- Dec 18, 2005
- 22,087
- 15,257
- AFL Club
- Richmond
- Other Teams
- Richmond
Dear Terry,
Thanks for your replies to my letters in the past. It’s great that you take the time to read what supporters have to say and to reply to our thoughts. I definitely think we have enough quality players to take us places, but there are half a dozen players really holding us back. Our biggest problem against Hawthorn was not quite skill level, it was decision making, lack of running and lack of game plan. All of these things lead to a silly handball or a poor kick because the players put themselves under unnecessary pressure. I honestly think our biggest problem is our captain. His skill level and football brain are not up to AFL standard I believe. Most times he gets the ball, he will run backwards or in a circle, hesitate and hold on to the ball. He holds up the game and instead of kicking long, he is more intent to give off a short handball to a player in traffic and not take risks or responsibility. Very often he will cause a turnover because of this but he also makes unforced errors by hand and foot under no real pressure while other times he drops simple chest marks or misses important goals.
We must change captaincy and I think it is in the best interests of our football club that he is delisted at the end of the season. I really think he is a liability to our senior team and I think it is just his love of the footy club which got him the captaincy in the first place. I don’t believe he has had enough talent to make the senior team since 2005. Although he can tag a player, his turnovers and slow reaction time are too costly and he is halting the progression of our club while we have other good tagging options anyway. Our youngsters need to be inspired by a captain who they can rely on and take control. Richo, Brown, Coughlan, Newman and Foley are the types of players who should be involved in the captaincy group. Other players who are concerning me are Raines and Tuck. They add a lot of run and hardness, but they turn the ball over by foot quite often. Can Raines improve his kicking over time and is Tuck’s ankle problem affecting his kicking? Maybe they can spend some late games this season at Coburg, while Hughes, Reiwoldt, Connors and Casserley can get a taste of senior action.
I really liked the look of Hughes during his senior appearances and thought he was unlucky to be dropped after the Adelaide game . I honestly think 17 of the 22 players from the Hawthorn game will take us places, but there are some changes we need to make. Below, I have mentioned who I think will take us places and who will/may not.
These young players add something important to the side and they do have improvement in them, which will come with experience:
King, Edwards, Foley, Howat, Jackson, Pattison, Thursfield, Tambling, Mcguane, Deledio, Hughes, Polo and White
These experienced players are very important to us:
Richo, Brown, Polak, Newman, J Bowden, Simmonds(when 100% fit), and Coughlan(when 100% fit)
These players are definately talented and should be part of our future and although they have to work on parts of their defensive game, I believe they will take the next step once they have the correct players around them who will deliver a fast flowing game plan:
Hyde, Schultz and Pettifer
Reiwoldt looks promising and so do Connors and Casserley. While Collins, Clingan, Graham and Peterson have been untried yet. The 30 players above are our most important players on our list. Hyde, Schultz and Pettifer are big talents who would benefit greatly if we chose our senior team from the 30 players above. The 30 players above have the pace and the footy smarts to move the ball on quickly and deliver it to an open forward line. Schultz has been averaging 2 goals a game for 2 years and will be able to improve to 3 or 4 goals a game. Pettifer works very well with Brown and Hyde has excellent evasive skills and kicks some classy goals. Hyde would be dangerous running into an open forward line. The 30 players above are our future. I would love if we can pick up Kruezer in the draft to boost our struggling rucking divison, but we will have to wait and see what happens. We will pick up half a dozen quality youngsters at the end of the season anyway.
We must get the group above to work on their weaknesses. As mentioned Hyde, Schultz and Pettifer need to work on second efforts, urgency and hardness. Players such as Polo, Mcguane, Hyde, Edwards, Pattison, Thursfield, Moore and Oakleigh Nicholls need to bulk up on weights. But most importantly these players need to stick to the game plan and run hard offering themselves as an option to kick too. We need to form tighter huddles at our defensive kick ins and present better. After the first kick in has been marked, our players upfield need to be huddled and offer their leads at the appropriate time, rather than running to the wing before the original kick in has been marked. Same with the next kick to half forward. I like the idea of having a huddle at half back for the first kick, a huddle in the centre for the second kick and a huddle at half forward for the third kick. This will give all players more space to lead to and more space to kick to.
Quick movement will not allow the opposition to flood our forward line and our forwards will benefit greatly and so will players who can deliver the ball to a nice open forward line. We also have to be more disciplined and run harder when in defensive mode. Other improvements can be done at the other end of the ground when the opposition kick the ball in after a behind. Our defensive ring around the huddle should be extra 5m in diameter so that each player has more reaction time and less distance for their opponent to get an advantage. Each player should be looking after their assigned opponent for the match in this situation rather than just running to the nearest opposition player to prevent two of our players running to the same opposition player and leaving another opposition player free. I would also like to see more of the zone defense used too.
Another improvement is the prevention of too many of our own players running into forward 50. With a quicker game plan we will kick to a more open forward line, but we should only have one or two players assigned to enter the forward 50 which is already occupied by our 3 deep forwards. There is nothing worse than watching us take too long to get the ball forward and having the opposition flood our forward line while another half a dozen of our players and their opponents also run to this area. This gives Richo, Browny and company no chance to make a lead in a forward 50m arc congested with 30 players. One other point to mention is that we also need to be a bit more desperate at centre bounces and I think a fit Coughlan and a more bulked up Polo and Hyde will be the right players to help out Foley and Jackson.
We must delist these players I believe:
Johnson, Kingsley, Krakouer, Hartigan, Knobel and Hall. Hall, Hartigan and Knobel are too injury prone to persist with. Krakouer is too inconsistent and Kingsley and Johnson won’t take us places. The 6 places can be taken up by great new talent. I know it’s a tough call on certain players, but we need to start 2008 with the best young list possible. Our best 22 needs to skillful, quick, smart and young. The above 6 players are definitely holding our club back. Our club has struggled for the last 26 years and it’s well overdue that we pick the best list possible. With 2 consecutive years of success, we will have 40,000 members and average 55,000 a game. We’ll be the new Collingwood, but we are louder and more hungry. This is what the AFL would be dreaming of.
The players below should be used sparingly in the seniors next year only due to injuries if they don’t improve their current deficiencies, but a couple may be delisted to make room for the draft:
Meyer, Moore, Oakleigh Nicholls, P Bowden, Tuck, Raines, Tivendale, Graham and Clingan. There will be hard decisions on who to keep from this group. Do we give Meyer, Moore and Oakleigh Nicholls another year to see if they will take the next step? Moore showed some promise before getting injured this year. Tuck and Raines add value, but they also hurt us with kicking turnovers. Tivendale is usually very good but occasionally turns the ball over. P Bowden has struggled with injury this year
I believe we can have a strong 2008 by delisting the 6 players mentioned plus a couple more. We will be left with a promising young list which will be strengthened in the draft with a couple of quality ruckman, a couple of strong/skillful midfielders and one or two talls, quicks or small forwards. I look forward to your decision making at the end of the season and trust you will make the best decisions for our club. You are the right coach of this club and a few alterations to the list will turn this club around quickly. Our list can be strong as early as next season and if the players know the game plan and run hard enough we can have a strong season in 2008. Polo, Coughlan, Foley, Hyde, Jackson can form a pretty strong midfield group. Hopefully we can display a younger and more exciting Richmond in the 2008 preseason and go on to have a big season just like the Hawks have done.
Thanks Toby
Thanks for your replies to my letters in the past. It’s great that you take the time to read what supporters have to say and to reply to our thoughts. I definitely think we have enough quality players to take us places, but there are half a dozen players really holding us back. Our biggest problem against Hawthorn was not quite skill level, it was decision making, lack of running and lack of game plan. All of these things lead to a silly handball or a poor kick because the players put themselves under unnecessary pressure. I honestly think our biggest problem is our captain. His skill level and football brain are not up to AFL standard I believe. Most times he gets the ball, he will run backwards or in a circle, hesitate and hold on to the ball. He holds up the game and instead of kicking long, he is more intent to give off a short handball to a player in traffic and not take risks or responsibility. Very often he will cause a turnover because of this but he also makes unforced errors by hand and foot under no real pressure while other times he drops simple chest marks or misses important goals.
We must change captaincy and I think it is in the best interests of our football club that he is delisted at the end of the season. I really think he is a liability to our senior team and I think it is just his love of the footy club which got him the captaincy in the first place. I don’t believe he has had enough talent to make the senior team since 2005. Although he can tag a player, his turnovers and slow reaction time are too costly and he is halting the progression of our club while we have other good tagging options anyway. Our youngsters need to be inspired by a captain who they can rely on and take control. Richo, Brown, Coughlan, Newman and Foley are the types of players who should be involved in the captaincy group. Other players who are concerning me are Raines and Tuck. They add a lot of run and hardness, but they turn the ball over by foot quite often. Can Raines improve his kicking over time and is Tuck’s ankle problem affecting his kicking? Maybe they can spend some late games this season at Coburg, while Hughes, Reiwoldt, Connors and Casserley can get a taste of senior action.
I really liked the look of Hughes during his senior appearances and thought he was unlucky to be dropped after the Adelaide game . I honestly think 17 of the 22 players from the Hawthorn game will take us places, but there are some changes we need to make. Below, I have mentioned who I think will take us places and who will/may not.
These young players add something important to the side and they do have improvement in them, which will come with experience:
King, Edwards, Foley, Howat, Jackson, Pattison, Thursfield, Tambling, Mcguane, Deledio, Hughes, Polo and White
These experienced players are very important to us:
Richo, Brown, Polak, Newman, J Bowden, Simmonds(when 100% fit), and Coughlan(when 100% fit)
These players are definately talented and should be part of our future and although they have to work on parts of their defensive game, I believe they will take the next step once they have the correct players around them who will deliver a fast flowing game plan:
Hyde, Schultz and Pettifer
Reiwoldt looks promising and so do Connors and Casserley. While Collins, Clingan, Graham and Peterson have been untried yet. The 30 players above are our most important players on our list. Hyde, Schultz and Pettifer are big talents who would benefit greatly if we chose our senior team from the 30 players above. The 30 players above have the pace and the footy smarts to move the ball on quickly and deliver it to an open forward line. Schultz has been averaging 2 goals a game for 2 years and will be able to improve to 3 or 4 goals a game. Pettifer works very well with Brown and Hyde has excellent evasive skills and kicks some classy goals. Hyde would be dangerous running into an open forward line. The 30 players above are our future. I would love if we can pick up Kruezer in the draft to boost our struggling rucking divison, but we will have to wait and see what happens. We will pick up half a dozen quality youngsters at the end of the season anyway.
We must get the group above to work on their weaknesses. As mentioned Hyde, Schultz and Pettifer need to work on second efforts, urgency and hardness. Players such as Polo, Mcguane, Hyde, Edwards, Pattison, Thursfield, Moore and Oakleigh Nicholls need to bulk up on weights. But most importantly these players need to stick to the game plan and run hard offering themselves as an option to kick too. We need to form tighter huddles at our defensive kick ins and present better. After the first kick in has been marked, our players upfield need to be huddled and offer their leads at the appropriate time, rather than running to the wing before the original kick in has been marked. Same with the next kick to half forward. I like the idea of having a huddle at half back for the first kick, a huddle in the centre for the second kick and a huddle at half forward for the third kick. This will give all players more space to lead to and more space to kick to.
Quick movement will not allow the opposition to flood our forward line and our forwards will benefit greatly and so will players who can deliver the ball to a nice open forward line. We also have to be more disciplined and run harder when in defensive mode. Other improvements can be done at the other end of the ground when the opposition kick the ball in after a behind. Our defensive ring around the huddle should be extra 5m in diameter so that each player has more reaction time and less distance for their opponent to get an advantage. Each player should be looking after their assigned opponent for the match in this situation rather than just running to the nearest opposition player to prevent two of our players running to the same opposition player and leaving another opposition player free. I would also like to see more of the zone defense used too.
Another improvement is the prevention of too many of our own players running into forward 50. With a quicker game plan we will kick to a more open forward line, but we should only have one or two players assigned to enter the forward 50 which is already occupied by our 3 deep forwards. There is nothing worse than watching us take too long to get the ball forward and having the opposition flood our forward line while another half a dozen of our players and their opponents also run to this area. This gives Richo, Browny and company no chance to make a lead in a forward 50m arc congested with 30 players. One other point to mention is that we also need to be a bit more desperate at centre bounces and I think a fit Coughlan and a more bulked up Polo and Hyde will be the right players to help out Foley and Jackson.
We must delist these players I believe:
Johnson, Kingsley, Krakouer, Hartigan, Knobel and Hall. Hall, Hartigan and Knobel are too injury prone to persist with. Krakouer is too inconsistent and Kingsley and Johnson won’t take us places. The 6 places can be taken up by great new talent. I know it’s a tough call on certain players, but we need to start 2008 with the best young list possible. Our best 22 needs to skillful, quick, smart and young. The above 6 players are definitely holding our club back. Our club has struggled for the last 26 years and it’s well overdue that we pick the best list possible. With 2 consecutive years of success, we will have 40,000 members and average 55,000 a game. We’ll be the new Collingwood, but we are louder and more hungry. This is what the AFL would be dreaming of.
The players below should be used sparingly in the seniors next year only due to injuries if they don’t improve their current deficiencies, but a couple may be delisted to make room for the draft:
Meyer, Moore, Oakleigh Nicholls, P Bowden, Tuck, Raines, Tivendale, Graham and Clingan. There will be hard decisions on who to keep from this group. Do we give Meyer, Moore and Oakleigh Nicholls another year to see if they will take the next step? Moore showed some promise before getting injured this year. Tuck and Raines add value, but they also hurt us with kicking turnovers. Tivendale is usually very good but occasionally turns the ball over. P Bowden has struggled with injury this year
I believe we can have a strong 2008 by delisting the 6 players mentioned plus a couple more. We will be left with a promising young list which will be strengthened in the draft with a couple of quality ruckman, a couple of strong/skillful midfielders and one or two talls, quicks or small forwards. I look forward to your decision making at the end of the season and trust you will make the best decisions for our club. You are the right coach of this club and a few alterations to the list will turn this club around quickly. Our list can be strong as early as next season and if the players know the game plan and run hard enough we can have a strong season in 2008. Polo, Coughlan, Foley, Hyde, Jackson can form a pretty strong midfield group. Hopefully we can display a younger and more exciting Richmond in the 2008 preseason and go on to have a big season just like the Hawks have done.
Thanks Toby
