Once you tell the little voice in your head that’s
asking ‘why did it take 17 weeks?’ to shut up, it’s possible to
smile and think that the future, which
looked so very dark a month ago, seems a little bit brighter.
Doesn’t matter if you trudged or reluctantly
switched on the TV, it was pretty hard to be chipper about this game in the lead in. The
lightening quick, über fit contender pretender, against Richmond, neither quick nor fit and I’ve lost track of whether we are a pretender or
failed contender.
But something happened, we rediscovered Hardwick footy. Not
the Hardwick footy of 2014 but the Hardwick footy of 2011-August 2013 (2010
doesn’t count, that was ground zero).
I’d forgotten how much fun Hardwick footy is –
hunting in packs, making them bomb down the line, overlap run, second, third,
fourth efforts and moving the ball forward so fluently that midfielders can sneak
forward, Jack has time and space and Vickery doesn’t look as if he’d
rather be a close friend’s funeral.
People will bemoan late season wins as
an unnecessary shuffle down the draft pecking order. But you know what? Screw
those people. Draft picks don’t lead to
finals, a winning culture does.
Not that long ago, people (including me) wanted
Hardwick gone, but we were wrong. Not only has he earned the right to see this
through to next year, he is absolutely doing the right thing playing the best
22 players he has available. As much as we’d all like to see McBean,
Lennon and McDonough, we lose that
game with those three instead of (unfairly picking random names) –
Foley, Newman and Petterd.
He comfortably outcoached Hinkley, who looks more like a glorified personal trainer by the week.
That 22 was our best balanced for the year and, trades aside, most of them will likely be there next season. Newman has earned
going out on his terms, but I hope that’s this year. By memory Foley is
contracted. Batchelor has taken his chance and made the most of it, as has
Petterd. People will still call for Vickery to be traded, but he’s our best choice alongside Jack and it’s time for a little bit of respect.
Though not everything list management is beer and skittles. I’ll back our top ten players
against most but it’s the pecking order from 11-30 where early 90's WACA cracks appear.
Hawthorn’s 25th best player would be 12th at Richmond and vice-versa. But with
a reasonable turnover (no longer a clean out), a couple of free agents
and some smart drafting, hope is building that this year will be a blip rather than
a wipeout.
To the actual game, how good was it seeing the
midfield hunt as a pack?
Port got over the back a few times and ran us coast to coast, but by and large we managed to play the game on our terms for
four quarters, something that has happened sparingly all season.
Our
season hasn’t gone to plan because our midfield hasn’t. Footy went one way over
summer, while our midfield went the other. The nine we should be competing with
for a spot in the finals (sigh) were training for run and gun while we were prepping for bump and grind.
And once the midfield works, it’s amazing how much
better everyone else looks. Rance is an exceptional defender when he’s not
forced to stave off repeated aerial assaults, Houli finds it much easier to
find space and use that lethal left foot when the ball isn’t sailing over his
head, Chaplin doesn’t turn it over when he has someone to kick to and Vickery can be the
player we want him to be when the forward delivery doesn’t go via two back
flanks, two wings, the Bora Bora and southern Poland.
Two efforts stood out for me:
Vlastuin flying for a mark, laid a tackle, ran for a
handball receive and finished with a goal within the space of
ten seconds. Richmond players this year have been trusted to make a
first and second effort, a third if we are lucky but four is unchartered
territory.
Cotchin chasing down Pittard (who as an aside is absolutely bobbins,
looks weird and is called Jasper) as he was screaming towards goal. Having
given up a 40m start, the skipper didn’t quite get him but got close enough
that Pittard heard him coming and shanked the kick out on the full. For the
sake of a narrative I’ll say we went straight down the other end and kicked a
goal even though I doubt that actually happened but it makes for a much better
story.
One of the great philosophers once penned
‘if you try sometimes well you just might find, you get what you need’. When you apply a bit of elbow grease, it's amazing the ball bounces your way, the presumptive Coleman medalist misses sitters and your CHB half back goes forward, snags a couple of goals, gets right up them and their captain is sooking about it 24 hours later.
That’s the minimum standard from here. Footy is fun again and it’s time to go ruin a few finals chances on the run home.
Shameless plug: I'm running the City2Surf next month and raising money for Sylvanvale, who are a disability service provider in Sydney and New South Wales. They're a great cause if you can spare some hard earned, and still a great cause even if you can't. I'm coming from a pretty low fitness base and my legs are very tired, so I can assure you I'll be going through some pain between now and August 10.
Votes
5: Bachar Houli
4: Jack Riewoldt
3: Alex Rance
2: Trent Cotchin
1: Ricky Petterd
Leaderboards
The Benny
28:
Brandon Ellis
27:
Dustin Martin
25:
Trent Cotchin
20:
Jack Riewoldt
18:
Alex Rance
14:
David Astbury
13:
Shaun Hampson
11:
Bachar Houli and Ricky Petterd
10:
Daniel Jackson
8: Reece
Conca and Anthony Miles
6:
Steven Morris and Ty Vickery
5:
Brett Deledio and Shane Edwards
4: Matt
Thomas, Sam Lloyd and Shaun Grigg
3: Troy
Chaplin
2: Nick
Vlastuin, Nathan Foley and Chris Newman
1: Ben
Griffiths, Orren Stephenson, Matthew Dea and Ben Lennon
Blair
Hartley Appreciation Award
13:
Shaun Hampson
11:
Bachar Houli and Ricky Petterd
8:
Anthony Miles
4: Matt
Thomas and Shaun Grigg
3: Troy
Chaplin
2:
Anthony Miles
Anthony
Banik Best First Year Player
4: Sam
Lloyd
1: Ben
Lennon
Joel
Bowden’s Golden Left Boot
11:
Bachar Houli
4: Shaun Grigg
3: Troy
Chaplin
Greg
Tivendale Rookie Medal
8:
Anthony Miles
4: Matt
Thomas
1:
Orren Stephenson
Championship
Belt:
Incumbent
|
Winner
|
Streak
|
Wins
|
NA
|
Cotchin
|
1
|
1
|
Cotchin
|
Astbury
|
1
|
1
|
Astbury
|
Riewoldt
|
1
|
1
|
Riewoldt
|
Astbury
|
1
|
2
|
Astbury
|
Petterd
|
1
|
1
|
Petterd
|
Ellis
|
1
|
1
|
Ellis
|
Conca
|
1
|
1
|
Conca
|
Martin
|
1
|
1
|
Martin
|
Riewoldt
|
1
|
2
|
Riewoldt
|
Martin
|
1
|
2
|
Martin
|
Martin
|
2
|
3
|
Martin
|
Miles
|
1
|
1
|
Miles
|
Martin
|
1
|
4
|
Martin
|
Cotchin
|
1
|
2
|
Cotchin
|
Rance
|
1
|
1
|
Rance
|
Houli
|
1
|
1
|
