failed to learn this.
Prepare for the worst-case scenario and you are still in the hunt. Hoping for and expecting precision foot skills from further afield leads to a lot of disappointment and a lot of blame shifting.
Jack Riewoldt has had the focus of the footy world on him for some time. And although I disagree with the way he shows his emotions to the world, he is a darn fine player with beautiful hands above his head and out in front.
It’s naive to say he should be chained inside the forward 50; there are 17 other coaches who would hope that happens. Because if it does, the opposition will benefit greatly when Richmond is defending deep in its backline.
So what of Ty Vickery?
He will be 24 in May, is 200cm tall and has 76 games and 80 goals behind him.
Now is his time. He is perfectly placed to expect the next four years to be the best of his career.
So how does he play?
As painstaking as it was, I watched every one of his involvements against the Suns several times over. He does some good things, some bad things and some very bad things.
THE GOOD THINGSHe is a capable second ruck option, which is a positive. You wouldn’t want to ruck him against the opposition’s No.1 centre-square monster, but he holds his own as a relief ruckman.
That’s fine, as long as he is a winner more often than not in his key forward post. But against the Suns he lowered his colours to Steven May, who has played two fewer seasons and is 10cm shorter.
Vickery chases with intent. And he is a willing tackler for a very tall man. Not many over 196cm are and not many get to lay them.
He is a very capable set shot at goal, even though a little robotic and jerky in his action.
He will strike up and lead to his teammates, but I often thought he was a half to a full second late to initiate the lead.
THE BAD THINGSTracking his game, there were a few notes that came up time and again. They were:
“Attempted to mark on the chest and at the wrong time.”
“Easily allowed May to take front position in a marking contest.”
“Took his eyes off the ball while it was in flight, resulting in Vickery losing the drop of the ball.”
Those signs point to a player who has lost confidence in himself to take the ball at the highest point.
It’s logical. If you are 200cm tall, use it, outreach your opponent. But if you have lost faith in your ability to complete that task, play it safe and clutch the ball to your chest. But that allows much smaller men the chance to punch it away.
Vickery took one overhead mark for the night against Gold Coast. With 6min30sec left in the game, Trent McKenzie got too far under the footy and Vickery marked overhead, uncontested 15m from goal. But it was too little, too late and, in reality, junk time.
I have seen Vickery mark overhead and do it reasonably well. But even if he doesn’t take the grab, his contest has to be fiercer. In every overhead contest against May, he was running second into battle.
Sometimes we get caught up in the frantic ball movement at training and watch the ball ping around the field at astonishing pace. In doing so, we forget to allow our key-position players the luxury of training for what we really want them to do well on match day — mark the ball. Simple kick-to-kick or man-on-man sessions occasionally will do wonders. Watching the ball in flight. Tracking its path as quickly as possible. Recognising where the ball can be marked at its highest point and outmanoeuvring an opponent to get there first. Vickery needs to get back on track reading the ball’s flight.
THE VERY BAD THINGIt was in the third quarter when the “very bad thing” happened.
Tiger teammate Brandon Ellis was coming out of defence near the boundary line. He was under some serious heat and pressure from two Suns. Forced on to his non-dominant foot (his left), he tried to deliver the ball straight down the line to Vickery on the lead, who was being tracked by May.
Vickery actually fought for the rear position, hoping that Ellis could deliver a 55m miracle pass over May’s head. Of course May marked the chaos ball and went back behind the mark, which Vickery attended (sort of).
It didn’t finish there. Vickery turned his head on May, flailed his arm at Ellis and berated him for not delivering the pass to advantage.
Seeing that Vickery’s attention was on Ellis, May ambled off and changed direction across the backline and out of trouble without any pressure.
Remembering my first rule as a half-forward, “always prepare for the ball to come to you in the worst-case scenario”, Vickery had to recognise the pressure that Ellis was under.
To have such little understanding and blame Ellis’s valiant effort as substandard is not going to endear himself to the backman who was under siege.
Another golden rule for the mobile marking half-forward is: every time a teammate looks up when under pressure, he must see you running to where it is easiest for him to kick the ball. You have to be his safety net, his get-out-of-jail card. For that, your teammates will love you because they will trust you to be there when desperately needed.
The Tigers want to win a flag. And that requires trust among teammates. A trust that for the good of the team, all players attempt to do the right thing. And a trust that if things do go wrong, you all share the blame and not turn on each other.
Sure, you can demand better of your teammates, but you can’t criticise or berate them. That just breaks down that trust.
It has been well documented how demonstrative Riewoldt has been when disappointed in the delivery from upfield and his emotional antics are counterproductive to team unison. Even the ever-likeable Richo before him was a culprit (as much as I loved watching him). I hope Vickery doesn’t believe that this type of behaviour is tolerated at Richmond. Because it’s not tolerated at other clubs.
There is much for Tyrone Vickery to learn. He has time on his side. He has the physical capabilities and he is a good football citizen.
But now is his time. And this team is exactly where he should be.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/dermott-brereton-writes-its-time-for-richmond-forward-ty-vickery-to-ditch-the-lplates-and-deliver/story-fndv8t7m-1226865670309
