Chris Greenway's Footy Commentary!

Richmond vs Carlton

I always like the start of the footy season. I don't mind cricket and tennis, but they just don's inspire in me the passion that football does. I can't go to a tennis match or a cricket test and roar my lungs out. It's just not the same. It's always fresh at the start of the season, to a certain extent you can forget the negatives of the previous year and look forward to the new season with renewed hope.

This match had been well hyped and both sides had serious claims to win the game. Because of the match up of Ben Cousins V Chris Judd a huge crowd was tipped. I was grateful that it was a Richmond home game and that I have a reserved seat for home games. No worries about getting in or finding a seat. I met my brother in law at the Cricketers Arms before the game, he's an Essendon supporter, but he has Carlton friends and will watch any sort of football, as his team were playing interstate he thought he'd check this game out. We had a couple of beers and discussed the upcoming game.

There was a huge crowd at the G and most of it was yellow and black. The game started promisingly. Cousins got his hands on the ball early and used it well, getting a big roar from the crowd. Richo had a shot and typically hit the post, groan from the yellow and black faithful. Carlton goaled, but the Tigers stuck with them and with Nathan Brown looking dangerous they hit the lead about halfway through the quarter.

That was as good as it got for Richmond. From that point on the skill level went out the window. Carlton slammed on a few goals, most from Richmond errors and had a 30 goal lead by quarter time. If that didn't finish of a shell shocked Richmond side the first 2 goals of the next quarter. It just went from bad to worse. Carlton were getting a good ride from the umpirer, but that was because they were making the play, were first to the ball and wanted it more. Most of the Richmond players looked disinterested and those that were trying had no skill level. If there was a game plan it was not evident as Tiger players ran around, second to the ball, fumbling, refusing to tackle or go in hard, messing up chances, turning the ball over. I've seen worse displays, but I can't remember when. It was an embarassing 83 point loss that undid all the good work done off the field over the summer.

Carlton supporters shouldn't get too carried away they beat and played a side devoid of skill and spirit, who were poorly coached, they should have won by 150 points and if they were a better side they would have. Geelong will break the record for thrashings at Skilled Stadium next week. To top it all off Cousins reinjured his hamstring and is expected to miss the next month. Could not have been any worse.

I'm going to give you a brief assessment of how I saw the players, again I'm not going to be nice here:

2) Will Thursfield: I don't know if Thursfield is injured or not, but that would be his only excuse. He was useless. At one point late in the game he was unmarked and instead of attempting to mark the ball he punched it, a negative move from a negative player and it nearly resulted in another Carlton goal.

3) Brett Deledio: had no impact whatsoever, his skills had left him. He should spend more time training and less time on TV shows like Australia's Greatest Athlete and reading the media who have been feeding his ego.

4) Andrew Raines: yes he had a lot of possessions, but most of them were either misdirected due to poor skills or bad decision making. Raines is NOT the small defender the club wants, he doesn't have the temperament. At least a minor knee injury will remove the temptation to select him for the Geelong game where his substandard skills and thought process will result in more gift goals to the Cat forwards.

5) Troy Simmonds: got hitouts, but the inept Tiger midfield could not take advantage of them. Went through the motions around the ground and needs to be told to fire up.

7) Nathan Brown: apart from the first 15 minutes was rarely sighted and should be ashamed of himself.

8) Jack Riewoldt: started slowly, but after half time worked his way into the game and played a relatively solid game. Should have had 3 goals, but let himself down with poor kicking for goal, this is a growing concern, it happened last year as well.

10) Shane Edwards: in his fledgling career Shane has made a name for himself as a half forward. For some reason Terry Wallace is determined to make him into a half back, it's not working and if it keeps happening the coach will destroy this kid's career.

11) Joel Bowden: Bowden has given good service, but never realised his potential. The right decision at the end of 2008 would have been to retire him. After this display I'd like to see him earn his spot via Coburg.

12) Matthew Richardson: tried hard and was one of Richmond's best, even though he was beaten by his opponent Jarrad Waite. I feel sorry for him, because his team mates have never repaid him with the sort of performances they should have.

13) Jordan McMahon: how this excuse for a player continues to get a game is beyond me. He does not have the physical strength to make a tackle stick, he's gutless, he goes missing when things get hard and I've never seen evidence of his much talked about accurate kicking. Would want to hope Terry Wallace keeps the coaching job, because when Wallace goes Jordan will be out the door so fast it will make his head spin.

16) Luke McGuane: very crude, but can take a decent mark. Started badly, but to his credit put that behind him to end up Richmond's only effective key size defender.

17) Chris Newman: the stats say he had a lot of the ball, but it was the worst game I've seen the new captain play. Very ineffective and why a player who can accurately kick over 50 metres at will is using the dinky kick to himself and run off method escapes me. I put it down to coaching.

20) Mitch Morton: the only Richmond forward to make an impact, kicked 4 goals, took a great mark and had a go.

21) Shane Tuck: he always tries, but had no impact on the game and was part of the worst midfield in the competition.

23) Daniel Jackson: if there was an award for worst on ground Jacko would have won it. Given an absolute bath by Chris Judd and I think it's time to make a decision on whether this bloke has a future at Tigerland. He simply doesn't have the tools.

25) Jay Schulz: I sometimes wonder why Jay even bothers to turn up. He looks completely disinterested and plays the same way. The goal he kicked was more of a case of good luck than anything his play accomplished.

30) Richard Tambling: he'll never be the exciting game breaker people hoped he would be when he was drafted. Why when someone has actually settled in a position, running off half back do you then play him on the half forward line where he's never been comfortable? Great going Terry, let's ruin another career.

32) Ben Cousins: he tried hard, I'll give him that. He showed flashes of his Brownlow best and could have been a valuable contributor over the next few weeks if not for a senseless decision to send him back onto the field in the last meaningless quarter where his troublesome hamstring was already giving him trouble.

35) Matthew White: he'll always try even when he is played out of position in the backline when his best football has been played rotating through the midfield and into the forward line.

40) Kelvin Moore: gone was the dashing defender that excited fans in 2008. Back was the player that people wanted delisted at the end of 2007.

41) Nathan Foley: I felt sorry for him, he tried hard and was the only decent midfielder that side had. He'll always give everything, but it would help if his team mates and coach gave him some assistance.

43) Andrew Browne: not a great night for the big red headed ruckman to make his debut. He's very tall and he has some size about him, but he's also very raw and needs a couple of years at least before he can perform adequately at this level.

Terry Wallace: even in Danny Frawley's worse days I cannot remember seeing a more inept coaching performance. Players were out of position: Edwards, Tambling, White. Other players that should have been made earn a game: Bowden, McMahon, were played regardless of form. Injured players: Cousins, were sent back onto the field for no reason. There was no evidence of a game plan. Despite advice to the contrary Wallace persists with a run and carry possession style of game which his players do not have the skill level to effectively implement. If he would put a value on pressure and hardness at the ball he has the players with the grunt and speed to make this work for him. He has had 4 years to improve and develop the skills and fitness to carry out his preferred game plan and he has not been able to do so. If he doesn't find some answers soon then he won't even see out the one season he has left on his contract.