D-day for Deledio
James Hird | March 31, 2009 12:00am
THE good news for Richmond is that there is always next week, the bad news is that it's Geelong at Geelong. The Tigers have beaten the Cats only once at Skilled Stadium in the past 19 years. It is a record they would be keen to change.
As a player, letting yourself, your team and your club down on the big stage is a horrible feeling.
No club has more raw passion and desire than the Tigers, but the pure anguish on the supporters' faces was like watching a replay from the past five years.
Normally five days after a loss, no matter how bad it is, everyone has moved on. Unfortunately for Richmond, the build-up to the game and the circumstances surrounding the club and coach have poured more fuel on the fire over the weekend.
Losing is always bad, but being thrashed in Round 1 is much harder. It is still only four points, but it can feel like the whole summer was wasted.
Richmond players would have gone into the game with a lot of confidence after a summer spent working to refine fitness, skills and the game plan. By the end of Thursday night the players and coaches would have felt like the world was caving in around them.
Structures, set plays and running patterns that seemed infallible during the off-season were unwound by the pressure and hard running of the Blues.
On Friday morning Terry Wallace would have felt like dropping at least 10 players, but as the week has rolled on and his own tenure has been questioned, I am sure he has more perspective on how the team will look this week.
Both Wallace and captain Chris Newman will be asking more from everyone, but they will expect the club's leaders and senior players to show the way.
Richo, Joel Bowden and even Brett Deledio will have been through this before, but they are the guys who need to hold up their heads and respond to the criticism in the only way they can -- through their football ability.
Deledio for me is the one.
He is a good player with huge expectations on his shoulders, but it is his next few weeks that are vital to Richmond's short-term future.
Most people expected Richmond to make the eight and Deledio was a massive part of the reason why.
His breakout season last year was terrific, but as good as that was, he needs to take another step this year for the Tigers to reach the heights that were expected of them in the pre-season.
When the times are tough the best players and characters rise to the top.
This is the perfect chance for Deledio to take his standing in the game, and the standing of his club, to another level.
Footy is not a game of individuals, but in a crisis someone needs to take the bit between his teeth and go for it. Deledio has both the ability and passion to do it.
He is not the captain but, at 21, a great month of football could lift the Tigers out of a hole that many are saying will swallow them up.
This will be a tough task for the young star because his record against the Cats is not great.
Throughout his career he has averaged 19.3 disposals a game, in his seven games against the Cats he has averaged just 14.7 possessions.
I would start him in the middle and ask he and Nathan Foley to go head-to-head with the likes of Ablett, Bartel, Selwood and Ling.
Mission impossible maybe, but come Saturday night Deledio will have no illusions about how good he is.
Chris Newman is the other bloke who needs to stand up this week.
He has a tough job in his first real week on the job as captain. He must find a way to lift his playing group after the media, supporters and even a president from another club has had a dig at them.
Crisis meetings might be going over the top after Round 1, but I am sure that some time over the weekend or early in this week he has addressed his players.
The coaches can set up a game plan and tactics, but if the playing group does not want to have a crack then everything else fails.
Having played in a few bad losses over the journey, the only way back from a performance like last week is to get back to basics.
As the captain you need to set non-negotiables this week about what you expect from your team.
Each player needs to look at himself and his performance and work from within to do something about it.
Simple things are best and whenever we had a shocker at Essendon I tried to stick to five simple messages for my teammates:
1 Defensive pressure across the entire ground, but particularly in the forward line.
2 Tackling. I want three tackles per player for the game. It doesn't sound a lot, but 66 tackles for the team is the absolute minimum - and 12 more than the Tigers laid last week.
3 Win the contested possessions. Combine this with the tackle count and it means you are winning contested balls as well as pressuring the opposition when you don't have it.
4 Reward your teammate with a possession. If he runs hard to assist, reward him when you can.
5 Finally, and most importantly, when it is your turn, you go. The hardest thing in footy is to win the ball and you do it at any cost.
Doing all these things may not win you the game, but it will give you a chance to walk off knowing you have done your best.
Some may think a win is beyond Richmond this week, but a desperate playing group that wants to go somewhere together can achieve the impossible.
I don't believe in pass marks or good efforts, the only way to climb the AFL ladder of success is to beat the best.
If the Richmond players want to win back the respect of their supporters, a win is the only acceptable result.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25265347-19742,00.html
