Richmond to unveil six newcomers
February 15, 2005 - 5:54PM
The Age - Breaking news
A quarter of Richmond's side this Friday night will be newcomers as the AFL club starts its new era under coach Terry Wallace.
After an off-season of sweeping change at Punt Rd, Wallace will demand his side is at least competitive, starting in Friday's Wizard Cup opener against Collingwood at Telstra Dome.
No.1 draft pick Brett Deledio and fellow draftees Richard Tambling and Adam Pattison will make their senior debuts, while recruits Troy Simmonds (Fremantle), Mark Graham (Hawthorn) and Trent Knobel (St Kilda) will also play their first games for the Tigers.
Joel Bowden will be acting captain, with the club still deciding who is its on-field leader for the season.
Wallace pointed to Carlton's resurgence under Denis Pagan in the last two seasons as a yardstick for Richmond, last year's wooden spooner.
"First up it's important to be competitive - towards the end of the last year, people were coming through the turnstiles at Richmond games with the worry that they wouldn't be competitive on any given day," Wallace said.
"When the Richmond supporters decide to pull out of their driveway, they know they are driving to a game of footy that's going to be a nice competitive game of football.
"What Carlton have achieved over the last couple of years, where they went from being an almost non-competitive footy club back to fighting and right back into the action, that's genuinely our first step."
Richmond had an unannounced training session at Optus Oval, where Wallace said potential captain Nathan Brown came through "with flying colours" to put himself in contention for Friday's game.
Wallace will demand what he calls "more spectacular" football from the Tigers, saying the side's 11-goal average for the last two seasons was "not attractive".
Bowden said the changes had been massive at the club since Wallace replaced Danny Frawley late last year and was particularly impressed with youngsters such as Deledio, Tambling and Pattison.
"We've got five of the best kids in the land and I'm in my 10th year, and I've never seen young payers come in and be so equipped to play AFL footy," he said.
"Richard Tambling and Brett Deledio have just fitted into our training superbly, it's been exciting for me."
But Wallace is keeping his expectations low on the youngsters, particularly Deledio.
He pointed out the pressure on Western Bulldog Adam Cooney last season as the league's top pick.
"He's impressed on the track and we look forward to him playing," Wallace said of Deledio.
"The expectation of us is not huge - I thought last year some of the pressure put on Adam Cooney on the first half of the season ... was just ridiculous."
Wallace also agreed with Magpies coach Mick Malthouse, who said earlier this week he expected to face a side this Friday similar to how Wallace guided the Bulldogs when he took over the club full-time in 1997.
"If you've got a belief and trust in what you're doing as a coach you don't step away too far from it," Wallace said.
Wallace also admits he is about to take a big step into the unknown on Friday night.
"The one thing I'm absolutely certain on is that by the end of Friday night, I will know a lot more about what I've got," he said.
© 2005 AAP
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