Round 15
Melbourne v Richmond
MCG
Pre Match:
• After a tough struggle against the Brisbane Lions last Saturday night we were really looking forward as a group to take on the in-form Tigers in Friday night football. A big national audience and being back on the MCG are a huge motivation to play well.
• Made a few changes to the team with Paul Wheatley & Lynden Dunn returning for Phil Read & Brad Miller. Simon Godfrey was a late inclusion for Brock Mclean who had a sore quad. Given Brock’s soft tissue history we decided not to risk him. We are hopeful he will be available next week for our trip to Perth.
• Richmond have had an even contribution from a wide range of players in recent weeks so targeting particular individual players for close attention wasn’t easy. Their forwards have all been dangerous so getting our match ups right would be important. Went with Holland on Richardson, Whelan on Brown, Wheatley to pick up Pettifer who has been in career best form, Bartram for the dangerous Krakouer and Carroll to go with Schulze. We were a little uncertain who their 6th forward would be so Jared Rivers had to be flexible. We expected the Tigers to go after our midfielders and had a focus on trying to limit the influence of the in form Bowden brothers. It was important to keep them honest and make them play on an opponent.
• As usual our team focus was to keep doing the basics well and also be aware that Richmond would work hard to flood back into defence. For this reason we would need to use the ball well going inside 50.
During the Game:
• Ugly first quarter. Both teams flooded heavily and this accounted for the limited amount of scoring. We hit the post a couple of times but our work rate was good and we defended very well.
• Felt we could improve our chances of scoring by having all our forwards playing closer to goal therefore giving Richmond fewer free players in defence. We also needed to run & carry the ball more something we failed to do well in Q1.
• In Q2 we raised the bar on our performance. We were disciplined with our forward line structures and ran the ball well. A running goal by Rivers and another set up to Col Sylvia after a 6 bounce dash from Daniel Ward typified our play. Russell Robertson was also starting to look dangerous on Joel Bowden. Our tackling and harassing really had the Tigers skills under pressure and forced many turnovers. Our backs continued to dominate their opponents and had it not been for the fact that we kept hitting the post a bigger lead would have been possible at half time.
• At half time we talked with the players about the possibility that Richmond may stop flooding and start playing one v one in an attempt to get back into the game. If this occurred there was a fair chance that the game would open up and that we could actually get the ball to our forwards one out just a little quicker.
• This is exactly what happened. We continued to force turnovers and as a result created many excellent scoring opportunities but unfortunately our execution left a bit to be desired and many promising counter attacks came to nothing. This was frustrating to everyone as our domination of the game wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard.
• This trend continued in the final quarter and we also missed a number of easy shots for goal. The Tigers made us pay on a couple of occasions and at one stage had a bit of momentum up. We showed good maturity as a team to slow the game down and snuff out the Richmond run on. It was a relief when the siren sounded on what was a pretty ugly game.
Post Match:
• We deserved to get the points with the final margin not really reflecting the control we held over the game for most of the night. Hitting the post 7 times certainly didn’t help.
• Our tackling and willingness to win the contested ball was at a good standard but our ball use fluctuated wildly during the game with some excellent disposal mixed with unforced errors and puzzling decisions. Maybe the fact that both teams had 6 day turnarounds coming off interstate games contributed to this but given the hype surrounding this contest it must have been disappointing for the fans that the game was riddled with so many errors.
• All our back line players had excellent games with the Richmond forwards rarely looking a threat. Three opposition goals to ¾ time is testimony to their efforts.
• Russell Robertson proved a handful for Joel Bowden and some honest efforts by James McDonald, Simon Godfrey, and Brad Green through the midfield gave us excellent drive. Jeff White & Mark Jamar won a lion’s share of the ruck taps against the in form Simmonds and this was important.
• Fremantle, our next opponent, had a great win over Collingwood yesterday so their confidence will be bolstered. They will be treating this game as a final so it will be great to go over to Perth and play a game where the stakes will be high and the pressure on. We’ve been a good team on the road this season with 2 wins and 2 narrow losses [Adelaide & West Coast] so we will be looking to continue this form on Sunday.
