Frawley talks up the Tigers
Alan Shiell
afl.com.au
8:39:04 AM Sun 4 May, 2003
Richmond coach Danny Frawley has used the Tigers’ most recent fightback – against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night – as another example of how they have improved this season.
The Tigers trailed by 28 points – 5.1 to 0.3 – 20 minutes into the first quarter but still managed to claw their way to a brief one-point lead – 6.6 to 6.5 – at the eight-minute mark of the third term, before Port kicked away for a 27-point win.
“We talked about coming over here to have a win and we expected to win, and we didn’t,” Frawley said of a loss that followed Richmond’s four successive wins against the Western Bulldogs, Fremantle, St Kilda and Hawthorn.
“We’re disappointed with the loss but we’ve improved from 12 months ago when we were here. (Port beat Richmond by 84 points – 23.16 to 10.10 – at AAMI Stadium in round 12 last season).
“We’ve got a hell of a lot of improvement to go, but I think our group is starting to get a lot of steel behind them. To start like we did with a young team and then to be able to fight back …
“I don’t think there are going to be too many sides win four in a row in this competition, but our mindset was right and we were keen to win, and we didn’t.”
Asked to name some positives from the match, Frawley said: “Andy Krakouer’s form down forward was terrific. I thought Chrissy Newman, being a youngster and being asked to do such a big job on Nick Stevens …
“I couldn’t care less about the stats; I just thought it was a real good, honest effort from both of those kids.
“Stevens played really well, too, but I think Chrissy Newman’s developed and has gone to a new level, which is great for us. We need some more help in the midfield. Probably taking him out of the midfield hurt our defence a little bit.
“I thought our defence stuck to their guns most of the night. I thought (Andrew) ‘Chopper’ Kellaway, against the odds early, had about five or six different opponents and probably saved four goals in the last quarter by sheer desperation.
“(Darren) Gaspar on Tredrea? I don’t think Tredrea had much of an impact.
“I thought (Greg) Stafford being asked to do both ends of the ground was probably a little too much to ask. He was good in the ruck and around the ground, and then we had to throw him forward. He’s been standing up for us.”
Frawley agreed the lack of at least another key forward had hurt Richmond.
“It does on a big ground like this,” he said. “If it had been played at Telstra Dome or somewhere like that where you can get away with having only one tall … but that’s not an excuse. We’ll cop it on the chin. Port was too good.
“We would have loved to have had a couple more talls out there but they’re not there at the moment. I think our players are really playing with a lot of heart and their ability to just keep at it...
“You can’t afford to give quality opposition starts, especially on their home turf, but that’s been two weeks in a row. Our four weeks before that were really good.
“We just couldn’t get our hands on the ball in both instances (against Hawthorn and Port). That’s all it is. If you want to control a game, you’ve got to get your hands on it. To Port’s credit, they came out of the blocks and that was the winning margin in the end.
“Port are a terrific side. We knew going into the game we had to take our chances, make the most of our chances, and we didn’t do that.”
Alan Shiell
afl.com.au
8:39:04 AM Sun 4 May, 2003
Richmond coach Danny Frawley has used the Tigers’ most recent fightback – against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night – as another example of how they have improved this season.
The Tigers trailed by 28 points – 5.1 to 0.3 – 20 minutes into the first quarter but still managed to claw their way to a brief one-point lead – 6.6 to 6.5 – at the eight-minute mark of the third term, before Port kicked away for a 27-point win.
“We talked about coming over here to have a win and we expected to win, and we didn’t,” Frawley said of a loss that followed Richmond’s four successive wins against the Western Bulldogs, Fremantle, St Kilda and Hawthorn.
“We’re disappointed with the loss but we’ve improved from 12 months ago when we were here. (Port beat Richmond by 84 points – 23.16 to 10.10 – at AAMI Stadium in round 12 last season).
“We’ve got a hell of a lot of improvement to go, but I think our group is starting to get a lot of steel behind them. To start like we did with a young team and then to be able to fight back …
“I don’t think there are going to be too many sides win four in a row in this competition, but our mindset was right and we were keen to win, and we didn’t.”
Asked to name some positives from the match, Frawley said: “Andy Krakouer’s form down forward was terrific. I thought Chrissy Newman, being a youngster and being asked to do such a big job on Nick Stevens …
“I couldn’t care less about the stats; I just thought it was a real good, honest effort from both of those kids.
“Stevens played really well, too, but I think Chrissy Newman’s developed and has gone to a new level, which is great for us. We need some more help in the midfield. Probably taking him out of the midfield hurt our defence a little bit.
“I thought our defence stuck to their guns most of the night. I thought (Andrew) ‘Chopper’ Kellaway, against the odds early, had about five or six different opponents and probably saved four goals in the last quarter by sheer desperation.
“(Darren) Gaspar on Tredrea? I don’t think Tredrea had much of an impact.
“I thought (Greg) Stafford being asked to do both ends of the ground was probably a little too much to ask. He was good in the ruck and around the ground, and then we had to throw him forward. He’s been standing up for us.”
Frawley agreed the lack of at least another key forward had hurt Richmond.
“It does on a big ground like this,” he said. “If it had been played at Telstra Dome or somewhere like that where you can get away with having only one tall … but that’s not an excuse. We’ll cop it on the chin. Port was too good.
“We would have loved to have had a couple more talls out there but they’re not there at the moment. I think our players are really playing with a lot of heart and their ability to just keep at it...
“You can’t afford to give quality opposition starts, especially on their home turf, but that’s been two weeks in a row. Our four weeks before that were really good.
“We just couldn’t get our hands on the ball in both instances (against Hawthorn and Port). That’s all it is. If you want to control a game, you’ve got to get your hands on it. To Port’s credit, they came out of the blocks and that was the winning margin in the end.
“Port are a terrific side. We knew going into the game we had to take our chances, make the most of our chances, and we didn’t do that.”