Mitch Morton [merged]

[Smokey]

Naish dudded us after like 2 years didn't he?

Went off the boil after hanging around the like of daffy,laffy.bullus,.

We let him go to Sydney,was it,or someone,where he proved we made the right decision.

Hope No-horse can give us at least 3 years of something

Naish played 8 seasons for us (143 games averaging 15 disposals and 1.5 goals) and 2 seasons with Port Adelaide (18 games @ 12 disposals and 0.9 goals).

[mat073]

I dont know how this Morton thread got on to Chris Naish but I will add my two cents.
Naish was a one season wonder (95)...Apart from that he was an average AFL player.

[Go Richo 12]

I dont know how this Morton thread got on to Chris Naish but I will add my two cents.
Naish was a one season wonder (95)...Apart from that he was an average AFL player.

Naish played 8 seasons for us (143 games averaging 15 disposals and 1.5 goals) and 2 seasons with Port Adelaide (18 games @ 12 disposals and 0.9 goals).
One hit wonders rarely last 10 seasons with stats like that! Anyway back to Mitch......
I like his prospects and if he ends up a Nathan Brown type type player minus the injuries then that would be the best case scenario and not out of the realm of possibilties

[mat073]

GoRicho12
Just want to clarify....IMHO chris was an average player not a poor player.He was like many Richmond players at the time-Over Rated.He may of struggled to play 140 games at another club....maybe not Fitzroy.

Back to Mitch.....One of the reasons we went from 16th to 9th last year.Thank you West Coast.

[Ox]

Yeh,back to Mitch....

300 snaps at practice a week equates to great odds on match day,given you're a smart footballer,
which he seems to be.

Good dedication and has something to prove.

[mightytiges]

Morton frees up Browny to push into the midfield without robbing us of goalscoring potency. Cuz will do the same as he'll be playing mostly on a HFF.


Re: Naish - never was the same player after that miss after the siren down at the cattery in 1996. I reckon it got to him mentally as if we had won that game we would've played finals. Also he was one of those players that played well under Northey's simple and direct gameplan then struggled under Walls.

[one-eyed]

Morton targets his next goal
By Adrian Ceddia
Fighting Tiger Bulletin, March 2009

Mitch Morton's debut season with Richmond had plenty in common with the team's standing in the AFL competition.

It had steep improvement, plenty of excitement, and the promise of much more to come.

It also marked his arrival on the big stage after three years of limited chances with the West Coast Eagles.

Morton finished equal second on Richmond's goal kicking list in 2008, level with Nathan Brown, and behind only Matthew Richardson. His 35-goal return was the ninth best of all time by a Tiger in his debut season with the Club.

"I was pretty happy with it, but I look at other guys my age, guys like Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin . . . I judge myself against those guys," he said.

"I'm not quite where I want to be, but at the same time I've got to realise I went from kicking five or six goals in a year to kicking 35, which is a huge improvement."

"For me, it's about continually going up that ladder."

At West Coast, injuries and limited opportunities restricted Morton to just 12 games and 11 goals in three seasons, during a period when the Eagles played off in two consecutive Grand Finals (2005 and 2006). But since making the decision to find a new football home at the end of the 2007 season, he hasn't looked back.

"When I got drafted, I always thought I wanted to be a one club player; but after a while at West Coast, I felt like it wasn't my club," he said.

"When you leave your first club, you really want to have an impact at your second club.

"For some reason, Richmond was a club I always wanted to go to. I love the list, I love Terry Wallace as a coach, and the players just made it so easy for me.

"I consider myself very lucky just to be given the opportunity."

Injuries at his former club pigeon-holed Morton into a forward role, but he intended to start fresh at Richmond as a defender. The Tiger coaching staff, however, had other ideas, and their better judgement has, so far, been vindicated.

"All the coaches - 'Plough' (Terry Wallace), Jade (Rawlings) and 'Choc' (Brian Royal) - they've pretty much taught me from scratch how to be a forward. I just listen to them and get as much out of them as I can," Morton said.

Since arriving at Punt Road, Morton has quickly become settled and stable, both as a player and as a person.

"I've had a good 18 months to two years without injury, so I'm starting to get the rewards of the prolonged training," he said.   .

"Matt Hornsby (the Club's Elite Performance Manager) has done a fantastic job getting me in the shape to impact on AFL games. .

"Internally, I've really worked hard at trying to learn more about myself.

"I ask guys like Joel Bowden and Matty Richardson a lot of questions. They probably get sick of it at tirnes, but I think you can learn so much from great players.

"They're great players for a reason. I'm always trying to find out the little things they've got that others haven't."

Like many of his Richmond team­mates, Morton is looking forward to experiencing team success after last year's ninth-place finish, no matter what role he is asked to play.

"I really want to be a part of success. I've seen it at West Coast, but I wasn't a part of it. I really want to be a part of it here," he said.

"I just want to play my role and if that helps in our team success, I don't care if I'm on the bench or forward pocket or back pocket."

[Chuck17]

Good start to the season for Mitch, lets just hope he carries consistency throughout the season.

Although if Schulz or Hughes stood up at FF it would take some pressure off him from the defenders.

[mat073]

What a great pick up Mitch has been.Against Geelong he showed that he be quiet all day and then turn the game on its head with 5 minutes of brilliant play.Keep it up Mitch

[one-eyed]

Mitch's OOTF kick was brought up on Mark Doran's show with Robbo on SEN today and Doran couldn't understand why Morton was dropped last time.

It was claimed by a caller that whenever Morton gets dropped from the side it's for not following team rules. Specifically him not kicking back into the corridor when he is out wide near the boundary inside 50.

It could be a load of rubbish but that's what the caller said.

[bojangles17]

Morton frees up Browny to push into the midfield without robbing us of goalscoring potency. Cuz will do the same as he'll be playing mostly on a HFF.


Re: Naish - never was the same player after that miss after the siren down at the cattery in 1996. I reckon it got to him mentally as if we had won that game we would've played finals. Also he was one of those players that played well under Northey's simple and direct gameplan then struggled under Walls.

fwiw, it was after his mum died suddenly, was never any good after that, I reckon Nahas is like Naishy

[Danog]

He's right, OER.  That's what he said at the Richmond dinner.

[one-eyed]

Snap-happy Richmond Tiger Mitch Morton thrives by sword
Braden Quartermaine | June 01, 2009

RICHMOND'S Mitch Morton was grateful he was able to pay the Tigers back with the winning goal on Saturday night. It came two weeks after unwittingly igniting the controversy that brought the club to its knees

The former Eagle kicked Richmond's winning goal 29 minutes into the final term, his accurate snap after playing on ensuring the 17.13 (115) to 17.10 (112) victory against Fremantle at Subiaco Oval.

It completed a head-spinning turn of events for Morton, who was blamed for the three-point loss to Port Adelaide in Round 8 after he played on in the dying stages and kicked the ball out on the full.

After marking deep into time-on on Saturday night, he backed his instinct and played on again and his goal this time sealed a three-point win.

"It was (poetic). It's funny how life turns out," Morton said. "I've got to play on instinct . . . but every now and again you've just got to be able to cop that. You've got to live and die by the sword.

"Basically it's general mathematics. I've got a left to right ball flight so from that side of the ground I've really only got half the goals to kick it in.

"Whereas if I run around and snap it it opens the whole goal face up. That's the reason I do it, I don't do it for any other reason and I'd kick more of them than I would a set shot.

"We've got pretty strict team rules and I'm allowed to (play on) from pretty much inside 30m. I probably took a few liberties earlier in the year when I was a bit further out and I was pretty upset at myself for that and so was Terry (Richmond coach Terry Wallace).

"The most disappointing thing about all of that was that it got out. If you don't follow the rules like I didn't then you're putting your hand up to cop a spray."

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25564850-19742,00.html

[one-eyed]

Players share the blame: Morton
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen 12:00 PM Wed 03 June, 2009

RICHMOND forward Mitch Morton says the players, not the coach, are to blame for the club's poor start to the season.

Terry Wallace paid the price when he announced on Monday that he was parting ways with the club after this weekend's clash with the Western Bulldogs, but Morton said he and his teammates were the culprits in the 2-8 start.

"Obviously its a weird feeling,'' Morton said today.

"A lot of the guys, myself included, have never been in this situation before so it is a weird feeling, but at the end of the day this week is just one of 22 weeks for the year and we have to prepare as if we're playing any of those games.''

"I think the players take on as much of the blame as anyone for the season we've had. We've only had two wins for the year; that's no-one's fault but our own," Morton said before the club trained at a closed session at Victoria Park on Wednesday morning.

"We take a lot of that responsibility on. I know I do personally, and I know nearly every player does.

"I keep saying to people close to me that I think we're very close to turning it around, it's just a matter of when, and hopefully last weekend was the spark we needed."

The 22-year-old said Wallace was upbeat when he told them he was leaving.

"We found out a couple of hours before everyone else did, and it was very positive – Terry just said he believes in where we're going, and he wants to see us do well over the next couple of years,” Morton said.

"He put together what he thinks is a pretty good list, and he wants to see us have success as a team, and see us get to live those highs that he believes we can live."

Morton said the week, shortened by the return flight from Perth and a six-day turnaround, would be very similar to normal  despite Wallace's departure, and he expected gameday to be the same as well.

"Terry's such a professional person that it won't affect him when it comes to game day," he said.

"This is his 501st game, so I think he'll just go about it the same way he has every week.

"After the game, who knows, he might be a bit more emotional, he might not be, but I think his professionalism will stand out."

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/78144/default.aspx
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25581036-19742,00.html

[one-eyed]

Morton knows tide can turn
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen Wed 03 June, 2009

MITCH Morton isn't getting carried away with his reversal of fortune.

A mere fortnight ago he was in the hot seat after playing on in the dying minutes against Port Adelaide, kicking the ball out on the full and seeing the Power take it down the ground to kick the winning goal.

In the days that followed, it was incorrectly reported that Terry Wallace had lost his job but confirmed that Morton had felt the wrath of his coach after that game.

On the weekend it was a different story, as Morton played on to win the match against Fremantle.

Such are the vagaries of football, but the 22-year-old was keeping the lid welded shut.

"Like I said after the game, it's funny how quickly things can turn around in footy," he said before training on Wednesday.

"I'm not getting too hyped up about it, because at the end of the day I could make a big blue this week and we're back to square one.

"That's footy, you know – you've got to take the highs with the lows, and I guess I was just lucky on the weekend that I got the ball at the time I did."

Morton said he was always going to play on.

"I don't know if you saw my first three or four set shots on the weekend, but they weren't too flash, so I said to our captain Chris Newman there was no way I was going back and having a set shot," he said.

"If there was someone standing there, I was going to go there and stand as if I was going to snap it, and have a snap.

"You have weeks where things just aren't going your way, and I wasn't kicking the ball very well from a set shot point-of-view, so I was always going to play on at that stage."

The match will be Wallace's last game in charge of the team, but Morton said it would be business as usual.

He added it was a weird feeling because a lot of Tigers, himself included, had not been in the situation before.

"At the end of the day, this week is just one of 22 games for the year," he said.

"We've got to prepare as if we're playing any of those games.

"We've got the Bulldogs this week and we've always paid them a lot of respect, and it's going to be a big game.

"I don't think you can ever have any more motivation than normal – as a team we go out there every week trying to win, and we'll be trying to do the same thing this week."

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/78166/default.aspx