TonyK
CibbuanoStruggling Tigers fight for careers
June 10th 2008 21:30
SEVERAL senior Richmond players face uncertain futures with coach Terry Wallace set to make changes.
The Tigers had shown signs of improvement this season before suffering convincing losses to Sydney and Adelaide in the past two rounds, and Wallace was convinced the dymanics of the lineup had to again change.
Pressure will be on Greg Tivendale, Joel Bowden and Kayne Pettifer, who were sent back to VFL side Coburg after round three.
Tivendale returned against Adelaide on Saturday, but looks likely to be sent back to Coburg.
Bowden has played the past four matches after returning in round eight against Geelong, while Pettifer returned for the round nine win against Essendon.
Their return to the senior side has coincided with Richmond's drop-off in form, and Wallace said the match committee needed to make some changes.
"After the last couple of performances, the dynamics of the side needs to change," Wallace said.
"Who that is and how much the dynamics change, that will be a match committee decision we will look at fairly thoroughly this week."
Wallace said long-term servants of the club deserved the right to fight for their football careers.
"Clearly, we went down a pathway maybe four or five weeks ago of dropping a few players back to Coburg," Wallace said.
"We had a choice at that stage about whether those players returned to the side or whether they remained playing at Coburg.
"I still believe that blokes that have been around a footy club for a period of time ought to be treated and handled in a way that allows them to fight for their footy careers and footy futures and that's the pathway that we decided to take.
"Some of those guys played some really good football at the next level down so we gave them an opportunity."
Despite having just three wins and a draw to its name, Wallace said his side had been competitive this season but had struggled to take the next step.
"We certainly think we have accounted ourselves well against quite a few of them but we have won just two points against those top eight teams and that was the draw against the Bulldogs," Wallace said.
"But when we have played against sides out of the eight, we have beaten three of them and had a kick after the siren to beat the fourth (St Kilda).
"So we have been able to handle that level but we haven't been able to step up to the next level."
The Tigers had shown signs of improvement this season before suffering convincing losses to Sydney and Adelaide in the past two rounds, and Wallace was convinced the dymanics of the lineup had to again change.
Pressure will be on Greg Tivendale, Joel Bowden and Kayne Pettifer, who were sent back to VFL side Coburg after round three.
Tivendale returned against Adelaide on Saturday, but looks likely to be sent back to Coburg.
Bowden has played the past four matches after returning in round eight against Geelong, while Pettifer returned for the round nine win against Essendon.
Their return to the senior side has coincided with Richmond's drop-off in form, and Wallace said the match committee needed to make some changes.
"After the last couple of performances, the dynamics of the side needs to change," Wallace said.
"Who that is and how much the dynamics change, that will be a match committee decision we will look at fairly thoroughly this week."
Wallace said long-term servants of the club deserved the right to fight for their football careers.
"Clearly, we went down a pathway maybe four or five weeks ago of dropping a few players back to Coburg," Wallace said.
"We had a choice at that stage about whether those players returned to the side or whether they remained playing at Coburg.
"I still believe that blokes that have been around a footy club for a period of time ought to be treated and handled in a way that allows them to fight for their footy careers and footy futures and that's the pathway that we decided to take.
"Some of those guys played some really good football at the next level down so we gave them an opportunity."
Despite having just three wins and a draw to its name, Wallace said his side had been competitive this season but had struggled to take the next step.
"We certainly think we have accounted ourselves well against quite a few of them but we have won just two points against those top eight teams and that was the draw against the Bulldogs," Wallace said.
"But when we have played against sides out of the eight, we have beaten three of them and had a kick after the siren to beat the fourth (St Kilda).
"So we have been able to handle that level but we haven't been able to step up to the next level."
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