AFL article on sundays game

[Tigerdog]

competition over the past 20 years with just two finals appearances – in 1995 and 2001 – after having won five premierships between 1967 and 1980.

And the Tigers’ 2003 season could not have got off to a worse start last Friday night when it easily swept aside by a Collingwood side missing five of its best players.

Unlike the Western Bulldogs, so much is expected of Richmond year in, year out that even on Sunday – after other clubs such as St Kilda and Carlton had produced equally poor first-up performances – pre-match talkback was still dominated by angry Tigers fans lamenting their team’s Friday night performance.

The enormous outcry from Tiger fans over their first-up effort even led to the club’s new football operations manager Greg Miller telling them to be patient for three or four more years this week and to channel their passion into buying a membership instead of criticising the team.

But after 20 years of patience while their team lurched from one mediocre season to another – Tigers’ fans are fully entitled to expect, and will continue to demand better than what they were served up on Friday night.

And if the Tigers’ fail another character test, against the Bulldogs on Sunday, – the pressure on not only coach Danny Frawley but everyone working at Punt Road in an official capacity will only increase.

The Bulldogs can only dream of the day when so many people care about how they perform even though they have delivered so much value for money to their small band of supporters as any club over the past decade.

Paul Gough is the senior writer for the AFL-Telstra Network. The views expressed here aren't necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.

 

[Tigerdog]

oops :-[

 

[Tigerdog]

A test of character...
2:19:29 PM Thu 3 April, 2003
Paul Gough
afl.com.au
It might only be round two, but there will be a lot more than four points at stake when Richmond meet the Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome on Sunday.

In fact the match looms as such a test of character for both clubs it could shape the destiny of their entire seasons. The two teams could not be heading into the match in more contrasting circumstances.

On the one hand you have the Bulldogs – cash-strapped, fighting for their very survival and gutsy first round winners over Geelong.

But they are also a club – that while needing to win to boost income through increased membership and crowds – has little public expectation on it to be successful in 2003.

That’s because the Bulldogs – a team that already looked light on for height – has now lost their captain Chris Grant for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

For a club which was already desperately short on for genuine key position players it was a devastating blow and one not many AFL fans expect them to recover from.

But then again this is the Western Bulldogs – a club that has never been known for hoisting the white flag when its backs are against the wall and repeatedly comes through tests of character with flying colors.

It is a club that despite having one of the lowest supporter bases in the competition came desperately close to winning a premiership in 1997 and has been in the finals for seven of the past 11 years.

Then you have Richmond – a traditional powerhouse of the competition who along with Collingwood and Essendon is renowned amongst the Victorian clubs for having the largest and most passionate supporter base.

But the Tigers, for all their passion and their ability to draw some of the biggest crowds in the competition, have been the least successful Victorian club in the competition competition over the past 20 years with just two finals appearances – in 1995 and 2001 – after having won five premierships between 1967 and 1980.

And the Tigers’ 2003 season could not have got off to a worse start last Friday night when it easily swept aside by a Collingwood side missing five of its best players.

Unlike the Western Bulldogs, so much is expected of Richmond year in, year out that even on Sunday – after other clubs such as St Kilda and Carlton had produced equally poor first-up performances – pre-match talkback was still dominated by angry Tigers fans lamenting their team’s Friday night performance.

The enormous outcry from Tiger fans over their first-up effort even led to the club’s new football operations manager Greg Miller telling them to be patient for three or four more years this week and to channel their passion into buying a membership instead of criticising the team.

But after 20 years of patience while their team lurched from one mediocre season to another – Tigers’ fans are fully entitled to expect, and will continue to demand better than what they were served up on Friday night.

And if the Tigers’ fail another character test, against the Bulldogs on Sunday, – the pressure on not only coach Danny Frawley but everyone working at Punt Road in an official capacity will only increase.

The Bulldogs can only dream of the day when so many people care about how they perform even though they have delivered so much value for money to their small band of supporters as any club over the past decade.

Paul Gough is the senior writer for the AFL-Telstra Network. The views expressed here aren't necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.

 

[mightytiges]

And the Tigers’ 2003 season could not have got off to a worse start last Friday night when it easily swept aside by a Collingwood side missing five of its best players.

It's amazing how long-term injured players are forgotten by the media. We didn't have Otto, Dutchy, Dragga, Chaffey,Duncan and Krakouer last friday night. Yes we were poor and I'm not using injuries as an excuse but I'm sick off the media all last and this week acting as though we were at virtually full strength. Collingwood weren't too crash hot either just more efficient than us but somehow their absentees count for their average performance yet ours don't even get a mention.