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IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.
PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
The latest wave of crisis and disappointment to sweep the club forces our hand. The most logical strategy for 2009 is to finish in the bottom two. Our situation means we must 'tank' (a fielding strategy, not a playing strategy), which you will see includes some senior players.
Consider this statement.
"I hate the concept of tanking, therefore, winning is better".
If I hate something, does that make it the wrong option? Because losing feels bad? Should I sacrifice my long-term health in fear of impending pain?
By now, most of you are aware that tanking does not involve voluntarily losing games. In order to lose most of our games this season we must viciously promote a competitive attitude among the players. Tanking is purely a strategic decision to field players with a long-term focus in mind.
By extension, this includes leadership.
Our youngsters' attitudes, development, and most of all - their habits - are what will define our future culture. It is vital that we surround these young men with leaders who inspire greatness. That means Ben Cousins. Yes, to "tank" and to "play the kids" means we must also play the likes of Ben Cousins for the next 2-3 years. If Kane Johnson is legitimately in our best 22 - he should also be retained. Be careful not to misinterpret that sentence. On that, I obviously have serious doubts and expect him to retire this year. Hopefully you understand my philosophy.
If we employ a ruthless youth policy, with no senior players whatsoever, then we run the risk of developing a losing culture among the kids and starting another 7-8 rebuild cycle. This is because losing games in an environment with poor leadership is most likely a death sentence. Carlton had Chris Judd to make their tank possible. St Kilda didn't have a Chris Judd and in turn have taken 9 years to become unstoppable. We have Trent Cotchin in the future, and Ben Cousins right now.
Contrary to popular belief, we have not "wasted" Terry's 5 years. It takes 7-8 years. We are probably 1-2 years behind in our goal due to lack of discipline in following the original plan (or there is a theory that we actually executed the original plan - which was not to win a premiership by 2009 but to revive our fortunes - quite well... but we'll save that for another thread).
Lastly, we simply can not afford to start an entire rebuild from scratch. If we do, at the end of the next 7-8 year cycle we will be left with another string of 30yo's on our list (the Deledio batch of players we have now). This will be in the year 2018 or so and will require another 5 years of rebuilding. It could be 2022+ before we get our list right! Our club's long-term success is dramatically depending on the next 4 years of decision making.
If you still believe we should field a team designed to win as many matches in 2009 as possible, then again I ask you:
Would you delist Deledio + Cotchin in order to finish 9th in 2004 and 2007?
Consider this statement.
"I hate the concept of tanking, therefore, winning is better".
If I hate something, does that make it the wrong option? Because losing feels bad? Should I sacrifice my long-term health in fear of impending pain?
By now, most of you are aware that tanking does not involve voluntarily losing games. In order to lose most of our games this season we must viciously promote a competitive attitude among the players. Tanking is purely a strategic decision to field players with a long-term focus in mind.
By extension, this includes leadership.
Our youngsters' attitudes, development, and most of all - their habits - are what will define our future culture. It is vital that we surround these young men with leaders who inspire greatness. That means Ben Cousins. Yes, to "tank" and to "play the kids" means we must also play the likes of Ben Cousins for the next 2-3 years. If Kane Johnson is legitimately in our best 22 - he should also be retained. Be careful not to misinterpret that sentence. On that, I obviously have serious doubts and expect him to retire this year. Hopefully you understand my philosophy.
If we employ a ruthless youth policy, with no senior players whatsoever, then we run the risk of developing a losing culture among the kids and starting another 7-8 rebuild cycle. This is because losing games in an environment with poor leadership is most likely a death sentence. Carlton had Chris Judd to make their tank possible. St Kilda didn't have a Chris Judd and in turn have taken 9 years to become unstoppable. We have Trent Cotchin in the future, and Ben Cousins right now.
Contrary to popular belief, we have not "wasted" Terry's 5 years. It takes 7-8 years. We are probably 1-2 years behind in our goal due to lack of discipline in following the original plan (or there is a theory that we actually executed the original plan - which was not to win a premiership by 2009 but to revive our fortunes - quite well... but we'll save that for another thread).
Lastly, we simply can not afford to start an entire rebuild from scratch. If we do, at the end of the next 7-8 year cycle we will be left with another string of 30yo's on our list (the Deledio batch of players we have now). This will be in the year 2018 or so and will require another 5 years of rebuilding. It could be 2022+ before we get our list right! Our club's long-term success is dramatically depending on the next 4 years of decision making.
If you still believe we should field a team designed to win as many matches in 2009 as possible, then again I ask you:
Would you delist Deledio + Cotchin in order to finish 9th in 2004 and 2007?