Playing For His Life:

Season 2006 hasn't exactly been one Richmond dynamo David Rodan would want to remember. After a promising 2005 pre season and optimism about incoming coach Terry Wallace things kind of went pear shaped for the kid they call D-Rod. He did an ACL in a pre season match and there went the season.

Rodan rehabilitated and was determined to come back strongly. He played the first game against the Bulldogs, but it was obvious that he needed time at VFL level to get matches under his belt and gain confidence in his recently rebuilt knee. There was a hint of desperation in his next senior performance against Brisbane and he went back to Coburg.

One of David's weaknesses has always been that he wants to make things look harder than they really should be. There's no sin in getting the ball out of a pack, something that Rodan excels at, and running in a straight line and kicking it to a leading forward, and you also don't have to bounce the ball as soon as it's in your hands, you've got 15 steps to do that. A lot of time at Coburg you'd see D-Rod's nuggety little form emerge from a pack, bounce the ball, baulk 3 imaginary opponents, zig zag up the field and then deliver it straight to an opposition defender.

The Sydney game was tailor made for Rodan, wet weather football, that promised plenty of stoppages. He was selected as an emergency, but if the weather forecasters were correct there was little doubt he'd be a late inclusion and at the expense of developing big man Adam Pattison he was.

Rodan wasn't named amongst the best on the ground and he didn't get a truckload of possessions, but what he did was make room in the stoppages, win the hard ball, kick it straight, no flashy stuff and he tackled. How did he tackle! Hard and no nonsense, when those strong little arms wrap around a player he goes down. Rodan laid 8 tackles, the most of any Tiger player. It's been a long road back and D-Rod isnt quite there yet, but he is on the track now and with determination like that it's going to be hard to keep him out of the side.

Chris