The Tiger revivalBy Terry Wallace
4:44 PM Mon 23 May, 2011Most Tigers supporters have suffered through decades of pain watching their team, once the 'king of the jungle', fade into obscurity. That is, until now.
Finally there is some light at the end of what has been a long tunnel, and the Richmond faithful are once again enjoying going to the footy to watch some genuine home grown stars.
When I arrived at Richmond as coach in October 2004, I was roundly criticised both inside and outside the club for publicly discussing the club's mishandling of list management over the previous decade.
My comments weren't aimed at any one individual within the club, rather they were exposing a system that was still operating in a past generation, one that did not understood the value of list management and in particular the national draft.
Giving away first round draft picks is giving away your future and the Tigers had done it time and time again. Players such as Craig Bidiscombe, Greg Stafford, Kane Johnson and Nathan Brown were traded for by Richmond, but without any real plan for the future.
Because of this, the club had lost a generation of of young players with only Chris Newman remaining as a draftee from that time.
At board level a decision was made that no individual had the power to trade first round draft picks in the future. This was the best football decision the club had made in some time despite some subsequent errors at the draft table.
It was time for the Tigers to start developing it's own future stars rather than trying to entice ready-made players to Punt Road from other clubs.
Last Saturday night I was pleased for all Tiger fans that they had an exciting and vibrant young team on display, one which shows signs of a bright future.
In that line up there were no less than 7 first round draft picks,(Deledio, Riewoldt, Cotchin, Rance, Vickery, Martin and Conca) and in this group are four absolute stars of the game, a presence the club hasn’t had since it's premiership years.
I am not yet suggesting how far this group can take the club but I am letting Tiger fans know that they are in for a much more enjoyable ride.
I have a giggle to myself when I think back to the scepticism of journalists like Caroline Wilson and Tony Jones when I showed them a presentation outlining a plan that would see the club in a position, age wise, to have a decade of sustained success by 2011!
When you now look at the ages of the Tigers' key play makers, they are now capable of impacting games.
29 YEARS - Chris Newman
27 YEARS - Jake King
25 YEARS - Nathan Foley, Daniel Jackson
24 YEARS - Brett Deledio, Angus Graham, Luke McGuane and Matthew White
23 YEARS - Shaun Grigg, Bachar Houli, Robin Nahas
22 YEARS - Daniel Connors, Shane Edwards and Jack Riewoldt
21 YEARS - Trent Cotchin, Ben Nason and Alex Rance
20 YEARS - Andrew Browne, Tyrone Vickery
So many positive changes have been made, the club is now training in a new facility that is comparable with the best in the competition and has increased it's football department spending.
Once the large contracts signed by the previous generation of senior players were dispensed with, the club put these funds into recruiting, list management, development and strategy.
Recruiting picked up once the club could afford to put resources into this area by bringing Francis Jackson and Craig Cameron to the club. Now they also have a full-time List Manager in Blair Hartley who specifically targeted Bachar Houli and Shaun Grigg over the offseason.
From the outside it is also evident that the Coach and the club's decision makers have targeted two types of players to be in the line up. The first type are kickers, the second, competitors. Over the last few years anyone who couldn't kick or was inconsistent in their attack on the ball has either been moved on or is playing in the VFL.
Currently the playing group is relatively injury free. The experience of playing with the same players each week assists them in their understanding of team structures and strategies.
The past generation carrying the baggage of consistent losing seasons have moved on, leaving these relatively unburdened young players as the leaders driving the club to a new successful era.
The Tigers' young coach, Damien Hardwick, is enthusiastic and hungry for success and has the total trust in his structures and strategies. This is paramount if they are to continue to rise up the ladder.
Thanks to the work done off the field by CEO Brendon Gale, the Board has stepped back and now allows the managers to manage which has helped the club row the boat in the one direction for the first time in many years.
The future finally looks bright for the Tigers.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/114575/default.aspx
