Brad Nottens

[JohnF]

lmfaooooo@our thought provoking posts provoking a LMFAOOOOO from Ox.

Harry, sounds good, but I am rather sceptical about the leadership qualities of players like Krakouer, Ottens, Newman.They need to help themselves before they can help others come on in my opinion. I would be pleased if they came out of their shell and started showing leadership qualities once the likes of Campbell and Gaspar were gone. But I wouldnt hold my breath on it.

lmfaooooooo@Richo escaping the cull as he is no longer considered leadership material and can be considered as a 17 year old child again.   

[mightytiges]

If success breeds success, which I agree to some point

then why have St Kilda only lost 1 game this year when a few seasons ago they were a rabble?

They off-loaded senior players who continually let them down including some duds they got from us Elliot, Ryan, Plapp and Robert Powell. Kept the class ones (Harvey) and went for youth. Also got lucky getting Hamill and Gehrig who both played previously for premiership winning clubs.

Geez other clubs' supporters would know their coach is a dud if he starts recruiting players from us  . Good on you Timmy Watson and Tony Shaw  .   

[Struggletown]

LMFAO@ all the brotherly 'wow fantastic post you star' OER love in!!

[Ox]

This is some basic sport psychology emailed to me by tennis coach Gavin Hopper.
We've obviously not read this at Richmond.
Some great points.


Outcome goals can be set instead of performance goals. Where an athlete using outcome goals fails to achieve the goal for reasons outside his or her control, this can be very dispiriting and can lead to loss of enthusiasm and feelings of failure.
Always set performance goals.
Goals can be set unrealistically high. When a goal is perceived to be unreachable,
no effort will be made to achieve it. Set realistic goals.

It was unrealistic to visualise success with spud at the helm

Conversely goals can be set so low that the athlete feels no challenge of benefit in achieving the goal.
Setting goals has been a waste of time. Always set goals that are challenging.

Goals can be so vague that they are useless: it is difficult to know whether vague goals have been achieved.
If achievement cannot be measured, then your self-confidence will not benefit from goal setting,
nor can you observe progress towards a greater goal.
Set precise, quantitative goals.

Goal setting can be unsystematic, sporadic and disorganised.
Here goals will be forgotten, achievement of goals will not be measured, and feedback
 will not occur into new goals. The major benefits of goal setting have been lost.
Be organised and regular in the way that you use goal setting.

Too many goals may be set, leading to a feeling of overload.
Remember that you deserve time to relax and enjoy being human.
Where goal setting does go wrong, not only are the benefits of goal setting lost, but the whole process of goal setting can fall into disrepute.

By avoiding these problems, and setting goals effectively as described in the previous article,
you can achieve and maintain strong forward momentum.



Going by this Spud should never have even contemplated coaching at the elite level.

[Ox]

Levels of Confidence

The way in which you are self-confident is important: if you are underconfident,
then you will not take risks that need to be taken. If you are over-confident, then you can end up not trying hard enough and losing.

Confidence should be based on observed reality.
It should be based on the achievement of performance goals:
you should be confident that you will perform up to your current abilities.
Good self-confidence comes from a realistic expectation of success based
on well practised physical skills, a good knowledge of the sport,
respect for your own competence, adequate preparation, and good physical condition.
The success attained should be measured in terms of achievement of personal
performance goals, not achievement goals such as winning.

Where you are underconfident, you will commonly suffer from fear of failure
(which will prevent you from taking risks effectively), self-doubt, lack of concentration,
 and negative thinking. Often you may find yourself blaming yourself for faults that lie elsewhere.
These will damage your flow and disrupt your enjoyment of sport.
Here you should use suggestion, visualisation, and effective goal-setting
to improve your self-confidence and self-image.

Overconfidence is dangerous - it can lead you into situations which you do not have
the ability to get out of. It can set you up for serious failure that can devastate
the self-confidence you should have.

Overconfidence is confidence that is not based on ability: it may be a result of misleading
or pushy parents or coaches trying to help you without understanding your abilities,
may be caused by vanity or ego, or may be caused by positive thinking or imagery which is
not backed up by ability.

[Ox]

How Imagery, Positive Thinking, and Suggestion Help Self-Confidence

Imagery is useful in building self-confidence, but only if properly applied.

Imagery should be used to imagine achievement of a goal that is being worked
towards in order to help you to believe that that goal is attainable.

It should only be used, however, where you are rationally aware that you have
the raw ability to achieve a goal if you stretch yourself, but if psychological factors
such as lack of emotional self-confidence are interfering with your ability to achieve.

For many years psychologists have advocated use of imagery, positive thinking,
and suggestion without stressing that it should be based on a rational assessment
of abilities. This can easily lead to over-confidence and serious failure.

[Harry]

lol at the love fest and sports psychlogist Ox.

Maybe the club needs the pop psychologist Doctor Phil to come in and counsel the players.

Doctor Phil sits Spud and Zantuck together, facing each other and asks them to name 5 things they like about the other.

Then Phil makes a point in telling spud to be more positive and to drop the "nah" from his "yeah-nah's"

[Struggletown]

LMAO@Dr Phil- antrofist

'And you can stop that crying and tantrum throwing Fiona and Pettifer,it really IS your fault!!

"Ty stop playing with that gun!! You could really hurt Danny with it."

[Tiger Spirit]

Yeah TS, I guess I'm just sick of seeing our so called stars bend over and take it like its a natural occurence. My tolerance is pretty low at the moment. I find it hard to store faith in certain individuals when I see what they produce on some occasions. Hopefully players like Ottens can be rehabilitated with the right support. I find it a bit of a cop out though to let him off the hook and lay into others. Surely he must take responsibility for his performances.

My tolerance levels aren’t any better JohnF.  But as I said previously, because Otto is not an isolated case then I’m prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I’d make exceptions for a few others too, but I think players who continually make bad decisions, under pressure, or no pressure, are a liability.  I don’t know if Otto falls into that category.  His major fault is his lack of consistency and not that he’s a bad player.  Maybe you see it differently, but I believe you can work with that.

And if we had to let go every player that didn’t perform to expectations, we wouldn’t have much of a list at the end of each season.  So something has to give and I reckon we need to change the way we develop players or just go through life bagging them and having our top picks become just another wasted selection.

[Tiger Spirit]

LMAOO at the hard task masters JohnF and myself standing around at richmond training with whip in hand.

No taking it easy on anyone either, or you’ll both be out of a job quick smart.   

Good point regarding going against the trend for any amount of time Spirit.  Rodan is a perfect example.  In his first year or so he was so enthusiastic, energetic, and vocally supportive on the ground.  Now he's joined the Gaspars and the Kellaways in dropping the head and slouching the shoulders while slowly jogging back to position for a ball up after the opposition has kicked their 5th consecutive goal.  I've also noticed this with Newman and Coughlan lately.

You just hope they don’t all fall into the same trap that plenty of others have before them.  But we never seem to wake up to any of it and invariably they all go into that “zombie” mode that you so aptly described HH.

I have to admit to being a bit uneasy about whether Cogs will take the next step or not.  And to be perfectly honest, I don’t believe our Club currently has the ability to progress his career.  He has been helped by Campbell and Johnson and Brown will be good for him too, but after that he’ll have to rely on his ability to learn from his opponents.  Because I don’t think he has the people around him that can help him to improve to the level he can go to.

No disrespect intended, but if we had the likes of a Voss or Hird at our Club for Cogs to learn from, his development would be fast-tracked, without doubt.  The other minus is that we just don’t seem to have the coaching nous to counter that.  Because either good coaching or good role models could help take him to another level.  A combination of both would be even better.  As it stands though, he is almost at the point where he could stagnate.  Hope I’m proven wrong on that one.

It's time to freshen up the place, as it has a vey stale taste to it.  PLayers are going through the motions and they are all in zombie mode.  We need change !!  A new coach and a new coaching panel who will wake some of these guys up and develop and nurture those who need it.  Also a new leadership group is required predominately made up of Coughlan, Johnson, Brown, Newman, Krakour, and possibly Ottens.

Agree there Harry H.  We’ve been told in the past that we were going to re-invent ourselves, but all it amounted to was a lot of hot air.

If we knew what we were doing, what you suggest for the leadership group would have already happened.

Some say that players shouldn’t be given leadership responsibility too early on in their careers, but I think it can fast-track some players and that they can benefit from the added responsibility.  It may not suit everyone, but with support on and off the field it needn’t be the burden that some think it could turn out to be.

We just hold players back and that, to me, indicates that we don’t know how to develop them.  They must know something we don’t know, because I can’t work out why Cogs isn’t in the leadership group already.  Giving the younger players a leadership role is one way of changing things and you just know that the current group doesn’t have the ability to make any difference.  (Not necessarily all their fault, they’ve just been at RFC too long).

Instead, it just perpetuates all the old and bad habits that you’ve described in gory detail HH.  On the other hand, there are massive benefits to be gained from the spirit, enthusiasm and confidence the younger players show.  They don’t have the baggage that their more experienced teammates have and they play the game as though they enjoy what they are doing.  May not sound like much, but it makes a difference in my book.  Obviously they still need guidance, etc. and it’s not like they’re on their own.  Although I tend to wonder about that sometimes.

[mightytiges]

Ottens, what was I thinking?
19 June 2004   
Mike Sheahan
Herald Sun

AT the risk of pushing Richmond supporters to an even deeper level of depression, it is only 24 months since they were at the door to Dreamland.
 
Richmond opened the 2002 season with a six-goal win over Collingwood in front of 65,350 people, with the Big Os, Richo and Otto, on song.

Richo booted six; Ottens dominated in the ruck, took nine marks and kicked four.

Given Richmond's top-four finish in 2001 and Ottens' selection in the All-Australian team, the Tigers seemed ready to take on the world.

Since then, Richmond has won 17 of 55 games, and, if Ottens hasn't regressed, he has failed to keep up.

What is beyond debate is that my decision to rank him at No. 15 in the pre-season top 50 hasn't been justified. In fact, what it has been is embarrassing.

There are times when predictions simply prove to be wrong. Then there are times when calls that look decidedly wrong might only be premature. Peter Everitt, for example, was listed at No. 4 in my top 50 players before the 1999 season.

Despite his St Kilda best-and-fairest win in 2001, you could argue he still is maturing. He will win a best-and-fairest at a second club this year and he is better than he has ever been.

One thing that hasn't changed in football is that big blokes take more time. But how much time is enough?

Ottens, 24, is in his seventh season and has played 123 games. Is that long enough? It should be, yet Everitt is at his best at 30, Melbourne's Jeff White is in career-best form in his 10th season, West Coast's Michael Gardiner, the best ruckman in the competition last year, started in 1997.

Perhaps Ottens simply is taking time to mature. Or, does he lack the urgency to ever reach what has been seen to be his destiny?

Ottens was the player with the red bullet in my 2004 top 50, perched at No. 15. Kevin Bartlett recently criticised the selection, terming it "extraordinary". Yet the same Bartlett said at the same time Ottens had the size and talent to be "the best player in the game".

I was happy to keep him safe at 15.

John Barnes, the most recent No. 1 ruckman in a Victorian premiership team (Essendon, 2000), believes Ottens isn't enjoying his football. He likened him to Melbourne's White, who laboured through 2003 before blossoming this year.

Yet Ottens looks fit enough. It's his body language, his urgency that's at issue. It's as if he takes tranquillisers before a game.

In technical terms, there is nothing he can't do: he is an expert ruckman, a reliable mark, a super kick for his size, and he is brave and durable.

Kevin Sheedy hints we are impatient with big blokes. He cites White and throws the names of Josh Fraser and David Hille into the mix.

Fraser is in his fifth season, Hille his fourth. Fraser has become a good player at 22. Hille, 23, has shown plenty, but is struggling this year.

There is a school of thought Ottens may need to follow Everitt's path and start afresh elsewhere.

Two clubs in his home state of South Australia would be more than happy to test that theory.

The Crows, in particular. Matty Clarke is nearing the end, and the former Glenelg boy would be welcomed with open arms.

Adelaide is second-last and might have a couple of aces in the poker game played between all clubs before the national draft.

On the other hand, can you imagine the new Richmond coach – and there will be one – willingly parting with Ottens?

Hardly. He may not be the 15th most valuable player in the competition after 12 rounds this year, but he has the natural ability to match his huge frame.

Only Everitt has registered more hitouts this year, and White is a Brownlow Medal fancy; Everitt and White finally are the best ruckmen in the competition.

Ottens has time on his side, but the clock is ticking louder than ever.

What John Barnes says

"HE'S either got an injury or he should be playing in the seconds; simple as that.

"I love the bloke; it just drives me nuts the way he's playing. I reckon he's huge. It's criminal to see a bloke with the frame, the size, the talent he's got playing like he is.

"He should be in the top three (ruckmen) in the competition.

"I'm starting to lose faith in him.

"He's obviously not enjoying his footy. I'm tipping he's hating going to training, being at the club, going to the gym. He'd be saying things like `I'm not getting a kick, what am I doing here?'

"Brad Ottens should ring up Jeff White and ask him how he turned it round. If Jeff White can turn it round like he has, so can Brad Ottens.

"I hope he does."

What Kevin Bartlett says

"BRAD Ottens has been a big disappointment to the Tigers. A couple of years ago, I thought he was an extraordinary talent; such a beautiful kick.

"I think he's got to get a bit more urgency into his game; I think we've got to see him break into a sweat.

"I think he's got to take more marks, I think he's got to win more of the ball; I don't think it's enough just to do the ruckwork as a designated ruckman, and I really do think he's got to sit down and be tougher on himself, and go out with the thought that he should be the best player on the ground every time he steps on to the ground.

"I think Mike Sheahan might have put him in his top five or 10 players at the start of the year, which was an extraordinary thing by Mike to do.

"He may have been reasonable this season, but the Tigers need more than reasonable players, and when you've got the talent of Brad Ottens, he has to do better.

"He's got to get a bit more urgency into his game, a bit more excitement, and I think he's got to lift his own standards . . .

"He's got the talent, he's got the size, it just depends on whether he has got the will to make himself the best player in the game and, so far, he hasn't."

(Bartlett was speaking on SEN)

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,%255E20123,00.html

[mightytiges]

While taking some personal responsibility to improve his game wouldn't go astray it's not new news that we have a number of talented players that lack urgency - Ottens, Bowden, etc. The right environment around them wouldn't have let this happen.

Trading these guys away won't solve this problem. It all comes back to changing the culture at the Club. Getting the right people and in particular the right coach and structure to Richmond and around these players.

[JohnF]

Another great performance by Ottens tapping the ball to Carlton players time and again in the first half.

[mightytiges]

After spending an extra $800,000 on the football department this year our specialist ruck coach is....ummm.....oh that's right we don't have one 

[WilliamPowell]

What is beyond debate is that my decision to rank him at No. 15 in the pre-season top 50 hasn't been justified. In fact, what it has been is embarrassing.

Gee Mike - I thought you'd be used to it by now - embarrassing writings that is