Richmond claw back to down Collingwood Michael Gleeson
The Age
May 18, 2015 RICHMOND 1.2 9.5 12.6 16.9 (105)
COLLINGWOOD 4.4 7.5 12.7 15.10 (100)
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Vickery 3, Deledio 2, Grigg 2, Cotchin 2, Ellis, Maric, McIntosh.
Collingwood: Cloke 3, Swan 2, Crisp 2, Elliott 2, White 2, Blair, de Goey, Witts, Broomhead.
BEST
Richmond: Cotchin, Deledio, Grigg, Riewoldt, Vickery, Maric, B Ellis
Collingwood: Swan, Crisp, Cloke, Grundy, Pendlebury, Adams, Goldsack, Blair.
Umpires: Justin Schmitt, Luke Farmer, Andrew Stephens.
CROWD 59,034 at MCG.
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A quarter can turn a game and a season. The third quarter last week was as bad as Richmond could play, they lost the game and their season was listing.
In 30 minutes at the MCG on Sunday, the Tigers turned in the type of quarter that could turn a flagging season.
It all started like just another deflating Richmond game: sloppy, loose and flat. Within a quarter they were behind and meandering. The weight of their history this season, let alone their recent history against Collingwood, was against them.
Then something changed. It's hard to say what, or if it was one thing, but it changed. Unable to keep the ball among themselves in the first quarter, they suddenly gorged on it in the second.
Seasons can turn on just such a quarter. It could have been the late goal in the first quarter to Ty Vickery that gave them the settling feeling and brought a player so critical to this side into the game.
It could have been that Jesse White missed from 15metres out a minute later and teased out that feeling in Richmond even more strongly.
It was certainly clear from the first bounce of the second term, when Shaun Grigg galloped onto a ball Ivan Maric had muscled forward and drilled a goal. Within nine minutes, Richmond had booted five goals, hit the front by ten points and were rampant.
Playing an extra man behind the ball, Richmond had run, carry and overlap. Collingwood was able to absorb the pressure through Dane Swan's diligence and Travis Cloke – this week kicking truly – but Richmond had a stronger resolve this week.
The Tigers were converting their chances. Jack Riewoldt booted two late from challenging angles then Vickery again rose to the moment and Richmond significantly took a handsome lead into the main break. They had played horrendously then played outrageously well and they were still on the upswing of that pendulum.
Brandon Ellis was busy around the ball but was not using it especially well. Trent Cotchin was contained early but threw aside the shackles to be, with Deledio, the Tigers' most influential player. Again.
Collingwood at one stage led by 25 points, Richmond later by four goals. There were 10 lead changes. This was not a game decided by much, but it was determined by superior ball use in front of and around goal.
In the first term, Collingwood was able to kick three goals carrying it out of their backline. Richmond had 18 turnovers in the first quarter to Collingwood's 11, which was significant but even more significant was that the Magpies scored from those clumsy moments.
That Collingwood was able to arrest the momentum of an eight-goal quarter and recover a lead was through the work of Swan and Jack Crisp and the intelligent hands of Pendlebury, while Brodie Grundy matched Maric. The Magpies had a target in Cloke but they wasted early chances that would hurt them.
The flow of the game was with the Tigers in the half moments. In the third quarter, Deledio, Dustin Martin and Anthony Miles offered loose turnovers that gave goals but Deledio and Martin were there in the last when Richmond was looking for someone to lift them.
Deledio moved to full forward and Collingwood had no defender with the necessary pace to go with him on the lead once Alan Toovey was subbed out of the game early because of a knee injury. Richmond picked at the scab of that loss with Deledio. Jack Frost had leg speed but he trailed Deledio, whose two final-quarter goals showed the maturity and class this team lacked in its early losses.
Swan had 30-plus touches for the 100th time in his career and, in this game, was not just an accumulator, he was also clever and creative. He pressed forward to kick two and set up another.
Richmond used Alex Rance innovatively, beginning in the centre square for the first three bounces. At the first bounce, he barged Swan out of the contest in the manner of a rugby front rower. At the next bounce, he went to Pendlebury and did the same.
Clearly Richmond had been schooled on Geelong's idea of using Mark Blicavs, a bigger, stronger player, on the Collingwood captain to success last week.
It had no great effect as Collingwood scampered out to its early lead but it was innovative. Rance steadied behind the ball and Richmond played their best football when Collingwood let them play the extra loose man who set up their overlap run behind the ball. Not coincidentally, when Collingwood went man on man, their momentum swung.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-match-report/richmond-claw-back-to-down-collingwood-20150517-gh3pcu.html
