A couple of Dutchy articles

[Rosy]

Back to future for Tiger
31 July 2003 Herald Sun
By GEOFF POULTER

RICHMOND'S six-goal hero against the Bulldogs wants to go back to defence next year.

Players are usually attracted by the glamour attached to the scoring end, but Ben Holland knows his most consistent form has been in the backline.

"Up forward with the knee is probably good for this next month or so, but I'm sure that next year I would like to be down back again after a full pre-season of sprint work," Holland said after training indoors at Clayton yesterday.

"My best year was probably 2001 when I was down at centre half-back and with Darren Gaspar and Andy Kellaway and Mark Chaffey,

"With that crew together we had a very good year so you think back to those times and if we can get that steady, stable backline together again, and it all functions well, then so be it."

Holland this weekend takes on the Dockers at Subiaco, the scene of last year's major knee injury which forced a reconstruction and the obligatory year on the sidelines.

"So far I have got a lot of confidence out of playing for the five games and also being able to play the four VFL games before that. I'm more worried about getting a kick and playing good footy than the ground or the injury," he said.

"You need those first couple of weeks just to get up with the tempo of the game and also to just feel at one with your body and feel that everything is going all right.

"The first couple of games, they were huge stepping stones to get over it and then you start worrying about the actual form and getting back out there and getting a kick.

"I am feeling great, the body is feeling fantastic, the knee is 100 per cent, no worries. It is more the knocks and bumps that you are not used to after 12 months out, but slowly the body is getting more match-hardened and conditioned."

Holland said where he played for the rest of the season would probably depend on match-ups.

"It depends on the opposition and where we can see the best strength is for me, forward or back," he said. "Often at full-back you only have 10 or 12 opportunities in a game because you are isolated down there. It is a lot easier to get into the tempo of the game when you are playing up forward."

 

[Rosy]

Holland's forward move a Dutch treat
By Len Johnson
Realfooty
July 31 2003


Richmond has had to endure a few nightmares over the eight-game losing streak that was finally snapped with a win over the Western Bulldogs last Saturday.

It seems only fair, then, that coaching staff, players and fans were able to see a few dreams fulfilled on that particular night.

The win, for a start. When Brisbane was talking about being in a slump coming into the last round having lost four in the past six, how sweet is a win after eight consecutive losses?

Sweet enough to eat. Ben Holland kicks six goals as a marking-target forward, crumbers Martin McGrath, Andrew Krakouer and David Rodan contribute 10 and a licensed-to-roam Matthew Richardson, running one opponent off his legs rather than having three suffocating him, takes 17 marks.

Holland yesterday described the atmosphere at Punt Road this week as "bubbly", and the win as "a big relief", more so in the light of the controversy stirred up by the embarrassment of a leaked internal memo.

"The pressure had built up over two months," Holland said, "then you had all that stuff in the media."

Holland's six goals was a career best, a fitting culmination of a successful return from a knee reconstruction after his previous visit to Subiaco Oval in round four last year.

The Tigers return to Subiaco this week to play Fremantle in another of those games that could shape the eight. Holland said he held no particular fears about playing there again.

"I haven't really thought about it," he said, adding that his confidence was high after five AFL games on top of four in the VFL.

"You need those first couple of weeks to get up with the pace of the game. (They're) a huge stepping stone; then you worry about form and getting a kick."

Holland said he had enjoyed the experience of playing as the Tigers' only tall target inside 50 metres.

"It's a luxury Danny (Frawley) has got that I can play both ends of the ground."

Like most Richmond fans, Holland was overjoyed at the consequent freeing up of Richardson.

"Richo has struggled with all the attention on him," Holland said. "Two or three defenders drop off and run to him because they know we play a lot through him."

As a marking target, Richardson can be neutralised; as a running player, you have to be able to keep up with him first.

"He's got fantastic endurance," Holland said. "With him up the ground getting the ball coming out of the back line, then small quicks in the forward line and myself there as the big target - it worked well."

Holland expected that Richmond would employ similar tactics at Subiaco, with its abundance of space.

"It's a fast ground and it's probably going to be dry. Richo can cover ground so well. If we can get him second kick out of defence and pulling the ball forward, and then he runs down forward as well, it provides another option."

Richmond football manager Greg Hutchinson was more circumspect. "One tall forward target suited Docklands," he said yesterday. "Subiaco is a different ground and we may have a different set-up on the day."

Regardless, Holland finished sixth in the Tigers' best-and-fairest in 2001 playing mainly in defence. "With Darren Gaspar, Andy Kellaway and Mark Chaffey - that crew together - we had a good year," Holland said. "I think back to those times and if we can get that steady stable back line together again, and they're all playing pretty well, then so be it."

Ruckman Greg Stafford, who missed last week with a strained hamstring, is given some chance of proving his fitness this week.