Old man Tiver
13 April 2007 Herald-Sun
Daryl Timms
TONY Jewell wasn't the first to single out Richmond's favourite whipping boy, Greg Tivendale.
And he wasn't talking on national television, but at a local cricket club function.
But when a premiership coach has a crack at a player, you tend to take notice. Especially if the player is your son or daughter, and you are in the audience.
Jewell singled out Tivendale for criticism when he was guest speaker at last year's grand final luncheon for the West Gippsland Cricket Association.
Taking a question from the floor, Jewell questioned Tivendale's hardness at the ball, unaware the Tiger's parents were seated a few tables away.
"Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so good luck to him," Tivendale said yesterday.
"I wasn't there and don't know exactly what he said, but my parents were a bit embarrassed about it.
"But we move on. It's not something that I sit down and worry about."
Tivendale is one of Richmond's most dependable and durable players -- he has played 159 of the Tigers' past 162 games -- but his left foot isn't always as reliable.
And he knows he sometimes cops it from the Tiger fans when things aren't going well.
"They tend to, but you do what you can when you're out there," he said. "Everyone is out there doing their best. Admittedly in 2005, my skill level wasn't up to where I would have liked to be and I suppose I'm one of the blokes who they pick on a bit.
"I had a bit of a knee injury then and it might have affected my kicking a bit, but I don't offer that as any excuse.
"It's all part of the game and you just go out and do what you can."
Tivendale has pretty much got his off-field life in order as he approaches the so-called veteran stage of his career.
But even he seems a little taken back when he talks about 2007 being his 10th senior season with the Tigers.
When he first lobbed at Punt Rd, he was an apprentice greenkeeper at Beaconhills Golf Club at Upper Beaconsfield, near his home town of Officer.
A rookie-listed player, Tivendale had to ditch his job at the golf club when footballers became full-time, which coincided with his elevation to Richmond's senior list.
At 27 -- he's 28 on Thursday -- he's keen to guarantee that he'll have another working life when he bows out of footy.
For the past two years he has been studying for a building diploma at Holmesglen TAFE and is looking forward to one day getting his hands dirty in another profession.
If he remains injury-free and is still getting a kick, Tivendale hopes to add another three or four seasons to a career that has so far spanned 168 games.
"It's my 10th year and it's going quickly," he said.
"It's fair whack of your life, so it's been a while.
"Everything has changed since I first started. We were at the club at 6.30 first thing in the morning and stayed until 8.30 or nine and then came back about five in the arvo so you had time to have a job in between.
"But now it's a full-time job."
Tivendale hopes to complete the building diploma at the end of next year and is approaching the course in much the same way he plays his footy, with plenty of speed.
He has to complete about 40 subjects and so far has done about 15. Another three years will be required on-site if he is to work for himself.
"I'll look at getting on the tools for a while when I finish my footy. I think it will be good," he said.
"I enjoy doing the course because it gets your mind off footy for a while."
Tivendale finished third in Richmond's best-and-fairest in 2003 and sixth last season. He laid the second-most tackles at Tigerland (one behind Shane Tuck) and was top-five at the club in inside 50s and loose and hardball gets -- stats that might surprise some Tiger fans.
His form has continued in the opening two rounds of this season, but the left-footer admits the Tigers should have beaten Sydney last weekend and were in a winning position in Round 1 against Carlton.
"We were in front in the last quarter against the Swans, so we had our chances, but they just used their experience in the last 15 minutes or so to control the ball.
"I've started off all right this season. It was disappointing last week in the last quarter when I couldn't get my hands on the footy, but other than that I've been pretty happy with the footy."
Although Richmond plays Collingwood tonight at the MCG in the opening game of the Rivalry Round, Tivendale said it was difficult to single out one home-and-away match for special attention.
And he said he didn't think coach Terry Wallace would make tonight's match his annual "crunch game", in which each player makes a pledge and signs a football which is won by Richmond's best player.
"Every week is a pretty big game," he said. "But when you are playing at the 'G, under lights, in front of a big crowd, it hypes it up a bit more.
"This is a very important game for us because it's important to win early games. Crunch games for us are definitely later in the season."
Tivendale was married in October last year to his girlfriend of eight years, Carly, who is five months pregnant.
Originally recruited from Rythdale-Officer-Cardinia -- an amalgamation of three clubs - Tivendale is also a talented cricketer who played for Officer until a couple of years ago when he suffered a pre-season injury.
When his playing days are over with Richmond, he's determined to play footy at ROC alongside his younger brother, Ben. "It will be great to get back and play footy and cricket with my brothers and some friends," he said. But, unlike on the footy field, there's no rush.
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