Our New Improved Midfield | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
  • 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.

Our New Improved Midfield

J

JohnF

Guest
Call me a pessimist, but I still think our midfield will suck this year and I am sceptical of the players who in most people's opinion are going to help get us out of the mire we have been in for the last five years (we did ok with a prime Knights, Broderick, Campbell, but even then we lacked a quality ruckman).

Kane Johnson: Nothing he has done so far in his career has struck me as exceptional. And when you have guys like McCleod, Ricciuto and Goodwin taking the tags week in week out and you still dont star in the midfield, that suggests that he will struggle when he becomes the hunted at tigerland.

Justin Blumfield: this dude makes Wayne Campbell look like Glenn Archer. i have never seen a bigger pussy in my life. Maybe he can be of some value up forward, or possibly on the wing, but dont expect him to do too much more than all the other pussies at richmond. However, his disposal is pretty good, i'll give him that much. Better than clowns like Fiora and Tivendale who never look up the field and just bang it forward after being exhausted from doing the sprint of their lives with the ball.

And then there is Duncan Kellaway, Clinton King, Mathew Rogers, Adam Houlihan and Kayne Pettifer. I wont even start. Just dont expect to get anywhere this year if these guys are still good enough to get a game.

Which leaves Coughlan, Campbell and Bowden. I think these players should be our starting line up in the center with Ottens. The only reason Johnson should play in the middle is if Campbell is getting double teamed, which often happens. As for him being an improvement on Campbell, Bowden or Coughlan as a midfielder, thats a crock of *smile*. At best he can be a foil so that Wayne is freed up down back.
 
 The only reason Johnson should play in the middle is if Campbell is getting double teamed, which often happens.  
Click to expand...

Hehe :rollin

I should be serious......but I can't, ha.  ;D
There is no way Richmond would pay such a high price (not monetary, but a pick they could have chosen virtually anybody with) for Johnson if they thought he wasn't needed in our midfield.
 
Ah JohnF, you're like a breath of rancid air.

I'm looking for a significant improvement in our midfield this year, but not because of the addition of Johnson & Blumfield. I'm expecting huge improvemnt from blokes like Fiora, Tivvers, Bowden and continued development of Coughlan, Rodan and Newman. Add a fit Hilton to the mix and I think you'll see a much better midfield then last year, and quite a bit better than 2001 when we finished top 4.

You said 'Call me a pessimist'. OK, you're a pessimist.
 
LOL, I suppose youre right, its beyond Richmond to pay high prices for mediocrity. Er, by the way, who is our highest paid player again? ;)


Na, seriously, i'm not saying Johnson will be crap. He is needed, he'll be one of our better players. I jsut don't think he will be the messiah everyone is making him out to be. Our midfield will be better for having him there, i am jsut doubtful of how much better it will be.
 
I don't think that Johnson is a midfield messiah or anything but I do think that he is a step in the right direction for our side. JohnF I think you underestimate the boys ability, Johnson is skillful, fit, and most importantly wins his own ball, more so than some of his more highly rated former team mates.

And Dean, lay off Bowden. He averages well over 20 disposal and nearly 1 goal a game and has been one of Richmond's best players week in week out for 4 years. He is not without fault but he doesn't need big a improvement either.
 
Bowden has the ability to be one of the competition's elite players. He needs to improve significantly if he's going to get there. He is a fair way off the mark IMO. If he's going to limit himself to being just one of Richmond's better players, then he'll wallow in your statistical mediocrity for many years to come.
We need to look a bit harder than how many possessions someone gets. Peter Featherby regularly got 35+ possessions. Does anyone remember him when they're selecting a Team of the Century, or drawing up a list of invitees to a premiership team reunion? There's more to life than stats.
 
We can argue all we like about a number of things. I personally believe that the real improvement will come from a change in the way the team is coached. From what we've seen of most players and also from the Player Review posts, it's obvious that most players have some real ability and talent. What seems, to me, to be a recurring theme is that our players reach a certain level and go no further.

That is the responsibility of the coaching staff to get that extra something out of the players. We've got players who have more ability than a body has a right to, but, for some inexplicable reason, none of them seem to be able to perform to any consistent level on a regular basis, or achieve anything unexpected. Obviously the players are responsible for their output, but I also believe much of it has to do with the way they are coached.

Look at the players we have had at this Club over 20 years. To my mind, no player has achieved anything more than he was capable of before he arrived at this Club. Does that say something about the players that come to Richmond or about our footy Club?

We will see the biggest improvement, as a team, when we adopt the methods that allow the players to get the best out of themselves, which help them to build confidence in themselves, as well as their teammates.

Until then, we'll just be moving players around the ground like deck chairs on the sinking Titanic.

I'll be looking for improvement, like everyone else. But I don't think that bringing one or two players to the Club is what is going to make the real difference to our team.
 
John F welcome to the site even if you have started of with a bang.

I don't anyone player or even two players are going to make much difference to our midfield on there own, but I do believe that the addition of those two players you have unmercifully excorsized will provide a lot more versatility to our midfield options.

I believe (hope) that they will add to the mix and take some of the pressures of the young guys and the second tiers such as Fiora, Tivendale, Bowden etc.

One point I have to disagree on his the disposal of Fiora and Tivendale. Fiora is a good kick and can find a target with those penetrating left footes, sure he has made mistakes in the past, but hopeful they will become less as he develops. I hope he can really step up this year. Agree that Tivendale can be a bit one dimesional, but never the less he is a beautiful left foot kick.

In the past we have always relied on negating oposition midfields to win where as this year I believe we are really in a position to be actually able to apply midfield pressure to the opposition. As you said JOHNSON will actually be the hunted. I reckon that is great as it is usually the other way round and while they are hunting him it will provide opportunities for the others.

I also reckon that JOHNSON is good enough and experienced enough to deal with the tag. I think you may just have underestimated his worth to the Adelaide Midfield and I reckon the added responsibility at Tigerland will take him to another level as a premier midfielder.

Hope that they all prove me right on Friday night.

Go Tigers.
 
I am getting sick of hearing that Johnson will go from hunter to the hunted. Absolute bullsh@t. He would have always been marked at Adelaide. He was too good a player to be unmarked. If McLeod was playing a dudd of a game but Johnson was tearing them up, tell me who would have been tagged????????????
 
Great topic John.

The club has been talking up the improved midfield since October.

If they were fair dinkum, they would have gone after a serious midfielder, not a wingman cum midfielder in Johnson, but there aren't many around to pick up in trade, so ulitmately I am happy with Kane.

I think the midfield will improve based on the fact that we have two better quality of player on the field in Kane and Justin. Now even if they aren't in the middle, they will add some firepower on the wings, which outside the centre bounce are basically on ballers anyway.

The improvement in the young guys in Rodan, Coughlan, Fiora and possibly Newman will add to a stronger midfield. And a fit Stafford will help with the supply.

I will be happy if at the end of the year, our midfield was considered to be ranked 7-10 in the league.
 
K Johnson is a Rolls Royce theres no doubt about it. Just watching him move on the field at the intra-club game it was obvious. It made me :D and think we havent seen a player with his class since Knighter was in his hey-day and no one in the packs could touch him. I am extremely pleased we FINALLY got Johnson. And I think some of you might be forgetting he grew up as a Tiger fan and always wanted to play footy for us. I cant wait to see him playing with the passion that we all feel(cause we wont get the Rico antics with it hehe).
Best of luck K Johnson looking forward to watching you help restore the passion and the pride of the Tiger players by example :D
 
I am getting sick of hearing that Johnson will go from hunter to the hunted.  Absolute bullsh@t.  
Click to expand...

Agree 100% tro-boy. I have a friend who is a state selector for South Australia and involved with the Crows.
He rated Johnson as the no 1 Crows midfielder bar none.
I asked him how Kane would cope if he got extra attention as a vital part of the Tiger midfield and his reply was.
"Kane wouldn't bother about *smile* like that, he'd take it in his stride. He's as tough as old boots."

It amazes me how negative people are around here. Give the guy a chance at least.

Go Kane.
 
Agree 100% tro-boy.  I have a friend who is a state selector for South Australia and involved with the Crows.
He rated Johnson as the no 1 Crows midfielder bar none.
I asked him how Kane would cope if he got extra attention as a vital part of the Tiger midfield and his reply was.
"Kane wouldn't bother about *smile* like that, he'd take it in his stride.  He's as tough as old boots."

It amazes me how negative people are around here.  Give the guy a  chance at least.


Whoa there Tro Boy and Rosy, I hope you didn't think I was, for one minute, suggesting that Johnson will go from a hunter to the hunted.  I certainly agree that he will be hunted, but that will nothing unusual for a player of his quality.  No one in their right mind would not pay him some serious attention in their planning for matchups.

What I was infering that is has often been the the Richmond midfield that has had to rely on negating oposition midfields as opposed to winning their own ball and I think with the additions of the new boys and the development of the younger guys we will finally be in a position where we take the initiative out of the midfield.  We will also have the options to rotate some quality through the midfield which will make it a hell of a lot harder to shut down our midfield.

I do concede that Kane may go from being the 2nd or 3rd midfielder to the No.1 midfielder, but like Rosy, I think he will take that in his stride.  I believe that this could have a reverse effect in fact and push him to new heights, rather than slow him down.

I just wanted to clear that up as I am a BIG fan was and is very happy to have him in the YELLOW and BLACK.

I'll take a quality midfielder any day, but one who is a born and bred Tigers supporter has to be even better.

I look forward to seeing the best of the No 28 in the Yellow and Black.

As you mentioned ealier elsewhere Rosy I am amazed the number of people who are commenting on his value before he has even played a game for us.  I am quietly confident he will prove a few doubter WRONG
 
I hope I am wrong about Kane and Justin, and I hope they finish 1st and 2nd in the best and fairest and that we do get an improved midfield as a result. I agree that they will add greater variety to our midfield, but i am sceptical as to whether they will add versatility. We have had Duncan Kellaway and Clinton King and Matthew Rogers and that variety has got us nowhere. I will be pleasantly surprised if Kane and Justin play just as big a role as Bowden, Coughlan and Campbell in our midfield and will happily eat my words if they do. I'm just sick to *smile* death of hearing hype about improvements occuring at Tigerland and then we end up with our fingers up our bum every year. I've copped it for 15 years and I've had enough! Please understand my pessimism.
 
I hope I am wrong about Kane and Justin, and I hope they finish 1st and 2nd in the best and fairest and that we do get an improved midfield as a result. I agree that they will add greater variety to our midfield, but i am sceptical as to whether they will add versatility. We have had Duncan Kellaway and Clinton King and Matthew Rogers and that variety has got us nowhere. I will be pleasantly surprised if Kane and Justin play just as big a role as Bowden, Coughlan and Campbell in our midfield and will happily eat my words if they do. I'm just sick to *smile* death of hearing hype about improvements occuring at Tigerland and then we end up with our fingers up our bum every year. I've copped it for 15 years and I've had enough! Please understand my pessimism.
 
John F....

I am sure that no one on this site is going to be too critical of you scepticism as I think we have all been there.

What I do ask you is "Only 15 Years".....mate I am bordering on 35, but at least I have seen the good times and the one I will never forget is that, then, reocrd Margin over Collingwood in 1980.

Maybe all these years have made me a wannabe, but I do honestly believe that it is not only our onfield recruiting, but our off field recruiting, that will make us a significantly better outfit in the very near future. Make no mistake I am not one of the eternal optimistics that expect us to win a flag this year (or next Year), but I do believe that we have made significant steps to improving ourselve both on and off the field.

I reckon that greg MILLER is the best thing to happen at tigerland in a long time, but I also reckon that the recruitment of Wayne BRITTAIN is also a major coupe for us. Forget John ELLIOT and his idiot mates just look at who else were after BRITTAIN with good reason.

I respect your views John, but I will take great delight, light heartedly, in reminding you of your misconceptions come September.

Cheers and look forward to reading more of your views on this forum.

Gus

Vietnam
 
By the way forgot to say that I don't believe that Dunc's (sorry Rosy), Clinton KING or Mathew ROGERS, are genuine midfielders. They are taggers or as Blighty says run with players and at least two of them do that job very well.

They have a position in the team, but as I said elsewhere earlier, I believe that this is the first year where we will have a genuine midfield that will cause concern for oppositon coaches. They will have to plan for our midfield not the other way round for a change.

It may not be the best midfield in the league, but it will certainly be up there and will cause some angst for opposition coaches.

All we all want is a successful period of Tiger domination and lets hope it starts this year.

I am confident

Go the Yellow and Black
 
Gus, 35 year eh? lol, long time between drinks, but then, at least you've had a taste. I hope you are right. I'd gladly trade off copping *smile* off everybody in this forum for a taste of tiger success. I just look at all the other teams, like Brisbane, Port/Adelaide, Essendon and wonder whether we can really compete with them in the midfield when it comes to the crunch. Time will tell. *smile* I HATE BRISBANE!!!!! Their team is awesome.
 
Reading all you guys' and gals' optimistic comments about the upcoming year reminded me of a philosophical book I have been reading lately. It concerns Sisyphus, who in the ancient Greek tale was punished by the gods and made to push a boulder aimlessly up a hill all day long, only to have the boulder roll back down once it had reached the top. And so he went on, day by day, pushing the boulder up the hill, only to have it roll back down. The French philosopher Albert Camus later interpreted the tale as a metaphor for the meaningless, absurd existence of humankind, which although lacking meaning or justification for existenting, continues to do so quite happily. And so he concluded, that though Sisyphus was punished by the gods and forced to push the boulder up the hill with no goal or meaning, still he must be considered happy. LOL, to me this summarises the sentiment of the Richmond people, failure after failure, lost cause after lost cause, you still manage to find some happiness and optimism in it all. Love ya's for it. lol, even you dean.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
< Pettifer | Membership Count >
Official PRE merch now on Redbubble!
Top Bottom