VFL R19: Richmond vs Geelong --- Sun. Aug. 14 @ Punt Rd

[one-eyed]

VFL Tigers stifle Cats

richmondfc.com.au
15 August 2016

Callum Moore’s hulking tackle on Geelong’s half-forward line literally stopped the Cats in their tracks in the final term of the Tigers’ 37-point win at Punt Road Oval on Sunday evening.

The Cats pressed for much of the second-half, and were streaming forward before Moore’s outstanding effort, which epitomised Richmond’s manic pressure throughout the evening.

The Tigers let through the first three goals of the game, before going on a nine-goal run, setting up their seventh win of the year, and fourth on-the-trot, 11.16 (82) to 6.9 (45).

Pressure has become the Tigers’ trademark, and it was on show for all to see, as they took down the seventh placed Cats.

The Tigers averaged 66 points against in the last six weeks, equating to a 4–2 win/loss record.

The Cats blitzed the Tigers early and raced to a 19-point lead midway through the opening term.

No one could question Richmond’s effort and intensity at the contest, but it lacked polish when venturing inside 50.

At the other end, the Cats streamed forward in waves, catching the Tigers off-guard.

After a below par first-half last week against the Blues, Richmond’s key-backs felt the heat early once again, but this time stood-up to the onslaught.

Mabior Chol, Ryan Gale, Nathan Broad and Moore proved impassable at times, and allowed the Tigers to pull back the momentum late in the opening term.

It took until time-on in the first term for the Tigers to register their opening major, and it came via key-forward Liam McBean.

It clicked the Tigers into gear and after the cat-like Kane Lambert swooped on an errant Geelong kick-out, Richmond’s on-baller put his side within six-points in the shadows of quarter-time.

Tigers’ senior coach Craig McRae called for trust at the first break, trust in the process and for trust in each other — and the players responded.

Emerging key-forward Todd Elton got the Tigers off to the perfect start, squeezing home his first of the second term, leveling the scores.

Richmond continuously pumped the ball inside 50, before 50-gamer Jake Aarts displayed unflinching courage, and a slice of poise to hand the Tigers a seven point lead.

Aarts bobbed-up again moments later, his double pushing the lead out to 13 points.

The Tigers nailed five-goals-in-a-row and gave the Cats little respite.

But the hosts weren’t done.

Moore barged his way through congestion deep in his attacking 50 and handed Elton a second term double.

Inside bull Jacob Townsend joined in on the act, once again displaying his poise in front of goal, before Adam Marcon capped off a blistering second term.

Marcon bustled his way through traffic and slotted a brilliant goal to gift the Tigers a 31-point lead heading into the second half.

Richmond staged a remarkable 50-point turnaround which totally stunned the Cats.

The foundation of the Tigers’ resurgence has been their stifling defensive prowess, and that was acknowledged by the Cats.

The second half was a struggle — Geelong began to surge and the Tigers were under the pump.

Once again though, Richmond’s back-six patrolled its defensive half, and repelled at will.

Zippy Richmond midfielder Jason Castagna broke the goal-drought in the third team, as he weaved his way through traffic and slotted his only goal of the night.

The Cats kept pressing and it took them a quarter-and-a-half to finally kick their fourth major.

Geelong slotted another, cutting our lead to 28 points at the final change.

McRae sensed a slight shift in momentum and reiterated that “The game will be won and lost on our defence”.

The Cats kicked the all-important first goal of the final term — up stepped Dan Butler.

With the Tigers leading by 22 points, Butler seized the moment, mowing down an unexpecting Cats’ defender and was justly rewarded.

Butler coolly went back and nailed the goal, handing his side a 29-point lead.

Butler’s exceptional defensive intent was on display moments later as his tackle handed Marcon his second major, which was the final nail in the coffin for the Cats.

Lambert did what he does best, finishing with 36 disposals, eight clearances and a goal.

While his partner-in-crime Adam Marcon accumulated 29 disposals, laid 11 tackles and slotted two goals.

Reece Conca came off second best late in the final term and received a nasty corked thigh after racking up 27 disposals.

The Tigers late season renaissance continues this week as they face Sandringham at Trevor Barker Oval this Sunday, August 21 at 2pm.

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2016-08-15/vfl-tigers-stifle-cats

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Dan Butler

[Diocletian]

"The cat-like Kane Lambert".....hahaha...

[torch]

Finals?

[one-eyed]

Richmond development coach Andrew McQualter's summary:

AFL-listed

Kane Lambert

36 disposals, eight marks, eight clearances, four tackles, one goal

For the second week in-a-row he had a massive game, mainly through his workrate. He had 14 contested possessions, eight clearances and four tackles, which shows how many contests he was able to get to.

Adam Marcon

29 disposals, two goals, 11 tackles, five clearances, 14 handball receives

Had a significant impact on the game. He was one of our best players through workrate all day and was able to kick two goals which was nice, as well as his 11 tackles.

Reece Conca

27 disposals, 10 handball receives, five tackles

Was solid all day playing through the midfield and half-back. Played about a half of each and played pretty well without dominating the game. It was a good return.

Jason Castagna

20 disposals, 12 handball receives, one goal

Played a half through the midfield and a half at half-back. Another solid game from “Jase”. He just keeps working hard. Turns up to a lot of contests and uses his side-step to get out. I thought he was pretty clean with the ball.

Connor Menadue

20 disposals, 12 handball receives, four tackles

Showed some really good signs. Played mid, wing and half-back and he shows a lot of AFL traits, we just need to keep seeing more of it. We’d like to see him kick the ball a bit more.

Jacob Townsend

20 disposals, nine tackles, three clearances, one goal

“Towner” played half through the midfield and half at half-forward. I thought he was really strong aerially throughout the day — took some really nice marks. And his defensive pressure was the standard it always is with nine tackles.

Nathan Broad

19 disposals, 11 handball receives, five inside 50s

“Broady’s” in a real great patch of form at the moment down back. He’s probably our most sturdy defender. He’s been able to stop so many attacks and has been able to provide some offensive rebound.

Liam McBean

15 disposals, five marks, three tackles, one goal

Liam had a day where I guess he could have ended up with five goals pretty easily. He was working hard for most of the day. He provided an option for the guys going forward. To finish with 1.3 was a bit disappointing. He certainly showed some good signs.

Dan Butler

14 disposals, one goal, two tackles

I though Dan had another good game to go with his last three or four. He’s in a good patch at the moment. He’s working really hard. His game revolves around defence and pressure. Again, if he finished off his work, he could have had a really good game.

Corey Ellis

12 disposals, seven handball receives, three clearances

Was probably a little bit down on what we usually expect from him. He didn’t make many mistakes, as he doesn’t often do, but he probably just didn’t have enough impact on the game. He played through mid and half-back.

Ivan Maric

37 hit-outs, 12 disposals, four marks

I thought Ivan Maric played his best game for the season in our VFL team. I thought the dominance he was able to have in the ruck was noticeable and gave our mids first-use all day.

Callum Moore

10 disposals, five marks, four tackles

Was really solid all day — provided an option. He shows lots of athletic prowess. He played mostly forward, and was down back for a little bit and is showing some good signs and improving each week.

Mabior Chol

Eight disposals, two marks, three tackles

“Marbs” had his best game for a while I thought. He just shows some signs that he’s above VFL level. For “Marbs”, it’s just about consistency over four quarters, but shows some really exciting signs.

Todd Elton

Two goals, eight disposals, five marks, four tackles

I thought “Toddy” Elton provided a great contest all day. Probably didn’t have as bigger impact as he’s had in previous weeks, but I don’t think he got beaten in any contest and certainly played like a big man.

Ivan Soldo

21 hit-outs, six disposals, three clearances, two tackles

I thought Ivan Soldo was again very good in the ruck chopping out Ivan Maric. I thought between the two of them we were able to get some real ascendancy in the hit-outs and around the clearances.

VFL-listed

Sam Darley

26 disposals, 12 handball receives, three tackles

Was really good in the backline all day. He’s just a really consistent for us — kicks the ball really well and is setting up the rest of our defenders well.

Jacob Ballard

20 disposals, 14 contested possessions, five clearances, three tackles

Played half forward and half midfield, with the amount of mids we had in the side. We really like him when he plays deep forward — he looks really dangerous. He had a good impact on the game.

Tom Silvestro

20 disposals, six clearances, 10 contested possessions

Was our workhorse again. Just running up and down the wing all day. Played a little bit at half-forward as well. He had a good impact when he came into the midfield and had six clearances. A really solid performer for us.

Dan Coffield

14 disposals, three marks, two tackles

“Coff” is a really consistent player down back. Probably similar to “Broady” — he stifles a lot of opposition entries, wins the ball back well and uses it really calmly. He’s going well.

Jack Holden

13 disposals, two clearances, two tackles

In his first game, I thought he held his own really well. Played mainly wing and half-forward. He had some nice touches and I thought he fitted into VFL level quite nicely.

Ryan Gale

12 disposals, five marks, seven uncontested possessions

I thought our tall-backs were really solid all day. They did their job defending their (Geelong’s) talls. He’s the elder statesman down there and he organises our younger defenders. So he’s doing a good job.

Jake Aarts

Two goals, 11 disposals, six marks

Is travelling really nicely at the moment. He’s playing at half-forward and his game again revolves around pressure and workrate and he’s getting lots of shots on goal.

Nick Mellington

Six disposals, one tackle

“Mello” got injured early. He got a poke in the eye from big Ivan Maric, but he started well.

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2016-08-16/the-vfl-report-round-19

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Thanks OE.

VFL side finally starting to look like a football team.

[one-eyed]

Finals?

Unlikely, torch.

We're a game behind 8th placed Essendon who play two of the bottom 3 sides in the last two rounds. We needed them to lose over the weekend but they had an upset win over Williamstown.

[Francois Jackson]

Thanks OE.

VFL side finally starting to look like a football team.

please.

talk to me when they actually win something, like say a final.

whole club is rubbish bar a few kids and reserves are no exception.

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Thanks OE.

VFL side finally starting to look like a football team.

please.

talk to me when they actually win something, like say a final.

whole club is rubbish bar a few kids and reserves are no exception.

I said STARTING to look like a football team, not that they are an elite team.

I think McRae is doing a great job. Think about where we were starting out as a VFL side and how the team is gelling now. It's chalk and cheese.

Still a long way to go, I know, but the signs are that we are heading in the right direction. The guys look like they're enjoying their football finally and that is a huge part of building a winning culture.

[Diocletian]

Will be sacked - doesn't follow Halfstep's instructions and have them playing "The Richmond Way"....