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.

A few years ago Sammy Llyod was toiling in bush footy obscurity, now he's front page AFR #bigtimebaby #gotiges pic.twitter.com/KP2hSBnMui

— Richmond Tiger Talk (@Richmond_TT) August 16, 2015

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

If you build it, they will come

We'll have prettier wins (I hope) before the end of the year but I doubt we'll have many more more important.

It was in front of a lot of people, a factor we haven't handled well in the Hardwick era. Taking the record to 4-7 in front of 70,000+, a stat that weirdly evens out to 4-4 in front of 80,000+. All more impressive, and important, by the fact we had four players with less than 10 games.

This was one of those games where miserable neutral fans go out of their way to tell you how ugly it was. As if we should care about the state of any game in which you defeat Essendon in front of 83,804 people. Newsflash: don't care one little bit. Winning ugly is OK by me and something at which Dimma and this crew are only just getting good.

That takes us to 3-0 in the McME Era (McBean, Menaue, Ellis) and leaves McBean himself 2-0 in front of over 140,000 people from two starts, Menadue's is 3-0 in front of 185,000 people. At this point it's fun to imagine Dimma walking through corn fields communicating with the heavens after the North loss. Compare those records to the fact it took: Titch 12 games, Newy nine and Dusty eight to salute. Titch lost by a total of 379 points before he played in a win. Still you could be Adam Tomlinson who played 21 before his first win, which was only against Melbourne, and now they've come good he has seemingly fallen out of favour and the poor bastard will probably end up at Carlton. Or maybe he will retire before he reaches 50 games so he doesn't end up on this dreaded table that not all that long ago was littered with Richmond players.

For a seemingly endlessly under-achieving club, Richmond players and supporters are very fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful stage as Dreamtime. Our record in the fixture has been ordinary in recent years while, damningly, we've been more successful in the return fixture against the Dons when the heat has been off. Had McBean, Menadue, Ellis and McIntosh been Hampson, Gordon, Lloyd and Thomas the win would have been equally as important but not so special. There is something really cool about winning big games and positioning ourselves for the future at the same time, not many teams have been able to do that as it's usually one or the other.

It is impossible to be anything other than thrilled for Titch. This fixture has thrust him into a position of leadership that I suspect he may not have sought, but his improvement as a footballer can be linked to his escalation as a leader. On a weekend where some of the football media and public has let themselves down by questioning Adam Goodes' right to be indigenous during Indigenous Round, the video of Titch and his family's story is the best thing I've seen the club produce, and they produce a lot of good stuff. When someone as relatively inoffensive and inane as Nathan Burke goes on the ABC (five minutes in to that clip FFS) and compares Goodes' war-dance to someone flipping the bird it makes you realise we've got a long way to go. But it's inspiring and makes me proud that Richmond ahead of the curve. To top if off Titch played a blinder night is one of the best players in the competition in the incredibly niche area of clearing the ball from a kick to a pack rebounding from 50. 

It's also the second week in a row that we've weathered the other team running at us in the third quarter and giving up only very limited damage. Wave after wave off Essendon attacks off half back were shut down and eventually they stopped coming. Our lot looked completely physically done towards the end of that quarter, but like the last three weeks, came again and kicked away in the last. Maybe there was something in all that talk about how fit we are coming out of pre-season.

One of the best things about the last three wins is the lack of panic when things aren't going our way. All of Collingwood, Port and Essendon have come at us and it's not that long ago that rolling over and surrendering the lead was the usual behaviour during this occurance. The Dons controlled the game for stretches of time but only managed eight goals. Our midfielders are running harder to defend and our key defenders are light years ahead of where they were this time last year in one-on-one marking contests than this time last year. Rance is a given, but Grimes and Batchelor have gone from liability against key forwards to rarely beaten, both are invaluable for their ability to play on small, medium or talls. Daniher and Carlisle got off the chain at different stages but given the amount of ball directed at them, 16 marks between them is hardly disastrous. Chaplin had as bad a 15 minutes as is possible to start, but recovered to play the next 105 in his usual calm and controlled manner, regularly freeing himself to be the spare and kill a contest.

While I'm on Daniher and Jake 'I kicked eight goals against the Bulldogs last year' Carlisle, how good to see the skipper get up in Daniher's grill as he was taking that shot on half time, and continue the verbal onslaught even though he kicked it before leaving Carlisle sprawled over the ground and our lot coming from far and wide the fly the flag. It was hardly Dermie and Hawthorn in the 1989 grand final but it was ace to see McBean and McIntosh right amongst it for many reasons but mostly because I can't stand Essendon.

The fact I can't stand Essendon is well placed because that looks like a playing list that is about to fall off a cliff. We all like Adam Cooney but what on earth is he doing there other than seeing out time? As much as we all like Cooney, nobody can stand Chapman and I'm equally baffled as to why they persisted with him for a second year. It's much like the last few RHCP albums in that you can't help but wonder if they've not made enough cash on their earlier work without taking a dump all over their legacy in their later years. Once upon a time Chapman was one of the best players in the competition but now he's just an angry old man who can't keep up with younger players and his presence (or lack of) hurt them on a few occasions last night.

One of the in-vogue phrases in footy is 'gut running' or as I like to call it 'running', however you choose to word it we have gone and got really good at it. Brandon Ellis, Grigg, Hunt and McIntosh all run out games as hard as they start them. Ellis especially was brilliant last night, regularly looking exhausted before dragging himself to the next contest at a good clip. His ability to look spent before willing himself on for another two or three goes is remnant of Judd and Cousins at their peak. Grigg, coming off a hot month but not as individually sensational last night, should take faith that my very casual football observing other half recognised him by name during the game much to my bemusement in what was victory for my continued faith in otherwise unfashionable Richmond players.

Speaking of hard running, Corey Ellis' goal that sealed the deal was something else and possibly the only time we've seen a sub have immediate impact. And thank you to Luke Darcy for reminding in commentary that he was activated as a sub and not running around against the rules.

Everybody played their role. Even the guys at the lower end of the possession scale impacted: Griff was hurting but continued to present though I doubt he'll be ready in time for Friday so god knows what selection we'll throw up without he and Vickery, Morris only had six possessions but his pressure acts were through the roof and that will keep him in Hardwick's (if not Twitter's) good books and the 22, McBean was far from disgraced by a player with 200 times the experience, Grimes was magnificent (spoiler alert) in killing their entries, Jack was happy to revert to decoy forward against the form key defender in the competition and Menadue runs as hard and fearless as possible for a skinny teenager.

Dimma as well deserves an abundance of credit, who for the second week in a row clearly out-coached his opponent and the strategies they have gone in against Port and Essendon have made the victories possible. It wasn't that long ago that we wondered if there was a Plan B and it seems that on the plane home from Hobart it was discovered alongside Plan C. They laboured with the footy last night and, as often pointed out, it was far from pretty but brutally effective. Essendon crave you kicking long in the forward line and we refused to give them that, but it sill helps when Carlisle is missing goals from dead in front.

From here we go to Fremantle with the pressure off and a week off to follow. It's the perfect scenario to have a ping at the stumps. I doubt they'll get it done but I reckon they'll make as good a go at it as anyone else against Fremantle so far.

Changes next week

If Griffiths isn't fully good to go they should give him the full two weeks to freshen up, he's going to be very important as we make a run at it in the second half of the year.

In: Lennon (as a high half forward)
Out: Griffiths (if injured)

It will be fascinating to see what they do if Griff isn't fit. McBean will really struggle to ruck against Sandilands (as anyone would) would so it might even be time to play Hampson. Probably best to hope that Griff can play.

The votes

5: Brandon Ellis
4: Shane Edwards
3: Dylan Grimes
2: Dustin Martin
1: Brett Deledio

Unlucky: everyone, but especially Cotchin, McIntosh and Vlastuin.

Leaderboards

The Benny:

14: Shane Edwards

12: Jack Riewoldt

11: Shaun Grigg and Trent Cotchin

10: Jack Riewoldt and Bachar Houli

9: Brandon Ellis and Dustin Martin
8: Anthony Miles and Taylor Hunt
7: Alex Rance
6: Nick Vlastuin
5: Ivan Maric and Brett Deledio
4: Dylan Grimes
3: Kamdyn McIntosh, Chris Newman, Ben Griffiths and Jake Batchelor
2: Sam Lloyd

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

11: Shaun Grigg

10: Bachar Houli
8: Anthony Miles and Taylor Hunt
5: Ivan Maric

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

3: Kamdyn McIntosh

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

11: Shaun Grigg

10: Bachar Houli
3: Jake Batchelor

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

No votes yet.

Getting Griggy With It

If you want a player that sums up the Hardwick Era to date, you don't need to look any further than Shaun Grigg. Often criticised, rarely given credit when it's earned, looks like a fish out of water when we can't get our style going but when he's on, the team is on. And, oh yeah, something about Moneyball.

Grigg went head to head with Scott Pendlebury this afternoon and beat him senseless. That's right, Grigg beat Pendlebury on a TKO, and that was the ballgame. When our guns got going late in the game Pendles couldn't, and that was the difference. Plenty of other water went under the bridge, but if Pendles gets off the chain and registers his usual 30 possessions that's worth plenty more to them than  the five points we won by in the end.

Today's result just rams home how fickle the industry and us as fans are. After everything went south against North last weekend it was hard to see a win anywhere on the radar, Dimma and Cotchin were being questioned by media and fans alike, Ty was on the outer and team selection was underwhelming. Fast forward a week and we've just knocked off Collingwood, Port and Essendon look gettable, Cotchin has put in one of the great individual Richmond quarters of the last decade, Ty is kicking clutch goals and we've just played Elton, McIntosh, Ellis, McBean and Menadue with eight games between them before today.

And without a single word of a lie, as I was typing this Spotify just threw up Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Byrds which is probably the most fitting song there could possibly be.

I don't particularly buy into the one team has it over another angle, especially when you've had as big a turnover of players as we have in a relatively short amount of time. We hadn't beaten Collingwood since 2007 because Collingwood has been better than us in that time, often much better. A few hours later Menadue, McBean, Elton, Hunt, McIntosh and Corey Ellis have never played in a losing Richmond team against Collingwood, and that's all that really matters right now.

What was really interesting away from the field was Nick Maxwell, who is annoyingly a really good boundary commentator, talking about how Collingwood has got themselves up for games against us since 2009 when Kingy and Hislop declared WW3 and they brained us by 93 points. There are some really killer highlights in that clip, my favourites are Cousins walking over and standing behind the umpire, Nahas not really knowing what to do, Hislop with one of the great jumper punches of the modern age on Maxwell and Lids taking on two of them at once so unsuccessfully that for a brief moment it looks like two Collingwood players are boxing on against each other. Weren't they the good old days?

Back at the ranch, Cotchin today was the player and leader we know he can and desperately want him to be. He's got a habit of blowing out the cobwebs after either the team or he has been in the spotlight, so hopefully he can back it up again because that fourth quarter was other worldly. Including this piece of wizardry when he pick pocketed Seedsman who was threatening to send Collingwood forward. An underrated part of that clip is Ty dumping Nathan Brown over the line, hot on the heels of dumping Dane Swan over the same line. Neither was dirty but Ty just likes letting players know he's around and there is nothing wrong with that.

They're going to come up against much better teams than Collingwood before the season is done, but it was refreshing to see a much more mobile structure right across the ground.

Up forward, McBean and Vickery move quickly enough to be turn and transition back at goal where some of our other forwards (Griff) can get lost. That lets Riewoldt roam wherever he pleases when he's feeling it like he was today. Add in Brett Deledio, and off a sudden that's a setup that will get you 15 goals more often than not.

Down back, Elton is big and quick enough to potentially take on the gorillas in the long term and free up Rance, I'm not all that sure about anyone manning Travis Cloke in their second game but given the euphoria of a win that's not worth delving into right now. Grimes seems to have thrown off the handbreak in the last few weeks and trust his hamstrings again, today was back to the very best of his closing speed  and run and dash off half back. Maybe next year when we get his brother for a fourth round draft pick from Melbourne they'll set up as the most awkward defensive duo sense the Kellaway brothers.

In the middle we moved freely and directly for four quarters for the first time all year. Even in the first quarter when everything looked worse than Frank Lowy handing over a trophy, it was execution going forward rather than how we were actually trying to do. Brandon Ellis forgot how to kick for half an hour and we made Collingwood look good by gifting them easy goals in transition. 'Lowering the eyes' is one of the most overdone and tortured sayings in AFL, and at the risk of never being invited to be a part of Channel 7's commentary team we do it too much. For a few weeks we had over thought entries inside 50, looking for the perfect option for so long that we'd ignored three or four OK options. When you've got Jack Riewoldt playing, kicking to an OK option is, well, OK. Jack makes things happen just through his presence, and by getting it in quickly after quarter time they were able to create some chaos among Collingwood's half reasonable backline.

Somehow I've just gone and finished a paragraph that was supposed to be about our midfield by banging on about how good Jack is.

Of the kids: I want to see Corey Ellis in the 22 for good, that ground ball he delivered to Grigg on the wing was of a quality well above his pay grade. McBean didn't dominate the stat sheet but held his own and I really like the way he brings the ball to the front if he's not going to mark it, he and Ty will drive a few sides spare roaming the flanks over the next couple of years. We had plenty worse than Elton, and he looked more at ease than Astbury has since coming back from injury. Though Menadue didn't get a stack of it when he came on, he was in the right spots and probably learned more from that half hour than he would have in four VFL games, but he is built like David Bourke and I suspect we may not see him again until 2016 but I'm OK with that if Ellis and McIntosh are playing.

All in all, it was a dash of 2013's freedom footy with a shake of 2014's tempo. If they play like that for the rest of the year then they'll win more than they lose.

One final shout out to Stevie Morris, who despite not having a huge clue about how to play forward is making things happen. He hits the ball so hard and quick that he often forces it forward just through his presence. Sure, he scared the bejesus out of you, I, McIntosh and a cat when he played on with someone right next to him, but it ended up OK in the end. I'm not as anti the whole experiment as I was a few weeks ago but still keen for us to draft at least 43 forward pockets in November.

And how good to hear Bucks throw the toys out of the cot because Travis gets a few free kicks paid against him?

Changes for next week

In: Conca and Edwards
Out: Hunt and Menadue

Not that Hunt was all that bad but I'm pretty keen to get Conca back in the side. He gives them the dash Hunt is adding and is a little cleaner by foot. Menadue will be back one day, but at the moment I can't see him playing in the same team as Titch.

The votes

5: Shaun Grigg
4: Trent Cotchin
3: Jack Riewoldt
2: Brett Deledio
1: Dylan Grimes

Unlucky: Everyone, but especially Maric, Brandon Ellis, Houli and Rance.

Leaderboards

The Benny:

11: Shaun Grigg and Trent Cotchin

10: Shane Edwards, Jack Riewoldt and Bachar Houli
8: Anthony Miles
7: Jack Riewoldt and Dustin Martin
6: Alex Rance and Nick Vlastuin
5: Taylor Hunt
4: Brandon Ellis
3: Kamdyn McIntosh, Chris Newman, Ben Griffiths and Jake Batchelor
2: Sam Lloyd and Brett Deledio
1: Ivan Maric and Dylan Grimes

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

11: Shaun Grigg

10: Bachar Houli
8: Anthony Miles
5: Taylor Hunt
1: Ivan Maric

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

3: Kamdyn McIntosh


Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

11: Shaun Grigg

10: Bachar Houli
3: Jake Batchelor

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

No votes yet.

A win is a win is a win

There was never much to gain from yesterday's game.

Except avoiding the alternative and that alternative was best avoided. With Brisbane getting up had we managed to bungle it, we'd have been stone cold motherless last on the ladder. None of this equal last malarky, it would have been ours and ours only.

It's bloody tough for Dimma now, with three camps emerging:

1. The 'we can't make finals so burn it down and go as high in the draft as possible' crew
2. The 'do some damage on the way home and start to rebuild our reputation' crew
3. The 'I don't care either way, he can't coach' crew.

I find myself in coward's corner somewhere between groups one and two, with a dash of three.

I have understanding, and sympathy, for Hardwick playing the 22 that he deems the best given that we've only just cleared the halfway point of the year. The same people who want everyone dropped for Helbig, O'Hanlon, McBean and Elton would have been pitchforks at the ready if we'd lost that game yesterday (my hand is up).

If we haven't had a decent look at those players by the middle of August that's a completely different story, anybody from our best group of players who needs surgery should be in a gown while the real teams are loading their training a month out from the finals (sigh).

I'm not a draft scholar but people who usually know what they're talking about reckon it's pretty even from 3-10, so a few cheeky confidence building wins between now and the end of the season might not be the worst thing.

Cotchin and Ellis aside, the game was eminently forgettable and based on media coverage this morning - has already been forgotten.

The skipper was always going to hit back sooner or later, it's a shame it came against a team that seems very hittable.

At 24 and 122 games (only 22 more than Dusty), he's in a position that he shouldn't be through no fault of his own. In an ideal world, Cotchin would be one of three vice captains learning the ropes, still developing his own game and getting ready to take over as captain in 2017. But when was the last time ideal world and Richmond were used in the same sentence?

Ask Jack Grimes and Trengove how easy it is develop your game as captain, it can't be easy. Cotchin needs help, both on and off field as he alone can't fill the leadership vacuum that has been three decades in the making. Lids and Chaplin could be phased out, Rance and Maric could step up and Ellis and even Miles could be phased in.

Given how well we've been travelling 40 points seems fitting, but such a margin is frustrating seeing we skipped out to a five goal lead before the Saints had strung five possessions together. It looks as if something is very wrong aerobically, we don't look as fit as other teams and god help us against Port Adelaide in a fortnight.

Rance ain't the problem. Nobody in footy works harder than Nick Riewoldt and Rance was with him every step of the way. Even when Riewoldt went up the ground, Rance was there. When he ran back, Rance was there. Nick Riewoldt is one of my very favourite players, but when someone can stick with him - he's very beatable. And yesterday, he took a beating.

If Vickery or Griffiths are to kick on, they need to study Riewoldt's workrate and replicate it. He imposes himself on a game by running hard to meet it, while both Vickery and Griffiths seemingly wait for the game to come to them.

Newman, while hardly the future, was very good. Although defensive forward tends to be where players go to be phased out, his poise, experience and tackling will likely be needed as we (hopefully) tinker with a few things in the last two months. I thought it was the best game he has played in a long time. Round 22 at the MCG would be a fitting farewell, nobody wants to play their last game at Homebush.

I'm right up for kicking the suitcase out of Brisbane and then seeing out the year with a bit of list management. Four weeks ago, we had no clue if Miles was part of the future - he is. We'd just about given up on Batchelor, but he's etching out a role. Foley looked cooked, but he isn't. Strangely, the belief in Dea may have been a tad too high, while he has a crack - I doubt he's good enough to break into the best 22.

There are still a few names on the list to learn about, and there is no better time than after the Brisbane game.

Couple of extra things worth pointing out this week:

There is 20% off on these ace Bones McGhie tshirts and hoodies over at Red Bubble

The Dusty video on the club website is ace, hopefully he plays another 200 (in yellow and black)

Votes

5: Trent Cotchin

4: Brandon Ellis

3: Alex Rance

2: Chris Newman

1: Brett Deledio

Leaderboards

The Benny

27: Dustin Martin

24: Brandon Ellis

22: Trent Cotchin

16: Jack Riewoldt

14: David Astbury

13: Shaun Hampson

10: Daniel Jackson, Ricky Petterd and Alex Rance

8: Reece Conca and Anthony Miles

6: Steven Morris and Bachar Houli

5: Brett Deledio

4: Matt Thomas, Sam Lloyd and Shaun Grigg

3: Ty Vickery, Troy Chaplin and Shane Edwards

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

10: Ricky Petterd

8: Anthony Miles

6: Bachar Houli

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

6: 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
Miles	Cotchin	1	2