Kane leads the way in impressive style
1:26:45 PM Thu 29 June, 2006
Richmond coach Terry Wallace
richmondfc.com.au
I feel at times it is my position to help educate all our members and supporters about the roles and responsibilities of each player within the structure of the team.
Already this year I have discussed the direction of the Club with regards to the younger brigade and some of our more maligned players.
This week I would like to fill the supporters in on the changed role in the ’06 season of our captain Kane Johnson.
I read with interest a week ago in ‘The Herald-Sun’ a list of AFL players whose statistical performances had both risen and fallen compared to the midway point of last season. Kane was mentioned as one of the worst 10 in terms of fall-off.
To those inside our club, or other league clubs, the article was too simplistic in its review as all it accounted for was sheer statistical numbers. Anyone who follows the modern game will realise such stats now don’t mean as much with all the chipping and uncontested play.
I felt this article put a negative slant on Kane’s role at the Club and had the potential to cast doubts on his leadership when, in fact, he has been far more of a dominant leader this year than in 2005.
At the start of the year I went to Kane and spoke to him about playing a more negating role on the opposition’s best players.
Last year we had used both Mark Chaffey and Mark Coughlan in these type of roles and we were keen to give ‘Cogs’ more freedom in the midfield, while ‘Chaff’ had struggled with injury all through the pre-season and looked unlikely to come up. This left the Club perilously short of negating players.
Kane was prepared to give away his natural ball-winning flair to be more disciplined and try to restrict the opposition’s very best.
Once again, what the article did not show, was that our captain has done a better job than any other player this season on the AFL’s statistical leader Chris Judd. Yet, Kane doesn’t get any credit, or win any extra statistical points, for keeping Judd’s possessions to the teens rather than high 20s or 30s.
Which is better for our Club – Kane running out and playing his own game and he and Judd getting 35 possessions each, or him playing a tight, uncompromising inside game where both players finish with 16 touches for the match?
I guarantee you that give Judd the ball 35 times and he will kill you with his speed, run and carry! According to the data, however, Johnson is a better player for the shoot-out, which is obviously incorrect.
So, week in, week out this season, our captain gets run-with roles . . .
I had to laugh when we came back from a shattering loss against Fremantle in 10, reading the papers where they said that Kane was a quiet player.
That evening we set him Josh Carr, who is the Dockers’ most dynamic midfielder. Carr finished the game with 8 kicks, 4 handballs and had no impact on the result whatsoever. Kane was told beforehand that he would be judged on what influence Carr had on this match. Therefore, from a match committee point of view, he did the job perfectly.
Even a fortnight ago, when I thought our players were very disrespectful to their Hawthorn opponents, allowing them too much room and space for uncontested marks, ‘Johnno’ was one player who stuck to his task over four quarters. He shut Hawthorn’s dynamic midfielder Luke Hodge down to only 7 kicks and 5 handballs.
Make no mistake, the captain is giving up some of his reputation for the good of our side. He, more than most, realises that team over the individual is the only way to get real success and, as he has done with everything as the leader of the players, he sets a fine example.
If you ask Kane, obviously he would prefer just to go out and play his natural game, as he has done since he was 10 years old. And, don’t doubt his ability to find the ball when freed up.
In the victory over the Kangaroos in Round 11, he had the ball more than 25 times, despite being on the ground for only 60% of the time, which meant that he would have had a 40-possession game had he played the whole game.
Kane also brings strong leadership to our team. He has matured and developed and has a strong sense of what he wants from the group. He is demanding of an uncompromised attitude and approach.
All at the Club have watched Kane really mature as a leader. With so many young players on our list, it is essential that we not only have strong direction from our leadership group, but also a captain who leads by example.
So, this Sunday, when you go along to the game against Collingwood, identify what Kane’s role is. Have we freed him up, or is he going ‘head to head’ with one of the Magpies’ best?
Judge him accordingly, as the stats don’t always tell the true story.
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