Their Hearts Are Still In It

Matthew Richardson The Image Of Dedication

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On Saturday night I thought the drought was over, Richmond looked likely to win their first game of the year. My heart was racing a million miles an hour as I took a sip of my beer and watched defender Chris Newman unleash a crunching tackle on Jason Winderlich I lept from my seat and celebrated the tackle deep down knowing that the game was there to be lost. As the ball came into the Tigers forward line and the heart and soul of the Tigers over the last decade took a mark and ran on to kick what should have been his fifth goal of the game. In my head I was singing those words all us Tiger supporters have longed to sing since Round 22 last year.

My happiness and mental celebrations were cut short as my Father who has been along for the Richmond Roller Coaster all my life and suffered longer than I have pointed out umpire Brett Allen’s call, Richo was cursing under his breathe and I was openly cursing. Now that the game’s said and done all us suffering Tiger supporters must look to this weeks game and the tantalizing knowledge that we are a good chance to maybe pull off our first win of the season. There are a few things I drew from the game on Saturday night.

The first thing was that no matter what anybody says there isn’t a player who means more to his club or cares more about it than Matthew Richardson. Richo has surely had the chance to leave Tigerland and win a premiership elsewhere due to his skill and amazing speed but has always stayed loyal; Richo showed his heart and passion for the Tigers on Saturday playing with such a horrific injury and playing so well.

Secondly Brett Deledio was best on ground there was no doubt about it. I do realize that it is the last time James Hird will play in what is a over hyped game which to a lot of people doesn’t mean much, but wake up and smell the coffee people Hird’s tackle towards the end of the game was pretty much the only useful and contested thing this old warhorse did all night. Lids / Astro Boy what ever you prefer to call the young Tiger star turned it on and set up a number of Tiger goals and his movement of the ball and bomb from just outside fifty were true signs that he is an amazing player.

Last but not least Chris Newman and Nathan ‘Axl’ Foley were absolutely great.
Chris has played great since coming back from a broken leg having well and helping Deledio and Joel Bowden move the ball forward to our Midfield or taking it on their own backs to bring it forward. Foley yet again proved why he is so important this year as he yet again was a ball magnet racking up a number of possessions and making rucking duties for young Adam Pattison that much easier.

Every supporter can tell their hard luck story about games where they should have won and we can argue until we are all blue in that face that we lost the game due to the hands in the back rule (it was the 50 meter penalty that wasn’t needed); But at the end of the day the Tigers will be back fighting hard against the Lions to finally get that break through win of Season 2007 and have even the great ghosts of Tigerland dancing in their graves.

Redemption

Redemption for the Richmond Football Club begins today.

157 Point Loss; The Fall Out

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It's been three days now since the Tigers recorded their worst ever loss against the Geelong Cats at the Telstra Dome on Sunday night. I'm sure many Tiger "fans" have torn their memberships apart in disgust or have turned their jumpers inside out in anger by now but what alot of these so called fans don't realize is that the Tigers played what was a very inexperienced squad against Geelong. A majority of the playing group is under the age of twenty three something which is a sign that the club is truly re-building and adapting a youth policy; which the media has dubbed a 'cop' out for the clubs 0-5 start to the season.

Take A Look Around
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What people must do is look back at the three most sucessful clubs in the modern era the West Coast Eagles, The Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions and look at how long it took them to build a formidable squad. It wasn't long ago that playing West Coast in Melbourne at the MCG or even in Perth at the now dominant fortress known as Subicao Oval you knew your team had a very good chance of collecting a win. Until Paul Roos took the reigns at Sydney the Swans were in a 'Plugga'Lockett hangover which lasted a number of years before appearing in the last two Grand Finals winning one in 2005 ending a 72 year stalemate of premiership glory.
Leigh Matthew's arrival at Brisbane was one of instant sucess due to the recruiting and work set forward by Fitzroy and Brisbane's poor results prior to their merger in 1996.

Despite these clubs recent successes it took Sydney seventy years to build a team good enough to win a premiership; Brisbane/Fitzroy absorbed and resolved a 57 year premiership drought.
West Coast only had to wait six years for a premiership but being in a one team state with all the state's footballing revenue being accumulated by the club success on field was obvious. What I'm trying to say is Premierships don't happen overnight but they will happen.

Rebuilding
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For Tiger fans we must look at the facts, the club is building from the ground up. There are very little in the way of players in their mid 20's a time of a footballers peak in form and performance, something which goes back to the poor recruiting of the previous coaching staff and administration. On top of this the club has lacked in recruiting key position players and is only now grooming our future forwards and defensive stocks by playing them in their positions in the big time; Includes Jay Shultz, Cleve Hughes, Luke McGuane and Kelvin Moore.

Culture
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It has been obvious that the club has been lacking the winning culture it once had and it will take time for this to return. What can be done to counter this? Bring in ex-players and officials from other clubs who have had sucess in recent years and discuss with the players and officials what type of attitude the club needs to take to it's players and performances. An example can be seen with this weeks situation in the aftermath of a very poor performance. Being a young team one has to simply look at Kevin Sheedy's Baby Bombers of the early 1990's who in 1992 lost a game by 162 points yet twelve months later were holding alot the premiership cup, bring in one of the young guys from that team like a Mark Meccuri /Joe Misiti and have them speak to the playing group about what they did to redeem themselves and get to that next step.

A good onfield performing team and one active in the community in a positive light is very much as important and a key to a successful culture.

Youth Policy
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Adapting a youth policy is very much a good idea for the Tigers but at the same time can be a bad idea. Taking a squad which has hardly any experience and not playing any of your experienced players e.g Greg Tivendale, or forcing others into retirement due to their "development" e.g Darren Gaspar, can very much be costly to your performance and the players morale. A good example of where experience can rub off on inexperience has to be seen by the way Matthew Richardson and Nathan Foley played. On Sunday these two players showed they play for the jumper and have the passion and drive to always fight like the Tigers of old have.
The club must look at the never say die attitude of these two ( Yes we all know Richo's came to fruition over time ) and tell the rest of it's playing group that it expects this type of effort every week no matter the scoreline. If players are constantly putting in the effort to push their opponent all game the club will soon record a number of wins.

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Having said all that the Tigers will have a big test coming up this week and have to show whether they can back up their statements that they will never perform that bad again. If the players can give 110% this weekend in Adelaide against the Power come Monday morning we could very well have our first win on the board for Season 2007. I hope all Tiger supporters can keep the faith.

-Danson