Tigers will take the Dusty approach with Yarran: WilliamsHarry Thring
December 1, 2015 4:13 PM
RICHMOND will embrace Chris Yarran's individuality – as they did with Dustin Martin – to get the best out of their talented recruit, according to development coach Mark Williams.
Yarran was traded to Punt Road in October after a 119-game career with the Blues, during which he failed to fulfill his potential.
Williams said that Tigers coach Damien Hardwick was a believer in establishing "guidelines" rather than strict rules to allow individuals to shine.
The former Port Adelaide coach has proven instrumental in helping gun midfielder Martin curb his off-field behavior. The 24-year-old has finished in the top three at each Richmond best and fairest since Williams' 2012 appointment.
"I'll definitely spend a lot of time with Chris – helping players reach their potential is one of the great things of coaching," Williams told AFL.com.au.
"People with great talent - if you can get them to be consistent and continually back themselves and believe in themselves, it'll be great for Richmond.
"All players are different – you can treat them all the same but you won't get the best result from them.
"Dustin would be one that if you make the rules 'this' strict, he's going to break some of them … give him a few guidelines off the field on what we can accept and once he joins in with the group and understands the responsibility he just delivers."
Williams revealed that Yarran would act as a mentor to a number of the Tigers' indigenous players – including high-profile draftee Daniel Rioli.
The 2004 premiership mentor spoke at the launch of his sister Jenny's first book: Think Prepare Play Like A Champion, that draws on her incredible experience as a player, coach and sports psychologist.
Jenny Williams' accomplishments as a sportsperson are mindboggling; she represented South Australia in six sports but made her greatest mark in lacrosse, winning gold for Australia at the 1986 World Cup.
She captained the national side from 1989-1992, captained South Australia to 11 national championships and was inducted into the state's sports hall of fame in 2013.
In 2007 she completed her masters in sports psychology by profiling each AFL coach as well as premiership-winning coaches from past seasons to try and understand the qualities that defined a champion.
Jenny has worked with eight AFL clubs and while her approach to sports psychology is sometimes labelled as 'experimental', she and Mark swear by it.
"Great coaches and people who are great leaders can get people to do things without ever making them realise how much extra you're getting them to do," she said.
"That's because you genuinely care about them.
"What starts to happen is you don't have to push anymore … you've actually inspired them.
"If you're tense you're more likely to hurt yourself so it doesn't matter how much sports science and warm up you do, if you're actually making people feel unhappy and not valued in a team, they're going to start having all these [injury issues]."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-12-01/tigers-will-take-the-dusty-approach-with-yarran-williams
