Frawley talks up Tiger prospects
12:56:21 AM Sun 29 June, 2003
Andrew Browne
afl.com.au
Despite the Tigers losing their fifth game in succession, this time to the Brisbane Lions by 43 points at the Gabba on Saturday night and ahead of another road trip to Adelaide next week, coach Danny Frawley believes the Tigers are still in the competition “up to our eyeballs.”
“We must sustain what we did early in the game and maintain our belief that we are not far away - we just have to make sure we get some winning form sooner than later,” Frawley said following the Gabba loss.
Frawley found positives in the way Richmond began the game but was naturally disappointed with how they dropped away as the game wore on and the Lions capitalized on some telling mistakes.
“At the start of the game we played some good attacking football then our intensity levels dropped off and we made the wrong decision at times which allowed them to gain some confidence,” reflected the coach.
“We were at times reactive at the stoppages but maybe at ground level we waited for something to happen and they are the benchmark and that is where we want to get to.”
Frawley added that at vital stages the Tigers were unable to kick the kickable goals and missed a few set shots that could have put them back into the game.
“They had a dominant forward in Lynch while we were rotating a bit to get the right mix,” he said.
Frawley admitted the Tigers missed a crumbing goal-sneak to the tall forwards but has plenty of faith in the ability of 19 year-old Andrew Krakouer.
“Andy is a quality player and he is getting a lot of close checking,” Frawley said.
“He has to work through that and we will back him to the hilt and he will respond in the right manner.”
Frawley also found positives with his inexperienced brigade led by Tim Fleming, who ran with Nigel Lappin and David Rodan, who followed Jason Akermanis most of the night.
“They are playing on some very good players and you learn more out of the game like that than a lot of training or coaching will ever do – as long as they learn from those examples,.” commented the coach.
Frawley was pleased with the returns of both Ben Holland who had a tough job on Alastair Lynch and Mark Dragicevic, who received admirable applause with a fine goal in the third quarter.
Regarding the late withdrawal of Wayne Campbell, Frawley said he was extremely close to playing but remained mindful of the fatigue factor and confidently predicted the skipper would front up next week against the Crows.
“He trained really well on Wednesday but we had to get some more work into him and weren’t going to risk him – we would rather get nine quality games out of him.”
On the experiment of coming to Queensland early to prepare for the game, Frawley said he would definitely do it again and would consider the same for a Perth match as well.
12:56:21 AM Sun 29 June, 2003
Andrew Browne
afl.com.au
Despite the Tigers losing their fifth game in succession, this time to the Brisbane Lions by 43 points at the Gabba on Saturday night and ahead of another road trip to Adelaide next week, coach Danny Frawley believes the Tigers are still in the competition “up to our eyeballs.”
“We must sustain what we did early in the game and maintain our belief that we are not far away - we just have to make sure we get some winning form sooner than later,” Frawley said following the Gabba loss.
Frawley found positives in the way Richmond began the game but was naturally disappointed with how they dropped away as the game wore on and the Lions capitalized on some telling mistakes.
“At the start of the game we played some good attacking football then our intensity levels dropped off and we made the wrong decision at times which allowed them to gain some confidence,” reflected the coach.
“We were at times reactive at the stoppages but maybe at ground level we waited for something to happen and they are the benchmark and that is where we want to get to.”
Frawley added that at vital stages the Tigers were unable to kick the kickable goals and missed a few set shots that could have put them back into the game.
“They had a dominant forward in Lynch while we were rotating a bit to get the right mix,” he said.
Frawley admitted the Tigers missed a crumbing goal-sneak to the tall forwards but has plenty of faith in the ability of 19 year-old Andrew Krakouer.
“Andy is a quality player and he is getting a lot of close checking,” Frawley said.
“He has to work through that and we will back him to the hilt and he will respond in the right manner.”
Frawley also found positives with his inexperienced brigade led by Tim Fleming, who ran with Nigel Lappin and David Rodan, who followed Jason Akermanis most of the night.
“They are playing on some very good players and you learn more out of the game like that than a lot of training or coaching will ever do – as long as they learn from those examples,.” commented the coach.
Frawley was pleased with the returns of both Ben Holland who had a tough job on Alastair Lynch and Mark Dragicevic, who received admirable applause with a fine goal in the third quarter.
Regarding the late withdrawal of Wayne Campbell, Frawley said he was extremely close to playing but remained mindful of the fatigue factor and confidently predicted the skipper would front up next week against the Crows.
“He trained really well on Wednesday but we had to get some more work into him and weren’t going to risk him – we would rather get nine quality games out of him.”
On the experiment of coming to Queensland early to prepare for the game, Frawley said he would definitely do it again and would consider the same for a Perth match as well.
