Frawley: Campbell's absence costly
By Chip le Grand
July 03, 2003
The Australian
RICHMOND coach Danny Frawley believes that if Wayne Campbell had been fit and playing instead of injured and watching, the Tigers would have won three games of the five straight they have lost.
As if realising he had just broken some unwritten rule of AFl coaching, Frawley quickly qualified his remark.
It also would have been nice to have his All-Australian full-back Darren Gaspar, he hurriedly added. No loss, of course, should be attributed to the absence of one player alone.
But it is against the context of Frawley's initial statement - the one that came from his heart rather than head - that Campbell will return from a calf injury this week to lead Richmond into AAMI Stadium against Adelaide on Saturday night.
For the third year in Frawley's four as Richmond coach, the Tigers have shown themselves to be the manic depressives of the AFL.
For every rich vein of form, there has been an equally prolonged, downward spiral. In football terms, they are marking, kicking, affirmation of Newton's laws of physics.
Frawley does not believe the situation is irretrievable just yet.
"We are still up to our eyeballs in this season," Frawley said.
But what Frawley and everyone at Punt Road freely admit is that in the month and a half it has taken the Tigers to slide from third to 10th position on the ladder, Campbell's presence has been sorely missed.
"Wayne generals the whole set-up," Frawley said last night.
"He is able to control things a bit like James Hird. He is able to go into the midfield when we need him to go in or come out and be a damaging forward. He gives not only the midfield but the whole team direction.
"Those qualities are hard to replace. They are hard to get back into a team and with the vice-captain down with a knee for the rest of the year, it does leave a void in the leadership. The efforts have been there, but you can't expect players to step up to the plate and lead like Wayne does."
At first blush, this appears as much an indictment of the rest of Richmond's senior group of players as praise of Campbell.
But it is a testament to the way Campbell has embraced a captaincy that he once wore as comfortably as a rented tux.
Campbell accepted the job in contentious circumstances after it was stripped from his team-mate Matthew Knights at the end of the 2000 season.
His term began inauspiciously, to say the least, when he was pilloried for his handling of an infamous clash between Knights and former Bulldog Tony Liberatore which left Knights bloodied and Richmond bowed.
Throughout his first year as skipper, Campbell carried the baggage of a lack of physical presence, and perception that he saved his best football for weaker opponents rather than the competition's best.
At the end of the 2001 season, an indelicate contract negotiation almost led to Campbell quitting the club altogether.
But after last year's best and fairest award - his fourth - Campbell appears finally to have won plaudits from his toughest critics, Richmond's own supporters.
"He has the utmost respect from the coaches and I believe now the supporters," Frawley said.
"They could have doubted him two years ago but I would have thought to a man they would now see the importance of Wayne Campbell."
By Chip le Grand
July 03, 2003
The Australian
RICHMOND coach Danny Frawley believes that if Wayne Campbell had been fit and playing instead of injured and watching, the Tigers would have won three games of the five straight they have lost.
As if realising he had just broken some unwritten rule of AFl coaching, Frawley quickly qualified his remark.
It also would have been nice to have his All-Australian full-back Darren Gaspar, he hurriedly added. No loss, of course, should be attributed to the absence of one player alone.
But it is against the context of Frawley's initial statement - the one that came from his heart rather than head - that Campbell will return from a calf injury this week to lead Richmond into AAMI Stadium against Adelaide on Saturday night.
For the third year in Frawley's four as Richmond coach, the Tigers have shown themselves to be the manic depressives of the AFL.
For every rich vein of form, there has been an equally prolonged, downward spiral. In football terms, they are marking, kicking, affirmation of Newton's laws of physics.
Frawley does not believe the situation is irretrievable just yet.
"We are still up to our eyeballs in this season," Frawley said.
But what Frawley and everyone at Punt Road freely admit is that in the month and a half it has taken the Tigers to slide from third to 10th position on the ladder, Campbell's presence has been sorely missed.
"Wayne generals the whole set-up," Frawley said last night.
"He is able to control things a bit like James Hird. He is able to go into the midfield when we need him to go in or come out and be a damaging forward. He gives not only the midfield but the whole team direction.
"Those qualities are hard to replace. They are hard to get back into a team and with the vice-captain down with a knee for the rest of the year, it does leave a void in the leadership. The efforts have been there, but you can't expect players to step up to the plate and lead like Wayne does."
At first blush, this appears as much an indictment of the rest of Richmond's senior group of players as praise of Campbell.
But it is a testament to the way Campbell has embraced a captaincy that he once wore as comfortably as a rented tux.
Campbell accepted the job in contentious circumstances after it was stripped from his team-mate Matthew Knights at the end of the 2000 season.
His term began inauspiciously, to say the least, when he was pilloried for his handling of an infamous clash between Knights and former Bulldog Tony Liberatore which left Knights bloodied and Richmond bowed.
Throughout his first year as skipper, Campbell carried the baggage of a lack of physical presence, and perception that he saved his best football for weaker opponents rather than the competition's best.
At the end of the 2001 season, an indelicate contract negotiation almost led to Campbell quitting the club altogether.
But after last year's best and fairest award - his fourth - Campbell appears finally to have won plaudits from his toughest critics, Richmond's own supporters.
"He has the utmost respect from the coaches and I believe now the supporters," Frawley said.
"They could have doubted him two years ago but I would have thought to a man they would now see the importance of Wayne Campbell."
