The long and short of our game plan . . .
Danny Frawley
richmondfc.com.au
11:39:59 AM Thu 14 August, 2003
There's been a lot of talk about the Richmond game plan since last Saturday night's 'shocker' against St Kilda at Telstra Dome.
I would like to take this opportunity to assure all Tiger fans that what they saw was not the game plan.
We were far too stagnant and moved the ball far too slowly. To go inside our forward 50 area only 42 times in that arena, and have as many possessions as St Kilda, yet get beaten by 80 points, strongly suggests that we were over-using the ball.
Rest assured, we've gone right through what our style of play should be in the past few days, and how we can get back to what makes us a good team.
Our style against the Bulldogs on the same ground just two weeks beforehand, was very good, so it's not as though the players can't stick to the game plan.
Basically, our game plan revolves around moving the ball quickly and directly to our taller players inside the forward 50. By doing that, we're making the most of our assets, which are the number of big, strong forwards we have -- and the ability of smaller players such as Andy Krakouer, Dave Rodan and Marty McGrath to 'crumb' to them.
Obviously, last Saturday night we failed miserably to do this anywhere near enough times -- and we got punished accordingly.
To have finished the season on that note would have been a disaster, so from that point there's certainly a positive to be gained from the fact we still have three games to provide our supporters with some real hope for next year.
There's been plenty said in the media over the past few days about what our players can't do. Yet the same group put up a really good performance against Fremantle at Subiaco seven days earlier and nearly jagged the game.
Last Saturday night's display was totally unacceptable, but it's time now for us to move on and focus on the positives we can gain out of the rest of the season. That's not to say we completely erase the memory of that St Kilda match from our minds, because we need to make sure we don't have a repeat of that poor football. However, it's important for us to strive to get as much out of the remaining weeks of the season as possible.
We'll be trying a few more things with the 2004 season in mind, such as experimenting with players in some different on-field positions. And, just on that, I think the experiment of playing Matty Richardson up the ground is still working. Sure, Matty was down last Saturday night, but overall, there's been a lot more positives than negatives so far with that move.
Danny Frawley
richmondfc.com.au
11:39:59 AM Thu 14 August, 2003
There's been a lot of talk about the Richmond game plan since last Saturday night's 'shocker' against St Kilda at Telstra Dome.
I would like to take this opportunity to assure all Tiger fans that what they saw was not the game plan.
We were far too stagnant and moved the ball far too slowly. To go inside our forward 50 area only 42 times in that arena, and have as many possessions as St Kilda, yet get beaten by 80 points, strongly suggests that we were over-using the ball.
Rest assured, we've gone right through what our style of play should be in the past few days, and how we can get back to what makes us a good team.
Our style against the Bulldogs on the same ground just two weeks beforehand, was very good, so it's not as though the players can't stick to the game plan.
Basically, our game plan revolves around moving the ball quickly and directly to our taller players inside the forward 50. By doing that, we're making the most of our assets, which are the number of big, strong forwards we have -- and the ability of smaller players such as Andy Krakouer, Dave Rodan and Marty McGrath to 'crumb' to them.
Obviously, last Saturday night we failed miserably to do this anywhere near enough times -- and we got punished accordingly.
To have finished the season on that note would have been a disaster, so from that point there's certainly a positive to be gained from the fact we still have three games to provide our supporters with some real hope for next year.
There's been plenty said in the media over the past few days about what our players can't do. Yet the same group put up a really good performance against Fremantle at Subiaco seven days earlier and nearly jagged the game.
Last Saturday night's display was totally unacceptable, but it's time now for us to move on and focus on the positives we can gain out of the rest of the season. That's not to say we completely erase the memory of that St Kilda match from our minds, because we need to make sure we don't have a repeat of that poor football. However, it's important for us to strive to get as much out of the remaining weeks of the season as possible.
We'll be trying a few more things with the 2004 season in mind, such as experimenting with players in some different on-field positions. And, just on that, I think the experiment of playing Matty Richardson up the ground is still working. Sure, Matty was down last Saturday night, but overall, there's been a lot more positives than negatives so far with that move.
