Hello darkness my old friend

It's more than a bit depressing when you realise you could rehash the post from the corresponding game last year with a few changes to names, dates and faces.

When Hardwick comes to talk to us again about how this is a team that can beat anyone, there's a vision softly creeping that everything will be fine. But this couldn't be further from the truth. They may be able to catch any team off guard if the planets align, but the bigger issue now is that we can be beaten by anyone.

Foolishly I convinced myself they'd get it done tonight without too many dramas. It would be good to get a look at the depth we'd heard so much about, I thought to myself. Instead, a gander at life outside the top 30 on the list left a vision that was planted on brain that the cupboard is dreadfully bare (I'm finished with that now I promise).

Deledio's absence has been well documented, but missing Newman and Chaplin rattled us far more than I thought it would. Rance battled Hogan (hell of a kid), who despite Bruce's commentary kicked 2 instead of 12, but without Chaplin there to chop out he looked very much like the Rance of 2012, a better than average defender who can't do everything on his own. Astbury got worked over by Dawes which might make you feel like putting your head in an oven, but he's two games back off an injury break. Batchelor beat Watts senseless and Vlastuin mopped up where he could, but where was the rest of the support? Morris is moving from questionable to liability quicker than Garlett can turn him inside out and run towards goal and why would we keep Elton on the list if we aren't going to play him when Grimes and Chaplin are injured? And if we aren't going to play Elton, why didn't we get involved in trade week or free agency to address a gaping chasm in the list? Anyone who can help out is preferable Chris Dawes running around doing gleefully doing what he pleases. I'd even settle for McGuan..... nope it's not that.

For the second year in a row, the Dees won because they wanted it more and a shellacking handed to Hardwick by Roos. I don't really need to go on about Hardwick's limitations again but I'm going to anyway. We played a blockbuster gameplan tonight with the cast of E-Street, when guys like Drummond, Arnot and McDonough come in you don't keep playing the same style as when those names were Deledio, Knights and Newman, you scale it back. Getting out coached by Roos is no disgrace, it's happened to (much) better coaches, but when you get your keister handed to you on a plate by Luke Beveridge, alarm bells are ringing (really flat I couldn't find the Lock Stock 'alarm bells are ringing Willie' clip).

So many of the second and third tier were exposed. Lloyd isn't even close to up to it, McDonough looked all at sea, Griff had one effective disposal, five clangers and probably wishes he could play against Carlton every week, Arnot tried hard and might have been OK in 1993 but is another for the tip, Hunt only had 10 disposals, Gordon just gets a pass because of his first quarter and McIntosh might already need a break. It's all pretty deflating.

It wasn't all bad (it actually was), my hypothesis that Miles looks at his best when everyone else looks trash is holding true, I don't know why on earth that could possibly be but his most impressive performances seem to always come in losses. As of the Brisbane game, it's a legislative requirement to observe how underrated Shane Edwards is whenever mentioning him and he was magnificent again. Maybe magnificent is pushing it but he was pretty damn good and by christ isn't he underrated?

I hope we've reached that point of the season where everyone remembers we've got a two time Coleman medallist running around and it might be in our interest to clear out a bit of space and get it in quickly to him, before returning a week later to entering 50 via Siberia, making him lead three times before ignoring him and kicking it to Lloyd who buggers it up before the ball is whisked down the other end because nobody knows how to tackle inside 50, Morris falls over and then some scrubber of a small forward runs into an open goal.

Hardwick sitting there after the game aggressively batting away questions reminded me of old mate Defence Minister from Iraq who tried to portray that everything was fine as Saddam's statue was tumbling behind him. Everything isn't fine, in fact it looks as a little like this. Frenzal Rhomb makes everything better.

The most annoying thing is that we'll likely come out fired up against Geelong and because they've even got more injuries than us we'll give them a shake. If they manage to win, every one will furiously pat each other on the back, fondly remember the great nine game streak of 2014, talk about returning to the finals because it's really loud there, think of all the good times ahead before getting five goals up against North the next week, falling asleep at half time before Drew fucking Petrie goes bananas, again.

For now I'm just off to investigate the list of assistant coaches on the verge of a senior gig.

Changes for next week.

Because we don't get anything of remote value out of the club on injuries I've got no idea if Chaplin and Newman are back in next week, but this is list is on the assumption that they aren't.

In: Vickery, Lennon, Ellis and Elton
Out: Griffiths (inj), Drummond (inj), Morris and Lloyd

Obviously Chappy subs in there for Elton if he's available and Newman can come instead of Ellis to give him another week in the twos. Who knows who plays as small defender? I don't mind Dea but he's short of a run, Batch goes OK on smalls but that only compounds the talls problem. Mitch Clark is going to kick 10 goals isn't he?

The votes:

5: Shane Edwards
4: Nick Vlastuin
3: Anthony Miles
2: Jack Batchelor
1: Jack Riewoldt (very lucky to crack a spot)

Unlucky: nobody.

The Benny:

10: Shane Edwards

6: Alex Rance
5: Taylor Hunt and Bachar Houli
4: Brandon Ellis, Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin and Nick Vlastuin
3: Kamdyn McIntosh, Chris Newman, Ben Griffiths and Anthony Miles
2: Sam Lloyd, Shaun Grigg and Jake Batchelor

1: Jack Riewoldt

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

5: Taylor Hunt and Bachar Houli
3: Anthony Miles
2: Shaun Grigg

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

3: Kamdyn McIntosh

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

5: Bachar Houli
2: Shaun Grigg

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

No votes yet.

Reading list:

On a much happier note, there a couple of truly brilliant articles written this week:

This yarn on Titch over on TTBB.

And this piece on a fan who sounds like a flat out amazing all round bloke on the RFC website.

Dead (big) cat three times

Firstly: thanks to Simon for pinch hitting while I was on the other side of the globe. Apologies to those reading and hoping for output of the same quality because I’m unfortunately back in the country.

In an eerily similar situation to last year, Richmond made the trek north on the back of underwhelming early season results and the hint everything could go pear shaped if it didn’t go to plan. Thankfully, it did go to plan and all we really know from it is that Brisbane isn’t much chop and Mitch Robinson is still a bit of a dick even when he isn’t playing for Carlton.

70 odd points is a good win against anyone, but especially seeing that we’ve rarely managed to lay down hurt on teams not called GWS. It was five goals clear of our usual wins against weaker teams. All in all, it’s a hell of a lot better than learning awful things from a loss so I’ll take it.

The only truly decent stuff to come out of the game were cool stats via the always brilliant Rogers Results:

• It was our highest score at the Gabba
• We are now equal with West Coast as the most successful team against Brisbane in terms of winning % (truly baffling)
• That’s eight consecutive quarters won against Brisbane (and given Richmond’s ability to fall asleep during games, that should scare the bejesus out of anyone who cares about AFL north of Burleigh)
• That was our highest scoring final quarter since round eight 2005 when Browny kicked five in a quarter against Clement and soon enough neither of them was ever the same again

Griff played his third reasonable game in a row, which I’m nearly certain is the cause of this weather that’s threatening Sydney’s very existence, but the fact Lloyd started as sub and Hardwick goes out his way to mention Vickery whenever possible during press conferences indicates that the brains trust still isn’t sure what our best forward makeup is. My five cents is that Lloyd is the least appropriate sub that has ever existed given he has excellent goal sense but moves about as quickly as David Honeybun so either play him in the pocket or don’t bother thanks.

Another really shitty injury to Knights and Lids unlikely to get up means they have a decision to make before Friday night’s game. I’d personally love to see them give Ty a whirl, see what he’s made of and stretch the Dees down back now that Frost is out. At the very least he might punch Jack Watts which would be fantastic to watch, and seeing as we somehow seem to be the only club he turns up against without fail then it might actually do us a favour.

It was also great to see Astbury back, and to see him sneak forward as well. Without Astbury, Rance is our only key defender who we can push forward if there is an emergency but given the backline would spontaneously combust if he wasn’t there then that’s not really a viable option. Astbury’s ability to generate and use the footy also takes the pressure off Chaplin, who looked much better for his presence. Admittedly (again) against inferior opposition.

While I’m being all warm and fuzzy, the skipper’s form was encouraging but we know well that he can beat up on associate nation like the best of them so I’ll be holding back talk of a revival for a few weeks.

Most impressive of all was the run. All night we beat them to the contest, lead by the spread guys Grigg, Ellis, Gordan and Houli - it’s hard to think of many occasions when Brisbane were able find space like our midfielders were. It’s not just a workrate thing, but a decision making. Against the Dogs, they were glacier slow in ball movement but on Saturday night they put the ball into space and rewarded the runners. I’ve a suspicion (along with many others) that presence of a bloke called Shane Edwards was pretty crucial to this.

Friday night will be weird. I can’t think of a time when an early season Friday night game will mean more to the other side than Richmond. Usually we are the team getting themselves up for a game against last year’s finalists, while they’ve barely got out of second gear for the season. This will be Melbourne’s grand final, so it’s best we come prepared because they hit a little bit harder than they have over the past few years.

I finally got around to watching the Don’t Hold Back doco and picked up on a subtle indication that Hartley and Co reckon the Dees tried to sell us a beaten up Trengove on the sly. This won’t add any spice whatsoever but it’s interesting to know that they are a truly awful organisation and if that’s true then I hope we take this Friday night match next year and play it against North and sign JT on the rookie list for nothing in 24 months.

Well done to anyone who got the Grinspoon reference in the title.

The votes

5: Bachar Houli

4: Trent Cotchin

3: Shane Edwards

2: Shaun Grigg

1: Ben Griffiths

Leaderboards

The Benny:

6: Alex Rance

5: Taylor Hunt, Bachar Houli and Shane Edwards
4: Brandon Ellis, Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin

3: Kamdyn McIntosh and Chris Newman

2: Sam Lloyd and Ben Griffiths

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

5: Taylor Hunt and Bachar Houli

2: Shaun Grigg

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

3: Kamdyn McIntosh

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

5: Bachar Houli

2: Shaun Grigg

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

No votes yet.

Smells Like Team Spirit

Firstly: excuse formatting, typo, mistakes even more than usual as I'm operating off an iPad with a sketchy train wifi connection somewhere near the Russian-Finland border, but you'll be pleased to know that the Griff-Ty debate is all the rage in Scandanavia.

Watching the reaction of Melbourne and Dogs fans to round one wins is a nice reminder of how far Richmond has come in 24 months. Beating Carlton is always a little bit better than beating anyone else, but the win on Thursday night was about as regulation as they come.

So when Jack Watts is celebrated as the new Easter messiah and the Dogs attacking game plan seen as the best strategy since Keating floating the dollar, it's nice to sit back and go 'meh' after a four goal win against our mortal enemy and remember that it isn't all that long ago that such a result would have left us dancing in the street as if WW2 had just ended.

The usual slow burn round one build up was as excruciating as always and, sure, there was the usual opening night heart palpitations early but that comes with the territory of being a Richmond fan.

Somehow the planets aligned for me and my bus from Latvia to Estonia that spanned nearly the exact time period of the game came wifi enabled. If you haven't watched a Richmond game on a bus trip through the Baltic States then you haven't lived, I only kicked the seat in front of me five or six times.

Even when it got out to four goals early on, I was confident that we'd click into gear  and Dusty, Lids and Cotch would drag us back for the rest to run over the top. That's exactly what happened except for the names involved. It's hard to think of a recent Richmond win on the back of such little output from our big three. In fact, the RTT lads inform us (can't link - shit Internet) that it's the first time we've won since 2010 with both Cotch and Dusty under 20 possessions.

The list of people who did step up should make Dimma giddy with absolute glee. With Malthouse playing three hard tags as if it was 2007, it let Hunt, Titch, Grigg and a few others get to work. Some kids get the luxury of a round one debut in front of a handful of people but McIntosh did it with 80,000 people there and damn near went best on ground. He can't back that up week by week but it's nice to add another string to the bow in the middle. As for Taylor Hunt, he's exactly what we needed and barely cost us a thing. I love Blair Hartley.

Again, it was only a very ordinary Carlton team but seeing guys like Titch, Griff, Vlastuin (who looks über fit), Lloyd and anyone else who I've missed step up while the big names were contained was encouraging. And gives just a glimmer of hope everyone won't stand around and look confused should a team kick three goals in a row against us this year.

There was a few of chinks in the armour but following a four goal round one victory while we sit on top of ladder (momentarily) isn't the time to float those, I'll wait until we give up a five goal lead to North and let them kick 16 in a row.

The votes:

5: Taylor Hunt

4: Brandon Ellis

3: Kamdyn McIntosh

2: Shane Edwards

1: Alex Rance

The Benny:

5: Taylor Hunt

4: Brandon Ellis

3: Kamdyn McIntosh

2: Shane Edwards

1: Alex Rance

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

5: Taylor Hunt

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

3: Kamdyn McIntosh

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

Not sure - shall check footed status of new players.

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

No votes yet.

2015, bring it

After a truly batshit crazy AFL off season, Richmond emerges unscathed, unheralded and about as under the radar as the official click bait club can manage to be.

This is the first time in my lifetime that Richmond enter a year having played the last two finals series. Under Hardwick, we've transformed from a club that doesn't play finals to a club that doesn't win them. Still far from ideal, but I know which I'd rather follow.

2015 will likely be defining for the list and Dimma himself. It's basically a referendum on the playing group and the coach. Getting to the finals, in both regulation and dramatic fashion, has been fun but now it's time for more. I suspect the powers that be will keenly observe Rodney Eade's impact at Gold Coast, with Bomber Thompson sitting on the sidelines and a perfect fit should Richmond require a finishing coach to make the most of Hardwick and Hartley's fantastic development job.

The general consensus was that Richmond was underwhelming in the trade and free agency period. But we were never in the game for Beams and Christensen, and any market where James Frawley goes for $700k and Levi Greenwood for $450k is best left well alone. Sure, Jeff Garlett was sitting there but he only ever play any good against us and so did Hampson and that hasn't exactly worked out as planned.

I truly believe Richmond has no ceiling this year. The list has everything it needs to be successful, that combined with Hawthorn on their third year up, Sydney ageing and Fremantle and Geelong surely about to start descending, 2015 is ripe for someone to challenge the old guard. My guess is that challenger will be wearing whatever Port or North's jumper is that week or yellow and black.

Just as Richmond lacks a ceiling, I'm not all that sure where the floor is. It's dependent on a couple of things - injuries to the wrong players (uncontrollable) and how we approach selection (very controllable). Until now, Hardwick and the match committee have been incredibly unadventurous, usually though lack of options. This year options are aplenty, will they go back to the old trusted guard who can get us there? Or try the young players they've recruited to get us to the next stage? Also, unless he's been foxing with the media (willing to give him benefit of the doubt), I'm terrified if he doesn't yet know if our best 22 includes Ty, Griff or both of them. For the record, I'm still a card carrying member of #TeamTy.

As I've said above, I reckon we'll be there at the pointy end. Just how pointy it gets may shape Dimma's RFC legacy.

For now, bring on the Blues. Round one shouldn't mean anything more than the others but when it's that mob it always means a little more, no matter what the round.

We must never forgive them for this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4njV0lXn8PQ. I hate them so very much.

Against my better judgement I'm firing up the blog again for the season (I tried to convince myself not to, but couldn't manage it). And all the votes and obscure awards are back.

Currently I'm operating off an iPad traveling around Europe so the first few rounds will be even more sketchy than usual. I'm reasonably sure I have the Carlton game sorted but if you are at all keen to be the first guest blogger for round two or three sing out and we'll get something sorted. The awards will be the same as last year, which ended up as: http://rfcramble.blogspot.com/2014/12/that-was-that.html, I'll hopefully cover off all the categories and who is eligible in the round one post.

Until then, let's go scores up Malthouse's year from the get go.