Contrary to many fellow supporters I believe the majority of our Tiger players possess excellent ball getting skills and have the courage to win the hard ball. What they then do with the football is the constant source of frustration. Many have poor disposal or handballing or marking skills that do not improve over time.
At the beginning of 2007 on" Footy Classified" our CEO told us that we had a plan, yet we finish at the bottom of the ladder making the same frustrating skill errors. Its important for us to have a game plan, but with our high number of skill errors each week, impossible to execute any plan. One notable exception would be Joel Bowden who consistently delivers the ball up the field with pin point precision.
How do we deal with this problem? Answer: On an individual player basis. Here we take a leaf out of the AFL umpires book. In every single AFL match every decision, bounce, action taken, taken by each of the three officiating umpires is recorded, added up and reviewed immediately after each match and a poor performance usually results in a trip to the VFL. At the end of each season an A4 size printout totalling their strengths and weaknesses for the season is sent to each umpire to reflect upon in the off season. You can argue that this approach hasn't worked well with the umpires but at least they are called to account for their mistakes.
Our players MUST be made more accountable for the errors they make during each match. Every skill error a player makes in the course of a match should be recorded, tallied and conveyed to the player in an after match briefing. Specialist coaches should beindividually working on kicking, marking, handballing with those players that the stats show need individual skill development. I fear the egoes of some players, particularly senior players who have exhibited poor skills over several seasons without improvement, would not take too kindly to being taken aside to work one on one with a skills coach. There is no disgrace in being out manouvered by your opponent in a contest but that is not what we are referring to here!
Skills development in groups is also important to overall teamwork and game plans, but improvement must begin with individual skills. There are those that will suggest that you can't teach skill development, either you've got them or you don't and that is rubbish! What a cop out.
A final word to all the coaches at Richmond: If you don't address the skill errors our players make each week, particularly in marking, kicking and delivery then our presence in the final eight will not occur for many years hence.
The great years of the late sixties, early seventies and eighties continue to sustain me, but there is not a lot on offer at the moment to encourage the tackers of today to choose the Tigers over the many more successful teams.
Bigbazza
At the beginning of 2007 on" Footy Classified" our CEO told us that we had a plan, yet we finish at the bottom of the ladder making the same frustrating skill errors. Its important for us to have a game plan, but with our high number of skill errors each week, impossible to execute any plan. One notable exception would be Joel Bowden who consistently delivers the ball up the field with pin point precision.
How do we deal with this problem? Answer: On an individual player basis. Here we take a leaf out of the AFL umpires book. In every single AFL match every decision, bounce, action taken, taken by each of the three officiating umpires is recorded, added up and reviewed immediately after each match and a poor performance usually results in a trip to the VFL. At the end of each season an A4 size printout totalling their strengths and weaknesses for the season is sent to each umpire to reflect upon in the off season. You can argue that this approach hasn't worked well with the umpires but at least they are called to account for their mistakes.
Our players MUST be made more accountable for the errors they make during each match. Every skill error a player makes in the course of a match should be recorded, tallied and conveyed to the player in an after match briefing. Specialist coaches should beindividually working on kicking, marking, handballing with those players that the stats show need individual skill development. I fear the egoes of some players, particularly senior players who have exhibited poor skills over several seasons without improvement, would not take too kindly to being taken aside to work one on one with a skills coach. There is no disgrace in being out manouvered by your opponent in a contest but that is not what we are referring to here!
Skills development in groups is also important to overall teamwork and game plans, but improvement must begin with individual skills. There are those that will suggest that you can't teach skill development, either you've got them or you don't and that is rubbish! What a cop out.
A final word to all the coaches at Richmond: If you don't address the skill errors our players make each week, particularly in marking, kicking and delivery then our presence in the final eight will not occur for many years hence.
The great years of the late sixties, early seventies and eighties continue to sustain me, but there is not a lot on offer at the moment to encourage the tackers of today to choose the Tigers over the many more successful teams.
Bigbazza
