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PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
Richmond 2008 end-of-season review
Defence:
2007 points against 2537.
2008 points against 2288 (11.4 points against less per game)
Luke McGuane: 7/10 Began the year filling in in defence, ended as a certain starter. Aggressive, quick, tall, reasonable ball use.
Will Thursfield: 7/10 Quiet but solid as always. Maybe needs to take the next step and start running off a bit not just defending.
Jake King: 4/10 Love this guy, but coaches don’t . Probably if you analyse his play he kicks a bit here and there, which is not the way forward.
Chris Newman: 8/10 Best year yet, solid, sensible, and kicks torps out of defence
Joel Bowden: 8/10 Aside from a few games, was amazing and won some unwinnable games single-handedly.
Kelvin Moore: 8/10 Finally came good. Great skill, size, speed and disposal. Probably overtook Thursfield.
Jordan McMahon: 8/10 Really added efficiency to entering the forward 50. Good pick up, but then again, so would whoever we picked at pick 19. Needed to fill the mid-age player gap on our list.
Graham Polak: 3/10 bit average in his impact. Unlikely to be able to play again.
Jay Schulz: 6/10 Took big steps forward this year, including some near 30 disposal games. Great ball use. Utility role.
Andrew Raines: 0/10 Injured all year. Certainly we have a spot in defence for a small running defender.
Attack:
2007 points for: 1958.
2008 points for: 2228 (12.3 points for more per game)
2008: 13 players with 10 or more goals
2007: 10 players with 10 or more goals
Cleve Hughes: 1/10 Good lead, good kick, nothing else yet. Kicked a bag of 6, but doesn’t do enough. Is progressing but…
Mitch Morton: 5/10 Really interesting player. Good get. Plays a bit like Mark Williams.
Jack Reiwoldt: 3/10 Looks like a modern CHF. Ball winner, good user of the ball, good kick, but not really scoring much though kicked his first bag as well. Reasonable, not stellar.
Nathan Brown: 4/10 Won us a game or two, not fully fit. Good to have in the team though.
Kayne Pettifer: 0/10 Injured and uninterested. Could come back to pair with morton as mid sized forwards. His age says he will stay at the club to fill mid-age void.
Daniel Connors: 2/10 Still a psycho but gee he has talent. Looks like coming good.
Shane Edwards: 2/10 Didn’t improve from last year. Very thin, bad kick, but finds the ball and handballs well. Not sure on him.
Midfield:
Richard Tambling: 4/10 Improved, and even had a BOG or two, but mostly went missing. Very slow progress but his ball use has improved out of sight.
Mark Coughlan: 0/10 Injured. Will make a big difference if he can come back.
Nathan Foley: 6/10 Good first half, quiet second half. Better last year but still excellent.
Brett Deledio: 9/10 Very big year. Not flashy but he is unbelievably skilful, and a huge part of our rise up the ladder.
Kane Johnson: 7/10 Played a good year. Still not a great leader, but tagged well and used the ball well going into defence and giving a passing option.
Shane Tuck: 9/10 Huge year. Strong, aggressive, great ball use. Gun.
Trent Cotchin: 4/10 About as good a young player as I have seen (J.Selwood aside). Our next Deledio. Blues can keep Krueser.
Dean Polo: 3/10 I like him, but coach doesn’t. Not quick, but great balance, good ball use. Will play next year, hopefully in the firsts.
Daniel Jackson: 3/10 Not sure. When the chips are down, he steps up. Only modest ball use, but finds the ball well, and makes things happen. He and Polo could go anywhere from really good to gone next year.
Matthew Richardson: 10/10 ‘Nuff said.
Matt White: 6/10 If he would just win the ball 5 more times per game, he would be complete. Very keen, very fit, very quick, modest ball use. Big improver this year but like Edwards, not sure if he is all there as a player.
Ruck:
Adam Pattison: 1/10 It’s great he can run slowly all day. It’s great he tries really hard, but really he cant kick and is a short ruckman.
Angus Graham: 0/10 I think he can come good. Mobile 2m tall player, but didn’t come through this year as I thought. I think he needs game time at the top. Terry doesn’t.
Troy Simmonds: 7/10 Good year, nearly very good. Great to have around the grounds, pity we don’t have another like him. Not tall enough to really win the taps.
Tristan Cartilage: 1/10 Solid plan B player, not at all sure he has anything more than that to offer. Good idea to try him though and players like him.
On the Pine:
Chris Hyde: 2/10 Good player but 10 kids fulfil the same role.
Greg Tivendale: 4/10 Very good this year but again, youth policy won. The fact he wasn’t played much says Richmond were not totally focussed on winning this year.
Cam Howat: 0/10 Get rid of him. B grade midfielder.
Jarrod Silvester: 0/10 Our ‘encourage Coburg players’ rookie. Slow key defender. Gawn.
Kids: (these scores reflect their progress this year)
Jarrod Oakley Nicholls (HBF): 4/10 Only slow progress after several years. When drafted the Tigers took him to totally reconstruct his game. Don’t think it worked.
Dean Putt (ruck/forward): 3/10 Ruckman sized forward. Will take years. Did manage to sneak up to the Coburg seniors in his first year though. Could be OK.
Travis Casserley (CHB): 1/10 God, is he still on the list? Every club has their Courtney Johns. Mid sized HBF who is brainless and has shown nothing, so Greg Miller kept extending his contract.
Danny Meyer (small forward/mid): 6/10 Thought he was gone, but got past some injuries this year and last in the season was seriously pushing for selection. We shall see. Last chance coming up.
David Gourdis (FB or FF): 3/10 Athlete, but needs brain training and kicking training. If he comes good he will be excellent, but has shown little. Will take a year or two for sure.
Alex Rance (FB): 8/10 Won best Coburg player, progressed fast from Coburg reserves to Coburg firsts. Strong running defender. Almost certain to come good, but I can’t see who of Thursfield, McGunae or Moore would step aside for him.
Development of younger players in 2008:
The odd thing this year: The kids I thought most likely to fail nearly to a man came good. The kids most likely to be firsts players (in my estimation) were at Coburg or beyond. Kids in the middle of the pack stayed there.
Much better all-in-all, and our depth now is good, even if the kids are not all reaching great heights.
Coaching: Were 2 assistant coaches down this year. Are two recruiters down still. Added full time psychologist late in the year and list manager. Certainly the kids developed much better this year. Craig MCray the junior development coach has really helped.
Terry did better this year in the game day stuff, though last year with the injury plague, he probably had little to work with.
General strengths: Defence, midfield improving.
What is missing: Rucks, bigger forwards, another inside mid or two. Several key off-field staff in the recruiting and assistant coach areas.
Summary: Big steps forward, but still with question marks over whether Tiges have a full set of tools in the toolbox. Played Geelong twice and Hawthorn twice each, competitive in three of those, won one, thrashed once. Probably was the difference between making and not making the finals. One Jack Reiwoldt straight kick after the siren to beat the Saints would have got us in too.
p.s: Apparently that Andrew Collins guy plays for us too. (oops). surprised he didn't win the Brownlow.
Defence:
2007 points against 2537.
2008 points against 2288 (11.4 points against less per game)
Luke McGuane: 7/10 Began the year filling in in defence, ended as a certain starter. Aggressive, quick, tall, reasonable ball use.
Will Thursfield: 7/10 Quiet but solid as always. Maybe needs to take the next step and start running off a bit not just defending.
Jake King: 4/10 Love this guy, but coaches don’t . Probably if you analyse his play he kicks a bit here and there, which is not the way forward.
Chris Newman: 8/10 Best year yet, solid, sensible, and kicks torps out of defence
Joel Bowden: 8/10 Aside from a few games, was amazing and won some unwinnable games single-handedly.
Kelvin Moore: 8/10 Finally came good. Great skill, size, speed and disposal. Probably overtook Thursfield.
Jordan McMahon: 8/10 Really added efficiency to entering the forward 50. Good pick up, but then again, so would whoever we picked at pick 19. Needed to fill the mid-age player gap on our list.
Graham Polak: 3/10 bit average in his impact. Unlikely to be able to play again.
Jay Schulz: 6/10 Took big steps forward this year, including some near 30 disposal games. Great ball use. Utility role.
Andrew Raines: 0/10 Injured all year. Certainly we have a spot in defence for a small running defender.
Attack:
2007 points for: 1958.
2008 points for: 2228 (12.3 points for more per game)
2008: 13 players with 10 or more goals
2007: 10 players with 10 or more goals
Cleve Hughes: 1/10 Good lead, good kick, nothing else yet. Kicked a bag of 6, but doesn’t do enough. Is progressing but…
Mitch Morton: 5/10 Really interesting player. Good get. Plays a bit like Mark Williams.
Jack Reiwoldt: 3/10 Looks like a modern CHF. Ball winner, good user of the ball, good kick, but not really scoring much though kicked his first bag as well. Reasonable, not stellar.
Nathan Brown: 4/10 Won us a game or two, not fully fit. Good to have in the team though.
Kayne Pettifer: 0/10 Injured and uninterested. Could come back to pair with morton as mid sized forwards. His age says he will stay at the club to fill mid-age void.
Daniel Connors: 2/10 Still a psycho but gee he has talent. Looks like coming good.
Shane Edwards: 2/10 Didn’t improve from last year. Very thin, bad kick, but finds the ball and handballs well. Not sure on him.
Midfield:
Richard Tambling: 4/10 Improved, and even had a BOG or two, but mostly went missing. Very slow progress but his ball use has improved out of sight.
Mark Coughlan: 0/10 Injured. Will make a big difference if he can come back.
Nathan Foley: 6/10 Good first half, quiet second half. Better last year but still excellent.
Brett Deledio: 9/10 Very big year. Not flashy but he is unbelievably skilful, and a huge part of our rise up the ladder.
Kane Johnson: 7/10 Played a good year. Still not a great leader, but tagged well and used the ball well going into defence and giving a passing option.
Shane Tuck: 9/10 Huge year. Strong, aggressive, great ball use. Gun.
Trent Cotchin: 4/10 About as good a young player as I have seen (J.Selwood aside). Our next Deledio. Blues can keep Krueser.
Dean Polo: 3/10 I like him, but coach doesn’t. Not quick, but great balance, good ball use. Will play next year, hopefully in the firsts.
Daniel Jackson: 3/10 Not sure. When the chips are down, he steps up. Only modest ball use, but finds the ball well, and makes things happen. He and Polo could go anywhere from really good to gone next year.
Matthew Richardson: 10/10 ‘Nuff said.
Matt White: 6/10 If he would just win the ball 5 more times per game, he would be complete. Very keen, very fit, very quick, modest ball use. Big improver this year but like Edwards, not sure if he is all there as a player.
Ruck:
Adam Pattison: 1/10 It’s great he can run slowly all day. It’s great he tries really hard, but really he cant kick and is a short ruckman.
Angus Graham: 0/10 I think he can come good. Mobile 2m tall player, but didn’t come through this year as I thought. I think he needs game time at the top. Terry doesn’t.
Troy Simmonds: 7/10 Good year, nearly very good. Great to have around the grounds, pity we don’t have another like him. Not tall enough to really win the taps.
Tristan Cartilage: 1/10 Solid plan B player, not at all sure he has anything more than that to offer. Good idea to try him though and players like him.
On the Pine:
Chris Hyde: 2/10 Good player but 10 kids fulfil the same role.
Greg Tivendale: 4/10 Very good this year but again, youth policy won. The fact he wasn’t played much says Richmond were not totally focussed on winning this year.
Cam Howat: 0/10 Get rid of him. B grade midfielder.
Jarrod Silvester: 0/10 Our ‘encourage Coburg players’ rookie. Slow key defender. Gawn.
Kids: (these scores reflect their progress this year)
Jarrod Oakley Nicholls (HBF): 4/10 Only slow progress after several years. When drafted the Tigers took him to totally reconstruct his game. Don’t think it worked.
Dean Putt (ruck/forward): 3/10 Ruckman sized forward. Will take years. Did manage to sneak up to the Coburg seniors in his first year though. Could be OK.
Travis Casserley (CHB): 1/10 God, is he still on the list? Every club has their Courtney Johns. Mid sized HBF who is brainless and has shown nothing, so Greg Miller kept extending his contract.
Danny Meyer (small forward/mid): 6/10 Thought he was gone, but got past some injuries this year and last in the season was seriously pushing for selection. We shall see. Last chance coming up.
David Gourdis (FB or FF): 3/10 Athlete, but needs brain training and kicking training. If he comes good he will be excellent, but has shown little. Will take a year or two for sure.
Alex Rance (FB): 8/10 Won best Coburg player, progressed fast from Coburg reserves to Coburg firsts. Strong running defender. Almost certain to come good, but I can’t see who of Thursfield, McGunae or Moore would step aside for him.
Development of younger players in 2008:
The odd thing this year: The kids I thought most likely to fail nearly to a man came good. The kids most likely to be firsts players (in my estimation) were at Coburg or beyond. Kids in the middle of the pack stayed there.
Much better all-in-all, and our depth now is good, even if the kids are not all reaching great heights.
Coaching: Were 2 assistant coaches down this year. Are two recruiters down still. Added full time psychologist late in the year and list manager. Certainly the kids developed much better this year. Craig MCray the junior development coach has really helped.
Terry did better this year in the game day stuff, though last year with the injury plague, he probably had little to work with.
General strengths: Defence, midfield improving.
What is missing: Rucks, bigger forwards, another inside mid or two. Several key off-field staff in the recruiting and assistant coach areas.
Summary: Big steps forward, but still with question marks over whether Tiges have a full set of tools in the toolbox. Played Geelong twice and Hawthorn twice each, competitive in three of those, won one, thrashed once. Probably was the difference between making and not making the finals. One Jack Reiwoldt straight kick after the siren to beat the Saints would have got us in too.
p.s: Apparently that Andrew Collins guy plays for us too. (oops). surprised he didn't win the Brownlow.