ROUND 1 - RICHMOND vs GEELONG - M.C.G. (HOME) 23.03.05 SUMMARY: Season 2005 kicks off for Richmond this Sunday as they do battle against last year's preliminary finalists Geelong at the M.C.G. The summer proved to be an eventful one for the Tiges with Terry Wallace coming onboard as our new coach and another third of the playing list cleaned out as the club obtained 5 early draft picks after trade week. And if things weren't happening onfield we had the drama of the Club's first full board election to contend with which dragged on for months prior to Christmas. Richmond's preseason form has been promising especially for a side that lost its last 14 games straight last year. A close loss to the Pies in the Wizard Cup in a game we should have won was followed by three straight practice match wins - the last the most impressive with a comfortable victory over last year's runners-up the Lions. Viewing these matches one can see the boys progressing well at following Wallace's running and flowing gameplan. Sure beats watching the zig-zag stop-start play we witnessed under Frawley. Adding to the promising team improvements was witnessing for the first time two of our young first round draft picks from Novemeber in Deledio and Tambling in action. Geelong's pre-season form has been inconsistent with 2 wins and 2 losses. Their coach Mark Thomson has publicly stated that their newish forward line set-up of former Tiger Brad Ottens and full-forward Kent Kingsley has yet to gel. The decision by former captain Ben Graham to chase the spotlights and fame of the NFL in the USA has put a spanner into the Cats overall plans that they had when recruited Ottens. Still you can never trust pre-season form. The lead-up to Sunday's game has intensified since Tuesday when Wallace accused Ottens of chasing the dollar. It'll be interesting to see how the former Tiger handles the pressure. Something that wasn't a strong point in his time at Punt Road. Being a Sunday game the teams have yet to be finalised. The known absentees for the Tiges are Rodan (knee), Schulz (ankle) and Tambling is 50/50 with a badly brusied toe. For the Cats developing forward Steven Johnson will miss while veteran Brent Sanderson is also unlikey to play. PAST ENCOUNTERS: Overall: 84-88-3 In the 00's: 1-5 At the M.C.G.: 18-18 Last Time: Round 19, 08.08.04. Home at the M.C.G. Richmond 3.2 4.9 7.14 11.17-83 Geelong 5.4 7.10 11.13 16.18-114 Main goalkickers: Richmond - Richo 2, Brown 2, Rodan 2, Fiora 2; Geelong - S.Johnson 4, Ablett 3, Chapman 3, Graham 2. Attendance: 33,176. KEY MATCH-UPS: DEFENCE: The Cats will try and stretch our defence for height with their Land of the Giants forward line - Kingsley, Chambers, Playfair and Ottens. King and Mooney may also be pushed forward at some stage. I believe Steve Johnson won't be playing. On paper nothing individually which is outstanding up forward (Kingsley was Geelong's top goalscorer with 48 which is only 2 per game) however given our past 5 encounters against Geelong were otherwise known as the Ben Graham charity match there is still a concern that one could get away. I presume this is why both AK and Graham are both playing in the same side this week so Wallace can have a few options up his sleeve with Gas and Hall as the starting KP defenders. Add to that Joel can play either on a small or tall but Terry will want Bowden to generate run out of defence this year. The remaining dangers are Gary Ablett Jnr and Paul Chapman. Both kicked 35 and 38 goals respectively in 2004and both have in the past snagged 3 goal games off a HFF against us. Newman and Hartigan will need to be smart defensively. In the Geelong games I watched last year I didn't notice Ablett wander too far away from the Cats forward 50. It might be an idea for Newman to push forward every now and then to test Ablett's fitness and defensive side. Although our defence over preseason has been surprisingly quite sound, I'll wait until I see them perform in the real stuff before rating them. Last year we conceded 111 points per game which was the 2nd worst in the AFL. MIDFIELD: This preseason has seen more depth added to our midfield. The likes of Hyde and Tuck have virtually become different players under Wallace. Then of course is the return of Cogs as basically a new recruit. With Johnson, Cogs, Hyde, Tuck, Brown, Krakouer, Hartigan, Newman, Deledio, Chaffey plus a Tambling or Raines if they play we have a fairly decent rotation through the midfield which importantly has leg speed. The added run and linking in waves of the new style has also obviously helped with Richmond moving the ball quickly forward during their trial games. This will be vital as the last few times we've faced the Cats (and most top 8 sides for that matter) we've been found out for pace. Geelong's small brigade are very even across the park. Although Ling, Corey and Bartel were the main culprits on the stats sheet with a bag of possessions against us last year, most of the Geelong smalls in Ablett, Chapman, Wojcinski, Hunt, Riccardi, Milburn, Kelly and Tenace got at least their 12-15 possessions. In the ruck Simmonds, Knobel and Stafford will go up against King, Ottens and Chambers. IMO our depth in the ruck is stronger but the main role will be to team well with our midfielders and clear the ball. Something we did well around the ground last year but failed miserably at at centre bounces. One of Geelong's poorer stats in 2004 was the were near the bottom of the league in hitouts and clearances but most likely alot of that had to do with their star ruckman Steven King missing a number of games through injury. Add to that their strong defence and run off HB help boost their midfield (which is something we could say about ourselves in 2001). FORWARDS: One of Wallace's initial tasks when he took on the Richmond coaching job was to remove our overreliance on Richo up forward. Last year the big fella accounted for 27% of our total score! Only Browny and Krakouer were able to reach the 20 goal per year mark. Based on the practice matches you would argue Wallace has succeeded with Richo having minimal impact on the scoreboard yet the Tiges generating a number of goalkickers to kick a confortable winning score. Most pleasing over the preason was seeing our midfielders pushing forward to kick goals. Something that was non-existent under Spud. On Sunday we face the best defence in 2004. The Cats under Mark Thomson conceded only 80 points per game as they preferred to contain the opposition rather than blow them away (their "for" average was 92). IMO this gives Richmond a good chance if we obtain our aim of kicking 16 goals per week (4 per quarter). However this will only be achieved if we are able to control enough of the midfield to move the ball forward efficiently and directly through the centre corridor and with enough speed to prevent Geelong from getting numbers back and clogging our forward line. In terms of match-ups last time Richo carved up Harley only for the big fella to have one of his off days in front of goal while Scarlett (on Morrison) in tandem with Milburn were able to run off HB at will setting up Geelong goals. With Simmonds at FF and Richo across HF it seems unlikely Thomson will able to use that same tactic. I'd presume Scarlett will stay home on Simmonds while Mooney or Harley will try to keep up with Richo. At ground level the loss of Sanderson will most likely mean Milburn, Hunt or a Geelong midfielder will need to follow Browny and Krakouer when they go forward. Quick movement inside 50 to the top of the square should give our boys an advantage when the ball hits the ground. Overall: IMO this game is winnable provided we (i) obtain at least an even share of the footy in the midfield and drive through the corridor to run and carry the ball forward inside 50 quickly and efficently and (ii) limit our turnovers through skill errors to a reasonable level - no overuse of the handball or lazy bombs forward straight to the opposition. If we do both we should counter the Cats' strengths in the midfield and defence and then beat them on the scoreboard with our stronger forward line. THIS WEEK'S PREDICTED TEAMS: RICHMOND B: A.Kellaway, Gaspar, Jackson HB: Bowden, Hall, Newman C: Tivendale, Coughlan, Hyde HF: Deledio, Richardson, Campbell F: Brown, Simmonds, Krakouer Foll: Knobel, Johnson, Tuck I/C: Stafford, Chaffey, Graham, Hartigan EMG: Moore, Pettifer, Raines GEELONG B: Harley, Scarlett, Enright HB: Hunt, Mooney, Milburn C: Chapman, Ling, Wojcinski HF: Ablett, Ottens, Haynes F: Chambers, Kingsley, Playfair Foll: King, Corey, Bartel I/C: D.Johnson, Kelly, Tenace, Riccardi < BACK >