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'Spud' spies improvement
6:20:38 PM Sat 8 March, 2003
Barry Levinson
afl.com.au
Richmond coach Danny Frawley was pleased that his team showed strong signs of improvement in their 33-point victory over Carlton in a practice match at Optus Oval.
After a disappointing start to the pre-season, which saw they Tigers bundled out of the Wizard Home Loans Cup by Melbourne and an inexperienced team dispatched by Fremantle in Geraldton, Richmond looked better the longer the game continued.
"It was just a good consistent effort, I thought," Frawley said afterwards.
"We were a bit scratchy early, but I think that was the pleasing part of the game - we didn't play our best footy early but we were able to knuckle down after that and get a bit of system going.
"It's only a practice match. It's good for everyone's confidence to know that with all the hard work you can get some reward for effort, but the real stuff starts in 20 days."
Joel Bowden excelled for the Tigers in the midfield and was well supported by Kane Johnson and Mark Coughlan.
Frawley was also pleased that captain Wayne Campbell, ex-Bomber Justin Blumfield and tall option Ray Hall had some time on the ground in their first hit-outs of the pre-season. All played about two quarters each.
"We got some quality time into a number of players that have been a little bit underdone." the coach said. "Campbell, Blumfield and Hall haven't played much footy, so it was great to see them get a little bit of football."
Hall received a knock in the ribs late in the game, but the Tigers are hopeful that he will be okay.
The Richmond coach was encouraged by the performance of his defence and singled out Royce Vardy at full-back and Adam Houlihan as a creative small defender.
"I thought a couple of guys jumped up there for us," he said. "Vardy and Houlihan were terrific. Royce playing in the key defensive post just allows everyone else to play in some (other) positions where they are more suited.
And this was despite Vardy's opponent Brendan Fevola booting four first-half goals.
"I must admit, I was a bit taken aback when someone said to me at half-time that Fevola had kicked four," Frawley recalled. "I thought Royce's efforts in the first half were terrific. You don't want to get multiples kicked against you, but sometimes the scoreboard tells a bit of a fib."
6:20:38 PM Sat 8 March, 2003
Barry Levinson
afl.com.au
Richmond coach Danny Frawley was pleased that his team showed strong signs of improvement in their 33-point victory over Carlton in a practice match at Optus Oval.
After a disappointing start to the pre-season, which saw they Tigers bundled out of the Wizard Home Loans Cup by Melbourne and an inexperienced team dispatched by Fremantle in Geraldton, Richmond looked better the longer the game continued.
"It was just a good consistent effort, I thought," Frawley said afterwards.
"We were a bit scratchy early, but I think that was the pleasing part of the game - we didn't play our best footy early but we were able to knuckle down after that and get a bit of system going.
"It's only a practice match. It's good for everyone's confidence to know that with all the hard work you can get some reward for effort, but the real stuff starts in 20 days."
Joel Bowden excelled for the Tigers in the midfield and was well supported by Kane Johnson and Mark Coughlan.
Frawley was also pleased that captain Wayne Campbell, ex-Bomber Justin Blumfield and tall option Ray Hall had some time on the ground in their first hit-outs of the pre-season. All played about two quarters each.
"We got some quality time into a number of players that have been a little bit underdone." the coach said. "Campbell, Blumfield and Hall haven't played much footy, so it was great to see them get a little bit of football."
Hall received a knock in the ribs late in the game, but the Tigers are hopeful that he will be okay.
The Richmond coach was encouraged by the performance of his defence and singled out Royce Vardy at full-back and Adam Houlihan as a creative small defender.
"I thought a couple of guys jumped up there for us," he said. "Vardy and Houlihan were terrific. Royce playing in the key defensive post just allows everyone else to play in some (other) positions where they are more suited.
And this was despite Vardy's opponent Brendan Fevola booting four first-half goals.
"I must admit, I was a bit taken aback when someone said to me at half-time that Fevola had kicked four," Frawley recalled. "I thought Royce's efforts in the first half were terrific. You don't want to get multiples kicked against you, but sometimes the scoreboard tells a bit of a fib."