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Pat Richards' towering kick-offs are revolutionising rugby league
Date
April 12, 2014 - 1:21AM
Michael Chammas
Rugby league reporter
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Pat Richards is revolutionising the kick-off with his spiralling bomb-like restarts that have provided Wests Tigers with another attacking weapon to add to their arsenal.
Richards' towering kick-offs have proved difficult for opposition teams to combat, with the Tigers regaining possession from more than 20 per cent of the winger's kick-offs.
For so long coaches have demanded their kickers boot the ball deep to help win the battle for field position, but Richards' skill with the ball has the potential to revolutionise the game.
"I am a bit surprised teams don't do it," Richards said.
"What's the point of just giving the other team a free catch at the ball? You might as well get it up as high and as ugly as possible. If you can get a result out of the kick-off it's perfect.
"You also want to restrict metres, but if you can get the ball back it's a huge advantage for the team. It's about putting the team under as much pressure as possible, that's my goal.
"It will probably end up catching on. Every coach that I've been involved with loves it. The odd one doesn't come off, but chasers know they can get down there and they might get the ball back as well.
"Everything goes through fazes with certain kicks. I'll just continue doing my thing and let everyone else worry about it."
The Tigers have managed to retain possession from a kick-off on five of 24 occasions this year, two of those coming in last week's incredible shock win over Manly at Leichhardt.
Richards has forced an error out of the opposition on four different occasions, the Tigers contesting and winning the ball back on the other occasion.
And it's not only the height that is difficult to contend with. Richards' kicks are unpredictable and he lands the ball all over the field, rather than in one corner like most other teams.
While he is yet to be approached for advice from other kickers, Richards admits he is often heckled by opposition players pleading with him not to kick the ball in their direction.
"I've been in England doing it over there for some time, but coming back here it's a bit fresh and people keep asking me about it," he said.
"Not so much the other kickers, but the other catchers asking me not to kick it to them. It's all a bit of fun batter.
"I always knew I could kick the ball pretty high and long. I just played around with the ball on the tee a few times and over the years I just got used to hitting it a certain way that makes it hard to catch."
Tigers coach Mick Potter, who coached against Richards in the English Super League, said he never considered stopping Richards from using the kick-off in the NRL, despite most coaches preferring predictable restarts.
"I watched him for the last eight years in Super League and he was doing that over there," Potter said.
"It was a nightmare trying to catch those balls. It was a no-brainer, really. Because he gets so much hang time on them, the players can compete. It's nearly like a bomb kick-off. He spends a lot of time practising it."
Richards said the attacking kick-off option was adopted by several teams in the English Super League.
"A few of the guys over there started doing it," Richards said.
"Danny Brough is pretty good at it. I know playing against him it was quite hard for our catchers to get the ball. Not any one kick is the same, there are all different ones that can go anywhere."
Date
April 12, 2014 - 1:21AM
Michael Chammas
Rugby league reporter
\
\
Pat Richards is revolutionising the kick-off with his spiralling bomb-like restarts that have provided Wests Tigers with another attacking weapon to add to their arsenal.
Richards' towering kick-offs have proved difficult for opposition teams to combat, with the Tigers regaining possession from more than 20 per cent of the winger's kick-offs.
For so long coaches have demanded their kickers boot the ball deep to help win the battle for field position, but Richards' skill with the ball has the potential to revolutionise the game.
"I am a bit surprised teams don't do it," Richards said.
"What's the point of just giving the other team a free catch at the ball? You might as well get it up as high and as ugly as possible. If you can get a result out of the kick-off it's perfect.
"You also want to restrict metres, but if you can get the ball back it's a huge advantage for the team. It's about putting the team under as much pressure as possible, that's my goal.
"It will probably end up catching on. Every coach that I've been involved with loves it. The odd one doesn't come off, but chasers know they can get down there and they might get the ball back as well.
"Everything goes through fazes with certain kicks. I'll just continue doing my thing and let everyone else worry about it."
The Tigers have managed to retain possession from a kick-off on five of 24 occasions this year, two of those coming in last week's incredible shock win over Manly at Leichhardt.
Richards has forced an error out of the opposition on four different occasions, the Tigers contesting and winning the ball back on the other occasion.
And it's not only the height that is difficult to contend with. Richards' kicks are unpredictable and he lands the ball all over the field, rather than in one corner like most other teams.
While he is yet to be approached for advice from other kickers, Richards admits he is often heckled by opposition players pleading with him not to kick the ball in their direction.
"I've been in England doing it over there for some time, but coming back here it's a bit fresh and people keep asking me about it," he said.
"Not so much the other kickers, but the other catchers asking me not to kick it to them. It's all a bit of fun batter.
"I always knew I could kick the ball pretty high and long. I just played around with the ball on the tee a few times and over the years I just got used to hitting it a certain way that makes it hard to catch."
Tigers coach Mick Potter, who coached against Richards in the English Super League, said he never considered stopping Richards from using the kick-off in the NRL, despite most coaches preferring predictable restarts.
"I watched him for the last eight years in Super League and he was doing that over there," Potter said.
"It was a nightmare trying to catch those balls. It was a no-brainer, really. Because he gets so much hang time on them, the players can compete. It's nearly like a bomb kick-off. He spends a lot of time practising it."
Richards said the attacking kick-off option was adopted by several teams in the English Super League.
"A few of the guys over there started doing it," Richards said.
"Danny Brough is pretty good at it. I know playing against him it was quite hard for our catchers to get the ball. Not any one kick is the same, there are all different ones that can go anywhere."
