Tigers to grant Deledio free rein to shake taggers with a goalward shift
Michael Gleeson, Wonthaggi
The Age
February 8, 2007
THE education of Brett Deledio would result in the former No. 1 draft pick being a surprise full-forward at times this year, Richmond's coaching director Brian Royal said yesterday.
Looking to the example of players such as Nathan Buckley and Michael Voss, Deledio will be pressed into more versatile roles, playing deep in the forward line to prevent annoying tags from quietening the emerging star.
Deledio, who will continue to predominantly play a Nigel Lappin-type role shifting between defence and the midfield, is still learning in his third year how to overcome the close attention of opposition teams.
"I think particularly if he is getting tagged he will go deep forward and isolate him in the goal square," Royal said. "If teams want to play a player on him, he would be pretty hard to match out of the goal square one out.
"If you look at Nathan Buckley, Nathan Brown, Michael Voss — players that have continually been tagged over the years — you take them to the goal square. If they can't get them in the midfield, they will get them out of the goal square because of their natural brilliance one-on-one".
The move to isolate a player in the goal square is far from a revelation, but it is interesting that it should be applied to a player in only his third year and is a measure of how important the player is already to the Richmond structure.
"Brett is different to some of the other stars of the competition," Royal said. "Scotty West, for example, has got to touch it 35 times to have a real impact on the game, where Brett can touch it 20 times but have an equal effect."
"He naturally pushes himself; he wants to be the best player in the competition. "We often say to him — don't let others stop you from being the player you want to be. 'I think at some AFL clubs some players try to, whether it is jealousy or whatever, put people down and stop them being the player they could be.
"We tell Brett all the time — if you want to run at the front of the group every time, run at the front of the group every time. It is not a selfishness.
"On his talent and attributes alone, he could become a very, very good player but he isn't relying on those gifts; he is looking for ways to improve himself."
Deledio is quietly spoken and internalises his ambitions in the game. He has set goals on and off the field this year for the first time with assistant coach Craig McRae.
"You don't want to preach that to the world, but I would like to play every game and hopefully as a side we can play finals … I think every player wants to be the best he can be," Deledio said.
"I definitely received more attention last year; in my first year I was pretty much allowed to sit out on a wing and get it kicked to me, take a couple of bounces and kick it inside 50.
"But for most of last year I received a fair bit more attention and that made it harder to get possession, but that is part of it, I suppose. I have to learn to live with it."
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2007/02/07/1170524164725.html
