Tigers and the Sheedy complex
By Jake Niall
May 10 2003
Kevin Sheedy still casts a substantial shadow over Punt Road. In Sheedy's extraordinary 22-year tenure at Windy Hill, the cannibalistic Tigers have consumed 10 coaches, a statistic that might explain why Sheeds has never been in a rush to get home.
Yet there's another stat that arguably reveals even more about the lopsided relationship between Sheedy and his alma mater. When Sheedy arrived at Essendon, the Tigers had beaten the Bombers 66 times to 65. Now, 10 Tiger coaches later, the scoreline is 95 to 75 in favour of Sheedy's adopted club.
The balance of power, on and off field, has tilted heavily towards the Bombers; in a sense, the clubs have traded places since Sheedy's defection, in much the same way that supremacy - and money - transferred from Melbourne to Carlton when Ron Barassi flew the coop. Little wonder those Richmond coteries are forever agitating for the prodigal's return.
Danny Frawley has been relatively successful by the standards of Richmond coaches over the past 20 years, with a win-loss ratio slightly above 50 per cent. Yet Frawley, too, has been terrorised by Essendon.
Spud has only one victory in seven encounters with the red sash. Essendon supporters could add that the sole Tiger victory, in round 22 of 2001, was a "dead rubber" for the Dons, who were guaranteed top spot on the ladder regardless of the result.
The following week, the Bombers towelled the Tigers by 12 goals in the qualifying final, prompting Carlton conspiracy theorists to claim that the Dons "laid down" the previous week to keep the Blues - denied fourth spot by Richmond - at bay.
Only one of those Essendon conquests was anything less than a flogging - Matthew Knights' farewell last year, which the Dons won by a point - and, in a few instances, the beatings have had severe repercussions, in that the traumatised Tigers have fallen apart thereafter, their belief battered as much as their bodies.
Last year was a standout example of the Dons deflating the Tigers' balloon. Richmond had beaten Collingwood by six goals in the first game. Matthew Richardson and Brad Ottens had shared 10 goals and, on the back of a preliminary final, the excitable Tiger hordes had even whispered the "P" word - premiership.
The contest was killed within 20 minutes. One could argue it was over as soon as Ray Hall lined up on James Hird, who might as well have been without an opponent for the first quarter. While the Tigers rebounded to beat Melbourne the following week, they didn't win many more for 2002.
The pattern of these matches has been for Richmond to enter the game "confident", for the Dons to lead by several goals at quarter-time and for the entire second half to constitute garbage time.
This week, Richmond is a bit like the Sherlock Holmes story about the dog that didn't bark, providing the clue - that the Tigers have chosen to say as little as possible tells us plenty. In this instance, it is that Frawley is mindful that he might have said too much before past encounters and, with the media's connivance, has played into Sheedy's hands.
Essendon assistant coach Mark Harvey gave a hint of how the Dons had used Frawley's words as motivational fodder following the round-two match last year. Frawley had made some innocuous remarks about the Tigers having become stronger over the pre-season, a line that suddenly played through the media as "we're tougher". In a post-match interview with Triple M, a scornful Harvey said words to the effect that, at Essendon, "we don't talk about how many weights we've done".
Frawley had also talked up the Tigers' chances before the 2001 qualifying final, only to be smashed. Thus, there is an understandable reluctance from the Richmond coach to say much this time. "We need four points like they do," said Frawley of the match. "I'm not going to talk about the past."
The strategy is best explained by one of Jack Dyer's most profound utterances: "I'm not going to say anything, in case I say something."
Richmond football director Greg Miller, a veteran of ferocious Essendon-North Melbourne wars and Pagan-Sheedy mind games, confirmed that Frawley - who has chosen to say far less in general this year - had been burnt by his Essendon experiences of the recent past. "He doesn't want to be drawn into a verbal confrontation with Kevin Sheedy before the match."
Richmond insiders acknowledge that the team has felt intimidated by Essendon in recent times - not so much in the physical sense, but in that the Tigers have been overawed by the occasion and by the Bombers' ability. There is also an admission that, more than once, the crushing has sent the Tigers into recession.
"We can't hide from that," said football manager Greg Hutchison of the impact on the club of what he termed the "terrible hidings" from Essendon. "I think round two last year was a classic and the year before . . . sent us into a bit of a tailspin. But look, we've also . . . we've shown 12 months ago that we're able to beat them. So they don't hold any great fears for us, whilst they're a very, very good side."
To say that Essendon's ascendancy over Richmond is largely psychological would be misleading, though belief has clearly played a part. Brendon Gale, who retired at the end of 2001, believes that the Richmond game plan and structure - built around predictable tall targets - had made it easy pickings for Essendon, with its superb defence and rebound game.
"I think Essendon is a side we haven't matched up with," said Gale. "We've always had big forwards and have played a long and direct, predictable game plan. They've had an outstanding defence the last four or five years . . . A side that was predictable with one or two targets has been picked off."
Gale also notes that Essendon's midfield was relatively strong from 1999 to 2002, while the Tigers were weakened in that department in the same period. "Essendon in recent seasons, they've had a lot of strong bodies over the footy." The arrival of Mark Coughlan and Kane Johnson to Tigerland should have redressed the imbalance of collision players.
Hutchison doubts that the past failures mean much today. Both sides are depleted and what we will see today is a test of each club's depth. "We've just got to play hard, tough footy," he said.
Like the silence of the coach, those words carry another truth - that hard, tough footy hasn't been produced by the yellow and blacks against Essendon often enough
By Jake Niall
May 10 2003
Kevin Sheedy still casts a substantial shadow over Punt Road. In Sheedy's extraordinary 22-year tenure at Windy Hill, the cannibalistic Tigers have consumed 10 coaches, a statistic that might explain why Sheeds has never been in a rush to get home.
Yet there's another stat that arguably reveals even more about the lopsided relationship between Sheedy and his alma mater. When Sheedy arrived at Essendon, the Tigers had beaten the Bombers 66 times to 65. Now, 10 Tiger coaches later, the scoreline is 95 to 75 in favour of Sheedy's adopted club.
The balance of power, on and off field, has tilted heavily towards the Bombers; in a sense, the clubs have traded places since Sheedy's defection, in much the same way that supremacy - and money - transferred from Melbourne to Carlton when Ron Barassi flew the coop. Little wonder those Richmond coteries are forever agitating for the prodigal's return.
Danny Frawley has been relatively successful by the standards of Richmond coaches over the past 20 years, with a win-loss ratio slightly above 50 per cent. Yet Frawley, too, has been terrorised by Essendon.
Spud has only one victory in seven encounters with the red sash. Essendon supporters could add that the sole Tiger victory, in round 22 of 2001, was a "dead rubber" for the Dons, who were guaranteed top spot on the ladder regardless of the result.
The following week, the Bombers towelled the Tigers by 12 goals in the qualifying final, prompting Carlton conspiracy theorists to claim that the Dons "laid down" the previous week to keep the Blues - denied fourth spot by Richmond - at bay.
Only one of those Essendon conquests was anything less than a flogging - Matthew Knights' farewell last year, which the Dons won by a point - and, in a few instances, the beatings have had severe repercussions, in that the traumatised Tigers have fallen apart thereafter, their belief battered as much as their bodies.
Last year was a standout example of the Dons deflating the Tigers' balloon. Richmond had beaten Collingwood by six goals in the first game. Matthew Richardson and Brad Ottens had shared 10 goals and, on the back of a preliminary final, the excitable Tiger hordes had even whispered the "P" word - premiership.
The contest was killed within 20 minutes. One could argue it was over as soon as Ray Hall lined up on James Hird, who might as well have been without an opponent for the first quarter. While the Tigers rebounded to beat Melbourne the following week, they didn't win many more for 2002.
The pattern of these matches has been for Richmond to enter the game "confident", for the Dons to lead by several goals at quarter-time and for the entire second half to constitute garbage time.
This week, Richmond is a bit like the Sherlock Holmes story about the dog that didn't bark, providing the clue - that the Tigers have chosen to say as little as possible tells us plenty. In this instance, it is that Frawley is mindful that he might have said too much before past encounters and, with the media's connivance, has played into Sheedy's hands.
Essendon assistant coach Mark Harvey gave a hint of how the Dons had used Frawley's words as motivational fodder following the round-two match last year. Frawley had made some innocuous remarks about the Tigers having become stronger over the pre-season, a line that suddenly played through the media as "we're tougher". In a post-match interview with Triple M, a scornful Harvey said words to the effect that, at Essendon, "we don't talk about how many weights we've done".
Frawley had also talked up the Tigers' chances before the 2001 qualifying final, only to be smashed. Thus, there is an understandable reluctance from the Richmond coach to say much this time. "We need four points like they do," said Frawley of the match. "I'm not going to talk about the past."
The strategy is best explained by one of Jack Dyer's most profound utterances: "I'm not going to say anything, in case I say something."
Richmond football director Greg Miller, a veteran of ferocious Essendon-North Melbourne wars and Pagan-Sheedy mind games, confirmed that Frawley - who has chosen to say far less in general this year - had been burnt by his Essendon experiences of the recent past. "He doesn't want to be drawn into a verbal confrontation with Kevin Sheedy before the match."
Richmond insiders acknowledge that the team has felt intimidated by Essendon in recent times - not so much in the physical sense, but in that the Tigers have been overawed by the occasion and by the Bombers' ability. There is also an admission that, more than once, the crushing has sent the Tigers into recession.
"We can't hide from that," said football manager Greg Hutchison of the impact on the club of what he termed the "terrible hidings" from Essendon. "I think round two last year was a classic and the year before . . . sent us into a bit of a tailspin. But look, we've also . . . we've shown 12 months ago that we're able to beat them. So they don't hold any great fears for us, whilst they're a very, very good side."
To say that Essendon's ascendancy over Richmond is largely psychological would be misleading, though belief has clearly played a part. Brendon Gale, who retired at the end of 2001, believes that the Richmond game plan and structure - built around predictable tall targets - had made it easy pickings for Essendon, with its superb defence and rebound game.
"I think Essendon is a side we haven't matched up with," said Gale. "We've always had big forwards and have played a long and direct, predictable game plan. They've had an outstanding defence the last four or five years . . . A side that was predictable with one or two targets has been picked off."
Gale also notes that Essendon's midfield was relatively strong from 1999 to 2002, while the Tigers were weakened in that department in the same period. "Essendon in recent seasons, they've had a lot of strong bodies over the footy." The arrival of Mark Coughlan and Kane Johnson to Tigerland should have redressed the imbalance of collision players.
Hutchison doubts that the past failures mean much today. Both sides are depleted and what we will see today is a test of each club's depth. "We've just got to play hard, tough footy," he said.
Like the silence of the coach, those words carry another truth - that hard, tough footy hasn't been produced by the yellow and blacks against Essendon often enough
