Herald-Sun AFL 09 Magazine --- Tigers ahead of Blues by a whisker

[one-eyed]

I couldn't find the links on the net to today's Herald-Sun magazine so I scanned it in ................... Please do not cut and paste these elsewhere as it took a bit of time to do.

TIGERS ... BY A WHISKER
By MIKE SHEAHAN
Sat 21 March 2009, Page N05

Richmond or Carlton. Which one is more likely to make a move this year?

It's the most intriguing question of the off-season.

The Tigers finished ninth with 11 wins last year, the Blues 11th with 10 wins; they beat each other by the same margin (30 points) in two meetings.

Richmond has Ben Cousins, Carlton has Chris Judd ... fully fit. No wonder there's such widespread anticipation about Round 1.

As I say in these pages every year, you back Richmond at your peril, yet I like the Tigers' prospects this year.

Admittedly, the old guard - Richo, Joel Bowden, Nathan Brown, Kane Johnson and Troy Simmonds - still carries much of the responsibility, but the balance is changing.

Brett Deledio has played 84 games at 21, while Nathan Foley and Trent Cotchin are/will be gun midfielders, particularly with Cousins to join Johnson and Shane Tuck as the experienced leaders in the centre square.

Mitch Morton and Jack Riewoldt are goalkickers, Richo always contributes 40-plus, wherever he plays, and Brown knows time is slipping away.

The Blues also look capable of making significant ground, as you would expect of a team with a Judd-led midfield and Brendan Fevola in front of goal.

For some reason, it is often forgotten that Fev finished just three goals shy of Lance Franklin in the home-and-away series.

Carlton has a super midfield, but relies too heavily on Fev for its goals and is shy of one tall, strong defender to support Michael Jamison. And the Blues desperately need a classy ruckman.

The Blues ultimately might outperform Richmond, but I think the Tigers are just a little more advanced this year.

[one-eyed]

RICHMOND
By SCOTT GULLAN, Page N28


IS IT FOR REAL THIS TIME?

Another year, another resurrection. This time Ben Cousins is the torch-bearer for the new, improved and not-finishing-ninth Tigers.

The former Eagle has had to deal with a lot in recent times, but history shows carrying around this burden is one of the toughest tasks in football.

Luckily for him, he's arrived at the perfect time. After just two finals appearances in 26 years Richmond is finally ready to cancel holiday plans in September.

The mix appears right with a good spread of young and experienced talent and a couple of stars in the making.

There is serious depth and quality in the middle while Kelvin Moore and Will Thursfield headline the back half. There are issues with the forward structure but when in trouble they can always go back to the tried and true formula: "Kick it to Richo."

SIX PACK

BEN COUSINS
Where else could you put him but No.1? While those who believe in fairytales think he will step out after 12 months fighting a drug addiction and dominate AFL football again, the reality is very different. Cousins must be very much an add-on if the Tigers are to be a success. The best scenario may be a dozen games early with the view of peaking around August for the money time of the season.

TRENT COTCHIN
We know Tiger fans like to get carried away but they have every right to go overboard about this kid. Strolled around in his first year after no pre-season and played 15 games of the highest quality. Look for Cotchin to quickly announce himself - in Joel Selwood style - to the elite level of midfielders in the competition.

TROY SIMMONDS
D-day has well and truly arrived. Injuries have haunted the ruckman's time at Punt Rd but that excuse can only hold for so long. For everything else to click into place for the Tigers, Simmonds must stand up because there is a distinct lack of quality options behind him in the ruck division.

BRETT DELEDIO
Will appreciate Cotchin nipping at his heels as it puts pressure on him to remain top dog in the midfield. His game developed significantly last year as he learned how to influence matches and deal with taggers. Needs to look at fellow No.1 draft pick Adam Cooney for inspiration on how to go from promising to superstar in 12 months.

FRESH BLOOD

ALEX RANCE
Has trained the house down over summer and is a born defender who, despite being 193cm, can run like a gazelle. Was close to a game last year but needed to improve his game knowledge. Should now slot in perfectly as the third tall in defence.

MATTHEW RICHARDSON
How can you leave him out? It doesn't matter that he's fast approaching his pension, the facts are he nearly won the Brownlow Medal last year and is still the life and soul of this football team. The move to the wing worked brilliantly - he still led the goalkicking with 48 - and much of the same is required this year if the Tigers are to rise.

THE DRAW
1 Thurs Mar 26 Carlton MCG (N)
2 Sat Apr 4 Geelong SS
3 Mon Apr 13 W Bulldogs ES
4 Sun Apr 19 Melbourne MCG
5 Sat Apr 25 North Melbourne ES (N)
6 Sun May 3 Sydney SCG
7 Sat May 9 Brisbane Lions MCG
8 Sun May 17 Port Adelaide AS
9 Sat May 23 Essendon MCG (N)
10 Sat May 30 Fremantle S (N)
11 Fri Jun 5 W Bulldogs ES (N)
12 Sat Jun 13 West Coast ES (N)
13 Sun Jun 28 St Kilda ES (T)
14 Sat Jul 4 Adelaide C (N)
15 Sat Jul 11 Carlton MCG
16 Sun Jul 19 North Melbourne MCG
17 Sun Jul 26 Essendon MCG
18 Sun Aug 2 Melbourne MCG
19 Sun Aug 9 Sydney MCG
20 Sat Aug 15 Collingwood MCG
21 Sat Aug 22 Hawthorn MCG (N)
22 Fri Aug 28 West Coast S (N)

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH THE COACH'S CONTRACT?

If they're smart - remember we are talking about Richmond here - Wallace and the president should come out before Round 1 and say they will be having no discussions until the end of the season and won't be commenting on the matter until then. If Richmond leaves the coach's future hanging, media speculation will build into a frenzy and distract everyone involved. The bottom line is if they don't make the finals this year then Wallace goes. Simple as that.

IS THERE ENOUGH FIREPOWER?

Someone to take the big pack mark and kick clutch goals at important moments - sorry Richo, we count you out here - is what the Tigers need. Jack Riewoldt is the kid who looks best equipped, although at 193cm he isn't quite key-position material. Cleve Hughes was drafted as a centre half-forward but has only showed glimpses while Jay Schulz is now a backman. While Nathan Brown and Mitch Morton can kick them from anywhere, there is still something missing.

FANTASY PICK

RICHARD TAMBLING
A very high-risk strategy given the speedster has taken an eternity to justify his first-round draft selection. The theory is that if ever he is going to make it as a player, it is now. Should come cheap with potential for significant upside.

INSTANT RECALL

2008: 9th
B&F: B.Deledio
GOALS NO.1: M.Richardson 48
MARKS NO.1: M.Richardson 222
DISPOSALS NO.1: S.Tuck 547

BECOME A MEMBER --- 1300 136 605

[one-eyed]

The "experts" predictions.......

MIKE SHEAHAN
Premier: Hawthorn
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. Collingwood 4. Port Adelaide 5. W Bulldogs 6. Richmond 7. Carlton 8. St Kilda
Brownlow: Gary Ablett
Next big thing: Travis Boak
After Round 12... three Victorian clubs eye Nathan Buckley as their next coach.

JON RALPH
Premier: Hawthorn
1. Hawthorn 2. Geelong 3. Collingwood 4. W Bulldogs 5. St Kilda 6. Carlton 7. Richmond 8. Adelaide
Brownlow: Scott Pendlebury
Next big thing: Alex Rance
After Round 12... the AFL will be scratching its head about how it will get even $750 million for its next TV rights deal.

MICHAEL HORAN
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. Collingwood 4. St Kilda 5. Adelaide 6. Richmond 7. Carlton 8. North Melb
Brownlow: Simon Black
Next big thing: Jack Watts
After 12 rounds ... Collingwood and St Kilda will be wondering why they didn't punt on Ben Cousins. 

MARK ROBINSON
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. W Bulldogs 4. Carlton 5. Collingwood 6. St Kilda 7. Port Adelaide 8. Richmond
Brownlow: Lance Franklin
Next big thing: Scott Gumbleton
After Round 12 ... people will be asking Gary March about Terry Wallace's future.

JON ANDERSON
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. W Bulldogs 4. Collingwood 5. Adelaide 6. St Kilda 7. Richmond 8. Carlton
Brownlow: Adam Goodes
Next big thing: Brad Ebert
After Round 12... Buddy will be on target to break the long-standing AFL goals record of 150 in a season.

SCOTT GULLAN
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. W Bulldogs 4. Port Adelaide 5. St Kilda 6. Richmond 7. Collingwood 8. Carlton
Brownlow: Shaun Burgoyne
Next big thing: Hamish Hartlett
After Round 12... the AFL will introduce video replays for contentious goal umpiring decisions.

JIM WILSON
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. W Bulldogs 4. Brisbane Lions 5. Fremantle 6. St Kilda 7. Carlton 8. Collingwood
Brownlow: Gary Ablett
Next big thing: Chris Yarran
After Round 12... Kevin Sheedy will take over as caretaker coach at Richmond for the rest of the year.

MARK STEVENS
Premier: Hawthorn
1. Hawthorn 2. W Bulldogs 3. Geelong 4. Collingwood 5. Carlton 6. Richmond 7. Port Adelaide 8. St Kilda
Brownlow: Chris Judd
Next big thing: Shaun Higgins
After Round 12 ... Terry Wallace will be safe with a two-year contract extension.

JASON AKERMANIS
Premier: W Bulldogs
1. Hawthorn 2. W Bulldogs 3. Geelong 4. Brisbane Lions 5. Carlton 6. Richmond 7. Fremantle 8. North Melb
Brownlow: Adam Goodes
Next big thing: Tom Williams
After Round 12... there will be concern about all the injuries leading into the second half of the season.

SAM EDMUND
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. W Bulldogs 4. Collingwood 5. St Kilda 6. Richmond 7. Carlton 8. North Melb
Brownlow: Chris Judd
Next big thing: David Myers
After Round 12 ... TV broadcasters will be talking about a twilight Grand Final again.

BRUCE MATTHEWS
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. Brisbane Lions 4. W Bulldogs 5. North Melb 6. Adelaide 7. Richmond 8. Carlton
Brownlow: Gary Ablett
Next big thing: Patrick Dangerfield
After Round 12... fans and viewers will be protesting that officials have done nothing to solve the MCG seagull problem.

DAMIAN BARRETT 
Premier: Hawthorn
1. Hawthorn 2. Geelong 3. Collingwood 4. Adelaide 5. Brisbane Lions 6. W Bulldogs 7. North Melb 8. St Kilda
Brownlow: Daniel Kerr
Next big thing: Patrick Dangerfield
After Round 12... Barry Hall will again be talking to Danny Green about a career in boxing.

SHANE CRAWFORD
Premier: Hawthorn
1. Hawthorn 2. Geelong 3. W Bulldogs 4. St Kilda 5. Collingwood 6. Carlton 7. Richmond 8. North Melb
Brownlow: Gary Ablett
Next big thing: Stephen Hill
After Round 12... Shane Crawford will make a shock comeback to help out Hawthorn's young list.

REBECCA WILLIAMS
Premier: Geelong
1. Hawthorn 2. Geelong 3. W Bulldogs 4. St Kilda 5. Collingwood 6. Carlton 7. Adelaide 8. Richmond
Brownlow: Gary Ablett
Next big thing: Liam Jurrah
After Round 12 ... the heat will be rising on some coaches out of contract at the end of the season.

DARYL TIMMS
Premier: Geelong
1. Hawthorn 2. Geelong 3. W Bulldogs 4. St Kilda 5. Adelaide 6. Brisbane Lions 7. Richmond 8. Carlton
Brownlow: Lance Franklin
Next big thing: Andrejs Everitt
After Round 12... Richmond still remains the last team to beat Hawthorn in a home-and-away game - in Round 20, 2008.

KEVIN SHEEDY
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. W Bulldogs 4. St Kilda 5. Richmond 6. Carlton 7. Fremantle 8. North Melb
Brownlow: Simon Black
Next big thing: Scott Gumbleton
After Round 12... Richmond will be in the top eight, on its way to a third finals campaign in 27 years.

GLEN JAKOVICH
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. Collingwood 4. St Kilda 5. Brisbane Lions 6. W Bulldogs 7. Carlton 8. Richmond
Brownlow: Chris Judd
Next big thing: Daniel Rich
After Round 12... questions will be raised about why there are so many low-scoring games.

ALASTAIR LYNCH
Premier: Geelong
1. Geelong 2. Hawthorn 3. Collingwood 4. Brisbane Lions 5. Adelaide 6. W Bulldogs 7. Carlton 8. Sydney
Brownlow: Luke Hodge
Next big thing: Matthew Leuenberger
After Round 12... we'll still be looking for a solution to the issue of front-on and head-high contact.

[mightytiges]

Not a bad summary by Gullan apart from the Simmo comment. Don't know where he pulled that from  ???. Apart from 2007 Simmo has only missed only one game during the other 3 years combined and played every game last year.

Barrett and Wilson have zero credibility due to their bias so stuff them  . Everyone else saying we'll finish in the bottom half of the top 8 is around about the right mark.

Geez Mike is definitely on the Tiggie bandwagon isn't he. Is that a good thing  .

[mat073]

Barrett doesn't rate Carlton either.

[Infamy]

I liked Crawford's comments, very funny

[Smokey]

Anyone who has Brisbane in the 8 has got it wrong already.

[mightytiges]

Anyone who has Brisbane in the 8 has got it wrong already.

Depends which Brisbane turns up this year. The side knocking on the top 4 by the middle of last year or the one that caved and choked in the last 10 rounds. They're a bit of an unknown with Voss now coach whereas under Matthews they were predictable.

[3rogerd]

millhouse at it again.

[one-eyed]

The bookies and punters have us making the finals...

Vic triumph odds on
Rod Nicholson | March 22, 2009

VICTORIAN clubs are tipped to dominate the 2009 AFL season when it kicks off on Thursday with Chris Judd's Carlton tackling the Ben Cousins-inspired Richmond at the MCG.

Punters have predicted that seven of the eight teams to play in this year's finals will come from Victoria - Geelong, Hawthorn,Collingwood, Carlton, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs and Richmond.

The punters then suggest - at long odds - that either Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle or Port Adelaide will squeeze ahead of Essendon or North Melbourne for the final berth.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25221570-662,00.html

[wayne]

Anyone who has Brisbane in the 8 has got it wrong already.

I don't rate them either smokey

[Mr Magic]

Anyone who has Brisbane in the 8 has got it wrong already.

I don't rate them either smokey

I have pencilled them in for the bottom 4.

[one-eyed]

News breakers and playmakers
Herald-Sun | Monday 23 March 2009, Page 70

Footy's back on Thursday and our panel of experts gives you a glimpse of what to expect.

MIKE SHEAHAN
Ben Cousins will ... play 15-18 games, but won't recapture the levels he reached at West Coast.
My SuperCoach value pick: Andrew Raines

MARK ROBINSON
Bolter: Richmond
Slider: North Melbourne
Ben Cousins will ... hopefully not fall off the wagon.

DAMIAN BARRETT
Ben Cousins will ... get lots of the footy, but not enough to change the Tigers' usual status of non-finalists.
My SuperCoach value pick: Shaun Higgins
But steer clear of: Kane Johnson

MARK STEVENS
Ben Cousins will ... play 18 games and be worth the investment.

JON ANDERSON
Ben Cousins' ... documentary will be a dud.

SCOTT GULLAN
Ben Cousins will ... kick the winning goal after the siren in Round 1.

JON RALPH
Ben Cousins will ... be just a player and not a media commodity by the split round

SAM EDMUND
Ben Cousins will ... dominate until the hammy goes "ping" about Round 10

REBECCA WILLIAMS
Ben Cousins will ... remind us why he won a Brownlow

BRUCE MATTHEWS
Ben Cousins will ... need half the season to regain top form

JAMES HIRD
Ben Cousins will ... have a slow start but will be back to top form by mid-season

JASON AKERMANIS
Ben Cousins will ... be drug tested a lot

GERARD HEALY
Ben Cousins will ... benefit when his video is done and dusted

SHANE CRAWFORD
Ben Cousins will ... be back to his brilliant best, making some clubs wonder why they didn't pick him up.

MICHAEL HORAN
Ben Cousins will ... finish in the Tigers' top three in the best-and-fairest

GLENN McFARLANE
Ben Cousins will ... even be sick of hearing about Ben Cousins by Round 12.

[richmondrules]

  Aker is a wacker.

I think Glenn McFarlane might find Ben's already sick of hearing about himself in the media.

[Infamy]

Barrett picking Kane Johnson to avoid when he is generally a very high possession winner during his time on the ground.
At the moment he's injured, but how surprising that he chose a Richmond player