Snap judgment: Kennedy denies Tigers in Perth with last-gasp goalAnthony Colangelo
The Age
June 13, 2021 — 10.37pmA Josh Kennedy set-shot snap from near the boundary, 40 metres from goal, has helped West Coast pull off one of the club’s biggest wins in recent memory, reeling in a 22-point final quarter deficit to beat Richmond in Perth.
The 33-year-old Kennedy sprawled forward to mark a low, spearing pass from Liam Ryan in the dying stages at Optus Stadium.
“I didn’t want to go for the snap and the siren goes, ’cause that would have been pretty bad,” Kennedy told Fox Sports afterwards. But when he was told there was a minute left on the clock, Kennedy opened up the angle and launched the long snap to kick his fourth goal put the Eagles ahead. They held onto the four-point lead.
“I thought it was going to hit the post at one stage but she floated through,” he said.
Richmond went ahead by 22 points midway through the final term when star Shai Bolton kicked a goal, but the Eagles finished the quarter as they started it; with all the momentum and the ability to lock Richmond into their back half.
The comeback began with a lovely set shot goal to Jake Waterman from 50 metres out, and then the margin was cut again by Jamie Cripps with a set shot.
Another set shot from Oscar Allen made the margin two points and then Kennedy marked, off a Ryan pass that didn’t look 15 metres, and converted. “I can’t fix that, mate,” coach Damien Hardwick said of the distance travelled. “He’s a great player Josh Kennedy and he kicked a remarkable goal.”
Allen and Nic Naitanui had missed other easy set shots in that run which could have cost the Eagles, but luckily Kennedy, always accurate, kicked the goal.
The win meant the Eagles stayed ahead of Richmond on the ladder. The Tigers would have leapfrogged them if they had lost.
Kane Lambert, in his first game back from injury since round six, was exceptional. So often he goes under the radar as an important player for Richmond, but on this night his excellence upon return made it hard for anyone to overlook what he had contributed.
But it wasn’t enough. Dom Sheed, Jack Redden, Naitanui and Luke Edwards were superb for West Coast.
Richmond entered deep in their forward 50 with less than 30 seconds left but a composed mark to Shannon Hurn ensured the win for West Coast.
Richmond remain entertainersThere was a five to 10 minute period through the second term where Richmond kicked four goals on the trot to go from trailing by nine points to leading by 15.
Dustin Martin cut the lead to three points when he read a West Coast ruck tap and snapped from the pocket. The fourth goal in the run was the most extraordinary, more for the marking contest that led to the shot than the shot itself.
Bolton jumped so high to mark he needed a parachute. He couldn’t grab it but Lambert crumbed and goaled.
Overall, Richmond made their messy, scrappy, forward-at-all-costs game look as electrifying as it had all season because of its irrepressible rush, and the coordination with which they commited to it.
What came after was interesting too. The Eagles kicked a goal through Jamaine Jones to cut the margin to nine points, and then Richmond controlled the ball a little.
They used chip kicks and uncontested marks to hang onto possession which is, frankly, unusual in the context of Richmond’s domination since 2017.
Nic Nat’s goal of the year?He’s won the mark of the year (2015), but Naitanui put in a strong entry for goal of the year in the first quarter when he kicked West Coast’s first.
Mabior Chol lost Naitanui behind the contest, and Eagles’ athletic ruckman roved the ball off a pack with expert timing.
He turned toward the boundary and from the right pocket on his right foot – the hardest angle of all – he snapped through the big sticks with Dylan Grimes breathing down his neck.
Big guy, big degree of difficulty, big goal.
-----------------
WEST COAST 3.0 7.1 8.3 13.7 (85)
RICHMOND 2.2 7.5 9.9 12.9 (81)
GOALS
West Coast: Kennedy 4, Cripps 2, Allen 2, Waterman 2, Jones, Ryan, Naitanui.
Richmond: Coleman-Jones 2, Martin 2, Riewoldt 2, Lambert 2, Castagna, Aarts, Bolton, Graham.
BEST
West Coast: Kennedy, Redden, Sheed, Edwards, Naitanui, Hurn.
Richmond: Lambert, Houli, Martin, Bolton, Broad, Vlastuin, Riewoldt, Short.
CROWD
50,834 at Optus Stadium.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/snap-judgment-kennedy-denies-tigers-in-perth-with-last-gasp-goal-20210613-p580my.html
