RICHMOND VS. ADELAIDE: LIVE FROM THE LOUNGEROOM
We’re hurtling towards the midway point of the season, and those dreaded bye rounds are almost upon us. For us fans, it represents a time of hatred and disappointment, as we simply want the season to keep rolling on, and the stop-start nature of the bye rounds kills all momentum. But for some teams, and one in particular, the bye rounds present a good time to get some much needed rest in, with certain players’ bodies piling up with injury after injury.
So is the case here, with the rebuilding Tigers being battered from pillar to post in the medical room, and having next to nothing in the locker room to bring in as cover. And coming up against a battle hardened Adelaide Crows outfit looking to build their credentials after a last gasp Showdown victory, their task only gets tougher in a Sunday afternoon battle at the MCG.
Once again, I’m reviewing this one live, except unlike Gather Round, I’m back in my lounge room, on an overcast Mothers Day. All times will be in SA time (the only time zone that matters), and we’re in for an intriguing contest. Can the Crows continue to build some momentum into the season? Can the Tigers take a big scalp?
PRE GAME:
2:37 pm: Sam Grlj is a late out. Managed. Like Nasiah last night. This is so stupid; either he’s too injured to play, or he’s fine. It’s something the coaches would clearly know before now!
FIRST QUARTER
2:45 pm: Ball up. Let’s get it on!
2:48 pm: Ping pong footy to start things. Neither can really get anything going, and skill errors are a big feature.
2:49 pm: Why is Nick Murray starting forward? It makes no sense. He’s a good defender, and the Crows are one down after Jordon Butts’ concussion last week.
2:50 pm: Did I just see yet another Richmond injury?
2:52 pm: Big confidence boost for Tom Lynch! Tigers get the first, and they deserve it, they’ve been much better than the Crows.
2:52 pm: Yep, I was right. Tom Brown off with a wrist injury. Doesn’t look good.
2:53 pm: Richmond’s pressure has been excellent.
2:54 pm: But that was some beautiful transition football from the Crows. Brayden Cook intercept, to Berry, to Rachele, and a bullet pass to Pedlar. When none of those names are the likes of Dawson, Rankine or Thilthorpe, it shows great signs for the future.
2:57 pm: That’s why Murray is a defender, not a forward.
2:59 pm: Matt Hill says Borlase in a weird way.
3:03 pm: Surprisingly, a goal against the run of play gives the Crows the lead. The Tigers have had much more of the ball, and are going inside 50 more often, but their entries have been awful. Good efficiency from the Crows to hit the scoreboard from their limited opportunities.
3:06 pm: And the Tigers answer straight back! It’s just a simple case of terrific pressure football. No more, no less.
3:08 pm: Oh my, that was scintillating from Izak Rankine! All three Crows goals have come from defensive transition, and when they get it right, it looks incredible!
3:09 pm: And again the Tigers answer in swift fashion. I can’t keep up with things, this time it’s the little magician Seth Campbell. I feel like Campbell is a player who would benefit from being in a better team.
3:13 pm: Quarter Time: Richmond 3.2.20 vs. Adelaide 3.2.20
SECOND QUARTER
3:22 pm: Is it possible for it to be a good game of football if neither side is playing well? Because that’s what it feels like right now.
3:27 pm: Adelaide’s defence needs so much more than they’ve got. Sure, Borlase is only a bit part player, but it can’t be left to just him and Worrell. Balta is running rampant as a forward ruck, and Lynch is just too big and strong to contain. He kicks Richmond’s fourth goal, and they lead once again.
3:31 pm: Massive breakdown in communication in the Tigers’ backline. But it’s a let-off, as Thilthorpe misses the set shot. He has been well down on his capabilities this season, and you can use the sore back excuse, but if that’s the case, give him a break for a couple of weeks.
3:33 pm: How was that not play on from Tyler Sonsie? Look, it was excellent ball movement that got the Tigers the set shot 30 metres out, but Sonsie absolutely went to play on. It’s a huge let-off, as the Tigers take a double-digit lead.
3:36 pm: Adelaide’s forward pressure is bad. Very bad. Too often, Richmond players are able to find easy targets by both hand and foot coming out of the backline.
3:37 pm: That’s exactly what I’m talking about! Sensational run down tackle from the returning Dan Curtin! And a big kick from just inside 50 gets the Crows back to within a goal.
3:39 pm: Hmm. Maybe Nick Murray can be a forward after all. Key defenders can’t dribble the ball across the deck like that.
3:40 pm: They’ve mentioned Ollie Hayes-Brown’s basketball background as many times as they do for Scott Pendlebury. We get it, he used to play basketball, you don’t need to say it 58 million times!
3:42 pm: That kick went 14.9 metres if that! And thanks to the umpire’s generosity, Richmond are back in front.
3:46 pm: Gang tackling brilliance from Ross and Lefau! Rugby league helps in that regard! Richmond have responded when it looked like the Crows would kick away, and the margin is back out past 10 points.
3:50 pm: Half Time: Richmond 7.4.46 lead Adelaide 5.5.35
First half thoughts: Richmond are right in this. Sure, that’s simple to say, but this has been a very impressive performance. They’re doing exactly the right mix of playing to their strengths, and not overexposing their weaknesses. Adelaide haven’t been great, mind you, but remember the first half in the Showdown wasn’t very good either, but on that night they rose to the occasion. They’ve threatened to do that on multiple occasions today, but the Tigers have answered every challenge thrown at them with brilliant pressure football. If we’re being honest, neither side is playing particularly well from a pure skills perspective, but only one team is bringing the pressure and attack on the ball-carrier, and it certainly isn’t the side we expected.
THIRD QUARTER
4:10 pm: Straight away, the Crows get going! McAndrew with the beautiful tap, and through Dawson, to Rachele, Adelaide gets the first of the half.
4:12 pm: That’s twice in a minute that Thilthorpe has had a marking chance that hasn’t stuck. He needs to lift, and quickly.
4:13 pm: Like that. Exactly like that. Thilthorpe uses his body strength to great effect, and nails the set shot. Just like that, Adelaide is back in front.
4:16 pm: Murray back in defence. Good.
4:17 pm: Uh oh. Dawson injured. Corked quad, maybe? Either way, he’s the player Adelaide can least afford to lose.
4:18 pm: This is starting to look ominous. From a tight angle, Neal-Bullen kicks Adelaide’s third of the term, and this could get out of hand very quickly. Richmond aren’t working hard enough, and Adelaide are slicing through the team defence far too easily.
4:24 pm: Five clearances to one, Adelaide’s way. That’s the story. Richmond’s midfield controlled proceedings in the first half, but they’re getting carved up out of the middle in this quarter.
4:25 pm: The Tigers have certainly settled, and they’ve stalled the Crows scoring onslaught, but they can’t hit a target to save themselves.
4:26 pm: Brilliant tackle, Zac Taylor! Duly rewarded with the free kick, and he wastes no time in kicking it long to the Thil-seeker! But again, the radar is off. What has happened with his goal-kicking? It’s gone from strong as an ox, to desperately awful!
4:28 pm: Yet more pressure football from the Crows, Richmond couldn’t get out of defence with any fluency, and it came straight back. Dawson gets the free kick, as he should’ve, and he goes back and kicks truly.
4:31 pm: Oops. Mykelti, what have you done!
4:35 pm: The Crows are piling on the pain. And it’s deserved, because everything the Tigers did so well in the first half has completely fallen away. Richmond can’t lay a glove on their opponents, and Adelaide have ramped up their pressure to boiling point.
4:38 pm: I’ve counted ten different contests that Thilthorpe has got his hands to the ball, and only twice has he taken the mark.
4:39 pm: Three Quarter Time: Adelaide 10.10.70 lead Richmond 7.5.47
FOURTH QUARTER
4:45 pm: Perfect tackle from Toby Murray. It must be said that Richmond only laid three tackles in the entire third quarter. That’s horrendous pressure. And hopefully it got addressed sternly at the break. Anyway, Murray missed.
4:47 pm: Murray gets another chance, and it’s a seven point play! He’s got something worth persisting with, this Toby Murray.
4:49 pm: Another free kick to Murray! Does Darcy Fogarty automatically make his way back into the side with Murray providing this solid an option? Maybe he does, because as I am typing this sentence, Murray turns the ball over inside 50.
4:50 pm: TOBY MURRAY AGAIN! It’s been his show to start his quarter, and this time it’s a holding the ball tackle on Vlastuin in the centre square.
4:51 pm: Bit of a lapse in defensive concentration from the Crows gives Richmond their first goal of the half. Also, Borlase got beaten in a one-on-one again. Not good signs there.
4:54 pm: Please, please, please just be a cramp for Rankine!
4:55 pm: Big mark Mykelti Lefau!
4:55 pm: Fox Footy’s coverage has just cut out. Oh dear. That doesn’t help me review the game does it!
4:56 pm: We’re back. And Richmond’s score went from 53 to 54. So I guess Lefau missed it.
4:56 pm: Jacob Hopper kicks his set shot out of bounds on the full in a truly shocking attempt.
4:57 pm: Richmond’s pressure has exploded in the last few minutes.
4:58 pm: I love Cumming! Wait. Let me rephrase that. Sam Cumming. I love Sam Cumming. No wonder he was a top ten draft pick. And it’s back to game on, margin back under three goals.
5:02 pm: Could be a handy point from Taylor, Crows out by 19 points. But no, Matt Hill, he’s not quite developing into an outstanding player. Not yet, anyway.
5:05 pm: Another point, that’s three in a row from the Crows. They could’ve killed the Tigers off on multiple occasions, but they still have a sniff, as faint as it is, with five minutes to play.
5:07 pm: There isn’t much Campbell can do, but it’s a free kick every day of the week. He’s desperately unlucky. And the recipient of the free kick, Rachele, goes back and slams the door shut on the Tigers, with the margin now out to 25 points with less than four minutes left.
5:11 pm: It’s a very weird run up, but good on you, Lachlan McAndrew, with his first goal in AFL footy!
5:13 pm: Bit of a panic kick on the last line of defence from Patrick Retschko, and it lands out of bounds. Quickly brought back in by Thilthorpe and through Ben Keays, the Crows finish things off.
5:13 pm: Final Score: Adelaide 14.14.98 d. Richmond 9.7.61
WRAP UPS:
RICHMOND:
How exactly do you judge this performance? Do you take the positive of the three quarters, and chalk up that third quarter to a young team that can’t do it long enough, or do you eviscerate that ugly quarter and make sure it doesn’t happen again?
Like most things, it’s a bit of one hand, and a bit more of the other. Because for three quarters of football, Richmond took it right up to their more-fancied opponents, and at half-timethere was genuine thought that the young cubs could cause a significant upset. Their pressure was excellent, they never allowed Adelaide any space, and they tackled with ferocity.
But then half-time came and went, and all that good work was undone in a flash. Gone was the pressure, gone was the team defence, and in laying just three tackles in those 30 minutes, gone was the ferocious tackling that had gotten the Tigers into such a strong position.
Sure, they corrected things when it really threatened to get out of hand in the last quarter, and until time on there was a hope from Richmond fans that just one more goal could’ve made things very difficult, but again the Tigers were pushed aside a little too easily, leaving the ground with a six-goal loss. It’s a margin that isn’t as bad as it could’ve been, given the gulf in experience between the two sides, but looking at the positives can’t gloss over the negatives. Although the Tigers are still heavily in rebuilding mode, and have an injury list as long as a Punt Road traffic jam, that toothless third quarter will need to be sternly addressed in the coaches’ match review.
Jack Ross was Richmond’s best on ground, with 26 disposals. Luke Trainor battled hard in defence with 18 disposals and 10 marks in a vital intercepting role, Ben Miller shut down Riley Thilthorpe in a fantastically disciplined display, and Jayden Short and Tim Taranto gathered plenty of ball, ensuring the Tigers had many chances to score.
On the flip side, Ollie Hayes-Brown was well beaten by Lachlan McAndrew, Tom Burton, Jonty Faull, Sam Cumming and Kane McAuliffe didn’t do enough, and Mykelti Lefau went in and out of the game.
ADELAIDE:
Like the Tigers, it was a tale of two halves, and it’s becoming an all too familiar sight. Because in reality, the Crows should’ve been five goals in front of Richmond at the main break, and the fact that they were behind at half time, just as they were in last week’s Showdown, is an alarming trend that needs to be rectified, and quickly. Three weeks in a row, the Crows have been behind at half time, and in the last two, they’ve been behind against opponents they should’ve been beating convincingly.
Sure, each of the last two weeks have ultimately resulted in victories, but that’s not really the point here. For a team that finished last year’s home-and-away season in first position, it’s a troubling step backwards that the Crows are struggling to beat the strugglers as much as they are.
After copping a spray at half time, the Crows came out breathing literal fire, and pounded the Tigers into complete submission. Their ball movement was slick and slicing, their defence, with Nick Murray back in it, went to work, and their forward line began clicking into gear. But their tenacity around the ball was the biggest turnaround, and Richmond had no answers for it. Consistently above 200 on the pressure rating, Adelaide were never going to lose this game after half time, and the full time margin of 37 points felt like the right result in the end.
In a hugely increased midfield role, Izak Rankine was best on ground, with 33 disposals, 10 marks, eight tackles and 684 metres. In a season quickly becoming All-Australian worthy, Wayne Milera was also excellent across half back with 34 disposals at 94% efficiency, along with nine score involvements and eight intercept possessions. Jordan Dawson returned from personal leave with 28 touches and eight marks, although he did turn the ball over a little too much, Alex Neal-Bullen was a star across half forward with 16 disposals, nine marks and two goals, and Toby Murray came to life in the second half with six crunching tackles.
However, with good comes bad, as Jake Soligo was barely sighted, Nick Murray didn’t work as a forward, Riley Thilthorpe dropped too many marks, and James Borlase was well beaten by Tom Lynch.
6:04 pm: That’s all from me, time to rest up ahead of the working week. And it’s steak on the menu tonight, with some garlic butter and veggies.
Life is good.
