Shane Tuck - The Legend

Now I want to dedicate the one article to the great man that is, Shane Tuck or Tucky as most of the fans like to call him.

Tucky for me was one of the most underrated players in the Richmond outfit, over his years at the club he's had to time after time prove his value and for me has worked the hardest in some time to constantly show why he is as great as he is!

Shane began his career with the Dandenong Stingrays where he showed early his ability to get the hard ball gets - was on the watchful eye of Hawthorn Footy Club under the father son rule and was added to their rookie list in 2000. He spent many years on there playing in the 2's but couldn't quite catch a break and was finally delisted by them in 2002 and moved over here to Adelaide in 2003 to play a season with West Adelaide.

All reports in that year pointed to a much rejuvenated player who had learnt a great deal under then coach Shaun Rehn, Rehn had huge raps for Tucky. News spread and the Tiger scouts sent report after report of a son of a gun ready to be drafted.

In the 2003 National Draft finally, Tucky was reborn taken with Pick 73 by the Richmond Tigers. In my humble opinion, its one of their better selections i've seen in the last 13 years. We've seen some real spuds selected even higher than Pick 73 and its always a real delight when someone low in the order comes out as good as Tucky.

Shane made his debut in Round 14 of the 2004 season up at the Gabba against the Lions, sadly he would only play 2 more games that year as the Tigers also struggled. The club shortlisted Tuck as one of two players to retain for the next season - it came down to Tucky and Tim Fleming, as Tucky was only 22 the club took the punt and re-signed him, best decision!

In 2005 he played all 22 games for the Tigers, in Round 9 against Brisbane he amassed a career high 31 disposals including 22 kicks. He would now go on to play 104 consecutive games between Round 1 of 2005 & Round 16 2009.

To top off his transformation as one of the clubs best ball getters, Tucky received the Tigers Best Clubman award and finished 3rd in the Best & Fairest for 2005. He had also started to receive a big following...

Sadly, Like some of our greats like Richo, success at Tigerland didn't come in droves like other teams constantly in the finals like your Collingwoods and Hawthorns...

Tucky's tenure at the club has been at the foremost of discussions and controversy for many seasons now, on several occassions Tucky was sent back to the 2's for a number of reasons, at times his disposal could let him down and he would fall out of favour.

2011 was the moment we all worried for his future, he only played a 10 games and fell right out of favour with new coach Damien Hardwick, from what I understand Tucky was issued an ultimatum to prove his worth, learn from mistakes and implement in the 2's. He returned in the final 5 games and proved his worth, a big preseason helped us witness the resurgent Tuck and he ended up playing 22 games and racking up the posessions! Again the Tigers would miss the finals but the signs were there it would not be far off.

2013, the season the fans, the media and the rest of the footy public saw as the year the Tigers would break their long finals drought and players like Shane Tuck would finally get their taste!

Tucky started this year well and was a constant addition in the clubs starting 22 however it was the Port Adelaide game which would be his letdown, in a tough clash Tucky injured his shoulder badly and moved to the bench.

Most players would have given up and put themselves first, Tucky, not wanting to muck up the teams rotation, returned to the field - in absolute agony. All of us supporters could see it, each time he lifted his shoulder he would grimmace in absolute agony. We felt for him but he earnt big respect from us all in this game, he only ended up with 15 disposals but he would play a pivotal role in the 41 point away win which would help shape our beloved Tigers destiny, of playing Finals Football!

Sadly, Tucky would miss the next 10 games.

To the Tiger faithful came the next announcement, the great man Shane Tuck announced his retirement 2 days before the Round 23 clash with Essendon. To some they weren't suprised, others were shocked thinking he had atleast one more year in him.

The Tigers finished 5th in 2013 and Tucky, along with the majority of the football club, would see their first finals appearance. Sadly however after a strong first half, the boys fell over in the last giving the game to Carlton, an early exit after such a big year. Some will say finals inexperience, some will say poor management on the day. Personally after the pain wears away a bit I'll disect it and put it in another article.

Alot of us stayed and helped clap off Shane in his final walk off the MCG, no carry off by the players just a humble salute as he walked off the ground, sort of fitting considering the man he was - very humble in his approach. As I stood clapping, further tears fell in appreciation of how great he was and how he left an impression on the players, supporters and football followers alike.

My Boy front row @ AAMI Stadium

Shane Tuck to me is a great man, I don't know him personally, I imagine personally he would be a top bloke, very family orientated and always there for mates.

What he did for my family shaped my overall view of him. In 2008 I took my son to the football for the first time, we sat in the members and watched as the Tigers and Port Adelaide matched off against each other @ AAMI Stadium, at 3/4 time we led by 28 points until Port made a spirited fightback - we ended up winning by only 4 points.

It was then as the song was being sung by the crowd that we noticed the players were beginning to spread out and take footballs out to the crowd. I told my boy Noah to stand up and wave your hands to the players on the off chance they come to you.

And that they did, we looked up and Shane Tuck was jogging over, he saw little Noah and you could see who he wanted to give the footy too. He jogged over, handed the footy to my boy and ruffled his hair and said there you go mate. My boy was in shock and couldn't believe it, I couldn't either, his first game, he gets the win and a signed football.

I know it wasn't all Shane, the football club launched this great initiative and its done a hell of a lot for this clubs image. But Shane's gesture of giving it to my boy has gone a long way into ensuring he's a Tiger for Life.

Ever since he's had a real soft spot for Shane Tuck, has leaned to Trent Cotchin as his favourite but always loves watching Shane also. Noah was luckily enough to see Shane again not long after and had his photo with him - we mentioned to him of the lucky night and he was quite happy to chat with Noah (who was a bit shy at that stage hahaha).

I wish we were able to give Shane a better send-off than we did last weekend, when I used to coach I liked referring to players like Shane Tuck and Trent Cotchin. Shane for his hard ball and contested footy, he has a real hard knack of just getting in there and getting the ball on the bottom of the packs, hitting it hard, bouncing off and pushing it forward any means necessary. Junior hard nut players can learn alot from Shane's approach to the game, but also those who doubt themselves or aren't making the regular 22.

Shane has shown that if you listen to your coaches and support around you, you can transform your game to conform with what is required. Training and listening is the key - train hard, work on the minor issues and listen to feedback on your game - don't dismiss people's opinions if they've taken the time to give you constructive criticism.

So - in the end Shane Tuck played 173 games for this great club, overall averaged 23.4 disposals per game and kicked a total of 74 goals.

He leaves the club as one of our top midfielders in a time where everything is looking up at Tigerland, we broke the finals drought and he's paved the way for younger players to step into his mould and lead as he did.

Good luck in your retirement Shane and all the best for your future, thank you for everything you've brought to the club and thank you for your absolute grit and determination which has made you one of the fan favourites.

Regards

Bo_Gas

Richmond Tigers - Rounds 22 - 23

Hi All,

Well I intended on seperate articles for the two rounds however was very sick last week with the flu and barely moved from the couch at all...

Lets get started with Round 22 with the trip to Sydney to tackle GWS:

Shameful to say this I was a little worried heading to GWS for this game, not sure why in the end but thought geez we could be in danger - 2 and a bit hours later I knew that was a complete laugh. Actually prob 40 minutes in...

I was really pleased to see Aaron Edwards get another chance, he is a real force to have on our side as the third scoring option - I think he needs to be a regular if we are to be a team to go further in the finals than just the first round.

GWS to their credit started well getting some good score on the board early, but that was about it for the rest of the game, a good start and then fell apart from there.

Jeremy Cameron is touted as one of the best forwards in the game, only young too, any team in their right mind would go for him - I really hope he's a Tiger one day! Sitting not far from the potential Coleman Medal - Alex Rance has his work cut out for him.

By quarter time the Tigers held the lead by 10 points but the signs were there they were about to unleash.

And Unleash they did! They massed a huge 11 goal term for the 2nd quarter with Aaron Edwards amongst the goal kickers as the Tigers pushed out to an 80 point lead.

GWS put on 3 goals during the 3rd quarter but it was by far not enough as the Tigers added another 10 goals in the last half to secure a 121 point win, one of their biggest and best. Ok its against GWS but it was the way the Tigers controlled the ball in every area of the ground that was the noticeable factor.

Alex Rance was superb down back keeping one of the Coleman favourites goalless, Troy Chaplin was his partner in crime taking many marks down back and rebounding nicely. Dusty Martin, off the back of one of his worst games as a Tiger put in a real solid effort and for most was best on ground, Ellis and Conca were great in patches.

For me it was the emergence of Aaron Edwards, 5 goals but looked ominous up forward - as I said earlier, he will be a great addition heading into finals.

Cotch was subbed off in the 3rd quarter which was a wise move, why risk the captain when we are so far infront...

Best for me was Rance, Martin, Conca & Edwards

Really, most will agree, the Tigers weren't in full flight, most of the time they moved the ball around slowly like a training drill. It looked very half pace at times as they moved the ball with ease - almost resembling a circle work drill we do at trainings!

Final Scores:

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 3.0 3.1 6.4 6.6 (42)

RICHMOND 4.4 15.9 19.10 25.13 (163)

GOALS

Greater Western Sydney: Jaksch, Greene, Sumner, Shiel, Scully, Adams

Richmond: A.Edwards 5, Conca 3, Ellis 3, Vickery 2, Houli 2, Grigg 2, Maric 2, Petterd 2, Morris, Riewoldt, S.Edwards, King

BEST

Greater Western Sydney: Adams, Scully, Shiel, Tomlinson

Richmond: Martin, Conca, Grigg, Houli, Maric, Edwards, Rance, Chaplin, Vickery

INJURIES

Greater Western Sydney: Liam Sumner (Achilles)

Richmond: Nil

Official crowd: 12,314 at Skoda Stadium

Round 23 - Richmond v Essendon

This week the Tigers took on the much talked about Essendon team, the Bombers are satcherated in the media and everything social media with the Drugs controversy, In the end the AFL handed down a rather small punishment compared to what most were expecting.

No finals, $2m fine and some other small smacks over the backside. Hird is out for 12 months but in true AFL fashion they went soft, allowing him to coach if they make the finals in 2014. Noticeable thing was Hird is not banned from the club like they did to Trigg from the Crows.

What annoys me is Watson retained his Brownlow despite his admissions and the fact the AFL had evidence of the drugs used the year he won it. To me, he should have been stripped.

Demetriou's involvement too seems to have been whiped clean as the head with his exorborant salary gets out of jail, one might think the early plea allowed him to miss any information being released should it all go to court... Early acceptance by the Bombers looks to have kept him in his job, despite the poor performance he has had since his early tenure.

Ok enough of the Bombers and the sad state they are in.

Tigers were favourites which for me was suprising considering the Tigers were easing their way towards September and the Bombers still had alot to play for, respect.

But from the start of the game the Tigers controlled the ball, adding early goals and capitalising on poor turnovers and kicking for goal by Essendon, one missing from inside the goal square...

The Tigers however did enough to control the game and take charge in their way, not the Bombers. However the controlling environment made it for a scrappy event with the scoreboard not ticking over as much as the crowd anticipated.

The game opened up in the 3rd with the Tigers kicking 6 goals to the Bombers reply of only 3, the big winner though was Daniel Jackson and Dusty Martin, they were both fantastic in the 3rd amassing possessions and dominating their opposition players.

The third quarter also brought in the crowd favourite, Shane Tuck, who earlier had announced his retirement of AFL, hopefully this was his decision and not the clubs as Tucky, in my mind, could play another 2 years easily! He has been a favourite of our house for some time and all the supporters love him.

Over the coming weeks I'm going to put together a piece on Shane - also what he meant to my boy Noah!

The loss however was the hamstring injury of Matt White, Matty has his favourites in the Tiger army and he's had his doubters, I'll admit - I was one of the doubters at the start of the year and even suggested he should be trade. I'm happy to admit when I'm wrong.

Vickery was instrumental in the 3rd bagging three goals and really making problems up forward, it's good to see his is showing his value as alot of Tiger supporters around the traps tout him as the next Brad Ottens and one of our key players for the future.

With the siren going the Tigers went to the three quarter time huddle with a nice lead of 37 points, should probably be up by more though..

Being up by 37 I half expected the Tigers to apply the brakes and cruise to a victory but there was still a bit of fight left in both teams, Daniel Jackson and Jake King being the instigators, Jacko copping a knock from Melsham and the claret began to spill.

Edwards knocked in his 4th for the game giving him 9 in the last two games, lets hope this is enough to see him in the game against Carlton!

All in all it was a great game, Tigers, who most of us wouldn't have been dissapointed with the loss, came out on top by 39 Points. Edwards & Vickery were superb up forward kicking 4 a piece, whilst no Riewoldt.. Brandon Ellis was again showing how far he's come this year racking up 35 disposals, Jacko, who alot tip will be the Tiger Best & Fairest this year was also extremly valuable with 30 disposals and 2 great goals! Cotch, Martin & Deledio were all great collecting in the high 20's for disposals but were also instrumental in the midfield domination.

ESSENDON     2.4   3.6      5.8      9.11  (65)
RICHMOND      4.1   5.6   11.9    15.14 (104)

GOALS
Essendon: Melksham 2, Jetta 2, Hurley 2, Lovett-Murray, Howlett, Dalgleish
Richmond: Vickery 4, A. Edwards 4, Jackson 2, King 2, Martin, Grigg, Tuck

BEST
Essendon: Melksham, Hurley, Stanton, Hibberd, Lovett-Murray
Richmond: Jackson, Ellis, A. Edwards, Vickery, Martin

Official crowd: 60,979 at the MCG

Well, we now look to our first Final in 12 years, as I write this now the shivers down my spine, slight tear in the eye and nerves as we prepare for Carlton on Sunday at the home of football, the MCG.

Crowd expecting to be above 90,000 and near capacity, here's hoping the Tiger Army is in full roar and the weather god's bless us with a beautiful sunny afternoon!

All About Me

Thought I might do a quick article about me now and whats been happening since March last year and what I've been up too!

Well as some of you may have read, in March I played my first ever finals game in any sport i've ever played! Baseball - which looks like the game for me as I venture to retirement of all sport (You'll see why soon), was giving my my first taste of what Finals is being that every other sport my team had bombed out.

I spent a good portion of my life playing football @ Happy Valley Football Club, back then, The Vikings, had one of the most successful seniors team around, sadly I was in juniors at that time.. All throughout my time in juniors playing Under 15's, 17's and then 18's when they changed the rules around, my team was thoroughlly thrashed at most games, some games even belted by 30 goals...

When I moved to the C grade it was a bit different, we weren't getting the thrashings but were missing finals by one or two wins..

Knee Injury forced me to finish up with Happy Valley as well as moving out north west to be living with my now wife... My final season with the Vikings was the year after my knee went caput but was prob one of my most successful seasons - kicking 10 goals in one game and finishing with approx 50 in the 10 games I played that season...

But that was 12 odd years ago and now my main focus is Baseball, with East Torrens Red Sox! We had a pretty good season, matching it against the top teams and heading into a Semi Final against Adelaide, it was there I suffered not only a broken bone in the nose.. but also a chipped bone in the forehead and a broken thumb.. All in same game and happening at different times in the game.. (Hey we won though but that was season over for me!)

Worst thing was heading off to the Soundwave Festival with no painkillers, a broken thumb, a head that looked like a horn was growing and a purple nose.. Basically looked like I had been in a really bad fight - nope, just me stopping the baseball with my head!

Our team went on to narrowly miss the grand final by 1 run.

Since then i've been studying and also decided on a return to football....

With Studying I've always had an interest in plants and bonsai etc, but never been able to do some things i've wanted to do with them like growing from seed, cultivating etc.

Whilst talking about this at work a collegue mentioned the local government has a skills for all scheme happening where they will fund approx 200 courses for free to better equip people in our state.. Nice!

I wandered on there and found a Certificate II in Horticulture, had a quick look and thought it looked quite interesting so applied! Three subjects in and i've aced each one and getting excellent feedback from the lecturer (Ha, never got that in finance!!)

So, the return to Football, possibly not my finest of ideas but I had it for the right intentions.

The intention was never to be this awesome footballer to come and kick a bag of goals for my local team, it was to fill in whilst they were short on numbers. Broadview Football Club has 4 senior teams, One Division 1 side and its Reserves team, and the other is in Division 7 with a Reserves team.

The Reserves for Division 7 were running low on numbers so I thought i'd whack on a guernsey and see what happens.

Now, I'm alot older since I last played football and definately don't have the fitness levels I had back then... I found first training quite challenging to say the least haha Found alot of the time I was hands on head sucking in as much air as I could.

But with that the players were very welcoming, even the higher grades, always encouraging you to keep at it.

The first few games of the year my team had won so I was looking forward to getting in and kicking some goals from the forward line, sadly the higher grades sustained some injuries so alot of our better players moved up to fill the void, some even had to play 2 games each weekend straight after each other..

With the loss of players came with some of our heaviest defeats, my first game against Flinders Park saw a huge loss, infact my only shot on goal came in the 3rd quarter I think it was when I took a mark about 40metres out and had a shot on goal, looked good initially however didn't allow enough for the wind and it narrowly missed.. Shame, if I nailed it I would have been the leading goal scorer.... Highlight though was standing an ex Adelaide Crows player Sudjai Cook who was lazily standing on the Half Back Line. Wow - he still has speed, he was just standing there rebounding the ball and moving it with great skills - was great to watch.

In the end I played 5 games, the fateful game for me came after a week long Adelaide drenching where the heavens truly opened up giving us a taste of a true old fashioned Adelaide Winter!

The final game was very water logged but also the ground sunk when you walked on it. I was placed at Centre Half Forward which is where I did play alot of Junior Footy, my favourite role is Full Forward.

Half way through the 1st quarter one of our big left footers took a mark on the right hand wing just forward of our goals, I was walking just inside our 50 ready to lead and all I could hear from the bench was Lead Lead!!! so I bolted towards him, for a big guy I do have early speed and got a few steps infront of the defender, 2 players were sitting under the ball which was perfect for a screamer...

As I approached the 2 players I proceeded to ready Launch! But it was at this point my right foot sunk in the mud and got stuck, by that time though all my weight was on the right leg and it buckled at the knee, I felt it pop out as I launched into the pack, still got my hands to the ball but knew I was in big trouble...

One thing I remember was one of our much smaller players, his face cracks me up each time I think about it - As I hit the pack and was on my way down he was at the front looking up as what prob looked to him as a wall of mass coming towards him - his face showed pure terror and fear as I fastly approached, I turned my shoulder and bang. He was flattened - quite hard too, I mean I am a big unit...

I layed there knowing my knee had gone, I had a quick feel around and could instantly feel my Medial was like jelly - my lateral and others felt ok though, massive pain from the bone on my right side but the ligaments felt good on that side.

They carried me off and I sat on the bench icing away. Good thing was I can still put weight on it so was able to hobble to the changerooms, grab my keys and stuff and drive down to the local Sportsmed for a check.

Initial fears were quickly brought to light, Grade 2, possible Grade 3 tear of the Medial Ligament. F it. I also suffered severe bone bruising on the right hand side of my knee..

So began my recoup and soon rehab, I even experienced acupuncture for the first time ever - won't be my last but it also won't be the first thing I run off to go and get if I'm in the mood for pain!

That was approx 8 weeks ago and my leg is much better, it still isn't ready for anything but I am walking ok and now have the knee brace off. Stupidity has set me back a few weeks as I slowly jogged around the oval with my youngest daughter, sadly the weight on my knee really put too much pressure on the right hand side and have aggravated the bone bruising..

So now pain when I walk but it is getting better.

As we speak right now, I am preparing for my sons final football game for the year and he ventures towards starting Baseball for another season. I too will return just not sure if it will be Round 1 (Physio believes it will be) or later in the round like round 4.

My Richmond Tigers are in the finals for the first time since 2001 when we were cruely knocked out of the Prelim Final, we are still 2 games to play but its likely we'll finish 5th and play Port in the first round of the finals. Both Noah and I are extremely looking forward to this!

Earlier in the year we decided we would take the family to the Gold Coast for 10 days, that meant no Melbourne trip for Noah and I unless we made the finals... sure enough they made it! So we're anxiously awaiting to see what day they will be playing so we can fly in and hopefully fly out same day.

So now you know what i've been up too, hope to add more posts over the next few weeks and push my blog to 100 articles!

Latest App Reviews

Well I sat on Top Eleven for a long time and loved it to bits, by the end however I started having grief with the way games were being decided.

Like most, we were left shaking our heads as a team in which we were massively overstocked against and far more superior on paper left us gobsmacked as they managed to either defeat us, or, score the equaliser.

So many theories showed on the Top Eleven Forum's on why this occurs, some suggest its the formation, others believe its how many friends are linked and watching - some also believe its a down right conspiracy.

Me - I'm just not sure, the last straw for me which broke the camels back was a team which i was approx 20 points better on average against. I had one 7 Star player, three 6 Star players and a handful of 5 Star players. Looking at the opposition they had one 5 Star player and the rest were 3's & 4's.

No friends of his were watching and he/she wasn't watching either, Personally, I was and had two friends watching also.

I then proceeded to watch as my team lost 4-1. To say I was filthy was an understatement, this was a game which I had been sucked into buying gold so I could buy high ranking players, I had a hugely stacked side compared to the opposition yet this lowly placed side beat me 4-1?!?!

I could find absolutely no logic in this occurring so decided enough's enough, my team should have finished top yet lost approx 5 or 6 games I should have won in the last 8 of the season and dropped to 3rd on the ladder.

Thats it - see you later!

So I decided to move onto some other games, love playing a few when I have some spare time. I moved onto the likes of Hay Day and Footy Coach. Hay Day was awesome for a while, but became really repetitive and Footy Coach became boring as you spent way too long waiting for health to rejuvenate so you could play against someone...

Whilst playing Hay Day one day I came across a video for Clash of Clans, thought i'd watch the video as i get free something for Hay Day if I do... It actually looked ok so thought i'll download and give it a go.

Clash of Clans is a fun game and very multiplayer friendly, but thats almost where it stops for me, yes once you've levelled up enough and save up your Gold & Elixir and build your Clan Castle you can Join or Create a Clan. Clans are handy as members will donate troops to store in your Clan Castle - if you are attacked or short on numbers you can use these troops.

But really this is where the multiplayer part of the game ends - My hope for Clash of Clans would be you work together to battle or rage war on other Clans, but nothing really happens for this side which is dissapointing.

Although, it still has that aspect of fun in it where you just can't give it up completely, its handy as you can instruct your builders for upgrades, collect some resources, attack some other players and then leave it for a few hours and return later. I think i'm really holding out for the upgrades and ability to buy the Tesla towers and Dark Elixir items such as the Barbarian King or Archer Queen.

Whilst playing this 2 other apps came across my screen when flicking through the App Store, one which i've held off playing due to the hype around it, Candy Crush, and the second was Airport City.

Candy Crush is one of those games which is so damn addictive yet it makes you wish you could poke out your eyes due to the increasing frustration that it provides due to a) running out of lives & b) sitting on one level for weeks on end...

There is the cheer and satisfaction though when you do finally pass a level, even better when you quickly follow up with multiple level movements...

Candy Crush is designed to test the mind, there is always those moves that you make that you wish had a undo button handy as you see another way which would have worked better - the other element also is linking via Facebook. Whilst linked you get the priviledge of knowing one or more of your friends are well passed you and some over level 350! All this while hanging on levels below 65...

After 3 and a half weeks of sitting on level 65 I finally passed it last night with 18 moves to go, the house shook and wife woke as I roared with relief as finally, I passed 65! All to then find out I have to wait a day to move to next level...

Airport City is a airport simulation game which allows you to build a city with an airport closeby then tempt you into sending flights and upgrading everything in the attempt to retrieve items from each collection of passengers, or, on planes returning from hour long flights to Bali!

This game has its moments too, it allows you to build up and own up to 3 or 4 planes early on but is limited on what you can do in terms of expanding your city unless you spend actual $$'s on cash to spend to do it..

Right now i'm stuck with no cash to expand my city and can't save $$'s up to buy the upgrade as i'm limited in the amount of buildings. The other issue I dislike also is the fact that part of your map is taken up by forrest's which can't be bulldosed or built on... Buildings also must have a road attached and cannot be built out the back of your car yard...

Overall each app/game has its own unique way of drawing you into playing more, I love playing all three but as is the case with most apps, something will come along soon to take its place if its more appealing or offers more..

If I was to rate each App i'd give them the following:

Hay Day - 5 out of 10 (Too much repitition, game lacks extra things to do despite the recent addition of the fishing side)

Footy Coach - 4 out of 10 (Way too long waiting to play a game of football, very hard to start with as no real direction on how to play and in the end became boring waiting for games to play)
Clash of Clans - 7 out of 10 (Great game just lacking that whole Multiplayer Co-op mode)
Candy Crush - 7 out of 10 (Highly addictive and frustrating yet hard to turn your back on...)
Airport City - 5 & 1/2 out of 10 (Ok game but just lacks that ease to build your city to great lengths without spending real money on!)

So thats my review, hope its been useful but if I was to recommend anything it would be to try the above apps and decide for yourself, not everything I like will be the same as the next person...

Regards

Bo_Gas

Round 5 - Richmond v Fremantle (AFL)

Spent alot of time stewing over last weekends game, alot to think about, mull over and piece together why the Tigers fell over so short in the West.

From now, and i'm sure you will already know, the Tigers lost by the solitary 1 point. Some say it should have been by more, part of me agrees, but then alot of me suggests the Tigers should have infact won by more than 20 points, I'll detail why below:

The Tigers kicked of the game in style, another early goal and they dominated the midfield early. Cotchin was being tagged but was being aided by Brett Deledio. Martin was getting his hands on the ball and the debutant Nick Vlastuin had all the Tiger faithful cheering as he delivered two telling tackles to stamp his name into the team and show just why he is touted as the next Trent Cotchin.

Yes things were looking great and the Tigers were doing something this time around they hadn't all year... making the most of their goal opportunities. No easy goals missed which is a positive in itself as I've said all year, we've had chances to bury sides but mucked around and left them lingering around too long to finally wait for them to get a sniff.

One thing i've learned, and as much as I hate him, Ross Lyon is good in this sort of situation. He can identify areas of concern, inflict changes or measures to counteract and contain a side. He did it to us last time we played Fremantle and he did it again last friday night.

Freo's midfield began to hit the ball and the Tigers alot harder but the crucial part of Lyons puzzle was the Tigers half forward line. At the beginning of the second quarter Lyon instigated his game winning change, stop access to the forward line. His troops managed to put alot of pressure on the Tigers and his half back line managed to contain and minimise the amount of inside 50's and scoring opportunities.

Look whilst this was the case, the Tigers were not out of contention. The midfielders and half backs with their usual run out of defence then found it tough finding a target as the tall fremantle defenders stood tall and closed off most of the attacks.

This continued through the third quarter as our Midfield and more importantly, players like Dustin Martin went missing. Big Ivan fought hard but like the second quarter the Tigers were simply not finding easy path's into the forward line for us to be rewarded for hard work.

The fourth quarter was something different, you could sense the Tigers were close to mounting an offence but needed to sort out a few issues first.

Towards the last half of the final term the Tigers began to find avenues through the defence and began to pile scoring pressure on the dockers, the Tigers pushed three through the big sticks including a gem of a goal by Matthew White from the boundary line.

But, by far the worst incident (well close to) of an umpire in some time occurred, before Matt Whites brilliant goal from the far boundary line, he attempted to slot virtually from the same position a bouncing goal infront of a lunging Ty Vickory.

The ball bounced straight toward the goal where a waiting goal umpire was standing in clear view of the scenario. The crazy thing was, the goal umpire was half over the line and leaning against the far goal post. The ball proceeded to bounce directly into the goal umpire, then back into the play where a waiting Fremantle player then rushed the ball over for a minor score.

I haven't reviewed the official rules, nor do I care, the fact was, this little maggot of an umpire knew full well the ball had hit him, knew it was going through for a goal yet did nothing and proceeded as if nothing had happened. He had, as well as the field umpire and the other maggots sitting in the review booth, full control to call for a video replay to determine the truth behind the play.

No, this goal umpire instead pretended like nothing had happened and yes of course, Richmond go on to lose by 1 point.

Matthew Richardson, the great man, best summed it up in his regular article on the www.richmondfc.com.au website:

"Get the technology right, or get rid of it.  As it currently stands, the system is simply not working and it’s detracting from our great game.  Until such time as the proper mechanisms are in place to make correct judgments, go back to the way it was with goal umpires left to rule on their own."

People can argue til their blue in the face but the fair thing would have been a goal rewarded.

I am sick to death of this AFL and the people sitting in the rules committee and governing bodies, they're ruining our great game and introducing stupid rules to combat smart teams tactics. I know no other competition in the world that has as many yearly rule changes as our sport. I know no other competition that punishes a player who puts his head on the line, does the hard effort to get the ball but is then punished because he came in contact with the opposition player.

Yes I know it is to combat leg injuries but when you look at the statistics just exactly how many are we saving, 1 in 100? - Pathetic.

Reward and protect the player with his head down going for the ball, not the individual that is clearly going in to deliberately make contact with the player...

That's me on that issue, stop ruining our game and leave it be...

I think the definite positives to take out of the game was the debut of Nick Vlastuin, Chris Knights racking up 20 possessions and 3 great goals and also the re-emergence of Brandon Ellis.

So - Tigers now return home to face Geelong, Geelong are red hot at the moment in terms of win loss record but I still firmly believe they are very vulnerable. I don't think they're travelling as well as the ladder shows - especially when you compare the playing list against their prime..

I will be taking a breather next week so no round up for this game, this is due to myself being involved with a Race Meet at Morphetville Derby Day where we expect to make lots of $$'s but will drink our fair share also. I will be watching the game more likely at the Adelaide Casino but may not take in full analysis...

**Photos courtesy of www.richmondfc.com.au website**

FREMANTLE        2.0   7.5   10.8  12.9  (81)                 
RICHMOND          5.2   7.3   9.5  12.8 (80)          

GOALS
Richmond:  Vickery 3, Knights 3, McGuane 2, Martin, Grigg, White, Riewoldt
Fremantle:  Ballantyne 4, Mayne 3, Walters 2, Suban, Hill, Crowley,

BEST
Fremantle: Barlow, Griffin, McPharlin, Pearce, Fyfe, Hill, Walters
Richmond: Knights, Edwards, Martin, Ellis, Cotchin, Vickery, White

INJURIES
Richmond:  Nil
Fremantle: Bradley (knee)

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond:  Brad Helbig replaced by Robin Nahas in the third quarter
Fremantle: Kepler Bradley replaced by Nick Suban in the second quarter

Footy Flashbacks - Richmond v Adelaide - Round 8 (1998)

 Whilst we anxiously wait for Round 3's Tigers clash against the Bulldogs I want to share with you some of my favourite footy flashbacks.

Growing up in Adelaide I never had the opportunity to build flashbacks of finals, grand finals or the 1st game of young guns whilst sitting at the MCG cheering on, instead I grew up coming from an SANFL background.

Misguided in my youth I started following the Crows in their first 2 years joining the AFL, yet I never had a favourite player and didn't get a chance to go to many games.

Towards the start of 1992 I started to follow Richmond closely, still not a full fan but had this feeling of really liking this team. A friend from school was a huge Tiger, he grew up in Melbourne and moved to Adelaide before he got to high school. We became good mates when he moved to my school and I found his passion for the Tigers was growing madly within me.

By the end of 92 I was ready, Begun my move to Tigerland has. (sorry tried to sound like Yoda from Star Wars..)

Anyhow 93 I witnessed the first game of probably the best player I've seen, Matthew Richardson. Enter my full passion, now I was following Richmond but more importantly a player which i'd drop everything to go and watch.


From that point on there was no going back... what had I got myself into... I later learned the history of the club and its depression since 82, sitting here now i've seen my team reach the finals only twice, poor Richo has retired but we are on the verge of our first finals campaign since 2001. Good times ahead.

The path of being a Tiger has never been easy, I witnessed some shockers with us losing by 15+ goals, one here in Adelaide where Modra kicked 10+...

But I've witnessed some real spectacular wins also and close games, the game I'd like to share is one of my favourite games i've ever been too.

Back in 1998 I started working for the SA Law Society, back then I was a fresh 19 year old still looking for work but never went onto Uni like most did. I found it tough as I had no experience, great with computers but noone would hire me as "sorry you don't have experience"... towards the tail end of my applications my response was, yes, until someone gives me a chance how do I get experience!

It was pure luck I found myself at the Law Society as part of an opportunity that came up through Work for the Dole. Somehow they found a small role there for me to start off with which then turned into receiving a contract for my first full time role. A few months into the position I made alot of friends and copped alot of grief from them being a Tiger, proudly displaying my Richmond desk flag for all to see.

May was approaching and I was really keen to go to the Adelaide v Richmond game but as Adelaide was realing in Crows Mania majority of the games were becoming sell outs so near impossible to get there.

By chance someone I worked with (who I still didn't really know) had a friend who was a season ticket holder and yes.... had a spare ticket. I jumped at the chance as I all I wanted to do was watch the Tigers, I had a inkling we would win but not 100% sure...

I met up with the unknown Crows Supporter outside the North Western side of the ground, nice lady she was in her late 30's early 40's and she took me to my seat, western side just off the middle of the centre.

Right from the get go it was a close game but the Crows managed to pull away from us in 3rd quarter, by that stage though the heavens decided to open up on us.

Thousands of Crows supporters, except for those diehard supporters, headed for cover to retreat from the rain. I myself, was going.... nowhere.

All throughout the game the nice lady, whose name I can't recall.. was really cheering for the Crows, each time they would get near there goals she would be nudging me and then a big nudge if they kicked a goal...

By the last quarter the rain was alot harder, this is a moment I'll never ever forget. The rain was the type of downpour only described as really big drops, heavy and straight. The rain fell so vertically we were drenched within seconds.

I looked back at all the supporters, they were cuddled up in their warm rugs and out of the rain sipping on warm drinks....

Momentum shifted, the dominance of the Crows in the 3rd started to shift to the Tigers coming back. I remember our boys handling the ball like it was dry weather, they silkily moved the ball into the forward line and kept pressing until the goal was scored.

We moved to within 2 goals, you could hear the cheer of the Tiger faithful who were still out in the rain, other than that you couldn't hear any Crows supporters. A roar in the background surrounded us as the rain got heavier, the rain hitting the roof was extremely loud.

Suddenly lightning begun to crash close by, big claps of thunder started filling mother natures symphony.

I remember one massive bolt flashing out of the sky and just like that the lights went out. Noone knew what to do and sat frozen in their chairs, I can't remember for sure but I think it was a few minutes before the lights came back on.

All the supporters undercover were shouting for the game to be called off, they were sure they had won.

Umpire blew the whistle and the game recommenced with only minutes to go.

The Tigers pushed, scored two more and we took the lead again in the dying minutes of the game, the look on all the Crows supporters was one to remember, for the Tigers supporters we were shocked, pure shock at the comeback.

With less than a minute to go we slammed on one more goal, surely that was it......

Siren went and the cheer from a thousand sounded more like 10,000!

All I remember from the siren was standing up, both fists held high and turning to the lady who was nudging me every Crows possession and screaming "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"!!

Not being aggressive or anything like that, it was a mutual supporter moment that she knew was all ok.. She grinned and nodded her head - well done she said.

The song came on and I launched onto my cold metal seat, turned around to all of those under cover and proceeded to sing the song the loudest I had ever before. With my right hand I began to point at all of those under cover and gave them the best damn rendition of We're From Tigerland I'd ever performed.

I think had those supporters not all scramble for cover and brave the weather like the rest of us I wouldn't have cared. But they made me angry that night, all ran for cover, just like their team did. So I let them know, I wasn't looking for a fight or anything untoward, I just wanted to let them know they needed to stay in their seats and support their team to the end, rain, hail or shine.

The Tigers stayed on the ground and sang the loudest rendition of our song heard interstate and with bucketing rain. The picture above shows it all, the torrential downpour, the elation and passion of the team as they fought one of their best battles.

I think for me this is one of the best I've ever seen, we didn't make the finals that year, but we did beat the Premiers at their home ground and never weakened until the final siren sounded.

It was a game that helped shape my love for Richmond, a game that sticks in your mind and you share with people and younger generations. It helped build hope that this club can be a great winning club, they just need the confidence to know they can.

Final Scores:

Richmond 14.8 (92)
defeated
Adelaide 11.13 (79)

Round 2 - Richmond v St Kilda (AFL)

Well Round 2 there was increased hype surrounding the Tigers, they finally ended their hoodoo with Round 1 defeats at the hand of Carlton and their cubs showed why they have the most formidable midfield in the competition.

I overheard someone saying Richmond were again staring down the barrel of another record they need to overcome, They hadn't won their first 2 games to start the season in 16 years.

That's a massive amount of time to chalk up 2 wins from 2 games... I was sure that was wrong as there has been seasons where we started really strong then fell over in final 10 or 12 games.. Nope the record books has it correct.

So again the hype surrounding our great club was truly peaking and so were the hopes and ambitions of some 50,000+ members.

St Kilda, after their loss to Gold Coast the week before, was expected to show alot more fight however their fitness was a concern as the conditions up in Queensland were quite humid and hot with a number of players going down with cramp in the final quarter.

Luke McGuane showed real glimpses of being one of our power forwards with two ripper pack marks and snaring a couple of goals whilst Dustin Martin was busy early having the ball sticking to him and racking up 11 possessions.

Richmond again dominated the possession and inside 50, but, like the Carlton game was wasteful and again amassed a 10 points for the half and only finishing with 8.10 (58). Richmond really need to review this, yes some are rushed but easy set shots not taken can really hurt the team as this builds momentum and kills the mindset of the opposition if you pile on the goals... If we had and finished more like 12.6 going into the half i believe we would have finished them off in the 3rd.

The second half showed much of the same although the Riewoldt battle heated up with both going head to head.

Trent Cotchin in his usual self shook off the tag placed by Clint Jones, only having 9 possession's to half time Trent amassed 22 in the second half to finish a top with 31 possession's for the game.

Richmond showed more poise this week in the latter part of the final quarter, against Carlton last week they looked worried and were nervous when attempting to move the ball out of their backline, this week they looked a little more settled and were able to counteract the Saints push and keep them at least 10 points clear.

The Tigers ended up getting over the line by 17 Points, for me, this was closer than I believe it should have been. The Tigers took over the lead in the 1st Quarter and never gave it back, at times were very wasteful in their shots on goal but also hitting the target.

The biggest worry for me Friday night was the ease in which St Kilda dominated us in marks in our attacking 50. We constantly bombed the ball in long or went towards a pack only for our forwards to be out of position and the tall saint defenders taking the grab.

I don't think this will be an issue against the Bulldogs this week but one to watch out for when we face Collingwood the week after...

Disappointment's: For me there wasn't alot to be disappointed with other than the marking inside our attacking 50 (yes I say this despite the big grabs by Jack, Jake and Luke...)

Jake Bachelor was ok but often looked for the player in contests rather than keeping his eye on the ball, which led to a lot of marks against him and easy shots on goal.

Ty Vickory was not impressive at all, which is a shame as last week against Carlton he found alot of space and took some great marks, maybe he's feeling crowded with both Jack & Luke there?

Positives for me: Well there were alot, Troy Chaplin played well in only his 2nd game since moving from Port. Jake King really impressed and was unlucky to pull down mark of the year. Luke McGuane is making a serious push to be the 2nd key forward to Jack Riewoldt, Grimes was great in his first game back since injury.

They big winners for me though were Ricky Petterd, Reece Conca and Trent Cotchin.

Trent showed why he is one of the favourites to win the Brownlow this year, yes tagged early but a great player knows how to shake off a tag and that he did, massing 31 possession's and being a big influence.

Reece Conca, I'll go down as saying that's the best game he has ever played for the Tigers. Alot of people have always had huge raps on him, me not so much as I think I was always overcome by the likes of Cotchin, Deledio and Martin as being the next youngsters to shine.. But I'll happily say that Reece was in the Top 3 of being best on ground.

Ricky Petterd, alot (critics/supporters) didn't like his invitation to pre-season, I always liked him though and thought Melbourne were stupid for getting rid of him last season. Ricky's presence and foot skills really helped us out and I would also put him in our top 3 best players considering it was only his first game for us too!

So, Tigers are sitting 2 wins and 0 losses which hasn't occurred for 16 years, We shift our sights to the Bulldogs this Sunday and hope to push for 3 straight wins.

If you're not yet on board as a member, get on now. Even if its just an interstate membership which I'm on, costs around $75 each year but your financially apart of the club and more importantly another tally to the clubs push of 60k+ supporters!

Final scores:

Richmond 14.15 (99)

defeat

St Kilda 12.10 (82)

**Photos courtesy of the Richmond website... www.richmondfc.com.au**