From the Age
Michael Gleeson | July 9, 2007
Richmond president Gary March angrily condemned a suggestion during the week that the club was "tanking" to ensure quality picks in this year's draft.
"I don't know if our guys have ever had a better crack than we had (last week) we were beaten by a better side on the day in St Kilda, so how it could be said that this side was tanking over the last couple of weeks (beggars belief)," March said in his pre-match president's address.
"When I look at the way some of our senior players have put their hand up this year … the way they have gone about their football has been a credit to them.
"Our captain, Kane Johnson, has played most of the year with a broken hand, he could have easily missed six to eight rounds but he has continued to play and try to set ourselves up for the second-half of the year.
"Matthew Richardson played and basically didn't miss a game with a fractured eye socket, he put his hand up to play to show leadership to the younger guys.
"A couple of weeks ago we had Chris Newman puncture a lung over in Fremantle. He jumped on a plane nearly against medical advice and played the next week.
"We continually have senior guys putting their hand up and wanting to show some leadership for the younger blokes."
March said these were not the actions of players or a club that was prepared to lie down. He insisted the club would put its strongest team on the field every week and that a win was more important than a possible extra pick at the end of the first round of the national draft.
http://realfooty.com.au/news/news/tigers-season-gets-worse/2007/07/08/1183833344631.html