When I had a look at this game and saw it was being played at Norwood, alarm bells went off.
I quickly took the food out of the oven, took the food out, opened all the doors and windows, and went back to looking at the game.
Seriously, though, my immediate reaction to seeing the venue was that this was a game that was going to be played on Richmond’s terms. Boxing opponents in, making them work in a phone box, and forcing errors. It’s what the Tigers are good at.
And as we ended the first half, that is exactly the way things were playing out. The Tigers were up for the fight, and the Saints were playing reactive, poorly-skilled footy. Richmond were bolstered with the return of Dustin Martin, who looked great until half-time, and the work of Shai Bolton, who was easily the most dangerous player on the field.
The Saints needed a response, and even though they were thoroughly outplayed, they were only 22-points down at the main break.
Something had to change.
Something did.
The Saints came out after the main break breathing fire, and it was one of the more entertaining quarters of footy for the year (it didn’t have a lot of competition from the first two).
With the game positioned on a knife’s edge, we entered the last quarter with St Kilda, looking all but gone 30 minutes before, holding an eight-point lead, and despite having their chances, the Tigers were unable to bridge the gap.
Let’s jump into the Mongrel’s Loves and Hates from this one.
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