OPINION: Tigers are in trouble
Crackers Keenan
Geelong Advertiser
08Apr08
WHAT is going to happen at Richmond?
The Tigers are on the road to Fremantle this week. I received a phone call from Mark Harvey on Sunday morning wanting the full report on their player set-up. Of course he had his spy there as well, but what I saw troubled me. Richmond really hasn't got a game plan. Kick it to Richo or kick it to Nathan Brown, who was getting slaughtered by Heath Shaw.
I watched as they ran around handballing in a circle, then just lost it. Collingwood took the ball and kicked a goal.
Don't get me wrong, Collingwood is a pretty good side. The Pies are unselfish, kick the ball long and get it into their forwards.
Sure they have got some deficiencies. Anthony Rocca's ability to chase has almost disappeared and their centre clearance work was shocking on Sunday.
But Richmond looks like it is going nowhere. I can't really see it winning any of their next seven or eight games.
I'm opposed to sacking any coach during the year, but I think at the end of this year a restructure of the club has got to take place.
The type of football that Richmond plays after four years under Terry Wallace will not see them rise out of the bottom four. It can't; its style cannot win consistently, let alone win a premiership.
It's all been very messy at Richmond for the last few years and will continue to be so.
It is sad to see such a proud club as the Tigers battling down the bottom of the ladder.
Carlton is also down there, but on Saturday night it unveiled a player called Matthew Kreuzer, who by his debut could be anything. The Blues, at least, have something to build on. And with Fevola now off the grog and kicking eight goals, they might be competitive. But the poor old Tigers, they have a few mid-height players and not much else.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2008/04/08/12864_geelong_sports.html
