One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on April 14, 2012, 03:11:45 AM
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Soft in the centre
Rohan Connolly
The Age
April 14, 2012
On paper, the Richmond midfield looks impressive, but the numbers tell a different story.
DUSTIN Martin, Trent Cotchin, Brett Deledio. That's an impressive trio of Richmond stars. Shane Tuck, Nathan Foley, Shaun Grigg. There's some handy support. Daniel Jackson, Shane Edwards, Reece Conca. Reasonable depth for what should be a pretty decent midfield.
Now let's ponder some important numbers. Clearance differentials? Richmond ranked 18th. Contested possession? Richmond ranked 17th, ahead only of a hapless Gold Coast, and well behind the even newer kids on the block, Greater Western Sydney.
And, for Tiger fans, here is what's proving to be a depressingly recurring bottom line. A 0-2 start to the new football year, a must-win match against fellow struggler Melbourne this afternoon at the MCG, and the prospect of the critical blowtorch being pointed yet again squarely in their direction should they lose.
It's been a tough start to the new campaign, facing Carlton and Collingwood, both seen as flag contenders. And Richmond wasn't disgraced in either loss. But already much of the momentum generated during a promising pre-season appears to have dissipated.
And if it's the midfield that should be the foundations for the on-going on-field renovations at Punt Road, then they're looking more than a little wobbly.
For Richmond's brains trust, this is hardly breaking news. Coach Damien Hardwick, speaking on the eve of the season, volunteered that the Tigers' ranking last year of 16th for clearance differentials as evidence of the pressing need for his side to harden up.
“Effectively, it means if we weren't winning clearances, it was going straight inside their 50. It was putting a young defence under pressure,” he said. And last Saturday night's loss to Collingwood provided almost the perfect case in point.
The damage was all done in a seven-minute burst by the Pies immediately after half-time, in which they scored five goals, three of them coming directly from centre-bounce clearances, effectively rendering the other 100-odd minutes of action a moot point.
On average, about 13 per cent of a team's score comes from a centre-bounce clearance. In Collingwood's case last weekend, it was a whopping 40 per cent. That set the alarm bells ringing in the Richmond coach's box. As has a failure to arrest the continued midfield slide.
While few would argue Richmond is setting itself up more effectively now for a realistic tilt at success over the longer term, when it comes to those “hard” indicators, the Tigers appear to have gone backwards.
In Hardwick's first season at Punt Road, Richmond averaged 2.2 more clearance wins than its opponents, ranking it fifth in the competition. The numbers fell to negative 4.4 (16th) last year. And in 2012, albeit with only a two-game sample, the Tigers are averaging 10 fewer clearances, the ranking stone motherless last.
Richmond began 2010 ranked fifth for contested ball differentials, winning nearly two more than its opponents. That fell to negative 8.4 (15th) by season's end, a lowly ranking duplicated last year, and with an average 16.5 conceded to the Blues and Magpies thus far in 2012, only Gold Coast is failing to win the hard ball more.
It's been some reality check for the Tigers, having spent a large chunk of the pre-season working harder than usual on midfield set-ups and spread. But as midfield coach Danny Daly says, while not looking for excuses, the difference between midfield dominance and a “pantsing” can often be a pretty fine line.
“I think we've been guilty of letting ourselves down for five- or 10-minute periods,” he says. “Against Carlton, in the last 15 minutes of the game, we got smashed for contested ball and clearances, and then obviously in that first 10 minutes of the third quarter last week. If you look outside those periods, it was about even, so it's a lot about our boys' ability to keep in the game mentally for the whole time.”
Even that deflating burst by the Pies last week had a few “what ifs” about it, Daly pointing out that in three of those centre bounces, it was the Tigers who got hands to the ball first, but failed to control it.
“In the first one, Brandon Ellis came in off the wing at 100 miles an hour, tried to take someone out, but missed, so that created space for [Dale] Thomas [who ran on to kick a goal within 13 seconds]. The next one, we had control but turned it over. They kicked it back, our defenders couldn't halve the contest, they take a mark, then another. It's about a number of things, not just the actual clearance. And little things add up to big things.”
What opponents are noticing on a broader level, however, is that even Richmond's brightest stars have significant weaknesses which make them, as a midfield group, vulnerable.
One major one is the dependence upon Cotchin to win first possession, something at which he routinely excels, but doesn't necessarily get much support.
That allowed Collingwood last week to smother his supply with Scott Pendlebury, even better at the same skill, and allow the other Magpie midfielders to do their stuff relatively unimpeded.
Dustin Martin, while a thumping and damaging kick out of the centre square traffic, remains a less-than-elite endurance runner, unable to go with the likes of a Chris Judd or Marc Murphy for long enough.
Says one opposition strategist, whose club is yet to play the Tigers but is, you sense, eagerly awaiting the opportunity: “He's so damaging with those 60-metre roosts on the run out of the square. The problem is because he's not an elite runner, he's almost becoming a forward who can play in the midfield rather than a mid who can play forward, because he just can't cover the territory often enough.”
Daly concedes it's an issue, but one Richmond and Martin are working tirelessly to change. “He really went hard at it over summer and shed a few kilos, but it's also about him knowing his threshold. Sometimes he stays on the ground too long, and we as coaches need to make sure we rotate him a bit more and keep him a bit fresher.
“A lot of the work with our midfielders has been on their reaction times from offence to defence. That's an area where we ride 'Dusty' a bit, so he's working really hard on that. Whether that's having a bit of an impact on him in terms of his ball-winning ability, I'm not too sure, but hopefully it will come together for him pretty soon.”
Opposition coaching groups seem to agree that for now, the excitement generated by the roll call of Richmond “names” like Martin exceeds the reality, and that there's significant structural issues.
Deledio, for example, has become such an important part of the defence in terms of quality ball distribution, that he can't be played in midfield for as long a spells as the Tigers would like. Foley can be a damaging runner, but has a tendency to creep ahead of the ball too much for a spot of “downhill skiing”.
Then there's the likes of veteran Tuck, who continues to bob up just when Richmond seems to be phasing him out, a clear legacy of his more youthful cohorts not winning enough of their own hard ball.
Jackson has borne the brunt of much of the early criticism of the Tigers this year. It's not about his capacity to play a role, which Daly says he does “better than just about anyone”, last week tagging the Magpies' Heath Shaw and reducing his effectiveness.
But Jackson's problems with both decision-making and disposal were underlined in a more free-wheeling role against Carlton in round one. “Too slow and can't kick”, was one particularly brutal opposition assessment of that performance. The same source calls Grigg “a slightly better version of Jackson”.
Of course, Richmond has copped the rough end of the deal in the contested ball area against Carlton and Collingwood, so far ranked Nos. 1 and 2 respectively, and in clearances, where the Blues and Pies are second and third on the differentials.
But Hardwick, Daly and his midfield line coach cohort Brendon Lade are keen not to be seen making excuses.
“They're obviously more seasoned than us, but the likes of 'Tucky', Foley, 'Jacko' and even 'Lids' [Deledio] have been around for seven or eight years now, so they should be able to match it with those guys for a sustained period of time,” says Daly.
There's no magic remedy for this problem, either. Just more of the same medication, hard work on the training track.
“We just keep working on them. We've probably done a lot more stoppage work this week than we have the previous few weeks. It's about making sure the guys play their role, and we've probably let ourselves down a bit with guys going outside their roles at times.”
For Hardwick, who made a specific issue publicly of his team toughening up in the hard indicators, this has been a particularly galling couple of losses. And all the more reason that not just a win over Melbourne today, but a performance which has “tough” written all over it, is essential.
“He's obviously let our mids know, and myself and Brendon as midfield coaches know, that it's just not acceptable to be 17th in the comp for contested ball,” Daly says. “He understands we've still got a bit of work to do in that area, and that we've played probably the two best sides in the comp at it, but it's no excuse. We just need to make sure that over the next three or four weeks, we move up the ladder in that area.”
Daly, like most AFL coaches, knows that it's in midfield, “between the arcs”, that the game is generally won or lost. Fix the issues, starting today, and Richmond can actually begin to climb a ladder given far more attention than merely the contested ball and clearance rankings.
And, with that, it hardly needs be said, finally start turning some of that much-vaunted potential into reality.
BY THE NUMBERS
RICHMOND
CLEARANCE DIFFERENTIAL
2012 -10.0 (18th)
2011 -4.4 (16th)
2010 +2.2 (5th)
2009 +1.5 (6th)
RICHMOND CONTESTED
POSSESSION DIFFERENTIAL
2012 -16.5 (17th)
2011 -9.7 (15th)
2010 -8.4 (15th)
2009 +1.8 (5th)
Rnd 1 v Carlton -15 Con Poss -7 Clearances
Rnd 2 v Collingwood -18 Con Poss -13 Clearances
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/soft-in-the-centre-20120413-1wz3n.html#ixzz1rwQRFinp
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Hard to disagree. Rohan's a gun, by the way ;D
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It is a confronting article.
How does Grigg escape comment though, he is the biggest "downhill skier" that we have. Talk about soft and not being accountable, Grigg would be our leader in this area.
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"you need to win your own ball" this was a clear message from Dimma at the 2009 B&F (something like that)
It's a disappointing trend and a bit of a blight on the coaching panel and playing list.
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I don't remember our club ever being this bad at clearances so maybe Dimma should start to clean out the rubbish midfield coaches
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Pretty hard to disagree with a lot of that. There are excuses of course but with OER's current "No Excuses" policy we aren't able to use them. ;)
Damn, nowhere to hide. :help
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Great article !
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Tiger supporter telling it how it is :clapping
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Well we have played 2 of the top 4 teams in the comp. Were we expected to win these midfield battles? 8)
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rohan must have read my post in the damning stats thread :whistle
from memory, the red pontiac had a not as bad as possible year in 2010 and had quite a few contested possessions and clearances, yet these dropped right off last year and so far this year, as our overall numbers have to.
I cant get hold of these stats to confirm, but surely we could not have been so reliant on one hack footballer for such an important area?
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Well we have played 2 of the top 4 teams in the comp. Were we expected to win these midfield battles? 8)
And we have only a possible 9% of stats for 2012 to work on ;D
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Well we have played 2 of the top 4 teams in the comp. Were we expected to win these midfield battles? 8)
And we have only a possible 9% of stats for 2012 to work on ;D
It is more the downward trend over the past few years as opposed to this year
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Well we have played 2 of the top 4 teams in the comp. Were we expected to win these midfield battles? 8)
And we have only a possible 9% of stats for 2012 to work on ;D
It is more the downward trend over the past few years as opposed to this year
What Y&B said :thumbsup... Also if we aspire to be "one of the top 4" we have to start winning these midfield battles - at least once in awhile.
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i dont believe it is that important to be winning them, although it helps, you need to be at least breaking even. if you do than and have more uncontested possessions you generally win
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Well we have played 2 of the top 4 teams in the comp. Were we expected to win these midfield battles? 8)
And we have only a possible 9% of stats for 2012 to work on ;D
It is more the downward trend over the past few years as opposed to this year
What Y&B said :thumbsup... Also if we aspire to be "one of the top 4" we have to start winning these midfield battles - at least once in awhile.
Yes that is true but i think with 90.09% of the season left, these figures will improve.
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Well we have played 2 of the top 4 teams in the comp. Were we expected to win these midfield battles? 8)
And we have only a possible 9% of stats for 2012 to work on ;D
It is more the downward trend over the past few years as opposed to this year
What Y&B said :thumbsup... Also if we aspire to be "one of the top 4" we have to start winning these midfield battles - at least once in awhile.
Yes that is true but i think with 90.09% of the season left, these figures will improve.
Fair enough
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Pity Helbig is injured. I'd like to see him and Arnot take Jacko and Tucks spots pretty soon. We'll add midfield depth in this years draft too. Jacko is letting me down at the moment. I though he got rid of those sprayed kicks last year ;)
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Damn Stats and Damning Stats.
Definately the latter for the RFC.
HTFU, the Tiges will not be a top 8 side with performances put up so far against other 2012 top 6 sides.
As for Jackson, that should be roll, not role.
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Pity Helbig is injured. I'd like to see him and Arnot take Jacko and Tucks spots pretty soon. We'll add midfield depth in this years draft too. Jacko is letting me down at the moment. I though he got rid of those sprayed kicks last year ;)
Disagree even though Tuck is maligned he is always in the coalface.
Jako sprayed kicks aren't the only problem he is slow at the contest and never seems to know where the ball is going to drop so he aint helping contested stats.
Unfortunantely bar Cotchin in the first two rounds it has been a blight on the rest of our mids and as damning as it sounds it is pretty correct.
I can remember thinking and posting on here two years as did many others on the topic of our contested midfield and how it was going to get better in a contested sense with Cotch and blokes like Martin in there also but alas other than Cotch and cameos from Dusty in that area and cameos from others we have gone backwards in contested footy.
We prayed for a ruckman and got a competitive beast in Ivan and in the first two rounds the trend hasn't changed from last year either. Lift tigers lift.
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Tiger mids needs to remember that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Any one of them can't win a clearance on their own (Cotch perhaps the exception). Blocking and shepherding to create avenues for the ballwinner and pushing your direct opponent under the ball so you can push off and spread are just as important at stoppages and centre bounces.
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Soft in the middle? Ranked 18th for clearance differentials? 17th for contested possession? A decline from 5th in these areas since early 2010? Gee, I thought Jackson and Tuck were supposed to be toughening us up in these areas. If Jacko in particular isn't providing much cop in his supposed hardness at the ball, then why are we putting up with all his glaring deficiencies in other aspects of the game such as his slowness of mind, lack of leg speed, poor decision-making and bad execution by hand and foot?
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Tiger mids needs to remember that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Any one of them can't win a clearance on their own (Cotch perhaps the exception). Blocking and shepherding to create avenues for the ballwinner and pushing your direct opponent under the ball so you can push off and spread are just as important at stoppages and centre bounces.
What are Jako's and Edwards roles again.
Edwards put on kilo's so he wasn't brushed aside like a featherweight the way Milburn rag dolled him in 2008.
Is there a coaching mantra at the club that gets passed on b/c things like this I see only too seldomly.
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Playing the 2 best midfields in the league in the first 2 rounds might skew the stats a little, but it is an area we have been weak in for a long time.
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Tiger mids needs to remember that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Any one of them can't win a clearance on their own (Cotch perhaps the exception). Blocking and shepherding to create avenues for the ballwinner and pushing your direct opponent under the ball so you can push off and spread are just as important at stoppages and centre bounces.
Great Post OE :thumbsup This is exactly the area we have too get better at, There is not enough Shepparding, blocking and covering someone else's opponent! Our midfield is full of talented individual's but they need to work better as a team.
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Tiger mids needs to remember that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Any one of them can't win a clearance on their own (Cotch perhaps the exception). Blocking and shepherding to create avenues for the ballwinner and pushing your direct opponent under the ball so you can push off and spread are just as important at stoppages and centre bounces.
Great Post OE :thumbsup This is exactly the area we have too get better at, There is not enough Shepparding, blocking and covering someone else's opponent! Our midfield is full of talented individual's but they need to work better as a team.
1995 was the last time I saw a tiger unit in action, since then it's been disjointed play for yourself rubbish
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Soft in the middle? Ranked 18th for clearance differentials? 17th for contested possession? A decline from 5th in these areas since early 2010? Gee, I thought Jackson and Tuck were supposed to be toughening us up in these areas. If Jacko in particular isn't providing much cop in his supposed hardness at the ball, then why are we putting up with all his glaring deficiencies in other aspects of the game such as his slowness of mind, lack of leg speed, poor decision-making and bad execution by hand and foot?
in fairness to tuck, he didnt play much of last and year and when he did come into side in the later part of the season he did help improve our contested possessions and clearances
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Tiger mids needs to remember that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Any one of them can't win a clearance on their own (Cotch perhaps the exception). Blocking and shepherding to create avenues for the ballwinner and pushing your direct opponent under the ball so you can push off and spread are just as important at stoppages and centre bounces.
What are Jako's and Edwards roles again.
Edwards put on kilo's so he wasn't brushed aside like a featherweight the way Milburn rag dolled him in 2008.
Is there a coaching mantra at the club that gets passed on b/c things like this I see only too seldomly.
I know, im a sucker for punishmnet...
edwards and martins stats for clearances and contested ball are nearly identical for our first two games.
Read into that what you will ;D
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Tiger mids needs to remember that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Any one of them can't win a clearance on their own (Cotch perhaps the exception). Blocking and shepherding to create avenues for the ballwinner and pushing your direct opponent under the ball so you can push off and spread are just as important at stoppages and centre bounces.
What are Jako's and Edwards roles again.
Edwards put on kilo's so he wasn't brushed aside like a featherweight the way Milburn rag dolled him in 2008.
Is there a coaching mantra at the club that gets passed on b/c things like this I see only too seldomly.
I know, im a sucker for punishmnet...
edwards and martins stats for clearances and contested ball are nearly identical for our first two games.
Read into that what you will ;D
That Martin is in career worst form and Edwards is going at optimum capacity?
Yep
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Martin, Vickery, Edwards and Jackson are our worst performing players in the first 3 rounds IMO
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Martin, Vickery, Edwards and Jackson are our worst performing players in the first 3 rounds IMO
Agree, Martin is lacking confidence big time. He came into the game a little toward the end today, hopefully that big don argue he put on Bate and his run around the boundary will spark him into gear :pray
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Tiger supporter telling it how it is :clapping
Rohan's a Bombers supporter
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Martin, Vickery, Edwards and Jackson are our worst performing players in the first 3 rounds IMO
Agree, Martin is lacking confidence big time. He came into the game a little toward the end today, hopefully that big don argue he put on Bate and his run around the boundary will spark him into gear :pray
Loved his 3rd quarter goal.
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Tiger supporter telling it how it is :clapping
Pretty sure he is a Bomber.
Oops Danog beat me.
Anyway,great article and gave me a shock.
That's what Geelong have,that defensive pressure.
Still more work to be done at Tigerland.
Bloody North already looking very good in that area.
3rd quarter was great on Saturday but now we need 2 3rd quarter efforts this week if we want to get anywhere near the Cats.
The game will be about tackling and more tackling whereas last week Richmond were afforded more room.
Will not happen this week.
North closed any open door for the Cats so they couldn't get any flow happening.
We have to use our eyes a bit more too.Look for the best option.
Did anyone see Morris in the centre square all alone begging for the ball with acres in front of him?
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Clearance differential . . . is it really a surprise we were ranked 18th after coming up against Carlton and Collingwood?
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Here's some stats:
Ranked 18th in Contested Possesions
Ranked 2nd in Uncontested Possesons
Equal 1st in Disposal Efficiency % with West Coast at 77%
Ranked 12th for Hit Outs
Ranked 16th for Clearances
Ranked 10th in Tackles
Contested Marks ranked 18th
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Here's some stats:
Ranked 18th in Contested Possesions
Ranked 2nd in Uncontested Possesons
Equal 1st in Disposal Efficiency % with West Coast at 77%
Ranked 12th for Hit Outs
Ranked 16th for Clearances
Ranked 10th in Tackles
Contested Marks ranked 18th
What site you getting these from?
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Here's some stats:
Ranked 18th in Contested Possesions
Ranked 2nd in Uncontested Possesons
Equal 1st in Disposal Efficiency % with West Coast at 77%
Ranked 12th for Hit Outs
Ranked 16th for Clearances
Ranked 10th in Tackles
Contested Marks ranked 18th
What site you getting these from?
I've been sitting here all day crunching numbers . . . :rollin AFL website under the stats menu :thumbsup