[Looking back at this (its now August 2015), I couldn’t even bring myself to mention our opponent in this disgraceful showing, which was Melbourne. Melbourne!]
© AFL media
Around the time Barassi was lighting the cauldron at the MCG last night I started to think “oh no – this AN OCCASION. We are stuffed”.
The last big occasion game Richmond actually turned up for was in 2001. We have won the occasional Dreamtime game, OK. But so many Special Occasions have been buggered sideways by the Tigers, particularly if its a specific Richmond Special Occasion (centenary game, Tommy’s farewell last year).
I honestly feel sick to think of young Drummond copping a knee injury in such a wasted effort. I did not notice this but others have commented that only Steve Morris went over and gave him a comforting word. Parallels between footy and war are fraught but did Nathan Drummond think to himself “Who is leading us? Why is no-one reacting to the fact that our plan has failed? Where are my comrades, have I been forsaken?” It is genuinely sickening. How must it feel to be a 1st or second game player taking your cues from those around you, and of your senior teammates only Shane Edwards appears to have arrived to play football?
When it counts (which is every week, not just when horses and trumpets are involved) our team spirit is shown to be illusory. Handing out a high five when you pile on another goal against a bottom-two side is not comradeship. All the little tweets and texts and “get around him”s and the club website’s funny videos and Stevie’s horses and Griggsy’s spuds and Ivan’s mullet and Brendon’s sports admin career – is there some way it could all just be traded in for four points?
Four bloody points. Stuff redemption. Stuff narrative. Stuff the finals. Stuff the sponsors and the match day experience and honour of being chosen to participate in this very special occasion and other Craig Willis-isms.
Next week. Four points.
I noticed also lots of backs turned from the stretcher and only Morris wander over, even then only to touch hands. No linger. Sure, they were setting up, but not a good look.
“Our team holds no fears for anyone” – Damien Hardwick last night. Accurate but probably not what he meant to say.
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2015-04-25/hardwick-laments-poor-tigers
The holds-no-fear of anyone is coming across a little unconvincingly at the moment. Perhaps the Tiges should have a little more respect for the opposition and stop over-estimating themselves just a tad.
We are a good safe vanilla side. Our recruiting is based on a template set up by Hardwick or whoever and is stuck by each year. Pick one position players 175 to 180 cm who weigh 80kg and have a reputation of speediness but who dont have that lightening speed. It is the same year in year out. We dont look at the Bontempeli, Stringer, Patton, Boyd, Cockatoo-Collins, Wingards. These all have x factor and we seem to be hyper conservative. Look at our recruits of late. C Ellis, B Ellis, Lennon, Drummond, Vlaustin, Arnot, Lloyd, Gordon, etc. All similar weight, height type although last two are more forwards. We take a punt on a ruckman/big type way down the order.
We keep players on our list for 5/6 years and they give us nothing. How many good clubs would still have Vickery on their list or have recruited Hampson. How do bit players like Schultz, White & Nahas move on then star? They may have been stale with us but why? Why couldn’t they be motivated to perform with us? Why have the 5/6 year bit players not progressed. What have Lennon, McDonough, Vickery, Arnot, Dea etc improved one effing bit? Why did we promise to leave no stone unturned to improve after our disastrous elimination final against Port yet did nothing in the trade period? These are all issues that fall under Hardwick’s direct or indirect responsibility. He has to take accountability. We should have chased a different type of assistant coach but as per our recruiting, we took on vanilla in Rutten. It’s all too safe. McQualter, Lade, Chocco all nice & safe.
I hate calling for Dimma’s head as he has done tremendous things for this club but he seems to have lost or is unable to go to next step. as for the off field of the club? I keep hearing strong rumours about infighting at board level and a lack of faith in the president. We couldnt even handle the departure of Gary March in a professional level. We sack a life member because they advised a superior in confidence about some allegations about a potential recruit then hire that person without due diligence.
My wife & I are platinum members, our kids gold and we are all MRC members so I have a lifelong love for the yellow & black but it is really being tested now.
Thanks for your comments Tigerman, Andy and Matt. TigerMan – its always a concern when someone as well informed, thoughtful and clearly passionate about the club as you thinks we are on the wrong track. I agree with much of what you say.
I am a “Round One to Finals” Richmond fan. I try to turn my deaf ear to off-season talk of who we should chop and who we should lure to the club; admin comings and goings and so on. At the start of the season I switch on and intend to back to the hilt anyone in yellow and black.
I get frustrated like anyone. But I have faith in wiser heads than mine at RFC that recruits have been brought in for good reasons, faithful servants moved on and young players are given a fair go before they are delisted. Of course this doesn’t always happen. Mistakes are made. I have departed from this benign “support everyone” attitude before and I am sure at some stage I will again.
I do feel that the balance between creativity and inspiration on one hand, and team rules on the other, hasn’t been achieved. We are overcoached, stats are overused. Dusty is not the fearless young man with boundless confidence that he was. Seems like “your first thought’s your best thought” is not a priority any more.
But we know they are capable of so much. At 3-10 last year fans were ropeable and demanding change, Dan Richardson panicked and started babbling about war chests and Nate Fyfe. Then we win some games and it all goes quiet again. A proposition that is solid truth one day suddenly evaporates. LIke Hawthorn’s likely march to a three-peat. They are 2-2 with us now.
I think I speak for all of TTBB in saying our role is to support the players, suppoort Dimma, and support the club but not without asking questions, making observations and having our say. And we dearly want the club to listen to us and hear what we have to say. But the other side of that coin is that we need to be reasoned in what we say and sometimes give ourselves a cooling off period.
It truly is an amazing football club that can deliver so little yet have 60,000 members like yourself, Andy and Matt who bleed black and yellow and care so deeply and thoughtfully about where we are going.
Chris, I can understand where you are coming from but I cant follow the blind faith that a lot of people have in the decisions the club makes being the correct ones without questioning a lot of them. Our kicking for goal and general forward structure has been bad for a number of years yet little has changed and our forward coach is a Mark Williams (not chocco) who I have no idea what his credentials are but he is obviously not the answer. I checked the heat maps for our possessions inside 50 for this year and it is horrendous. 60% would be within 20m of the boundary line with most on the RH pocket. This gives me grave concern as nearly all our forwards particularly Jack and Griffo are right footers so why would they take the ball on the side that gives them a bigger disadvantage? Is it where they lead or that our mids blaze away & that is where it lands? Either way ( and this was the same in 2014) it has to be sorted yet isn’t. BTW in the 2 games we have won, most of the other 40% the ball was taken virtually 10m on either side of dead in front. I looked at GWS heat maps who are 4-0 and guess what? The 70% plus are in the dead in front triangle. That part is pretty simple.
A lot of people say “what we are capable of” but what is this based on, is it our 9 in a row from 2014? That run consisted of Saints, Brissie, Port, FWCE, GWS, Ess, Crows, Saints, Sydney. 5 bottom 6, Port & Ess which were good wins and Sydney who rested 7 of their best inc Buddy. Then who could forget that disaster in Adelaide.
After that match, we were promised no stone unturned to improve yet we did nothing in the trade period and nothing but safe in the subsequent draft. I have a friend who has been a die hard Tiger since birth but he has to eat & feed his family so he is a recruiter for one of the top clubs and he has told me in the past 3 years that all of our top 2/3 recruits or some of our mature age pick ups were never in their sights and so far is 100% right. The only one he is a little enthused about is C Ellis.
Sorry to quote a lot of stats but that is about all I can go on. To me it seems that we have a lot of people around Dimma that make him feel safe. Raw assistants like McQualter, the other Williams, Lade, Rutten and with Chocco’s health, he isnt going to make waves. People learn & improve when they are in a state of discomfort. If they get into a comfort zone, they aren’t stretched and this is where I feel Dimma is so ergo the players.
Sorry for the doom & gloom but like you, I rarely get involved in footy discussions during preseason so I can at least be hopeful but footy is a business now and for a business entity to survive, it has to produce quality, something which we aren’t doing atm.
Hi Chris and TigerMan,
Tigerman’s passion, commitment and disappointment is real.
The Club seems to have stalled after a couple of years of progress.
I hope that the Club can find some way of accommodating and acknowledging the frustration that some supporters feel.
I admit to not feeling as disappointed and frustrated – but fans of all degrees of commitment require honest and direct communication from the Club.
This is in a different context, but, i find it interesting – i.e. on ‘fan ownership’. To what degree can us fans, members etc, really buy into the future of our club?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tb7LSVtS9U
Tigerman, I hope at some point the Club provides you with reasons to be cheerful 🙂
best wishes,
Andy
Thanks for that link Andy. We are fortunate at Richmond that we have never been merged or moved, or bought and misused like so many football clubs all over the world. I love soccer-football but the experience of following a club like Hull or Newcastle United or Cardiff would be too much for me. The Supporters Direct movement has clearly grown up because of the wanton dismissal of the fans voice at clubs like these, where the name, colours, home ground can all change at the whim of an owner.
It does make you thankful for what we still have in Aussie rules.
But I am well aware that the Brendons and Eddies and Brayshaws and Kochies are very much tuned into to “innovations”elsewhere in professional sport. We have to be vigilant that the mantra “its a business now” doesn’t sweep away cheer squads, open training sessions, a recognisable and consistent guernsey design – all things that may not stand up as “cost centres”.
Hi Chris & Andy, yes thanks for that link and as Chris says, we do have to start looking into these things. Even at the higher level than the club in the AFL, they are fast moving to americanise our game. The pre match rubbish, team of the month, fantasy footy leagues. It seems that Gill & his cohorts are in love with the US way. Team this up with entrepreneurial types as Chris mentions and I can see it fast approaching privately owned teams such as the US. We already have cheers squads that are told what they put up on the banner, huge corporate functions that cost more than the average Joe Blow can afford and special memberships. I can tell you that for someone to spend a day in the coach’s box on international trips will cost you 7.5k. Even the mascots aren’t the ordinary little supporters they seem and can the privilege is easily sold. BTW another club charges 10k.
Have you noticed that the numbers of non players/coaches in the change rooms are not as large as years gone by? Again, this is a profitable opportunity so you can see where footy is headed. Supporter ownership is something that I cant see happening at the elite level.
Anyway back to our team plight. Dont get me wrong, I could never be anything other than a tigers supporter. If I gave up the tigers, I would stop watching football. It is just that I have coached a lot of amateurs at junior level in footy, baseball and basketball and I love watching footy at all levels, getting wrapped up in the tactics and stats that drive these. I just see us doing a lot of wrong things that are (a) reactive and (b) easily countered. Even average coaches workout how to stop us. Our best football was in 2013 when we played fast and direct attacking football. Teams didn’t have a chance to counter that. In 2014, we excelled in this in two games, FWCE & Port winning both fairly easily and the footy was exciting. This year we are too much going sideways then attacking into the pockets. Our defenders are too far forward defensively & teams know that exert enough pressure when the ball is in our forward 50, they can rebound for a goal more often than not. Yet, I see nothing done to counter either from off field or our lack of on field leadership. This is what makes us look soft.
I have a strong feeling that we will prevail over Geelong as they are riddled with injuries and a lack of confidence but it is these types of scenarios where we crumble. I would hazerd a guess that Scott will ensure that we pressured in every instance in the first half and we may cop a few frees and 50M in the hope that they will over run us in the second half. That is how a lot of coaches play us. It is now up to Dimma and Cotch to prepare the team. Fingers crossed.
Cheers