Derm: Where were the kids earlier this year Tigers?Justin Talent
SEN
06 Aug 2016The impressive performance of first-year Richmond player Oleg Markov in the club’s victory over Collingwood has Dermott Brereton wondering where he and other promising youngsters were when the club’s season was still alive.
Brereton was glowing of the performance of 20-year-old Markov off half-back last night, and questioned why only made his debut five weeks ago.
“That kid Markov last night, he’s a six foot two running backman, I think he only had about five contested possessions but every time he was there for the spoil or the intercept, bodily wise he put himself in there,” he said on SEN's Crunch Time.
“He did the absolute right thing and he ran forward really hard. His kicking was good, he’s got some penetration.
“The thing is, that was his fifth game. You can’t tell me he wasn’t ready six weeks ago.
“There is always the opportunity to play kids rather than in times of absolute desperation.”
Brereton extended this disbelief to fellow young player Jayden Short, who also made his senior debut earlier this season despite being recruited in 2014.
“Jayden Short has played a dozen, maybe a tiny bit more games, and suddenly he comes in his 13th or 14th game and he’s trusted to have the kick-in duties. I mean that’s unheard of,” he said.”
“You give that to a 100 game player, you give that to a Grant Birchall… you give it to somebody with that onus and instead they gave to a 13 or 14 game player. That says to me that this kid is made of the right stuff and he perhaps should have been playing longer than 14 games.”
While Mark Robinson agreed that Markov and fellow first-year player Adam Marcon led the way for the Tigers alongside their star players, he believes that coaches have too much trust in their experienced players that playing youth is a tough prospect.
“Coaches keep faith in their players,” he said.
“(They say) ‘I’ve been through so much with you, in finals I’ve asked you to do so many things and you’ve done it.’ I reckon there’s a sense of I’ll back you in until it’s beyond doubt that you’ve got to go and suddenly the season falls out.
“They say we’re in it to win it but they start playing kids and you start getting that excitement.”
David King also says that Richmond need to start playing young players to fill the the substantial gap the club has between its second tier players and its stars, who they rely on more than any other side in the AFL.
“Their top five or six players are stars in our competition, the problem is there is a big gap to the next level. But your top six have got to lead the way,” he said.
“If they don’t, then the next level are not up to it so they more than any other club need those guys to be seven or eight out of ten every week. When they are, they’re competitive and when they’re not, the bottom falls out of the whole thing.”
https://www.sen.com.au/news/afl/08-16/derm-where-were-the-kids-earlier-this-year-tigers#8Y2hySX5YIjdBgi5.97
