4:59:00 PM Wed 9 April, 2003
Jordan Chong
afl.com.au
Richmond skipper Wayne Campbell thinks his side will be able to adequately cover the loss of forward Matthew Richardson this week, but is wary of the threat Fremantle’s Matthew Pavlich poses.
Richardson, sidelined with a cheekbone fracture after a clash of heads with Bulldog Scott West during Richmond’s 28-point win over the Western Bulldogs last week, will miss Sunday’s match against Fremantle at the MCG.
Campbell believes the side will respond in the absence of the gun forward, safe in the knowledge that their spearhead is on-track to return in round four against St. Kilda.
“I think when you miss players like that for a week, it just throws the onus on everyone else. You can cover players for a week,” Campbell said.
“I think we’ve got the players there who can kick a winning score. It’s just a case of trying to manufacture goals for a week until he comes back.”
“When he’s down there he just presents so well that you have to kick to him so now that he’s not there we just can’t.”
Campbell also thought Richardson’s courage in continuing to play on in spite of the pain didn’t get the credit it deserved.
“He’s amazingly courageous and able to deal with injuries very well. To play a whole quarter with a fractured cheekbone and take contested marks like he did I think didn’t get enough plaudits.”
“A fair bit of ball gets directed to him or because of his athleticism he’s able to get to a lot of balls anyway, so you’d say we’d have to change the way we go about it a little bit,” Campbell added.
On Pavlich, the Tigers captain thought his side wouldn’t be the only team this season struggling to match-up on the Docker, now that Pavlich has been employed in more of a midfield role so far this season.
“For a guy of his size to be able to play midfield, he’s got something pretty special so he’s one player we’re certainly going to have to look at.”
Jordan Chong
afl.com.au
Richmond skipper Wayne Campbell thinks his side will be able to adequately cover the loss of forward Matthew Richardson this week, but is wary of the threat Fremantle’s Matthew Pavlich poses.
Richardson, sidelined with a cheekbone fracture after a clash of heads with Bulldog Scott West during Richmond’s 28-point win over the Western Bulldogs last week, will miss Sunday’s match against Fremantle at the MCG.
Campbell believes the side will respond in the absence of the gun forward, safe in the knowledge that their spearhead is on-track to return in round four against St. Kilda.
“I think when you miss players like that for a week, it just throws the onus on everyone else. You can cover players for a week,” Campbell said.
“I think we’ve got the players there who can kick a winning score. It’s just a case of trying to manufacture goals for a week until he comes back.”
“When he’s down there he just presents so well that you have to kick to him so now that he’s not there we just can’t.”
Campbell also thought Richardson’s courage in continuing to play on in spite of the pain didn’t get the credit it deserved.
“He’s amazingly courageous and able to deal with injuries very well. To play a whole quarter with a fractured cheekbone and take contested marks like he did I think didn’t get enough plaudits.”
“A fair bit of ball gets directed to him or because of his athleticism he’s able to get to a lot of balls anyway, so you’d say we’d have to change the way we go about it a little bit,” Campbell added.
On Pavlich, the Tigers captain thought his side wouldn’t be the only team this season struggling to match-up on the Docker, now that Pavlich has been employed in more of a midfield role so far this season.
“For a guy of his size to be able to play midfield, he’s got something pretty special so he’s one player we’re certainly going to have to look at.”
