Nathan Motton"crap" Punt Rd not the Tigers only problem
April 8th 2008 12:55
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has slammed Richmond's training base at Punt Road as "crap." This scribe says Richmond as a legitimate football club is... well... crap.
Demetriou said the AFL would intervene in order to allow the tigers to train at the MCG once a week for the rest of the season, adding that the Tiger's ground was too small and a long way away from any significant improvement.
"We need to try and help them find a better place to train," he told The Age. "They have got a crap ground to train on. It's just a bad ground and it's the wrong size,
"You only need to walk on the playing surface to see what they're up against."
Phew!
Now that the all-seeing Demetriou has found the reason as to why Richmond are such a pathetic excuse for a football side, at least now the all-conquering AFL can step in, fix the problem and they will be back up in the top four by 2010.
Is this scribe really naive or is "what they're up against" a little more than a crap training ground?
Forget their apparent defunct training ground, the tigers need so, so, so much more than training on the wide expanses of the MCG once a week.
After looking closely at the tigers on the weekend, against a rampant Magpies outfit, some disturbing trends prevailed.
They were handball obsessed. They finished with a club record 209 handballs to just 182 kicks. They somehow believed that to stem the humiliation they faced deep into the second quarter, holding onto the ball and moving it by hand rather than foot was the more logical option.
Thirteen Richmond players had more handballs than kicks - Shane Tuck the worst offender, managed 23 handballs but just six kicks.
The Bulldogs did this to perfection on Friday night, and regardless of what Wallace says, surely this handball-happy style was part of the plan.
But the Tigers are no Geelong. The cats are the best in the business, with the best players in the business. Although Richmond possess grunt in the middle, their artillery lack flair.
They also had a single-focussed forward structure that seemingly required Matthew Richardson to kick a bag, and the rest, for them to win. The Magpies were all over this, and carried the ball out of defence too easily.
Collingwood worked the ball from one end of the ground to the other too easily. Not enough pressure was applied. Wallace says don't question his sides endeavour. With efforts like that, how can we not?
Nathan Brown is too lazy and doesn't work hard enough for balls in dispute inside his attacking 50. Richo, forever glorified by some media organisations as a super talent, is nothing more than an OK forward who is too hot and cold to be considered among the elite.
Brett Deledio is still struggling to find his feet in the middle and rarely breaks the lines like he should. And Jordan McMahon is the most streaky player in the league. He's a frontrunner. A player who can look impressive when his side is winning, but when push comes to shove, too easily makes critical errors. He finds too many possessions on the outer wing, uncontested and in a position where he can't hurt opposition sides.
With almost a full list to choose from, Wallace has run out of excuses.
The most saddening thing from the morbid game on Sunday, was 70,802 people had to witness a side 'trying' to play the game.
Save us all.
Demetriou said the AFL would intervene in order to allow the tigers to train at the MCG once a week for the rest of the season, adding that the Tiger's ground was too small and a long way away from any significant improvement.
"We need to try and help them find a better place to train," he told The Age. "They have got a crap ground to train on. It's just a bad ground and it's the wrong size,
"You only need to walk on the playing surface to see what they're up against."
Now that the all-seeing Demetriou has found the reason as to why Richmond are such a pathetic excuse for a football side, at least now the all-conquering AFL can step in, fix the problem and they will be back up in the top four by 2010.
Is this scribe really naive or is "what they're up against" a little more than a crap training ground?
Forget their apparent defunct training ground, the tigers need so, so, so much more than training on the wide expanses of the MCG once a week.
After looking closely at the tigers on the weekend, against a rampant Magpies outfit, some disturbing trends prevailed.
They were handball obsessed. They finished with a club record 209 handballs to just 182 kicks. They somehow believed that to stem the humiliation they faced deep into the second quarter, holding onto the ball and moving it by hand rather than foot was the more logical option.
Thirteen Richmond players had more handballs than kicks - Shane Tuck the worst offender, managed 23 handballs but just six kicks.
The Bulldogs did this to perfection on Friday night, and regardless of what Wallace says, surely this handball-happy style was part of the plan.
They also had a single-focussed forward structure that seemingly required Matthew Richardson to kick a bag, and the rest, for them to win. The Magpies were all over this, and carried the ball out of defence too easily.
Collingwood worked the ball from one end of the ground to the other too easily. Not enough pressure was applied. Wallace says don't question his sides endeavour. With efforts like that, how can we not?
Nathan Brown is too lazy and doesn't work hard enough for balls in dispute inside his attacking 50. Richo, forever glorified by some media organisations as a super talent, is nothing more than an OK forward who is too hot and cold to be considered among the elite.
Brett Deledio is still struggling to find his feet in the middle and rarely breaks the lines like he should. And Jordan McMahon is the most streaky player in the league. He's a frontrunner. A player who can look impressive when his side is winning, but when push comes to shove, too easily makes critical errors. He finds too many possessions on the outer wing, uncontested and in a position where he can't hurt opposition sides.
With almost a full list to choose from, Wallace has run out of excuses.
The most saddening thing from the morbid game on Sunday, was 70,802 people had to witness a side 'trying' to play the game.
Save us all.
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