Tigers sharing the load Emma Quayle
The Age
July 1, 2013 RICHMOND 4.4 10.9 15.13 17.17 (119)
ST KILDA 3.2 4.4 7.5 8.7 (55)
GOALS
Richmond: Jackson 3, Riewoldt 3, Deledio 2, Foley 2, Grigg 2, Edwards, Ellis, King, Conca, Vickery.
St Kilda: Dennis-Lane 2, Murdoch, Jones, Steven, Montagna, Dal Santo, Riewoldt.
BEST
Richmond: Cotchin, Vickery, A Edwards, Jackson, Deledio, S Edwards, Foley, Conca, Houli, Rance.
St Kilda: Steven, Armitage, Riewoldt, McEvoy, Dal Santo, Dennis Lane, Montagna, Murdoch.
UMPIRES Wenn, Dalgleish, Foot.
CROWD 52,184 at MCG.
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Here is what we were dealing with. A St Kilda side that, if not completely starting over, is being recast. A Richmond team starting to realise what it could be, wanting to impose itself, not willing to wait.
A St Kilda defence that needs more off-season bolstering, that was missing Sam Fisher and Tom Simpkin and looked extremely young. A Richmond forward line that can get three or four goals from Jack Riewoldt without seeming to really rely on him.
The St Kilda forward line might have been all right, had its midfielders been able to get the ball down more often, in less-rushed ways. But the Tiger defenders are harder to rattle than they once were, and have less stressful work to do since Richmond was the team with the young midfield.
Richmond's 64-point win can be described as mature, composed, controlled. Even certain.
The Tigers might still be a team in the making, but when they were less cooked they might have taken until after half-time to find their way into a game, feel like the better side and then start playing that way.
True, it wasn't until Ty Vickery dropped to the half-back line and took a couple of strong marks that the Tigers took charge. But that happened halfway through the first quarter.
The Tigers had good players everywhere. Like they did against the Western Bulldogs a week earlier when they won in every part of the ground. First, Vickery took those two marks. Then, he made his way forward and took more. With Riewoldt there, and Aaron Edwards running up, then back, then across, doing everything he could to get into some space, Richmond simply had too many marking targets for the Saints to keep under wraps.
With Sean Dempster and James Gwilt kept so busy, from start to finish, it meant that when the ball did reach the ground, the likes of Nathan Wright, Jimmy Webster and Jack Newnes had lots of work to do, without much time at all to think about it. It was hard work.
That didn't stop, because the Tigers didn't stop. Add fade-outs to the things they have started to expel from their game. Richmond didn't so much wear down the Saints in the middle as deny them the chance to ever really get going. St Kilda snuck a goal at the start of the game, and another at the start of the second quarter, but Richmond had them covered for numbers, for concentration and for urgency, through the midfield and throughout the night.
Trent Cotchin played one of his best, most dynamic games in recent weeks. He kept his feet after Edwards flew over him during the second quarter, turned sharply, ran to where the ball dropped, intercepted a St Kilda handpass and handballed to Shaun Grigg for a goal. Brett Deledio was good again, too. Late in the third quarter he watched as Cotchin kicked long into the goal square, where he was sandwiched between two Saints. He reached up, tapped the ball down, then soccered it through for another.
But there were plenty of players who, in playing their own part, bought them the time and space to do those things. Dustin Martin, Shane Edwards, Nathan Foley, Reece Conca, Shaun Grigg and Brandon Ellis have helped the midfield bat deeper. No wonder Dan Jackson couldn't stop smiling: he kicked three goals.
In defence, Alex Rance, Troy Chaplin, Bachar Houli, Chris Newman and Steve Morris understand each other. Last week was a no-fuss win, this one was the same, and next week brings the chance for another. The more there are, the better the Tigers will be getting.
ARNOT BRINGS SOME GOOD NEWSThe bad news? Richmond supporters' newest infatuation, eight-gamer Nick Vlastuin, dropped out of the side pre-game with a shin injury. The good news? His withdrawal gave Matthew Arnot the chance to play his first game, 18 months after being drafted from the Oakleigh Chargers with a late pick. Arnot was known in his junior days for his no-fuss, hard-at-it approach and against the Saints there were signs that would translate well to senior footy.
EDWARDS FINDS HIS OWN SPACERichmond recruited Aaron Edwards to help pad out its forward line. On all available evidence, he wants to be much more than mere back-up. He worked exceptionally hard to get into space, he grabbed the ball cleanly and aside from collecting Trent Cotchin on one ambitious lead he seems to have already worked out how to find his own space and not get in the way of the other Tiger forwards he has begun to complement nicely.
FOLEY KEEPS WORKING HARDNathan Foley has been a useful inclusion too, rejoining the team seven weeks ago having missed the best part of a season with a ruptured achilles. Before he got injured, the one-time rookie was always busy, always on the move, always getting to where the ball was. Not much has changed. Foley still works hard, and as a consequence, still keeps getting the ball.
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