Reece Conca - so long and thanks for all the fish

[Tigers of Old]

Good luck to him, he's a top bloke and was very popular at Tigerland. Freo showing him such respect is a credit to us because there was little chance of him being a team leader with RFC.

Absolutely. Reece was one of the most popular players at Richmond. Many of the remaining lads have talked about losing a few good men over the summer. Reece was at the forefront of thoe comments. A fine club man & Freo will benefit in numerous ways outside of playing ability from his recruitment.

 

[Tigaman]

A lot put Conca up on a pedestal for being a good bloke off field which do not win footy matches. With him in the 2018 side I felt the side was out sync compared to the 2017 GF team.

 

[seven]

Spreading the love at freo

 

[zippadeee]

A lot put Conca up on a pedestal for being a good bloke off field which do not win footy matches. With him in the 2018 side I felt the side was out sync compared to the 2017 GF team.

Bingo.
Conca was the type of player we loved 20 years ago. Tries hard and plays for the jumper. You need more to be Premiership team now

 

[tigersnake]

A lot put Conca up on a pedestal for being a good bloke off field which do not win footy matches. With him in the 2018 side I felt the side was out sync compared to the 2017 GF team.

jesus christ. Nobody put him on a pedestal, straw man crap. The big 4 are on pedestals, big massive acropolis-style pedestals.. Some, me included, just acknowledged his strengths, one of the toughest and best players we had at the hard defensive stuff, and defended him against the serial baggers. This post is just a snipe.

 

[TigerFlag2017]

Good luck to him, he's a top bloke and was very popular at Tigerland. Freo showing him such respect is a credit to us because there was little chance of him being a team leader with RFC.

Agree buddy

 

[tigerman]

In the West Australian newspaper today, Reece says that Jack R has probably the greatest football brain he has seen.

But us Tiger fans already knew that.

 

[Mr Brightside]

In the West Australian newspaper today, Reece says that Jack R has probably the greatest football brain he has seen.

But us Tiger fans already knew that.

Took a lot of the football world along time to realise, in fact there’s still a lot who don’t see it, very similar to the brilliance of Edwards

 

[TigerFlag2017]

Interesting question. Goes back to the glory era under Hafey and so many RFC players turning into coaches, e.g. Sheedy, Malthouse, Bartlett, etc.

Of the players in Dimma's era, who may make it to senior coach?

Jack R
Chris Newman

Any others? Cotchin and Rance don't exactly seek the limelight.

 

[St Kevin]

This says more about Freo's leadership stocks than it does Reece's leadership ability.

 

[tigerlove]

A lot put Conca up on a pedestal for being a good bloke off field which do not win footy matches. With him in the 2018 side I felt the side was out sync compared to the 2017 GF team.

Agree. Plenty of top blokes in footy and that's great for team moral and off-field but in the end winning matches is about your on-field performance. Conca certainly is tough at it and dedicated and that's probably why he lasted so long at AFL level but his disposal skills and decision making often let him down and from that point of view he is very replaceable. Glad he's found a new home to keep his AFL career alive. I'm sure he'll make the most of it.

 

[Scoop]

Agree. Plenty of top blokes in footy and that's great for team moral and off-field but in the end winning matches is about your on-field performance. Conca certainly is tough at it and dedicated and that's probably why he lasted so long at AFL level but his disposal skills and decision making often let him down and from that point of view he is very replaceable. Glad he's found a new home to keep his AFL career alive. I'm sure he'll make the most of it.

Well said. You can note his averageness and flaws and still wish him well.

 

[Tigers of Old]

Kane Lambert would be my must likely to coach candidate.

 

[tigerdell]

Says a lot about our leadership sticks and demographics.
Cotch, Rance, Jr are all a couple of years older. In fact the core group are solid leaders. And for balance/youth there are experienced top 22 in Flossy.
Conca was in the core but surrounded by prestia, caddy.

On the other otherhand Freo have a badly skewed list, with too much old experience gone or nearly gone. And with Neale out it leaves Fyfe and thats it. Good choice for them as he was brought in to cover the gaps in their list

 

[tigerman]

Grigg has a good football, don't know whether he would want to coach.

 

[Tigaman]

Appears Conca's great strength is off field not on field. Never made Tigers leadership group maybe for his 2104 brain snap on Devon Smith which made every Tiger true blue cringe. It will be interesting to see if his hammys stand up at Freo especially that gun runner Lachie Neale aint there.

 

[tigerlove]

Halfway through his first year he was being compared to Dustin for first year player output and he won the C-J medal.

His second year was also more than serviceable for a second year player despite the lack of pre-season.

By his third year he was 50 games in and starting to show signs of being a really serious midfielder. His torn hammy in the final was as much a reason why we lost as any.

Injuries started to get hold of him even more from that point but he still led us in tackles in 2014 before the next 3 years were a write off.

Last year at the mid way point of the season before the ankle dislocation he was in our top five midfielders by most key statistical measures.

All the good riddance, he's a dud type talk on this thread is really off the mark for mine.

His biggest issue has always been his disposal skills and decision making. He certainly wasn't top 5 for key stats last year at the half way mark but fact is by the end of year he was no better than 10th for most of the key midfielder stats except for tackles (2nd most). Problem is he was 4th in clangers and 5th in turnovers and 18th in effective disposal percentage. Backs up really what his issue has always been from Day 1. Certainly he has assets that will undoubtedly benefit the struggling Fremantle side but for the Tigers he had a lot of depth to compete against for his position. Definitely someone we could afford to lose and end of round 2 draft pick was suitable compensation imo.

 

[tigerlove]

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2018-06-22/midseason-tiger-stats-stars

3rd for kicks, 5th for handballs, 4th for total disposals, 5th for contested possessions, 4th for uncontested possessions, 4th for centre clearances and 1st for tackles in the side that was on top of the ladder and dominating the competition.

I take your point about quality of disposal but when you play the inside mid role your disposal quality is always going to be down, just like Cotchin and Martin are often, not to mention that disposal efficiency is the most flawed stat in footy.

Yes but Cotchin and Martin are damaging players with their disposal. They also are far superior for contested possessions and get far more disposals. That's why with disposal efficiency I also always looked at contested possessions. It then gives you a clearer picture. Those stats from Greenbaum are flawed as they are TOTAL stats not AVERAGE. For example Prestia had played far less games at that point but key average stats were better. Someone like Edwards had similar number of disposals at the halfway mark but again does things with the ball that are much more damaging per disposal. So on that basis Conca is probably running at the 6th or 7th midfielder by stats at the halfway mark. With the up and coming younger midfield brigade and maybe a similar player like Caddy and Higgins probably spending more midfield time this season Conca is one we could have afforded to lose. Again Conca isn't a slouch, he has ability but realistically was down our pecking order due to our strong playing list. How refreshing after 30 + years is it to be able to say that?

 

[spook]

Agree, Richo.

 

[turk-d-tiger]

With no disrespect to any player that puts on the Richmond jumper and gives his all for the club, I just see Conca as a role player thats easily replaced by another soldier thats cheaper in relation to salary cap. Conca would have been offered atleast $350-$400k to move as well as a longer term deal and good on him for taking it and must do the best he can for his future but for the RFC i dont believe we will lose alot from replacing him with a kid like Ross or English but allows us to save $250k a year which enables us to perhaps keep a Vlastuin / Rioli / Butler at the club.

Good luck to Cuddles and hope he has a great future at freo