Tivendale's career fear
4 May, 2006
Paul Gough
Exclusive to afl.com.au
Less than a year after he feared his career was under threat because of a severe case of the kicking yips, Richmond wingman Greg Tivendale will celebrate an important milestone when the Tigers take on Essendon in the "Dreamtime at the G" clash on Saturday night.
Tivendale will play his 150th match for the Tigers and is quite rightly proud of his achievement given he has often had to ride the gauntlet of criticism - even from his own supporters - for his sometimes wayward kicking, which reached almost crisis point midway through last season.
However Tivendale has been one of Richmond's standout players in 2006 and his 20 disposals and two goals - including a crucial one late in the third term -was one of the main reasons why the Tigers were able to hold off Carlton at the MCG last Friday night.
The 26-year-old admits he is enjoying the responsibilities that come with now being one of the club's most senior players.
"I am in the top 10 blokes at our club now in terms of games played so you do have to step up and perform," he said.
"I'm pretty stoked about reaching 150 games, it means life membership of the club, and that is a huge honour."
Tivendale actually played 135 of his games in succession from round 19, 1999 to round 18, 2005 before a groin injury saw him miss three of the last four games last season.
But he admitted he was concerned he may have been dropped from the side in the middle of last season when a series of kicking errors in matches resulted in his place coming under scrutiny.
"I was still getting the ball, which is the hardest part of the game, but I just wasn't using it well which was so bizarre because that is normally one of my strengths," Tivendale said of his long, left-foot kicking.
"Terry (Wallace) has always said if you can't kick the ball properly then you can't play (in the senior side) and it was a worry."
"In the end I was probably hanging on to the ball too long because I was worried about making another blue and I just kept stuffing it up."
However with his adductor injury, which ended his long run of successive games at the end of last year, now fully healed - Tivendale's kicking problems are in the past and he has been a huge factor in the Tigers' wins in the past fortnight.
"I am definitely feeling much more positive," he said.
"It was just a matter of using my instincts and once I get the footy just pick an option (of where to kick the ball)."
Now Tivendale is just looking forward to continuing to play his part as the Tigers take another step in getting their season back on track against the Bombers on Saturday night.
"We need to keep winning and it's a chance to get our season back on level terms at 3-3," he said, after the Tigers' lost their first three games of the season.
"It's always a big game against Essendon and the "Dreamtime" theme now just makes it even more special."
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=262878
