Monday, August 24, 2015

Why don't you come on over Vickery?

One day, many years from now, you'll be able to say 'Remember that time we beat Collingwood by 15 goals and Ty kicked six?'. Actually scratch that many years from now qualifier, I started on Saturday evening and haven't really slowed down since.

It wasn't your grandfather's Collingwood but given the number of times they've stitched us up you have to take them when they're on offer. It happens so infrequently that dropping the hammer in the last quarter is still a magnificent novelty, especially against a non-expansion team.

It caps a pretty nuts month in which we've: done everything but win against Fremantle, smashed Hawthorn, forgot to turn up to Adelaide and smoked Gold Coast without really clicking into second gear. And after giving up a 2-4 start, we are two weeks out from the end of year (as good as) banked to play finals for the third year in a row. Damien, my hat is tipped.

So much of footy analysis focusses on what happens in the midfield but we beat Collingwood at either end. Lead by Rance (more to come later), the backline was sublime. Even though a stack were hit and hope, to only give up seven goals from 58 inside 50s is exceptional. Up the other end, to kick 23 goals from 49 is off the charts. Someone with access to better stat databases than me might have to sort it out, but I'm guessing 32 scoring shots from 49 is close to the entries per score record if such a thing exists. I'm half expecting to see it bob up in Damo Barrett's if and then travesty of an article he rolls out on Friday.

Speaking of nuts niche stats, this year is the first time since 1931 that we've played Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon twice each and gone undefeated. 1931 is so long ago that it was before Joan Rivers was born and she has since lived, been really old and died. It's really the most marvellous triple double imaginable.

As mentioned above, Collingwood was far from at their best. So much so that Pendles dared come out and speak the truth about it not meaning the world to them and was promptly shouted down for doing so. Personally I'm all for sports people not holding back but either way what an extraordinary to get ten years into a career before playing a meaningless game. Meanwhile Newy cracked 200 and Lids 194 before they played in a final and have since passed the baton onto Lynden Dunn who is up to 159 games and has Trevor Barker in his gaze. Pendles, I applaud you for telling the truth but shan't be feeling sorry for you anytime soon my friend.

Other than Ty, all anyone wants to talk about is Dusty and Jack interacting with the filth Collingwood cheer squadr. Of course the AFL stepped in this afternoon to fine Dusty, because how else are they going to pay Paul Roos' salary? But it's nice to see that while they aren't happy with Dusty, they're happy to run puns on their website:


And it is just me or does that not make any sense? I'm completely with Demonblog on this.

Dusty aside, how fantastic is the vision of Jack having a bit of fun with/at them? There is so much to unpack in that vision that I feel like I could write a 25,000 word thesis on it. My favourite people involved are:
  • The block in the front row on the left who seems to think he's having a conversation with Jack
  • The guy with the plaster cast on his arm who slinks behind everyone and looks like he's about to completely unload before mysteriously dissapearing
  • The guy middle-top of the screen with the beard who incorporates a clap into his repertoire of abuse
Who I'm most fascinating by is the the chick sitting standing in the front right who looks as if she's popped past to say g'day to someone and is completely bewildered by what is happening around her. What is she doing there? Does she know the person next to her? Is she her parole officer? Get out of there lady, those are not sane people.

By the end of it, anyone kicking a goal late in the last quarter would have done well to find any Collingwood supporters left to give a serve to.

Another pleasing part of Saturday was that our very best players (Rance aside) didn't really play that well. Jack was serviceable without starring, Cotchin well held, Deledio didn't really get going and Titch was blowing out cobwebs. In their absence, everyone else stepped up. McIntosh roamed the wings as well as he has since night one, Grigg continues to put together a magnificent body of work for the season, Houli was again the key part of our defensive wall, Hunt and Ellis continue to run so hard that at least one of them is there whenever we need an extra person in a chain of handballs and Maric gave up more hitouts to Grundy but torched him around the ground.

Then, there is Ty. That's 10 goals in two week and, with Ty, form means strut. What a fantastic he was waltzing through the middle of the ground without a care in the world. Ty reckons he's a good as anyone and when he's going, we can beat anyone, so maybe he's on the money? He is marked criminally hard by the football world, especially Richmond supporters but Dimma is right, he needs to back it up. Before the start of the year, he had given up his spot to Griffiths. Undoubtedly he has won that back, now it's time to use that as a launch pad to go beyond being Jack's lieutenant and put himself among the very best tall forwards going around. I reckon he can do it and there will be no better place to strut through the middle of the ground than the MCG in the first week of the finals.

Up the other end of the ground stood Alex the Great and what an absolute clinic he put on against Cloke. Cloke isn't in the best form, but he's generally only one contested clunk and goal away from going on a spree and Rance, from experience, knew well enough not to give him the opportunity. When the ball came in, Rance was next to him. When Cloke was on a lead, Rance was next to him. When we rebounded, Rance was on the wing providing an option with Cloke nowhere to be seen. Cloke has lead the charge against us in the past, and it was amazing to see Rance deal back some of his own treatment. I can't stand Cloke, but my god he can play football and I'm not for that not being exhibited against us ever again. Cloke aside, they've found one in Moore, he is going to be a very good player.

Speaking of finals (I wasn't, but it's fun), the top four torch still flickers. We failed miserably getting GWS over the line against Sydney and St Kilda are our last chance on Sunday.

Changes for next week

It's a long year and I'd take the opportunity on Saturday night to rest a few blokes who look like they need it. They wont though so there hasn't ever been two more pointless sentences than these.

In: Hampson, McBean and Thomas
Out: Maric, Riewoldt, and Miles


The votes

5: Ty Vickery
4: Alex Rance
3: Jake Batchelor
2: Taylor Hunt
1: Bachar Houli

Unlucky: Loads but in rough order: Grigg, Rance, Deledio, Cotchin, Maric and basically everyone else.

Leaderboards

The Benny:

30: Dustin Martin
24: Bachar Houli
23: Anthony Miles, Trent Cotchin and Alex Rance
19: Alex Rance
18: Brett Deledio
17: Jack Riewoldt and Taylor Hunt
16: Shane Edwards and Shaun Grigg
15: Brandon Ellis
12: Troy Chaplin
10: Nick Vlastuin
9: Kane Lambert and Ty Vickery
8: Nick Vlastuin, Dylan Grimes and Ivan Maric
6: Jake Batchelor
3: Kamdyn McIntosh, Chris Newman and Ben Griffiths
2: Sam Lloyd
1: Steven Morris, Shaun Hampson and Ben Lennon

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

24: Bachar Houli
23: Anthony Miles
17: Taylor Hunt
16: Shaun Grigg
12: Troy Chaplin
8: Ivan Maric
1: Shaun Hampson

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

9: Kane Lambert
3: Kamdyn McIntosh

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

24: Bachar Houli
16: Shaun Grigg
12: Troy Chaplin
6: Jake Batchelor
3: Chris Newman

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

9: Kane Lambert

Monday, August 17, 2015

Four seasons in one game

Richmond has been through some dark days over the last few decades but nothing as embarrassing as losing the tackle count on Saturday. Sure, we won by 14 goals but all 22 of them should hand back their match payments after such a shocking display. Well at least that's what happened according to the Fox Footy team.

Anyone who has watched more than 15 minutes of us over the last three years would realise that Richmond isn't a high tackling team. They tackle when they have to, but the aim generally is forcing a turnover. That doesn't mean we won't need to come out all guns blazing some weeks, Hawthorn (whom this plan is based inspired stolen from) out-tackled Sydney in the grand final last year despite having an absolutely bonkers 144 more disposals. There will be matches when we have to get down in the trenches, but a round 20 match against the 16th placed team who couldn't beat an egg at the moment wasn't one of them.

On what looked like a cracking Melbourne afternoon, Richmond's array of greatest hits was on display. First up we had the dominate the game but not kick any goals, followed by the take the foot off the pedal and let an ordinary team back into it and then a full quarter of wondering around aimlessly. That was just the first half of the gig. The second half featured our rarely heard back catalogue of belting hell out of a bunch of no hopers, I like it when they play that set.

Selection on Thursday night didn't leave most of us thrilled and that combined with the fact that we were playing Gold Coast meant that my Twitter feed approaching this game was about as excited as you'd just been transferred to Syria for work.

Neither Thomas or Morris is the future and their selection isn't a great message to the kids on the list who would sell a body organ to get a game right now, but I didn't hate it as much as most. Thomas is an injury to Miles away from playing every match. Morris when not flapping around in the forward pocket like a fish out of water remains a better than average defensive stopper, exhibited by the fact we barely saw Aaron Hall after quarter time. I didn't hate Thomas' game as much as some people seem to have, 19 disposals and a good chunk of them contested is exactly what it says on the tin and he'll be better for the four quarters. Fingers crossed that we don't need either of them when it really gets serious, but I'd much prefer with that game under the belt than be called upon in the first final following months of running around in a god awful VFL team.

We all want to see McBean play, but it aint going to happen this year unless Jack gets injured or Ty gets suspended, the good news for McBeaniacs is that Ty is a better than average bet of whacking someone before the year is out so you might get your wish. As for the other kids, the well is pretty dry. McDonough is no good, Menadue will be player but could get killed by Hawthorn's midfield in a final and I don't get the vibe that we are packing any other heat in the VFL at the moment.

In terms of team balance I suspect it's Titch back soon, Conca soonish and Grimes hopefully. You'd expect that Thomas is first out, Morris behind him and then one of Lloyd or Lennon is going to be unlucky based on how they're playing at the moment. Personally, I'd prefer Lennon to play because we know he'll still be there in five years and finals experience at that age is unquestionably a good thing for the future. Of course this is all on the proviso that we don't get any injuries which is incredibly optimistic three weeks out from the finals.

You can probably tell that I've cleared a bit more time to write this week because that's a torrent of consciousness and I haven't even started on the game yet.

My afternoon got off to a good start when I settled on the couch and fired up the iPad to be greeted by the news that Telstra had broken the Internet when updating their AFL app so I reverted to the phone screen for the afternoon. Once I got that started, I was greeted by Fox Footy's montage of the greatest Gold Coast vs Richmond hits and reminded of the carnage this fixture has done to my already perilous mental state and by this stage I was ready to go and sit in the sun for a few hours and return home to learn our fate later in the afternoon.

I stuck it out, and found that when Fox use their wide pan camera it doesn't matter if Vickery or Lambert has the ball everyone looks the bloody same on the phone. When they zoomed in on their first close shot for the game it was just in time to see Ty outmarked cold by Sam Day, quickly followed Batchelor for some reason bobbing up in the forward pocket trying to rove to Jack and I was ready to throw the phone off the balcony before the clock had ticked over two minutes.

Thankfully I'd held onto my Apple contraption and was soothed by a Jack bombed goal from outside 50. Alongside Angry Trent Cotchin Jack's improved range is one of the things that has pleased me the most as the season has gone on, it wasn't that long ago that he would look to pass from 45 metres but now he's banging them in from all over the shop. Hopefully nobody checks his boots unless he has snuck a bit of graphite in there.

By and large we did what we had to in the first quarter, even if it did take a little while to get going. The contest was over at quarter time, which wasn't as quick as the Dogs burying Melbourne later in the day but it was OK by me. I thought Vlastuin especially did some great things early when there was a little heat in it, because he doesn't get huge numbers (yet or ever?) he doesn't get plaudits often enough, but it's good to know he's appreciated by those who count.

With the game poised for us to really lay down some hurt, what you thought was going to happen did and we phoned in the second quarter and barely fired a shot. The quarter was so bland that the highlight was Eddie getting arse about confused, completely forgetting which end of the ground we were kicking to and thinking Rance was running into an open goal when he was switching across goal to Chaplin. He recovered reasonably well and managed to get through the game without dropping any casual racism so we'll call the day a win for Ed.

At half time I got sick of #tacklecountchat and flicked off my tiny little phone screen and over to the ABC where I heard ten minutes of Adam 'Whateley Lite' White talking about the netball, golf and the NFL for ten minutes. Granted the game was a bit dull but it'd be nice to get a few minutes of analysis.

Other broadcasting highlights throughout the day included our old mate Spud Frawley running with 'Richmond win more often under Deledio' stats as if he'd been the first person to discover the link. Lids is never allowed to get injured or sick again and the fact he could undress a nun five rows behind the goals with a set shot from 45 metres makes me deliriously happy.

I suppose it has been a long season for broadcasters as well and with that all behind us, Dusty the third quarter started with one of those nuts reverse bananas from dead straight in front that he should patent and then we ran all over them for a solid hour. If Cairns didn't exist you could almost feel sorry for them but I didn't for one second and enjoyed us putting the foot down way more than I should have. Even Newy started doing a few things in the second half, that long pass to Ellis was silk and things like that make you realise why Hardwick is keeping him around in the team, I just wish he did them more often.

I'm god knows how many words down and haven't even mentioned the bloke who is about to get five votes next to his name. How happy are we all with Kane Lambert? Fresh off Miles last year we are finally getting value from the rookie list, and that's a couple of blokes who look like best 22 for years to come. He comes across as a really good bloke who seems crazy grateful for the opportunity and that makes him even better in my books.

While all this is going on, we are off to the finals for a third year in a row, Carlton are stone cold last, Essendon and imploding and Collingwood are entering the dreaded top half of the bottom half zone where you can end up for five years before you even realise you are treading water.

And it all ended with fan favourite Ty Vickery kicking a goal after the siren to cap a very good day for him. What more could you really ask for?

But more there was today when Sam Lloyd of all people bobbed up on the front page of the Financial Review which, as pointed out by the RTT lads, is pretty bonkers given his backstory.
I just love the thought that somewhere today a newspaper featuring Sam Lloyd on the front cover could have been used in someone's proof of life photo.

With that one out of the way, we'd want to be well up for it against Collingwood, a few years back we lined them up when our season was over and they were finals bound and Jake King and Tom Hislop set back relations between the clubs a solid 20 years. They still have a few blokes from that team playing and I can't imagine they've forgotten that because it was pretty ordinary by us to be honest. They'll be super keen to knock us off and cause a bit of chaos, it's nice to be the hunted rather than the hunter but it also means you have to be ready. And we sure weren't against Collingwood.

Changes for next week

Let us not reinvent the wheel, they'll be much better for blowing out the cobwebs.

In: Edwards
Out: Thomas

The votes

5: Kane Lambert
4: Bachar Houli
3: Ty Vickery
2: Nick Vlastuin
1: Dustin Martin

Unlucky: Loads but in rough order: Grigg, Rance, Deledio, Cotchin, Maric and basically everyone else.

Leaderboards

The Benny:

30: Dustin Martin
23: Anthony Miles, Trent Cotchin and Bachar Houli
19: Alex Rance
18: Brett Deledio
17: Jack Riewoldt
16: Shane Edwards and Shaun Grigg
15: Brandon Ellis and Taylor Hunt
12: Troy Chaplin
10: Nick Vlastuin
9: Kane Lambert
8: Nick Vlastuin, Dylan Grimes and Ivan Maric
4: Ty Vickery
3: Kamdyn McIntosh, Chris Newman, Ben Griffiths and Jake Batchelor
2: Sam Lloyd
1: Steven Morris, Shaun Hampson and Ben Lennon

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

23: Anthony Miles and Bachar Houli
16: Shaun Grigg
15: Taylor Hunt
12: Troy Chaplin
8: Ivan Maric
1: Shaun Hampson

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

9: Kane Lambert
3: Kamdyn McIntosh

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

23: Bachar Houli
16: Shaun Grigg
12: Troy Chaplin
3: Jake Batchelor and Chris Newman

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

9: Kane Lambert

Monday, August 10, 2015

Phoning it in

Unfortunately life has got in the way and in the mix of moving, starting a new job and the City2Surf over the weekend, I’m taking a leaf out of Richmond’s book and phoning it in.
What I will say is that a down week shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise as we’d been up for a long time. Adelaide treated Friday night like a grand final while I suspect that our lot might have been reading some of their own press and had one eye on the actual grand final.

A few months back Dimma got slated for announcing that we can beat anyone. It turns out that he was right and we can beat anyone, but we don’t need to be too much off the ball before we can be beaten by anyone.

We aren’t going anywhere until we can handle expectation.

Changes for next week

News just came through that Grimes and Conca are injured and given the dual ruck phenomenon came to a crashing end, I'm going with (assuming that Titch is one more away):

Ins: Deledio, McBean, Dea and Menadue (as sub)
Out: Hampson, Grimes, Conca and Lloyd

The votes

5: Dustin Martin
4: Troy Chaplin
3: Taylor Hunt
2: Kane Lambert
1: Bachar Houli

Leaderboards

The Benny:

29: Dustin Martin
23: Anthony Miles and Trent Cotchin
19: Alex Rance and Bachar Houli
18: Brett Deledio
17: Jack Riewoldt
16: Shane Edwards and Shaun Grigg
15: Brandon Ellis and Taylor Hunt
12: Troy Chaplin
8: Nick Vlastuin, Dylan Grimes and Ivan Maric
4: Kane Lambert
3: Kamdyn McIntosh, Chris Newman, Ben Griffiths and Jake Batchelor
2: Sam Lloyd
1: Steven Morris, Ty Vickery, Shaun Hampson and Ben Lennon

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

23: Anthony Miles
19: Bachar Houli
16: Shaun Grigg
15: Taylor Hunt
12: Troy Chaplin
8: Ivan Maric
1: Shaun Hampson

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

4: Kane Lambert
3: Kamdyn McIntosh

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

19: Bachar Houli
16: Shaun Grigg
12: Troy Chaplin
3: Jake Batchelor and Chris Newman

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

4: Kane Lambert



Monday, August 3, 2015

I'm a believer?


There were so many moments to deconstruct from Friday night's win that it's hard to know where to begin.

But there is one guy, often under appreciated, who that stood out to me. Taylor Hunt doesn't really know much about losing and I suspect he doesn't enjoy it when it happens. He sits in the top 15 players in the competition for winning %, alongside this he has stitched together eight wins without a loss against Hawthorn which is startling considering how good they've been during his career. In an eighty game career he still has six clubs (Carlton, Essendon, Gold Coast, GWS, Hawthorn and Richmond) that he has never played in a losing team against and on Friday night it showed. It seems unfair to single out one person for defensive pressure but his running capacity to get back on the last line to create pressure was a snapshot of how hard our players were willing to work to see through the game plan. He created goals up our end and, alongside our other defenders, made sure they earned every one of the seven they managed to kick. Even when they got the better of us he made them earn it, the tackle on Puopolo in the square (which slipped high) was a monster, and his attack on Rioli following that ludicrous free kick in the pocket was brutal. Every time Hunt was near the ball, Hawthorn knew they were in a game and that's not bad at all for a player who at the start of the year seemed a depth top-up.

We are in this season right up to our necks. Seven days ago Hawthorn seemed untouchable, but we touched them up. Obviously it will be easier from fourth if we can somehow manage that but fifth shouldn't be seen as no man's land. If Sydney can manage to drop a game (best chance is next week at Geelong and to a lesser extent GWS a few weeks later) or if West Coast get the speed wobbles up and drop three (Hawthorn, Fremantle and away to Adelaide aren't completely out of the question).

It was a big dog game on a big dog stage. In the past when we've pinched one of Hawthorn, I suspect that they haven't been 100% up for it but on Friday night they were well and truly keen to stamp out an insurgency from a potential rival.

The form of Miles, Deledio, Maric, Rance, Chaplin, Riewoldt, Cotchin and others has been widely discussed throughout the media but one person who I feel isn't getting enough credit is the gaffer. Many people (including yours truly) have been quick to write him off on multiple occasions. I've often wondered if he is up to it, and too often decided that he isn't. But the last few weeks have shown that Richmond has grown up, in terms of leadership, belief, effort and coaching. Probably about the most ballsy way you can try and beat Hawthorn is by out Hawthorning them and that's exactly what Hardwick oversaw. Kudos to the playing group for seeing it out and respect to the coaching staff for thinking it up.

From the get-go we were up for it. One of my favourite findings of the last few weeks has been Angry Trent Cotchin and him going head-to-head with Hodge from before the first bounce was beautiful to watch. Throughout the night we annoyed them, really good teams get so used to being treated like demi-gods that they can often be thrown when somebody really takes it up to them. I'm not talking melees or cheap shots, we've tried that before (remember Fleming vs Riewoldt and King & Hislop vs Collingwood?) but putting your head over the ball for 120 minutes and letting them know that you aren't going to give it to them easily. Roughead was rattled to the point that he was basically ineffective, Rioli was so worked up about kicking a goal from a diving free kick that he missed goals late in the game that he would usually kick with his eyes closed, Gibson and Lake got frustrated by being made to be accountable and Mitchell was rushed and not anywhere near the usual midfield force he can be. If we do come across them later in the year we won't get them by surprise, but being prepared for that kind of treatment again doesn't necessarily mean they'll get the better of us. Getting in their heads is a beautiful thing.

Not all that long ago (and by that I mean a few weeks, if not Friday afternoon), I'd have said the only way that we would have a shot against Hawthorn would be on the back of Jack. Unfortunately for Jack he was beaten again by Frawley, but we found other avenues to goal. Lids bobbed up from the very start, Lloyd bobbed up at the end and what a moment that was, while Lambert, Houli and McIntosh cycled through to hit the scoreboard. What it came down to was defensive pressure and the fact we only needed ten goals. Hawthorn haven't been held to that low a score since early 2012 in Perth by a red-hot Eagles team. I seem to say it every week but Rance, Chaplin, Grimes, Batchelor, Houli and Hunt have formed a formidable defensive unit. What I haven't said every week is that it just might be the best unit in the competition.

Up forward, Ty got arse about late in the game but kept Lake honest all night. Lake has done some jobs on us over the years and the first task of any forward playing on him is to make him defend for two hours. If he can get off the chain then it's very hard to beat Hawthorn and Ty ran him ragged. It wasn't his best got output wise but I imagine, play on shames aside, that the coaching staff were very happy with him.

Finally, and what a way to finish off, what an amazing night for Bachar. Less than a week after the lowest moment of his career he hit back, hard. After a shaky first half, his second half was something to behold. When he lined up for that set shot he had the whole football world watching, waiting to judge, and not only did it kick it but it split the middle like a laser beam. He is a wonderful man and it was so good to see him back on top of his game.

We beat them on the ground, and we lead the competition off the ground with our response to the treatment of Adam Goodes. Until the ball was bounced on Friday night it was shaping up as one of the shittiest weeks in recent footy history but the response right across the competition was fantastic, starting with our decision to wear our (brilliant) Dreamtime kit and also the moving messaging on our banner. The next day, I was lucky enough to be at SCG to see Sydney respond and support one of the game's greats. What a world we live in when people respond like this.
A photo posted by Sean (@sjhross) on

Goodesy, you're a legend and keep doing what you are doing. If you are pissing off Panahi and Bolt then you must be doing something right.

Changes for next week

Same again (assuming Titch doesn't get up in time).

The votes

5: Anthony Miles
4: Brett Deledio
3: Alex Rance
2: Ivan Maric
1: Trent Cotchin

Unlucky: everyone


Leaderboards

The Benny:

24: Dustin Martin
23: Anthony Miles and Trent Cotchin
19: Alex Rance
18: Bachar Houli and Brett Deledio
17: Jack Riewoldt
16: Shane Edwards and Shaun Grigg
15: Brandon Ellis
12: Taylor Hunt
8: Nick Vlastuin, Dylan Grimes, Troy Chaplin and Ivan Maric
3: Kamdyn McIntosh, Chris Newman, Ben Griffiths and Jake Batchelor
2: Sam Lloyd and Kane Lambert
1: Steven Morris, Ty Vickery, Shaun Hampson and Ben Lennon

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

23: Anthony Miles
18: Anthony Miles
16: Shaun Grigg
15: Anthony Miles
12: Taylor Hunt
8: Troy Chaplin and Ivan Maric
1: Shaun Hampson

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

3: Kamdyn McIntosh
2: Kane Lambert

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

18: Bachar Houli
16: Shaun Grigg
8: Troy Chaplin
3: Jake Batchelor

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

2: Kane Lambert