Yeah or Neah - 5. Brad Ottens

[JohnF]

I bet ya Ottens will be at the Tiges next year.
Mum's got a boyfriend here and i reckon she won't be moving back to SA lol

His mum's got a boyfriend here? Funny I heard ottens had a girlfriend here. In Bred Ottens? 

[mightytiges]

Ottens deal hangs on new coach
16 July 2004   
Herald Sun
Mark Stevens

 THE future of Richmond ruckman Brad Ottens remains uncertain, with talks on a new contract not on the agenda until the end of the season.

Richmond's new coach will face myriad challenges, but convincing Ottens his future is at a reinvigorated Tigerland will be high on the list.

It is believed Ottens is keen to wait until Danny Frawley's successor is named before making a decision on whether Punt Rd is the best place to further his career.

Ottens' manager Dan Richardson, of Elite Sports Properties, said yesterday there was no rush to start talks.

"I would expect that the discussions would not take place until the season ends," Richardson said.

The Tigers are keen to appoint Frawley's replacement as soon as possible, clearing uncertainty and giving the club impetus going into next year.

Richmond football director Greg Miller said last night Ottens had stated he wanted to be judged on the whole season before entering into discussions.

"He made it clear 12 months ago that he wanted to be judged on performance rather than potential, so to be fair to him we've got to give him the year, don't we?" Miller said.

Ottens, in his prime at 24, signed a two-year extension in the opening rounds of the 2002 season.

Then Tigers chief executive Mark Brayshaw said the deal had taken "five months' worth of softly, softly dialogue".

Brayshaw said at the time a two-year deal was suitable because Ottens was still emerging as a talent at the club.

"The next one he does he's probably going to back his truck in a bit more," Brayshaw said. "He'll be able to do so with the benefit of a couple of years of elite performance."

But Ottens' ability to "back his truck in" and score a lucrative contract has been affected by back and groin injuries and inconsistent form.

"He knows that he would like to be playing better but, by the same token, the criticism he endures at times is a bit unfair," Richardson said.

Miller said: "He's had an inconsistent year – he's had some good and some bad. But he's trying very hard and he'll get better".

The final seven weeks of the season are crucial for Ottens to lift his currency.

Despite the heavy scrutiny, Ottens' statistics – fourth in the competition for hitouts, second in hitouts to advantage, seventh in contested marks and 10th in hardball gets – are still impressive.

Ottens, 202cm and No. 2 pick in the 1997 draft, has found it difficult to find continuity this season.

He has been unable to settle as No. 1 ruckman, regularly thrown forward to boost the struggling Tigers' attack.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,10149366%255E19771,00.html

[mightytiges]

Brayshaw said at the time a two-year deal was suitable because Ottens was still emerging as a talent at the club.

Although he's definitely improved he hasn't as yet gone up that notch to a level that says yep given him 3 years. He definitely shouldn't be getting $$$ yet. Granted big guys take longer to develop and don't really peak until their late 20's he is still is in the "emerging" category. A similar contract to the one he's on should be what we are aiming for (I'm assuming it's nowhere near the Cogs or Brown range of $300k+). If he then moves up that notch in the next 2 years we can then increase the length to 3 years next time and the dollars to reflect that. Whether a similar contract to now keeps him at Richmond is another question. If he's willing to wait until the end of the season then we will know who is our next coach by then (if we don't already  ).

[JohnF]

lmfaooo@Ottens backing his truck in. We are the ones that have been backing our trucks in the last couple of years and he has rodgered us silly.

If he is willing to take the cash offered for his 'inconsistent' form, well all good and proper, if not, all good as well. We will be compensated well if he goes anyway.

[Rodgerramjet]

As I said earlier in a previous post somewhere in cyber space, Ottens IS waiting to see who our next coach is going to be before he makes his final decision. There is no doubt that he is quite disaffected with the Richmond Football club and the fact that he has not signed yet clearly tells me that our club has not as yet nailed down exactly who our next coach is actually going to be despite the rubbish rumours, because that's what they are, rubbish. All this talk about waiting until the end of the season to see how he goes is a public relations line being pushed by the club in order to cover up what is actually going on. Ottens wants success, he wants to be in a club with some future, where he can develop properly as a footballer. If he can see that with our new coach he will stay if not we will lose him and that will be a tragedy because this guy will be damn good under proper guidance.

[WilliamPowell]

Ottens deal hangs on new coach
16 July 2004   
Herald Sun
Mark Stevens

THE future of Richmond ruckman Brad Ottens remains uncertain, with talks on a new contract not on the agenda until the end of the season.

Richmond's new coach will face myriad challenges, but convincing Ottens his future is at a reinvigorated Tigerland will be high on the list.

It is believed Ottens is keen to wait until Danny Frawley's successor is named before making a decision on whether Punt Rd is the best place to further his career.

Ottens' manager Dan Richardson, of Elite Sports Properties, said yesterday there was no rush to start talks.

Ottens, in his prime at 24, signed a two-year extension in the opening rounds of the 2002 season.

Then Tigers chief executive Mark Brayshaw said the deal had taken "five months' worth of softly, softly dialogue".

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,10149366%255E19771,00.html

Blah blah - what a slow news day it must be. What does what happened in 2002 have to do with here and now?  Silly me - they must need to fill the column

This report gives absolutely nothing new - then again that's no surprise either  .

My favourite line is: "It is believed Ottens is keen...." - how long did it take to come up with that one? Anyone can write "it is believed" and then it turns out to be true. If for months they are saying he isn't going to negotiate till the end of the season and we are looking for a new coach that may not be appointed until after the season then I think it is preety easy to be able to draw the "it is believed" conclusion.

Here's an Example:

"It is believed that Willy Powell will be at Telstra Dome on Saturday" 

Earth shattering isn't it

[froars]

Personally, i don't think Ottens performances for Richmond, especially the last couple of years, warrant so much newspaper space.
So he's going to protract the negotiations and probably as the weeks go by what he's wanting in his contract suddenly becomes higher as other clubs are interested in him.
I say if that happens, cut him loose and get a couple of good trades or early draft choices.
We're in rebuilding mode. We weren't going to make the finals for another 3 years anyway.
Snatch up a young ruckman from another club who is promising or from the draft.
I hope the club don't let these players continue to blackmail us.  A, we can't afford it and B, we've seen the effect of long contracts at exorbitant prices to some players who just don't perform to that standard.

[Puntroadroar]

*Ottens biggest critic enters the room*


Back his truck in ???????????? FFS

this goose is currently overpaid as it is and this nonsense about him backing his truck in is laughable. If Richmond fall for the "Darren Gaspar" deal again I'll have to go follow some other sport because this club has just about torn my heart out with monkeys who run this club making hopeless decisions.

Fair dinkum Ottens lift ya game, "I want to play my whole career at Richmond" more like "I will play my whole career at Richmond only if the suckers pay me a truckload". He has been here 5 years and given us nothing in that time, i say let other club bend over to get his signature, big deal aslong as we get the best what other teams have to offer.

[Rodgerramjet]

Sorry to have to break this to you but money is not the issue.

[Ox]

wait and see.

[mightytiges]

They had Otto's manager on SEN yesterday morning and he said it wasn't a case of Otto waiting to see who the new coach is but more finding out what the new coach wants from Otto. He also said he has a good relationship with Miller.

KB brought up the issue of the Club and also Otto not knowing what was the best position for him. IMO he's more a CHF who can take over in the ruck when the ruckman is resting. Unfortunately the other ruckmen on our list are nearing (Stafford) and at (Marsh) the end of their careers. Otto was drafted at the end of 1997 and we haven't drafted a potential young ruckman since. That's 7 years!   

[Tiger Spirit]

They had Otto's manager on SEN yesterday morning and he said it wasn't a case of Otto waiting to see who the new coach is but more finding out what the new coach wants from Otto.

KB brought up the issue of the Club and also Otto not knowing what was the best position for him.

I’m just wondering if RFC has really messed up Otto and that too much is expected from him and so he finishes up doing very little, while seemingly carrying a heavy load.  He just doesn’t seem at all happy.

I just wonder whether it is that he knows things could be a lot better than they are.  It doesn’t seem like his mind’s on the job or that he’s all that interested and even his accurate kicking has deteriorated.

It is a worry though that he can’t or won’t deal with the current situation, when others do.  Whether he thinks too much is expected of him and he’s just overwhelmed by it, who knows.

People are prepared to trade him, but few coaches would.  Especially when you consider that ruckmen don’t grow on trees.  We won’t voluntarily trade him, it’ll have to be his call if he goes.  Here’s hoping a new coach can give him some direction and get more out of him, if he does stay.

[Puntroadroar]

I noticed on the weekend Jeff White only needed 19 hitouts, apparently 26 Hitouts from brad went in melbournes favour anyway.

LOL

[JohnF]

LMFAOOooOO@reviving this thread punter.

The most disappointing thing about Ottens' performance on the weekend, other than that he was lacklustre as soon as the the ruck duels were over, was that he missed two sitter goals. Had he kicked 4 he would have been amongst our better players.

Would have been good to see Ottens and White go head to head throughout the whole game instead of Spud putting Hall on White to roam around with him. We could have gauged where Ottens is at compared to one of the better ruckmen going around at the moment.

Having said that, I think Jeff White is highly overrated, and is only enjoying his second good year out of a ten year career.

[Jackstar]

Mail is he has 5 games left in a yellow and black jumper