'Spud' spies improvement | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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'Spud' spies improvement

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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."
 
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I agree with Danny's assessment here. Royce and Houla were two I really thought showed a big improvement and deserved a pat on the back.
 
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Spot on, I mentioned about Chaffs kicking out in the other thread. He gets a bit of air under them at times. Some of the kickouts straight up the ground into the wind were a tad nervewracking too.
I'm a lot less confident with Joel kicking out.
Leon is the player I like see kick out, but will be hard if they are going to play him on the forward line.
I spose Campbo will do it a bit.
Who are our best options for kicking out?
 

DragicevicFan

Tiger Legend
Dec 30, 2002
5,484
21
Melbourne
I'd say the likely suspects would be:

Cameron
Chaffey
Campbell
Bowden
Tivendale
Houlihan

Which one is the best option?

Cameron is probably pick, but if he up forward we should find someone else.

Chaffey kicks the ball too high, and is too predictable in where he kicks it in my opinion.

Campbell is fairly reliable, wouldnt turn many over, but tends to go short with any of his kick ins

Bowden kicking in scares me no end, I'm still having restless nights after him kicking in against adelaide last year. In fact joel anywhere in the backline scares me, keep him forward of the centre wherever possible.

Tivendale is fairly reliable, usually sprays a couple a game, but his long flat and fast kicks are well suited to the job.

Houlihan seems to be being groomed for the role, and i have never had much time for him, but he actually played well yesterday, turned a few over, but the more he does it, the better i think he'll get. He does have a good footy brain, and good skills, and he cant get tackled or hurt while kicking in
 

mongrel_punt

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!
Mar 4, 2003
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Hawthorn
:-/Re: 'Spud' spies improvement

What about Chris Newman? His skills are solid.

I think we get better value out of Bowden and Cameron if they are link players who carry it into the forward line.

Houlihan and Chaffey miss targets to often.

Another thing, Homewood has a fantastic kick on him. It was a pitty he never developed or given the opportunity to develop. Oh well :-/

Won't it be great to have Holland back as a marking target. It's the option we have been missing.