RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace says the work done in the off-season above the shoulders might prove just as valuable as the hard yards his young players put in on the field at Tigerland.
Wallace, speaking after his team turned around a 25-point deficit to record a five-goal win over Carlton in Thursday night’s season opener at the MCG, believes he now possesses a more mature line-up at Punt Road.
And it is difficult to argue with the veteran coach after more than 72,000 fans watched his side wrestle back the ascendancy from the Blues in the second term and then march away late in the game in impressive fashion.
Wallace played down the win despite a buoyant feeling in the Tigers’ rooms after the match.
“We’ve always sort of said that the two things we thought that were going to hold us in good stead was the health of our list … and a little bit more maturity to the structure of the side,” he said.
Richmond eventually won 17.7 (109) to 11.13 (79) but not before dropping off the pace earlier in the night.
Wallace said his team, although still young, hadn’t panicked in the second quarter when the Blues kicked clear to lead by 25 points and threatened to blow the game wide open.
“We worked on the mental part of our game quite a bit over the summer and just in the fact that we are more mature and we need to handle those situations and I thought the guys handled it really well,” Wallace said.
Carlton, boasting prize recruit Chris Judd, looked slick early but the Tigers worked their way back into the contest and, with evergreen forward Matthew Richardson dangerous, looked potent in attack.
But Wallace wasn’t talking his side up despite the famous Tigers’ theme song being sung in full voice by his club’s loyal band of supporters.
“We’ve got to put it in perspective,” he said.
“We’re 15th v 16th from last year, so we’re not getting carried away from the result by any stretch of the imagination.
“We did what we came here to do, albeit in a hard way at times.”
Wallace said his team’s next assignment – against 2007 preliminary finalists North Melbourne – would paint a far clearer picture of his team’s progression.
“You get confidence out of winning, don’t you? I think any side gets that,” he said.
“It’s one win. The nature of this game, all it does is keep the wolves at bay for seven days or so.”
“It’s one win. The nature of this game, all it does is keep the wolves at bay for seven days or so.”
