FORGET INJURIES, REAL REASON TIGERS HAVE LOST THEIR BITEBy Gilbert Gardiner
Herald-Sun
13 June 2019Pace and pressure.
Once the blueprint for Richmond success, turning forward half pressure into scoreboard impact, has turned into an unsightly blight.
A Champion Data deep dive, ahead of tonight’s crunch clash with Adelaide, only confirms the once-vaunted mosquito fleet at Punt Road is history, having lost both its buzz and bite.
Daniel Rioli, Jason Castagna, Dan Butler and Jack Higgins have dipped markedly, going from football’s Venus flytraps to Mortein’s loveable rogue, Louie The Fly.
The dip in forward-half pressure, in turn, has made a depleted Richmond vulnerable to being scored on, both quickly and often.
North Melbourne booted 10 goals to one in 41 minutes a fortnight ago, then Geelong, the best forward-half pressure team, piled on 11 unanswered goals to blast the Tigers last week.
After skating through the 2017-18 campaigns — with little more than a hang nail — the injury crisis at Punt Road only paints over a glaring reason for the Tigers’ slump.
Discipline — or, lack thereof, maybe?
“It takes great discipline to play defence, but that’s what we’re doing,” Hardwick said in Yellow and Black, a behind-the-scenes recount of the club’s 2017 premiership.
“If our stalking mentality is there, that’s when we play our very best footy.”
The recipe for success, previously at Tigerland, was wholly and solely built on pressure.
It didn’t matter who pulled on the famous yellow-and-black strip, either, as Hardwick not only expected but demanded a level of pressure.
But Richmond has slipped from first, in both forward-half turnovers and points from forward-half turnovers, last year to mid-table (8th and 7th respectively) after 12 games.
Rioli, who was dropped earlier in the season, is the worst offender, slipping on several fronts, including goals and score involvements.
His forward-half pressure points have also plummeted from 29.8 last year to 21.3 in nine games.
Only Butler, recalled from the VFL a fortnight ago, in place of Rioli, ahead of the loss to North, has recorded a spike in pressure points, off a sample of just five senior games.
Richmond will front up at the Adelaide Oval tonight missing eight of its top-13 finishers in last year’s best-and-fairest count, including Jack Dyer medallist Jack Riewoldt and runner-up Kane Lambert.
After losing premiership pillars Alex Rance and Toby Nankervis in quick succession, earlier in the season, the Tigers’ depth — but also resilience — is now being questioned.
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