Jonathan Brown, On The Couch, Richmond heartbreak, GWS, AFL, Trent CotchinMay 22, 2017 11:59am
Tom Morris
FOX SPORTSDespite leading GWS by 25 points heading into the fourth term on Saturday evening, the Tigers succumbed in the dying stages to lose their fourth game in a row.
And not unlike their Round 8 loss to Fremantle, Brown believes their leaders are largely to blame.
“When you can’t execute setups late in games, it’s usually a sign that the leadership is letting you down,” Brown told Foxfooty.com.au ahead of On The Couch on Monday night.
“So it’s a lack of leadership or strong voice interaction.”
But rather than single out captain Trent Cotchin, Brown stressed the onus is on as many as ‘8-10’ players to show leadership in high pressure situations.
“When I say leadership, that comes from eight to 10 players,” he said.
“That comes from your senior group. It’s not just your captain or vice-captain, it’s your senior core that has to get that done out on the field to set up the guys in the right position.
“You need to know what needs to happen in certain scenarios.”
When debutant Shai Bolton thought he had kicked the winner for Richmond, GWS — led by Heath Shaw — were already setting up for the kick-in knowing that Harry Perryman had touched it.
The video review confirmed GWS’ appeal and Brown suggested the Tigers were too slow to react.
“The Richmond players were a little bit tardy to get back from the centre square where they were setting up for a centre bounce back into their forwardline to make it more difficult for GWS to kick out,” Brown said.
“Too many Richmond forwards were guarding space. You knew the only option for GWS was to go long and down the middle. Nathan Wilson did that and Richmond had no protection out the back.”
Richmond’s 10 most experienced players v GWS:Jack Riewoldt — 211 games
Shane Edwards — 191 games
Trent Cotchin — 182 games
Shaun Grigg — 176 games
Dustin Martin — 162 games
Alex Rance — 159 games
Bachar Houli — 158 games
Brandon Ellis — 119 games
Dion Prestia — 102 games
Dylan Grimes — 88 games
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/on-the-couch-brisbane-great-jonathan-brown-lashes-richmonds-leaders-following-gws-defeat/news-story/23472230536d01862b646965a0e3787a
