Richmond dominating the end gameBy Martin Blake
The Age
8 May 2018 — 4:08pmRichmond may not be unbeatable, as Adelaide proved in round two. But the Tigers appear to be better than 2017, which is a scary thought for their opposition, by consensus.
The trick to beating them? Make sure you stay close to the mark or ahead, as Adelaide did at home a few weeks ago. Because Richmond are showing a remarkable ability to absorb punishment and then blow their opposition away late.
They are tracking as a three-goal better team than their opposition in 2018, which is quite something. Champion Data has them as a 17-point better last-quarter team across the first seven rounds, and also the best team in the competition in just about every key statistic in last quarters.
The trend began in round one when they trailed Carlton into the last change, then booted six last-quarter goals to win comfortably. It has happened again in their past three matches: against Brisbane Lions, Richmond kicked away with five goals in the last, against Melbourne, it was a seven-goal last quarter, against Collingwood and Fremantle in the past two rounds the Tigers have piled on eight-goal quarters.
The Dockers were within 26 points at three-quarter-time but lost by 77.
Richmond have won five of their seven last quarters this season, the equal-best record in the competition along with West Coast, Adelaide, Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney. The Tigers' two fourth-quarter defeats were against Adelaide, when they struggled throughout, and Hawthorn in round three, a game they won anyway.
It is good news for Richmond's physical performance manager, Peter Burge, a former Olympic long jumper and triple jumper whose high point was a gold medal in the long jump at the 1988 Commonwealth Games.
Burge spent time at St Kilda and six years at Hawthorn before joining Richmond. He has Rob Inness (as rehabilitation and conditioning coach) and Luke Meehan (strength and conditioning) working with him at Punt Road.
Richmond's last-quarter proficiency is helping the Tigers to a dominant position in 2018. They are the highest-scoring team in the competition at 15.1 goals a game, a place that they were nowhere near in 2017. Back then they were managing just 13 goals a game in the home-and-away matches, ranked eighth in the competition.
They reached 100 points only eight times last season, and two of those were in the finals. This season, they have hit the century six times already, as many times as they did in the whole home-and-away season in 2017.
Richmond are No. 1 in the competition for scoring and No. 18 in points-against, an all-round domination that is uncommon in the AFL. Hawthorn (in 2015), Collingwood (2011), Geelong (2007-2008-2009) and Essendon (2000) are examples of this happening across the home-and-away games. The Tigers were the third-best defensive team last year and eighth in scoring during the regular season.
This is usually the province of the most brilliant teams. Of those mentioned, all won premierships in that particular season, with the exception of Collingwood in 2011, when the Magpies lost just three games for the season but were upset by Geelong in the grand final.
Teams who win the premiership have been known to fall away quickly the next season, with the Western Bulldogs last year being a prime example. But Richmond are tracking closer to Collingwood's 2011 team, which followed their 2010 flag under Mick Malthouse by winning 20 of their next 21 games.
Plainly, the Tigers have gone to another level. The challenge for the others is to keep up.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-dominating-the-end-game-20180508-p4ze08.html
