Media articles & stats: Tigers back inside top four after scrappy win over Blues

[one-eyed]

Tigers back inside top four after scrappy win over Blues

AFL.com.au
Sarah Black
Aug 11, 2019 6:14PM

RICHMOND    3.2       6.4       8.6       11.7 (73)
CARLTON        0.2       1.6       4.6       6.9 (45)

GOALS
Richmond: Graham 4, Lynch 2, Riewoldt 2, Edwards, Caddy, Castagna
Carlton: McGovern 2, Kreuzer, Murphy, Casboult, Gibbons

BEST
Richmond: Prestia, Edwards, Vlastuin, Lambert, Graham
Carlton: Cripps, Simpson, Thomas, Petrevski-Seton, Silvagni

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Carlton: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Deboy, Whetton, Findlay

Official crowd: 51,039 at the MCG

-------------------------------------------------------------

IN A WEIRD round of football, there is something to be said for a conventional 28-point win.

We've seen snow, two record low scores, a handful of goalless quarters and a 21-consecutive goal run, but two traditional rivals played a typically soggy winter game at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

Richmond, recording its seventh consecutive win, was just a little bit too good for an outclassed Carlton, winning 11.7 (73) to 6.9 (45).

Intermittently heavy rain sent poncho-clad fans scattering throughout the game, with Carlton's decision to play three tall forwards in Harry McKay, Mitch McGovern and Levi Casboult an issue at ground level at times.

The Tigers don't play pretty football. It can be exhilarating, high-octane and at times, confusing and over-possessive, but it's not a classically beautiful game.

And initially, it didn't need to be. The Blues struggled to get run out of defence, constantly thwarted in the first half by the loose defender in their forward line, whether that be Nick Vlastuin, Bachar Houli or Dylan Grimes.

Vlastuin lived up to his nickname of "Tigger"; at one point almost literally bouncing out of defence, complete with a don't argue, change of angle and bounce of the ball, before finishing with a perfect pass to Sydney Stack.

Carlton seriously struggled in front of the big sticks in the first half.

In fact, the Blues' first goal eventually came in the 27th minute of the second term, when ruckman Matthew Kreuzer showed no signs of his two-week break for soreness, scooping up a poor Richmond kick off the deck and converting.

Without Dustin Martin (soreness) and Trent Cotchin (hamstring), milestone men Dion Prestia (150 games) and Shane Edwards (250) seemed to bring their own rain-resistant footballs, while unlikely scorer Jack Graham (14 tackles) booted four goals in the first half.

Nuggetty midfielder Prestia (35 disposals, 11 clearances) dominated the stoppages, while Edwards (27, nine tackles) floated between the middle and half-back.

Draftee Jack Ross' return to the AFL after close to a three-month layoff with an ankle injury was a tough battle, the midfielder (21 touches) playing a run-with role on Brownlow Medal fancy Patrick Cripps.

The Blue was typically dominant, recording 37 disposals (20 contested), while Sam Petrevski-Seton (18) and Kade Simpson (33 and nine rebound-50s) provided good run out of defence.

Carlton came out in the third term with a renewed endeavour to move the ball quickly, denying Richmond the opportunity to set up a loose man behind the ball.

Marc Murphy is no stranger to a curling goal from an MCG pocket in the wet, and after his shot was cleared by the goal-review system, duly saluted and rewarded his team's efforts.

With the margin at 24 points at three-quarter time, Carlton had three failed shots on goal to open the fourth quarter.

Jack Riewoldt settled the nerves with a classic pack mark and conversion in the pouring rain.

But a fierce McGovern tackle on David Astbury was rewarded with a free kick, and the resultant goal cut the margin to just 17 points with seven minutes left on the clock.

But the Tigers hung tough, with late goals to Josh Caddy and Jason Castagna taking the margin to 28 points and a 14th win for the season.


MEDICAL ROOM

Richmond: The Tigers seemed to get through unscathed.

Carlton: Aside from Mitch McGovern spending the opening eight minutes of the second half on the bench, it was a quiet day for the Blues.

NEXT UP
Carlton will face St Kilda in the early game on Saturday at the MCG, while Richmond will play reigning premiers West Coast for the first time this season at the same ground the following day.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-08-11/match-report-richmond-v-carlton

[one-eyed]

Tigers make it seven straight wins after downing brave Blues

Ronny Lerner
The Age
12 Aug 2019

Richmond’s bid for a double chance remains on course after they defeated a spirited Carlton outfit by 28 points at a wet and windy MCG on Sunday to re-enter the top four.

The Tigers were hardly troubled by the withdrawal of superstar Dustin Martin, and in soggy conditions they showed again how much they love the rain as they dominated the contest early with the first six goals.

The Blues got their act together at half-time and showed more resistance, but they never really threatened Richmond who ran out 11.7 (73) to 6.9 (45) victors.

Fittingly, it was Shane Edwards who set the tone in his 250th game, with 13 possessions (seven contested) in the opening quarter, finishing up with 30 (13), nine tackles and a goal.

But Jack Graham played a pivotal role in the result too, booting four consecutive goals in Richmond’s first-half burst, while Dion Prestia (35 touches) also helped ensure the Tigers’ seventh win in a row.

Richmond have now beaten Carlton nine times in a row for the first time ever, with the Blues’ last win against Richmond coming in the 2013 elimination final.

After a sluggish start to proceedings, thanks largely to the inclement weather, the Tigers found their rhythm quicker than the Blues and asserted their authority on the contest to open up a 35-point lead late in the second term.

Despite the wet conditions, Richmond were willing to switch the ball in defence rather than go down the line and generated plenty of run from their rotating seventh defender.

The Tigers’ preparedness to take the game on saw them run in waves going forward and it didn’t take long for the gulf in class between the two teams to become apparent, with Richmond’s disposal efficiency far superior than Carlton’s in the conditions.

Richmond always seemed to have numbers around the ball and their slick ball movement from defence to attack provided many scoring opportunities, as Carlton were made to pay for turning the ball over in their forward half.

It would have been demoralising for Carlton players to be met by a cluster of Richmond jumpers when on the odd occasion they burst clear towards their forward 50 in the first half.

The Blues had to wait until the 27-minute mark of the second quarter for their first major, courtesy of Matthew Kreuzer. But thanks to a spike in pressure, Carlton were able to deny Richmond their key weapon of uncontested marks and booted three of the next five goals to cut the deficit to 23 points late in the third period.

The dogged Blues began the final term full of beans, and set up goalscoring opportunities for Kreuzer, Marc Murphy, Mitch McGovern and Josh Deluca, but none of them were successful.

The heavy rain then returned and minutes later Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt took a spectacular pack mark before booting his second major to make Carlton pay for their wastefulness.

The Blues didn’t give up, though, and pushed the Tigers right until the siren but Richmond's dominant first half proved decisive in the end.

THE JACK GRAHAM SHOW
Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Graham must have thought ‘how easy is this’ as he banged home four goals in a row in the first half to quickly race to the personal best haul of his 35-game career.

The first two were particularly impressive – in the first instance he capped off a superb exhibition of Richmond end-to-end footy to drill it from 55 metres out with two seconds left in the opening term and in the second instance, he snapped truly with strength from 25 metres out while being tackled to the ground.


RICHMOND
3.2 6.4 8.6 11.7 (73)
CARLTON
0.2 1.6 4.6 6.9 (45)

GOALS - Richmond: Graham 4, Riewoldt 2, Lynch 2, Caddy, Castagna, Edwards.
Carlton: McGovern 2, Casboult, Gibbons, Kreuzer, Murphy.

BEST - Richmond: Graham, Edwards, Prestia, Astbury, Grimes, Ellis, Baker.
Carlton: Cripps, Murphy, E. Curnow, Jones, Simpson, Thomas.

UMPIRES: Findlay, Deboy, Whetton.
CROWD: 51,039 at the MCG.

VOTES
Jack Graham (Richmond) 9
Shane Edwards (Richmond) 8
Dion Prestia (Richmond) 8
Dylan Grimes (Richmond) 7
Patrick Cripps (Carlton) 7

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-make-it-seven-straight-wins-after-downing-brave-blues-20190811-p52g06.html

[one-eyed]

Things about to get better for red-hot Tigers

Jay Clark,
Herald Sun
12 Aug 2019

‘Clarko’ ripped off his shirt, and ‘Dimma’ took a punt.

For as much as we raved about Alastair Clarkson’s mind games before the Canberra snowstorm on Friday night, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick also deserves plaudits for timing his side’s premiership assault to perfection.

After bombing out in last year’s preliminary final, the Tigers are cherry-ripe to win another flag three weeks out from finals.

The Tigers ripped apart Carlton early in the rain to chalk up their seventh-straight win by 28 points over the Blues ahead of Sunday’s massive battle against reigning premier West Coast at the MCG.

Richmond’s pressure was back up around ballistic levels and the defence, in particular, showed it is up to the task this September without Alex Rance after another Nick Vlastuin, Dylan Grimes and David Astbury masterclass.

But the best bit might have been Hardwick’s big call to rest Dustin Martin.

Hardwick said the superstar midfielder pulled up a bit sore on Friday and instead of wheeling him out in the wet, the Tigers let him a freshen up ahead of crucial clashes against West Coast and Brisbane.

Without him, the Tigers pushed on brilliantly winning the centre clearances 13-4, and remain a chance to finish top-two if they win their last two matches.

In Martin’s absence, Dion Prestia and Shane Edwards took control of the engine room and hard nut Jack Graham had a day out in a forward role, slotting four-straight goals with some clever work inside 50m before the main change.

When you add in wrecking ball Sydney Stack, speedy half back Liam Baker, emerging big man Mabior Chol, livewire Shai Bolton and hard nut Jack Ross, their depth is extraordinary, igniting plenty of robust conversation about what their best 22 is in the weekly match committee meetings.

Ruckman Toby Nankervis also slotted back seamlessly into the senior side after a month in the twos.

So, even without Rance, you could make a strong argument that Richmond is as well-placed to win this year’s flag as they were last year, considering they have added ace spearhead Tom Lynch to help partner Jack Riewoldt deep forward.

There may have been some early rust for Lynch but he represents a formidable threat to West Coast, and Jeremy McGovern, as well as the rest of the finalists, from here.

LET THEM HAVE IT

We haven’t really seen the grumpy side of David Teague ... until Sunday.

The Carlton interim coach needs another scalp to bolster his case to win the senior coaching job but the interim boss was fuming at quarter time.

For good reason, too.

After saying last week the Blues needed to tidy up their ball use, the Blues butchered the footy early in wet conditions, continually feeding the open arms of the sweeping Richmond defensive unit.

By the second quarter Carlton’s kicking efficiency was an horrendous 34 per cent to Richmond’s 64 per cent as the maturity between the premiership favourite and the cellar-dweller showed up.

So Teague let the Blues have it with a decent spray in the opening two minutes of the quarter time huddle, rounding them up before the assistants got a chance to talk.

It was the way the Tigers then picked apart the Blues on the rebound that was the significant difference in this one.

To be fair, Carlton responded after the first change as Ed Curnow, Dale Thomas, Marc Murphy and Patrick Cripps all lifted in the engine room and Kade Simpson tried his heart out.

But the polish and smarts weren’t there, early, and it cost them.


RICHMOND 3.2 6.4 8.6 11.7 (73)
def
CARLTON    0.2 1.6 4.6 6.9 (45)

Goals:
Richmond: J Graham 4 J Riewoldt 2 T Lynch 2 J Caddy J Castagna S Edwards
Carlton: M McGovern 2 L Casboult M Gibbons M Kreuzer M Murphy

Best:
Richmond: Graham, Prestia, Edwards, Vlastuin, Grimes, Ellis, Lambert
Carlton: Cripps, Thomas, Murphy, Jones, Curnow, Simpson

Umpires: Robert Findlay, Curtis Deboy, Alex Whetton.

Official Crowd: 51,039 at MCG.

JAY CLARK’S VOTES:

3. Jack Graham (Rich)

2. Dion Prestia (Rich)

1. Shane Edwards (Rich)

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/no-dustin-martin-no-worries-as-richmond-shows-off-depth-ahead-of-another-premiership-assault/news-story/a19a7aa4ed6f7e4b1cea055e360eeab6

[Diocletian]

Hearing a lot about "Brave Blues" being "gallant in defeat".. nearly three quarters of our side played like busted arses ...Gold Coast probably would've given us a fright yesterday...

..and another fact to ruin the pro- Carlton "up and comers" narrative - our side yesterday was actually slightly younger than their's...

[Andyy]

Oh please, they were gifted a goal by Floss, elsewise went without a major for a whole half. Tiges just going for a run let's be honest.

[Francois Jackson]

Hearing a lot about "Brave Blues" being "gallant in defeat".. nearly three quarters of our side played like busted arses ...Gold Coast probably would've given us a fright yesterday...

..and another fact to ruin the pro- Carlton "up and comers" narrative - our side yesterday was actually slightly younger than their's...

stuff i hope saints beat them this week as we know the cats will the week after

Nice way to finish off the year #teaguetrain

give me a spell

what a bunch of losers