Tigers footy boss admits “I had a little tear in my eye”By Luke Sicari
SEN
15 September 2017Richmond football manager Neil Balme has conceded he couldn’t hold in his emotions during the Tigers’ 51-point victory over Geelong in last week’s Qualifying Final.
With the win, Richmond advanced to the Preliminary Final, where they now await the winner of the Greater Western Sydney and West Coast game tomorrow night. It was the Tigers’ first finals win since 2001, and the two-time Richmond premiership player admitted he got caught up in the moment.
“I must say, even for a miserable old bloke like me, I had a little tear in my eye in the last quarter,” Balme told SEN’s Hungry For Sport.
“I almost didn’t believe we could play that well. They were absolutely wonderful. We were very proud.”
Despite also having success at Collingwood and Geelong in a similar position, Balme says it means more at the Tigers, because he played 159 games for the club.
Richmond now has to battle the week off, meaning they would have played just one game in three weeks when next Saturday’s Preliminary Final rolls around. Last season, the two teams that had the second bye in a short period, GWS and Geelong, lost their respective Preliminary Finals.
Balme says the side has respected their right to have a small rest, but also understands the importance to maintain a level of fitness.
“You got to do something, but also take advantage of the opportunity where you have a week where you don’t have to give everything in the game,” he said.
“We had a couple days off and then tried to get back into the normal program. We are training right now, we will have a captains run tomorrow, where it wont be that hard, but you’ll need to be at top speed and do a few things.
“We will probably do a little bit of it [match simulation] tomorrow, you don’t want to take too many physical risks in training. You got to get to a speed and you have to practice what you’re going to do, so there needs to be some match replication, but you don’t need it fully, because you’re not going to forget how to play.
“Then we will have Sunday off and get back into a normal week on Monday.”
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/09/15/tigers-footy-boss-admits-i-had-a-little-tear-in-my-eye/
