There is a fair bit of reference in online rags today about the Leading Teams program at the Cats and Saints and what it has done to their culture and discipline. While I don't know the details of the program, I would welcome the club doing something tangible about developing leadership. I think that the two areas we've done poorly in the last two decades is leadership and learning (read as player development).
I'll explain a little of where we might have gone wrong and what the real focus needs to be.
Leadership
For years we have tried to recruit leaders rather than develop them.
There are very few full time professions where leadership is expected of people in their 20s. But we seem to think that we can recruit 17 year olds ready for the job with just a little time and watering.
It doesn't work like that. Leadership skills develop through a commitment to continual improvement and mastery of your current level.
Only when we have a framework for young men to go through in order to develop leadership for a tough, physical and competitive workplace will we be able to stop hoping that Cotchin will be captaincy material in 2-3yrs (and also stop scrabling for the best of an ordinary bunch as Captain - Johnson and Newman) and actually have a standout field of leaders to choose from (like Geelong do).
Think about the number of Geelong players that could walk into our club and be the best suited on the list to captain. There's the difference.
Learning
We have relied heavily on Terry's long fizzled T@FE (Tigers At Football Education) where players are locked in lecture theaters with apparent masters of their position. At a glance it seems that Darren Gaspar should be able to teach full back, that Flea should be able to teach roving, that Michael Roach should be able to teach goal kicking, etc etc.
The problem with this methodology is that it lends itself to the notion that having irritable bowel syndrome means you are an expert on how toilets work! Spending a long time doing one thing one way, does not make you an expert.
Learning football skills (and executing in a tough, physical and competitive) environment is about setting targets for continuous improvement in the target person and developing strategies and timelines about achieving it. Your performance is then measured by whether you reach these targets - not whether you've attended the right sessions on punching from behind, icing the clock, the rolling zone, or how to scratch your nuts without the cameras noticing.
I contend that this type of "expert" based learning is possibly what has stunted Thursfield - instead of turning him into Darren Gaspar, he should be working towards targets that make him the best fullback in the land - or at least that he can be.
I also think it wastes the time of older players who have perhaps learned all their tricks but have not been challenged to focus and improve something in their game or their contribution to the team goals. Thus Richo running around and dominating the forward line for 10 years while other forwards spectate.
I think other clubs have cottoned on far earlier than us. Hawthorn's appointment of Clarkson, and Essendon with Alan Richardson are examples. Both clubs knew that determined people with a focus on learning will outperform a former player (often a 1 trick pony) with the gift of the gab who just describes to others what they did instinctively during their heyday.
The lack of focus on player development through addressing the areas most needed to work on has left players exposed to a player development "curriculum" that's a mile across in breadth, but only an inch thick. As an example, Deledio should be running around Punt Rd with Cuz until he vomits, learning how to break a tag. Not sitting in a room learning the correct technique for a running bounce (perhaps where Raines should be).
Just my 5c from a distance of about 4000km, but I've bled with you all watching Richmond over the last 25 years and I think we are trying to repair a Ferrari with tools from the 1800s. Time to wake up and get ahead (not with) the times and trends.
Our board are at a critical juncture because their task is going to be to determine the type of coach (and coaching staff) we need to improve. They will then need to develop the correct process for unearthing that candidate. I just hope they are prepared to pass up the "sexy" names floating around for the right candidate - or we have LEARNED nothing ourselves from Wallace's appointment/tenure.
I'll explain a little of where we might have gone wrong and what the real focus needs to be.
Leadership
For years we have tried to recruit leaders rather than develop them.
There are very few full time professions where leadership is expected of people in their 20s. But we seem to think that we can recruit 17 year olds ready for the job with just a little time and watering.
It doesn't work like that. Leadership skills develop through a commitment to continual improvement and mastery of your current level.
Only when we have a framework for young men to go through in order to develop leadership for a tough, physical and competitive workplace will we be able to stop hoping that Cotchin will be captaincy material in 2-3yrs (and also stop scrabling for the best of an ordinary bunch as Captain - Johnson and Newman) and actually have a standout field of leaders to choose from (like Geelong do).
Think about the number of Geelong players that could walk into our club and be the best suited on the list to captain. There's the difference.
Learning
We have relied heavily on Terry's long fizzled T@FE (Tigers At Football Education) where players are locked in lecture theaters with apparent masters of their position. At a glance it seems that Darren Gaspar should be able to teach full back, that Flea should be able to teach roving, that Michael Roach should be able to teach goal kicking, etc etc.
The problem with this methodology is that it lends itself to the notion that having irritable bowel syndrome means you are an expert on how toilets work! Spending a long time doing one thing one way, does not make you an expert.
Learning football skills (and executing in a tough, physical and competitive) environment is about setting targets for continuous improvement in the target person and developing strategies and timelines about achieving it. Your performance is then measured by whether you reach these targets - not whether you've attended the right sessions on punching from behind, icing the clock, the rolling zone, or how to scratch your nuts without the cameras noticing.
I contend that this type of "expert" based learning is possibly what has stunted Thursfield - instead of turning him into Darren Gaspar, he should be working towards targets that make him the best fullback in the land - or at least that he can be.
I also think it wastes the time of older players who have perhaps learned all their tricks but have not been challenged to focus and improve something in their game or their contribution to the team goals. Thus Richo running around and dominating the forward line for 10 years while other forwards spectate.
I think other clubs have cottoned on far earlier than us. Hawthorn's appointment of Clarkson, and Essendon with Alan Richardson are examples. Both clubs knew that determined people with a focus on learning will outperform a former player (often a 1 trick pony) with the gift of the gab who just describes to others what they did instinctively during their heyday.
The lack of focus on player development through addressing the areas most needed to work on has left players exposed to a player development "curriculum" that's a mile across in breadth, but only an inch thick. As an example, Deledio should be running around Punt Rd with Cuz until he vomits, learning how to break a tag. Not sitting in a room learning the correct technique for a running bounce (perhaps where Raines should be).
Just my 5c from a distance of about 4000km, but I've bled with you all watching Richmond over the last 25 years and I think we are trying to repair a Ferrari with tools from the 1800s. Time to wake up and get ahead (not with) the times and trends.
Our board are at a critical juncture because their task is going to be to determine the type of coach (and coaching staff) we need to improve. They will then need to develop the correct process for unearthing that candidate. I just hope they are prepared to pass up the "sexy" names floating around for the right candidate - or we have LEARNED nothing ourselves from Wallace's appointment/tenure.
