Changes after Tigers' Round 1 rout
05 April 2006
Herald Sun
Rebecca Williams
RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace hasn't ruled out punishing some players at the selection table for the Tigers' opening-round mauling from the Bulldogs.
While Wallace was wary of being emotionally reactive after the 115-point loss, he indicated positions could be under threat for Friday night's clash against St Kilda at Telstra Dome.
"We won't make any decisions emotively based," Wallace said yesterday.
"But we had two or three blokes in the side that really struggled. It seemed like they were down on a bit of confidence. If you are down on confidence, we have to back our squad in to make change.
"Selection last week was fairly close with two or three positions in the side. Two or three blokes didn't get the nod and went and played in the intra-club with Coburg and performed pretty well.
"We will let them go back to reserve-grade football and regain that confidence."
The Tigers yesterday ran off the shocker with a training session that stretched two hours at Punt Rd.
Wallace said the pride of his players had been wounded, but he was confident their self-belief remained intact for Friday's clash.
The match has taken on added importance, with the Tigers' next two games (West Coast and Brisbane Lions) on the road.
"I would be very disappointed if it has flattened them that much," Wallace said. "We were in a very similar scenario last year and we were able to work out of it. We know that the group has had the resolve to be able to work out of these situations in the past."
Wallace expects a more committed unit against St Kilda.
"What I expect from our blokes is what I expected from them in Round 1 and I didn't get, that is full-blooded, absolute committed effort for four quarters," he said. "We don't step away from the fact that we didn't deliver that last Friday night."
The Tigers will closely monitor Nathan Brown, who pulled up sore from his first serious match since breaking his leg in Round 10 last year.
"He was pretty sore as we expected him to be," he said.
"Every game that's going to be the way it is in early times until he gets those miles into his legs.
"I am still not sure how we will go with him, whether we will play him on a weekly basis, or whether we will play him for three and rest him for one.
"Each week we will just see how he pulls up. At the moment he is on track for this week."
Wallace was hopeful big men Greg Stafford (calf) and Trent Knobel (leg) would be available for selection.
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