Chasing their tails
Robert Walls | April 28, 2007
The Age
IT'S shaping to be a long, tough season for Terry Wallace's Tigers. So far winless and facing the rampaging Eagles at the MCG this afternoon, the score could well be 0-5 by 5pm.
Wallace is into the third season of a five-year contract. When he took over, the Tigers had just won the wooden spoon. In year one, 10 wins was a fine effort. Last year, the wins went to 11 and another ninth placing on the ladder was the Tiger's fate.
This season, the Tigers will slip down to a likely bottom-four finish. It is a real worry to the Tiger faithful.
At a briefing he gave to the media a month ago, the coach hinted that there would be some hard yards for the club to endure.
Wallace was criticised for painting a pessimistic picture for the immediate future. I believe the coach was right because he knows his team better than anyone, but the sad scenario depicted would have done little for the morale of staff, supporters and sponsors.
Even some players may have felt that the gut was not worth busting if the coach had reservations.
A close look at the Richmond list shows some serious flaws.
OLDER BRIGADEJoel Bowden and Matthew Richardson, the sons of Richmond premiership players, can't do any more. The likelihood is that they won't emulate their fathers' feats. Between them, they have played 455 games for the yellow and black, but only six of those have been finals.
After a decade or more of playing in ordinary teams, these two gifted players have developed some loose habits as they try to push themselves and teammates to greater heights. Frustration can kick in. From here on, their form will gradually decline as age wearies them.
Captain Kane Johnson inspires with his work rate and courage, but sloppy foot disposal prevents him from ever becoming a top liner. The same applies to veteran full-back Darren Gasper. After 13 years, Darren still causes you to shudder when he puts boot to ball.
The classiest player on the list, the absolute game-breaker, is Nathan Brown. Sadly, we haven't seen his magic for two years and with a question mark still hanging over his broken leg, we may never see the brilliance again.
Another senior player at the crossroads is Mark Coughlan. The best-and-fairest winner of 2003 is recovering from a second knee reconstruction. As with Brown, we have probably seen the best of him, and that is tragic for the Tigers.
ANDREW KRAKOUER/ RICHARD TAMBLINGThe indigenous pair simply don't deliver enough. There is hope for the lightly framed Tambling, as this is only his third year in the system. At the moment he, too, easily gets pushed aside in heavy traffic. A commitment to build strength and size could allow him to survive at senior level, but at present he is not the game-breaker it was hoped he would be.
Krakouer has been handled with kid gloves since he arrived at Punt Road Oval nearly seven years ago. He is due to play his 100th game in a couple of weeks. Over the journey, playing mainly as a permanent forward, he has averaged only one goal a game and repeatedly returns single-figure disposal tallies. It's not good enough.
On top of that, you rarely see him play with excitment and emotion. It's time he patted some backs and lifted some chins.
BRETT DELEDIOHe was the No. 1 draft pick in 2004, and won the 2005 AFL rising star award. Out of a possible 49 games since he arrived, he has missed only one. It all sounds good. But is it? In his two full seasons he hasn't finished in the top 10 of his club's best-and-fairest voting. Supposed lesser lights such as Dean Polo, Shane Tuck, Kayne Pettifer and Greg Tivendale have been voted by the Richmond match committee as having played better seasons.
It's weird. They either rate Deledio less than the general football public does or they mark him extremely harshly. Coach Wallace has given the young gun exposure to a variety of positions, but the time has come to play him as the No. 1 midfielder.
Five goals was his return last year. He should be set to average a goal a game, like Chris Judd. And Deledio should be given the chance to go head-to-head with the game's best each week.
A crack at Judd or Daniel Kerr today would be an ideal challenge.
Over the next decade, Deledio should win at least a couple of club best-and-fairests and never be out of the top six.
TRADESThe Tigers gave up a third-round pick in last year's draft for Graham Polak. It is a big risk. Polak has had his off-field problems and was never able to consolidate a position in the Dockers' line-up, despite being there for five seasons.
Why did the Tigers get him? To shore up a key defensive position, most likely, as Gaspar is on his last legs. If so, he should be set in concrete as the No. 1 tall defender and set to take on the power forwards of the competition. So far this year he has been playing all over the field, which doesn't help Polak's development or the long-term structure of the team.
And Kent Kingsley: why, oh why Kent Kingsley? The former Roo and Cat turns 29 in September. His life as an AFL player has been a tortured existence. The highs have been outnumbered by the lows and at this stage, the odds are it won't change.
So why should Richmond go for a player who even thought himself that his career was over six months ago? In a developing team it is so important that recruited older players pull their weight. If they don't, morale among the troops can easily drop. Kingsley was a risk not worth taking.
THE IMPROVERSAt Richmond, where funds aren't flush, is it so important to teach and develop the talent you have. Have the Tigers done this? Who is being schooled to be a top-line 200-gamer? Yes: Andrew Raines and Deledio. Maybe: Tambling, Jay Schulz and Chris Newman. Unlikely: Pettifer, Patrick Bowden, Shane Tuck, Krakouer and a host of others. But what the Tigers do have is youth. Eighteen players on the list are 21 or younger. They will take time.
Perhaps the coach was right when he suggested the next couple of years will be tough. It's just that plenty did not want to hear that.
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