Tigers won't fall into 'kick it to Jack' trap Martin Blake
March 24, 2011CARLTON coach Brett Ratten has identified the job of stopping Coleman medallist Jack Riewoldt as pivotal to tonight's season-opening clash with Richmond at the MCG.
With regular full-back Michael Jamison suspended and another potential option in Paul Bower injured, the Blues are exposed against a power forward such as Riewoldt, who kicked 78 goals in his breakthrough 2010 season.
''His impact on the game will be very critical to us. If we can do that, I think we'll go a long way to winning the game,'' said Ratten. ''We think we have [the players]. It's not just the individual that plays on Jack, it's about the team defence. If we can keep the ball going our way and keep the ball in our front 50, it's going to be hard for him to score from back there.''
Ratten and his coaching staff watched Richmond play a practice match against Adelaide a fortnight ago and saw what Riewoldt means to the Tigers, noting that ''every time he touched it the crowd went berserk''. But the Blues' coach has issued a challenge to his players. ''With 'Jamo' out it's opened up the possibilities for a few. The person who gets that role will have a great opportunity to really project their career and maybe make a name for themselves,'' he said.
Bower trained well at Visy Park yesterday but was overlooked.
The Blues named two first gamers, Ed Curnow, 21, and Nick Duigan, 26, for the game.
While Carlton may take a less than full-strength back line into the match, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said his side would not fall into a ''kick it to Jack'' trap and remained determined to develop goalkickers beyond his full-forward.
''It's a long-term focus; we need to develop,'' said Hardwick. ''We're waiting for [Ben] Griffiths to come back from injury and there's Troy Taylor, we're waiting for him to develop as a player also. We're hoping Mitch Morton will have a more rounded season this year, so there's other guys down there and we need to spread that load.''
The Tigers' past two season openers against Carlton have resulted in heavy thrashings, results that have left Hardwick and his players with a simple desire heading into tonight's match. ''We just want to win a game of football, so we're going to put out the best side possible and hopefully come out with the four points,'' Hardwick said.
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