Tuesdays with Terry - 26/8/08

[one-eyed]

Plough says he's pleased with the season from 3 aspects:

i) Richo's year. Doing what he's done at a late age is a great effort.
 
ii) Backline boys are forming a core group that will get better once they get 60-80-100 games together behind them and learning what it's all about.

iii) Supporters can see we are developing some genuine quick and skillful midfielders.

[one-eyed]

Another snippet from SEN

We'll wait until the end of the season (September) to make a decsion on Polak's future. At this stage we still don't know if he will play again or won't. We'll  need all the medical data first to make that decision.

[Moi]

Another snippet from SEN

We'll wait until the end of the season (September) to make a decsion on Polak's future. At this stage we still don't know if he will play again or won't. We'll  need all the medical data first to make that decision.

What a horrible decision to have to make
I would like to keep him on the list just for another year.
I can't see it doing a drastic amount of harm if we did
But we are in the business of cut throat footy and I guess if the club did make that decision you can see where they're coming from.
I'd like him to have every chance of making a comeback though.

[Ox]

Another snippet from SEN

We'll wait until the end of the season (September) to make a decsion on Polak's future. At this stage we still don't know if he will play again or won't. We'll  need all the medical data first to make that decision.

What a horrible decision to have to make
I would like to keep him on the list just for another year.
I can't see it doing a drastic amount of harm if we did
But we are in the business of cut throat footy and I guess if the club did make that decision you can see where they're coming from.
I'd like him to have every chance of making a comeback though.

If it was that cut throat Moi,we would have shot Coughlan 18 months ago

[Moi]

Another snippet from SEN

We'll wait until the end of the season (September) to make a decsion on Polak's future. At this stage we still don't know if he will play again or won't. We'll  need all the medical data first to make that decision.

What a horrible decision to have to make
I would like to keep him on the list just for another year.
I can't see it doing a drastic amount of harm if we did
But we are in the business of cut throat footy and I guess if the club did make that decision you can see where they're coming from.
I'd like him to have every chance of making a comeback though.

If it was that cut throat Moi,we would have shot Coughlan 18 months ago

True and Dragga before him
If they can do for those two, they can do for Polak

[Ox]

I'm all for it.

[Infamy]

I'm sure they will attempt to keep him on as a rookie if they can

[mightytiges]

Terry said the club is also going to talk to the AFL about Polak's situation so I'm guessing as infamy said we'll be aiming to get special dispensation so Polly can be placed on our rookie list next year as Essendon did with Rama.

[Francois Jackson]

its a non negotiable.

polak should and will stay on the list.

i cant see us leaving the likes of Petts and Cogs on our list whilst offloading Polak.

Not a chance.  He deserves 2 years to get back to playing football, if he can at all.

[one-eyed]

Polak's playing future clouded
Foxsports/AAP
August 26, 2008

GRAHAM Polak's slow recovery from a brain injury is encouraging personally but could create a headache for Richmond next year.

Coach Terry Wallace said it remained uncertain whether Polak, who is contracted for next season, would recover enough to be able to resume his AFL career.

The 24-year-old key position player suffered life-threatening injuries when he was hit by a tram in late June.

“It's not clear cut that he either will or he won't (be able to play again),” said Wallace who emphasised that Polak's health was the main concern.

“So we've just got to get the appropriate medical data and speak to the AFL and see where all of that sits.

“We speak to our doctors on a daily basis about how he's going and where he's at, but until you sort of speak to the specialists about what that actually means it's a pretty cloudy picture still at the moment.”

The Tigers have been buoyed by having Polak visit the club to attend training sessions in recent weeks.

He also spent time in the rooms as the Tigers downed Fremantle at the MCG on Saturday.

One possibility for the Tigers is to seek AFL permission to place Polak on the rookie list during his rehabilitation, as Essendon did with Adam Ramanauskas during his recovery from cancer.

Wallace said the medical assessment of Polak's prospects would influence the club's recruiting decisions.

Having earmarked him as a key forward and with fellow tall forward prospect Cleve Hughes struggling due to regular injuries, it was an area the Tigers might have to address at the trade table.

“The Polak scenario confuses the issue about where we are with key forwards and we need Cleve to be able to get some sort of run without stopping with injury every third or fourth week, so there's some question mark on our key forwards,” Wallace said.

“We reckon that was developing along well, but we're obviously now one short on that.”

Wallace said providing ruck support to 30-year-old Troy Simmonds was another area the club would try to address.

But he said changes would be kept to a minimum after turning over much of the list since arriving at the club ahead of the 2005 season.

Despite having their finals hopes dashed on the weekend, Wallace said it was important his side capped a strong finish to the season with a win against bottom-placed Melbourne on Sunday.

“There's some good numbers and good statistics about sides that finish well at the ends of seasons going on and having a good summer and being able to rekindle that over the next season,” he said.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24245648-23210,00.html

[one-eyed]

Another snippet of Wallace today from Sportal's audio link

http://sportal.com.au/default.aspx/mediaplayer/audio/AFL/we-are-better-placed-this-time-says-wallace-3341

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Tigers primed for 2009 finals
26/08/2008
Paul Gough
Sportal

"Everyone keeps talking about the ninths but I think it's a nonsense myself," Wallace said.

"What has happened in the past has nothing to do with what's going to happen in the future."

"In most of those years the team had played well early but then faded away and finished ninth."

"But this time around we have done it on the back of young talent and ridden it home in the latter part of the year."

"The difference between those two teams is this is more sustainable."
 
"We did that (in 2006) with the second or third oldest team in the competition and were not able to achieve finals so you would think in that situation you are more likely to go down and up."

"But this time around we have got some good young players and along with Melbourne we had the most players running around in the competition last week with 50 games or less to their names."

"We are on an improving graph and our challenge now is to ensure that continues."

"We are not accepting of ninth place and nor should we be and we have got to start marching up and playing finals footy."

Full interview at:
http://sportal.com.au/default.aspx/mediaplayer/audio/AFL/we-are-better-placed-this-time-says-wallace-3341