Campbell gets 'life'
12:47:45 PM Sat 19 June, 2004
Bren O'Brien
Sportal/exclusive to afl.com.au
When Richmond skipper Wayne Campbell runs out onto Telstra Dome on Saturday night against Carlton, he will enter a select club and claim AFL life membership.
While it will only be his 268th league game, the addition of 24 pre-season matches, three State of Origins plus five international rules matches qualifies him for recognition by the AFL as a life member
But despite joining the greats of the game, including coach Danny Frawley, Campbell said the achievement will only be meaningful if the Tigers beat the Blues.
"I think it’s a nice achievement but it's certainly not in the forefront of my mind. I think we've got to win the game against Carlton, so that's what I've been concentrating on," he told Sportal.
"I think 200, 250 are pretty important, a bit more important than this one is. They're kind of special I suppose, you only have a few of them through your career. But I don’t think there's any sort of expectation to play any better."
Campbell, a four-time Jack Dyer Medallist, has been captain of the club since 2001, and while the 31-year-old's career is in its twilight, he is confident there are players to step up and fill the leadership breach when he finally retires
"I think there's really good middle crew of Chaffey, Tivendale and these sort of guys. Underneath that there's another guys like Newman. There's a really good bunch of young guys we drafted last year. They are all 17 and 18 years old and have formed a strong nucleus which will help the footy club in the future," he said.
One man who has been touted as a future club leader is Mark Coughlan, a man who Campbell has spent little time on the ground with. While Campbell only played nine games last year because of calf and achilles injuries, Coughlan has not played since round five this year because of pubic bone issues.
"He's only played one full season, he's a very good player," Campbell said. "You'd prefer your better players out there but he shouldn't be too far away now. He's been one of the real positives for the club over the last couple of years."
Campbell admits the Tigers, who are 4-8, have under-performed so far in 2004, and says the improvement is needed right from the rookies through to the skipper.
"I think I could have certainly played better so far this year. I think there's certainly some improvement needed coming into the second half of the year."
Campbell says his personal achievements would mean very little unless the team as a whole improves, which he said is a simple matter of putting together a strong effort over the 120 minutes of a game.
"I think we need consistency within games. We've played good football for three quarters but we haven't been able to string it together for four quarters. That's what we need to work on," he said.
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