Dockers Hope Tarrant Return Can Start A Roll
The Sunday Age
Sunday April 13, 2008
FROM experience, double AFL premiership winner Chris Scott says he knows, once they get going, Fremantle - and Chris Tarrant - are both hard to stop.
And so the former Brisbane Lions backman and now Dockers assistant coach says a win against Richmond at Subiaco today could be an important step towards giving the Dockers, and the struggling forward, some all-important momentum. Tarrant, recalled after missing the Dockers' win over West Coast last week with what coaching staff said was a back injury, will be looking to get the critics off his back and a first goal for the season - which Scott says is not from lack of effort. "We think Chris gives us a lot in terms of forward pressure and high work rate, even though he has been struggling to get the ball," Scott said. "People seem to overlook the fact that he is probably our hardest-working forward, covers a lot of ground, and personally, I know he is a very hard match-up. "There are a number of forward set-ups that can work well for us, but are we a better side if he is playing well? Of course. "As an outsider looking on at Fremantle in past years, they have been a very difficult side to get on top of when they can get some momentum." With the club protecting Tarrant all week from rumours of disenchantment with Fremantle and football, the former Magpie will have best friend Dean Solomon back alongside him tomorrow after completing a two-match suspension. And a double milestone will give Dockers fans more reasons to be cheerful, with Des Headland racking up his 150th AFL game and Peter Bell equalling Wayne Richardson's record of 277 VFL/AFL games played by a West Australian. That is only 39 more than Tigers' defender Joel Bowden, who on Friday succumbed to the threatened axe from Terry Wallace after his slow start to the season. "Joel would be the first to say his form hasn't been where he'd like it," Wallace said. "Joel, probably more than any, has been a natural player who reads the game as well as most. If you start second-guessing yourself in that reading game, that's going to have an impact on your footy."
© 2008 The Sunday Age