Entering this contest, you genuinely got the feeling this was a game both teams felt that they had a chance to win.
Sounds like a dumb opening, I know. However, there are some games where the result feels known even before the first bounce. This one had an air of the unexpected about it.
For Essendon, their fans would feel that they should be further along than Richmond. The Tigers, being early in their rebuild, would have felt that they had a decent chance coming up against a wounded Bombers outfit. Both teams listed debutants for the game, with Taj Hotton playing his first game for the Tigers, while Essendon named their twelfth debutant for the season in Oskar Smart after Perkins, Gresham, and Caldwell came out of the side.
Oskar Smart had the first shot at goal with his first kick, but failed to register a score, joining the not-so-illustrious first kick – no score club. The Bombers would kick the first of the game through Sam Durham, after he crumbed a contest in the forward 50 and kicked a checkside that swung through for a major. However, the Tigers were able to kick their first through Sam Banks after Nankervis drew a free kick in the ruck from Todd Goldstein. Tiger’s debutant Taj Hotton then got Richmond’s second goal of the game almost immediately afterwards, after Dion Prestia was able to break away from the stoppage.
Essendon suffered another injury blow after Nic Martin appeared to injure his knee after being bumped over the line by Rhyan Mansell. Martin was subbed out of the game, bringing Zak Johnson on with over three quarters of the game left to play.
Elijah Tsatas kicked Essendon’s second to draw the margin to three points after Nate Caddy and Isaac Kako piled pressure on the Tigers’ defenders. Nate Caddy then put Essendon back in front after winning a free kick in the forward line. Jayden Short then restored the Tigers’ lead with less than a minute to go in the first term.
The second quarter became a slog, with neither side scoring a goal. Richmond only managed a single behind for the quarter, while Essendon went marginally better, scoring six behinds in almost 30 minutes of football. This allowed Essendon to take a one-point lead going into the long break.
Both teams’ kicking woes continued in the second quarter, as both found it difficult to find the middle of the big sticks. Luke Trainor, Jacob Hopper, Nate Caddy, Jayden Laverde, and Jayden Short all missed shots at goal before Archer May finally broke the game’s goal drought after winning a free kick after being caught high.
Despite the Bombers’ goal drought ending, Richmond failed to kick a major in both the second, and third quarters of the game. However, despite their inability to score, the Bombers, frankly, were not much better, and Tigers only found themselves seven points down at three-quarter-time.
After going more than half the game without scoring a goal, the Tigers finally broke through to kick their first goal in what felt like a hundred years, five minutes into the final quarter through Tim Taranto. His goal drew the Tigers level with both sides having scored 4.10 for the game, which should give you a solid indication as to the quality of the contest.
Almost ten minutes after Taranto’s goal, Jacob Hopper kicked his first goal of the game to remarkably give Richmond the lead. After going almost an hour without kicking a goal, Richmond finally found their kicking boots, with Jonty Faull kicking one to put the Tigers up by ten points.
Essendon would have multiple chances to wrest back control of the game, but again failed to capitalise on numerous opportunities in the final minutes of the game as the Tigers won their fourth game of the year by nine-points.
Injuries continue to mount at Essendon
The Bombers have been put through the absolute wringer by injuries this season, with many of their players going down during the season. Two more names were added to the Essendon injury list during the game against the Tigers. Firstly, Nic Martin was subbed out of the game after landing awkwardly over the boundary line. Martin spent the majority of the game on crutches with a big chunk of ice strapped to his leg.
However, Martin wasn’t the only Bomber to suffer an injury during the game. Former Giant and Blue Will Setterfield also suffered an injury during the game and was spotted at the end with a bag of ice attached to his leg.
Absolute Brain Fade
With just over five minutes remaining in the game and his side up by just ten points, Jacob Koschitzke took a great contested mark about a metre out from the goal. Instead of going back, taking some time off the clock, Koschitzke decided that he would share the love and handball it to his teammate, Thomas Sims.
Sims, who was surrounded by Essendon defenders, dropped the ball and failed to make contact with his foot. Sims and Koschitzke were fortunate that Xavier Duursma kicked the ball out of bounds while trying to move the ball forward, and that Essendon failed to take advantage. It was the type of error that costs games, and for Koschitzke, who has struggled to find a place in the side, he probably didn’t do his reputation any good with that effort.
Not for the neutrals
On paper, this game sounded like an exciting game for neutral supporters. The margin was never higher than ten points for either team. However, in reality, this game was a slog to watch. Both sides had multiple quarters where they went goalless, including the second quarter, with neither side kicking a goal.
If neutral fans were bored and restless watching this game, I can only imagine how Richmond and Essendon fans must have felt watching this. While both teams are undoubtedly in a rebuilding phase (Richmond) or deciding how to attack next year (Essendon), this would have been a frustrating watch.
For Bombers fans, it’s another game that they should probably have walked away from with four Premiership points. For Richmond fans, they would be happy to leave with a win, but if they had played a team not named Essendon, or maybe West Coast, they probably would have lost the game.
The month ahead
The best thing about this game is that it eventually ended.
Richmond will feel like they have a good shot to win two games in a row now, with their next game against the West Coast Eagles in Perth. The Tigers then return to Melbourne and face a stiff challenge in Collingwood, who will be top of the table coming into the game regardless of the results next week. Richmond will again face off against the Gold Coast Suns and Damien Hardwick in Round 21. The Tigers will then round off the next month against the Saints at the MCG.
The Bombers will be forced to lick their wounds quickly, as they face off against the Giants next week at Marvel Stadium. This is followed up by another game at Marvel against the Western Bulldogs. Essendon will then travel to Sydney to take on the Swans at the SCG before finishing the next month in Geelong to face off against the Cats at GMHBA Stadium.
