Richmond considers dropping underperforming forward Tyrone Vickery for clash with Brisbane at Gabba. Jon Ralph
Herald Sun
April 15, 2014 5:44PMRICHMOND forward Tyrone Vickery could be dumped for Richmond’s season-defining clash against Brisbane at the Gabba tomorrow night.
Vickery was subbed out at half-time against Collingwood despite being fully fit.
A series of lazy chasing efforts as the ball surged out of Richmond’s attack were pilloried as unacceptable by Lions great Michael Voss.
Vickery has kicked eight goals for the year but like Carlton’s Jarrad Waite could pay a heavy price for inconsistency and a lack of forward-line pressure.
The Tigers will train this morning at Punt Rd before flying to Brisbane, and while they might yet relent the brains trust has seriously considered changes to the forward make-up.
Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton last night told the Herald Sun Vickery’s goalkicking hid issues that might need “relearning” in the VFL.
“Tyrone kicked four against Carlton, but he didn’t kick them the way a key forward should,’’ Brereton said.
“Once he was 12m out and he had the ball kicked to him, once he marked it out the back and only once did he lead up and take a mark.
“He almost kicked them by accident. Consistency comes with workrate and he doesn’t have a good workrate.
“He wants to go to the contest and sneak out the back door. I think you need to relearn and re-educate yourself.”
Richmond could play with just Jack Riewoldt and Ben Griffiths as forward-line targets or bring in ruck Orren Stephenson to allow Shaun Hampson to spend some time forward.
Vickery and Steven Morris (shoulder) are both fit to play, but Brett Deledio (achilles), Ivan Maric (ankle) and Alex Rance (foot) are not yet ready to return.
A Tigers side lacking dash and excitement could bring in pacy midfielder Nathan Foley and defender Matt McDonough after they shone in the VFL.
Top draft pick Ben Lennon is being schooled as a defender and may make his AFL debut in coming weeks.
Richmond, with just one win from four games, must beat the depleted Brisbane to keep its season alive ahead of challenging clashes against Hawthorn and Geelong.
Coach Damien Hardwick yesterday turned up the heat on a misfiring midfield, demanding more goals from his onball brigade.
The Tigers have moved on from the controversy over Brent Macaffer’s tagging tactics on Trent Cotchin, with Hardwick more upset about the lack of reward over holding-the-ball decisions for his players.
“It was a disappointing result on the weekend, we just can’t seem to get our game up and going to the level we would have liked,’’ Hardwick told members in a video message.
“It has been a constant over the last two or three weeks. Collingwood flicked the switch but we couldn’t get the same result.
“The mids were equal with contested possession. The place where they hurt us on the scoreboard is we kicked 2.4 from the midfield and they kicked 9.3. (Scott) Pendlebury kicked three, (Dayne) Beams kicked three and Sidebottom kicked one or two.”
Hardwick said he was thrilled with the forward-line tackling of Matt Arnot and Sam Lloyd.
“Our tackling was pretty good. We had a lot of tackles but we are not getting our reward for holding-the-ball efforts,’’ he said.
“We are as disappointed as you are, and we have got no doubt we will eventually turn the corner, we just have to hang tough while we have Deledio, Rance and Maric out. We just have to keep developing talent and get some wins on the board.”
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