Steps to stop the Tigers underachievingBradley Dawson
Sportsfan.com.au
13 December 2015Richmond fans are hurting. That's a given, they're always hurting. But after their team's choke in the 2015 elimination final against North Melbourne, they are hurting even more than usual. If Richmond had beaten the Kangaroos they could well have beaten an undermanned Sydney the following week just as North did and made a preliminary final. But 'ifs' don't count for much.
So why does Richmond keep failing? They have a good-enough list after years of failure has given them lots of first-round draft picks, their list is also at around the right age and experience, and they're doing well off the field. But apart from physical factors like the make-up of their team, have years and years of mediocrity embedded a poor, 'close enough is good enough' culture at Punt Road? How do they change things and start winning the big ones?
Change their leadership …The problem lies in the team's leadership, or lack of it. History shows that two of the team's top three on-field leaders Trent Cotchin and Brett Deledio (Ivan Maric is second vice-captain along with Deledio) are susceptible to big-match pressure and can be tagged out of important games. He might be a nice guy, but Cotchin had a dismal final, registering just nine disposals, and while Deledio did a little better, he had no real influence on the result after quarter-time. It's time Richmond gave these positions to big-game players. Look at how Sam Mitchell and Luke Hodge perform when it counts.
We see Jack Riewoldt as the best choice for Richmond captain, with Maric as deputy. A lot of non-Tiger fans won't believe what they've just read, but those two are the logical choice. Over the last couple of years Riewoldt has shelved his petulant acts, developed his game to a new level, particularly the defensive side of it, and keeps standing up under pressure in the big games. Unlike Cotchin, he is an extrovert on-field and has much more of a chance to not only influence a match but he also appears to have more ability to inspire his teammates.
… and the coachDamien Hardwick took a couple of steps forward in 2015, but unfortunately undid all his good work with a terrible final week. He out-coached Alastair Clarkson, Ross Lyon and John Longmire during the home-and-away season. He deliberately put added pressure on his team with a couple of well-timed public statements such as 'big-boys' month' in order to get the best out of a team he knew had to be able to respond to such pressure. Hardwick had been guilty in the past of not being hard enough on his team, so this was a good sign.
But, like Cotchin and Deledio, he failed when it mattered. Firstly he said all the wrong things and gave all the wrong messages to his team and their opposition in the week leading up to the final. All the talk before the clash with North Melbourne was of how much better the Tigers were than in the years of their two previous first-week finals losses, how the team had matured, that they had learned from the defeats. There was no talk of the two previous losses 'still burning', of how they had 'achieved nothing'. And then there was this: "We just have to prepare thoroughly for this game and make sure we get the win that we deserve". The word 'deserve' is not something you can imagine Alastair Clarkson using until after a finals win, not before.
Hardwick then botched things at the selection table for the final by bringing back underdone duo Reece Conca and Ben Griffiths for the intensity of a sudden-death final when neither had played for a month. Griffiths missed two gettable goals in the first quarter but then had a forgettable game before being subbed out in the third quarter with just four possessions for Conca, who kicked a goal and went reasonably well without having a huge impact. These picks really stunk of panic and you have to think that Hardwick, after six years in the job, has shown that he is an occasionally top-notch coach, just not in the big moments.
Hardwick's contract expires at the end of 2016, and the Tigers should not even think about extending it until they have won a game in September. But they can't do that and will be forced to extend their coach's contract early in 2016. They would be mad to sign him for anything more than one extra year, however. If the team finally wins a final, then and only then will he have earned the right to push for more. If they don't, they can still sack Hardwick and have the money to easily pay out the remainder of a one-year contract extension.
Don't get ahead of themselvesJust days after the Tigers upset Hawthorn in round 18, Tiger midfielder Deledio was asked whether he thought his side could win the premiership. Instead of batting away talk of grand finals, or even finals, Deledio foolishly tempted the footballing gods. "Absolutely. You've got to be in it to win it," Deledio said. Richmond haven't done anything substantial for more than Deledio's lifetime (and at the time of the radio interview were still not even guaranteed a place in the finals), yet one of their team leaders was talking grand finals? The only time you mention the grand final is when you're in it. And, by the way, the Tigers got absolutely belted by the Crows the following week. These sorts of statements not only shouldn't be said be senior players, they shouldn't even be thought by them.
Get the right game-planHaving become competitive enough to make the finals in the last three years, the Tigers have to now fiddle with their style of play. They must get better at contested, hard, inside footy, which is what wins in finals, rather than the attractive, free-flowing outside stuff or possession-oriented football they are so good at. Hawthorn can do both, the Tigers can't, and regularly lose the contested ball count plus fail to stick anywhere near enough tackles in high-intensity games.
Get a back-up ruckmanWhile Maric is a wonderful team man and leader and always gives 110 per cent, he is slow and does get tired. Shaun Hampson doesn't have the durability or the around-the-ground marking ability to be relied on as a back-up, and Griffiths can't seem to stay on the park for long enough either, while Tyrone Vickery just doesn't have the ruck skills. The Tigers have picked up a couple of young rookie ruckmen in Ivan Soldo and Mabior Chol, but they aren't going to be the answer for at least a couple of years. In reality, the Tigers are one big injury to Maric away from being more or less without a ruckman. That's not going to get them far in September.
What should the Tigers do to get to the next level?
http://www.sportsfan.com.au/steps-to-stop-the-tigers-underachieving/tabid/91/newsid/182540/default.aspx?cid=SF_LOWDOWN_AFL_article_stepstostopthetigersunderachieving_111215
