Another fade-out baffles Wallace
14 April 2007 Herald-Sun
Scott Gullan
TERRY Wallace doesn't believe it is fitness, but the Richmond coach is yet to find an explanation for his side's third second-half fade-out, this time against an undermanned Collingwood.
Wallace was as perplexed as his supporters about how his team gave up 13 goals to six in the second half last night to blow a golden opportunity to secure the Tigers' first win of the season.
The search for answers will begin immediately with a heart-to-heart between the coaching staff and players planned for Punt Rd this morning.
"To be able to be in front for 90 minutes in the games, three times now and not been able to get the job done . . . we obviously need to work on, discuss and analyse as a group what is going on," Wallace said.
"People are going to say a lot of things but all our fitness parameters are better than where they were at the same time last year.
"That's the reality of the numbers and it hasn't happened to us in the previous years so I don't see it (fitness) as being the problem but its one of the areas we will analyse.
"We understand the circumstances we are in, we understand what comes with those circumstances. It is a high-pressure competition and high-pressure game and we understand we have now put ourselves in that high-pressure environment.
"We are concerned we're sitting 0-3, we know and understand that we will have all our Tiger supporters going home absolutely devastated tonight.
"I mean you come to ground, come to the games, you hit the lead and you are excited about being there, then to come away disillusioned, that is unacceptable.
"We all take a stand on that, we all understand that is the reality and we have to deal with it and work out how we can get better.
"Look, we were in exactly the same position last year (0-3), so you just have got to work through it and improve areas of game."
Like his club's supporters, Wallace thought his team should have been 40 points up at halftime and not 22.
"We had 17 scoring shots to 10 at halftime so I thought we should have been further in front," he said.
"I said to the boys in the rooms at halftime, I thought we should have been another three goals up."
What happened in the second half is still a mystery to the coach.
"We will analyse it but you ask what happened?," Wallace said. "They won the stoppages, their midfield came alive and we didn't have anywhere near as much midfield drive.
"If you sit back and watch the two sides in the second half there would have been four or five blokes (from Collingwood) who were threatening to break it open, when you looked at us it was difficult to find who was going to be that spark player."
He said his hands had been tied when it came to rushing back ruckman Troy Simmonds last night as the VFL side didn't play until Sunday, and with the Tigers fronting up again next Friday night against the Western Bulldogs, the gap would have been too tight for him to come up and play.
"It was a difficult decision but it was either play him tonight or it was going to be three weeks before we'd be able to play him," Wallace said.
"We were pleased with the way he pulled up and I thought we were competitive in the ruck and at stoppages more than we have been."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21555033^20322,00.html
