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.