MMA fighter Greg Kleynjans teaching Richmond players how to tackleJON RALPH,
Herald Sun
18 September 2017A FORMER mixed martial arts fighter and referee is the secret weapon behind Richmond’s bid to stop the free-flowing GWS Giants in Saturday’s preliminary final.
The Tigers have reaped the rewards after the veteran fighter and mixed martial arts referee this year joined the club as its boxing and grappling coach.
Greg Kleynjans’ hiring coincided with the club transforming its game plan with a fleet of small forwards playing an intense pressuring game.
He trains the Tigers in tackling and has attempted to build more aggressive tendencies into a group making a trademark of hunting opposition players.
Richmond has gone from 18th for pressure to fourth in the league.
The Tigers also face the task of shutting down Steve Johnson, who says his troublesome knee will recover in time to take on the Tigers.
Kelynjans, who is part of reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter and is currently in Asia refereeing professional bouts, has attempted to integrate mixed martial arts into the players tackling techniques.
“We’re not looking at who can hit the hardest or who can hit the fastest, we’re looking at things they can implement into their own game,” he said when he joined the club.
Damien Hardwick this week faces the ultimate test of his pressure-first ethic.
Jason Castagna has had 21 possessions in his past four weeks — the least of any player in the AFL — yet has outstanding pressure skills.
He has averaged 35 ranking points, 5.3 disposals, 0.25 goals but has an above average 3.8 tackles and 36.5 pressure points.
Trent Cotchin and Dylan Grimes take part in a tackling drill over the weekend. Picture: Michael Klein
Castagna is likely to retain his spot ahead of Tyson Stengle and Shai Bolton, who were both brilliant in the Tigers’ VFL preliminary final win against Box Hill Hawks on Saturday.
In their qualifying final win the Tigers suffocated Geelong, with defender Dylan Grimes saying they were determined to “bring the heat”.
Eventually the Cats’ game broke down and the Tigers ran away from them.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmond-players-taking-tackling-lessons-from-mma-fighter/news-story/ed0368f619ab13773dc2b83560dd963f
