Eagles ace plotting Worthing Thunder downfall
Dec 17 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal
KADIRI Richard will never forget the “special times” he enjoyed at Worthing Thunder.
But with the Newcastle Eagles desperate for some pre-Christmas festive cheer, the power forward says there is no room for sentiment at Sport Central tonight.
Former Thunder man Richard played with a clutch of the Worthing side set to roll into Newcastle, and the personable Richard is still on friendly terms with everyone from kit man to physio at the South Coast outfit.
However as soon as the first buzzer goes, he’ll be “going for the kill”. He’ll need to – Thunder ran Newcastle very close a fortnight ago and the Eagles will be hoping for a much easier ride than in that 88-87 win.
“I’ll never forget the times I had at Worthing.
“We really transformed the outlook of that organisation and accomplished something a bit special there,” he said. “There are still three players there from when I was there including James Brame – who is actually helping to coach the team at the moment.
“Those are good players and I’ve got a lot of respect for them.
“We went from an organisation with a 10-23 record in our first season in the BBL to an 18-18 record.
“We beat Newcastle twice too, which was an incredible feat. It wasn’t quite enough to make the play-offs but it was a good start and we were so, so close.
“There were a lot of long road trips from Worthing for our away games and we bonded on those coaches. It gave us a real team spirit. So it was great fun for that year but this is my job now and I’ll be going hard on Friday.
“When I talk to them before the game it will be all smiles and handshakes but when the game starts I’ll be going for those rebounds, chasing those points and making sure they know I’m there.”
With ground to make up on the Mersey Tigers the Eagles need back-to-back wins in this weekend’s double header against Thunder and the Guildford Heat.
“This is an important game for us,” he added. “In fact these are two very big games for us with the Guildford game as well – the Heat are playing with a lot of confidence in their new arena at the moment.
“We know we need to win these games if we’re going to go on and win something this year, which we’re still very confident of doing.
“I remember from last year that the Eagles always begin to move on around about this time. Last year they went 23 games unbeaten – we have to do something similar this year.”
As for himself, Richard admits it has been a steep learning curve since moving to the North East.
As the replacement for legendary Eagle Lynard Stewart his performances have been under scrutiny – and it has taken him a while to come to terms with the defensive plays of boss Fab Flournoy.
Now more settled, he is predicting plenty more to come in the second half of the season.
“I think I have made improvements in my game. I’m certainly a more rounded player for coming to the Eagles – my game has developed in a big way,” he continued.
“Last year I was playing 35 to 40 minutes in virtually every game but this year it is 18 to 25 minutes.
“So I need to play a different way. I have a different role and I’m playing in a team of quality individuals – that is going to take time to adapt to.”
