Brown takes Tigers to victory
4:19:38 PM Sun 15 May, 2005
Paul Gough
Exclusive to afl.com.au
Nathan Brown yet again has demonstrated why he is one of the few proven match-winners in the AFL with a devastating final quarter burst to get Richmond out of jail against a gallant Collingwood at the MCG.
The Magpies, sitting on the bottom of the ladder and coming off the fourth worst loss in their history last week - a 112-point mauling at the hands of Fremantle - were forced to take on the Tigers without their four best players after spearhead Chris Tarrant was a late withdrawal with a calf injury joining skipper Nathan Buckley, Anthony Rocca and Josh Fraser on the sidelines.
Yet for three quarters the undermanned Magpies led a Richmond side that came into the game with five wins from seven matches including recent demolitions of reigning premiers Port Adelaide and Carlton, when they slammed on 13 goals to one in the first half.
However the Magpies could not hang onto their ten-point lead at three-quarter-time as Brown, who had been well held by acting Magpies' skipper James Clement, broke loose to kick five last-quarter goals as the Tigers moved into third place with a 13.15 (93) to 8.10 (58) victory.
Incredibly Brown kicked as many goals in the final quarter on his own as Richmond managed in the first three quarters as they found themselves unable to deal with a mass flood employed by Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse.
Malthouse, shorn of so much quality personnel, was forced to employ extra men in defence to clog up space for the brilliant Brown and to make life tough for the Tigers' giant forwards Matthew Richardson and Troy Simmonds.
The Magpies also forced stoppages at every opportunity and for three quarters the game resembled rugby rather than Australian Rules but the closeness of the scores kept the big crowd of more than 54,000 on tenterhooks.
Collingwood was also able to restrict what had been a free-scoring Richmond side in recent weeks because of the fine performances of its defenders with Simon Prestigiacomo brilliant against Matthew Richardson while Shane Wakelin played one of his best games and Clement was keeping a tight rein on Brown.
The Pies were also winning the all-important centre clearances as some of the Tigers'
much-improved players in recent weeks such as Brett Deledio, Kayne Pettifer and Shane Tuck struggled to have much of an impact.
But the Tigers were able to stay in touch thanks to their defence with Darren Gaspar continuing his magnificent season while Ray Hall was tremendous at centre-half-back even though Travis Cloke looked a constant danger at centre-half-forward for the Magpies.
The Tigers were struggling to cope with the Magpies' tactics and constantly chipped the ball backwards and sideways in a bid to break down the Pies' defensive tactics, in a far cry from the long and direct kicking which has been their trademark under new coach Terry Wallace in 2005.
But the Tigers finally broke the game open in the final quarter thanks to the brilliant Brown, who single-handedly turned what could have been a loss at the last change into an ultimately comfortable victory.
His first goal came from a mark after two minutes and after Blake Caracella kicked a steadier for the Pies, Brown really took over with a great snap off the pack cutting the margin to four points before a superb soccer goal across his body gave the Tigers the lead for the first time in the game at the 12-minute mark.
And after Mark Coughlan - who continued his fine season with 28 touches to be the Tigers' best midfielder along with skipper Kane Johnson - goaled on the run, the heads of the gallant Pies' players began to drop.
Brown then finished the tiring Pies off with two more goals while Joel Bowden, a fine player across half-back, sealed the game with a tough set shot from 35 metres as the Tigers' fans began to celebrate a hard-fought win over their arch rivals.
COLLINGWOOD: 4.1, 6.5, 7.8, 8.10 (58)
RICHMOND: 2.1, 4.4, 5.10, 13.15 (93)
GOALS – Collingwood: Caracella 2, Holland, Walker, Burns, C. Cloke, Swan, T. Cloke Richmond: Brown 5, Tambling 2, Richardson, Knobel, Graham, Simmonds, Coughlan, Bowden
BEST – Collingwood: Wakelin, Prestigiacomo, Johnson, Egan, T. Cloke, Holland Richmond: Brown, Coughlan, Hall, Bowden, Campbell, Simmonds, Kellaway
INJURIES – Collingwood: C.Cloke (concussion)
CHANGES – Collingwood: Tarrant (calf/knee) replaced in selected side by C.Cloke
REPORTS - nil
UMPIRES - Schmitt, Meredith, Hendrie
CROWD - 54,330 at the MCG
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