A lot is being written about the Tigers and the end of an era. But is it really true?
Certainly, they are not the irresistible force they used to be but are they about to fall off a cliff or is this just a reset?
When you look at the Tigers players, most of the seasoned players are still playing well with no noticeable decline. Younger players are just starting their best years. Senior players may have slipped a bit but still earn their spot in the team.
All up that is a very good core to be a competitive team. So why have the Tigers slipped this year?
Maybe it is just a hunger thing. Maybe three premierships make the players just that one per cent less desperate. Even their supporters probably don’t feel the losses quite so much now after four unbelievable years.
Is it reasonable to expect the players to maintain that 100 per cent focus and effort during the regular season? We are told by the experts that even a one per cent drop in today’s game seems to make a big difference.
Maybe if they make the finals will they regain that total commitment and get three in a row?
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
It will be unlikely that the Tigers will succeed this year but for a reason that has not been written about. That reason is the change in assistant coaches.
The assistant coaches that helped Damien Hardwick get this side from a mid-ranked team to the top have now all gone. Ben Rutten left a couple of years ago and Justin Leppitsch and Craig McRae moved on last year.
These were the people who came in after the Richmond review. These are the people who, from the outside at least, drove and enabled the development and changes in 2017. Not just the players, but the coach as well.
Ben Rutten has shown how good he is at Essendon. Alastair Clarkson grabbed McRae for Hawthorn and Leppitsch must surely be a serious contender for the next coaching vacancy. That’s a huge amount of smarts that has left the club. You can’t just replace these guys with like-for-like replacements overnight.
Replacing these three exceptional assistant coaches could not have had worse timing, just when Richmond must find a way to replace five ageing champions.
These ageing champions have earned the right to be first choice in team selection unless a young player is playing too well to be ignored. However, the young Tigers players coming through are just not quite at a level that they demand their turn.
If they don’t get their turn then they may fall away and be lost to the club. This is where Craig McRae in particular appears to be sorely missed.
Not only did these assistant coaches bring footy smarts, they were also senior enough to be on an equal footing with Damien Hardwick. Leppitsch had senior coach experience and Rutten was targeted from Geelong. Clearly Hardwick trusted them.
The current assistants may be very good and hopefully for Richmond they will fill the void but it is a big void to fill especially with reduced soft salary caps.
We know that Richmond still have a good playing group and we know they have a good senior coach. What we are seeing at Richmond is the true value of very good assistant coaches.
Whether this is the end of an era will depend on how good the current batch of assistant coaches can become.
Donmac
Roar Rookie
More chance of me replacing Gillon McLachlan and I'm and octogenarian.
Donmac
Roar Rookie
A Coach can only preach his message for a limited amount of time no matter how good he is and unfortunately for Richmond that's the situation with Hardwick. Their situation is further complicated by the fact that a large number of their senior list have achieved virtually everything there is to achieve in the AFL and it becomes harder for the coach to get them motivated after such a long period of success. I don't expect them to be the dominating force they have been for at least a couple or more seasons.
Tassie.
Roar Rookie
Thought Soldo would get a mention.
Kick to Kick
Roar Rookie
I think that just establishes that Hardwick is over-rated. Clarkson could prosper without him ( though maybe not without then football manager Chris Fagan). But Hardwick needed stronger assistants after modest results at Richmond. It’s said he didn’t work well with his earlier assistant team and remember 5 of them were shown the door after the 2016 review. Now the two assistants most credited with the 2017 improvement, Leppitsch and Caracalla are gone. And Hardwick looks strained and brittle again.
bagley
Roar Rookie
I think they got lucky with the shorter Quarters last year, their style is very similar to Ross Lyons teams, hard to maintain over a long period because of the physical demands on the playing group, they were better than St Kilda and Fremantle because they had a few forwards who were reliable goalkickers, I don't put as much weight on the assistant's theory, people bagged Alister Clarkson after Hardwick left Hawthorn and said he couldn't have had success without Hardwick, but that turned out to be wrong.
Power
Guest
cop it :silly:
Clear as mud
Guest
Great list, too many keys upfront and I would rank them: Franklin, J Brown, Hawkins, Roughy, Riewoldt/Lynch I always see Chappy as being that extra George Harrison type that made the Cats unbeatable-ish No to Houli, has played two great GFs but is not of sufficient quality generally compared to this list of great players
If you got any spare ladies yattz send one my way mines getting old and declined like my tigers :laughing:
:laughing:
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
If it was Linkd In, I would be getting unsolicited requests from young Ladies. Not raspberries from you and the R ones. Spanner knows the score without the taking the puss emoji.
1dog
Roar Rookie
I should add it to my profile thingymabob
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
Hahaha, now that is selective.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Well you said it not me, l didn’t hear or see anything!
1dog
Roar Rookie
I’ve never seen a 360 dunk or a tomahawk dunk in water polo!!! And I’m a member of the national waterpolo watching association
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Water polo would have been closer to the point!
1dog
Roar Rookie
She doesn’t play basketball
ChrisH
Roar Rookie
Well, now that we're thinking of calling it on the Tiges' time... can I ask that someone who's happy to stand in front of a firing squad write an article here on the best 22 (in their rightful playing positions if you want to make it really hard) from the four dynasties of this century. Without even thinking too much, names that come to mind for me are Voss, Black, A Lynch, J Brown, Leppitsch, Keating, Ackermanis, Ablett, Hawkins, Selwood, Taylor, Ottens, Scarlett, Enright, Bartel, Johnson, Corey, Hodge, Franklin, C Rioli, Mitchell, Crawford, Lake, Roughead, Riewoldt, Martin, Rance, Houli, Cotchin, Grimes... Good luck!
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
Mate this isn’t linked in. We are free to talk sheet on this site.
pablocruz
Roar Rookie
This year, dude. 2 games, 2 wins. What could be simpler?
Timbo's rules
Guest
All credit to them, they won 3 flags on the back of unwatchable footy. The rules have changed to bring back the flow and the fans' enjoyment, and it does not suit Richmond. Bye. I won't miss you. Unlike Brisbane, Geelong or Hawthorne I rarely enjoyed watching Richmond play.