Positive: Changing things on the runAfter a very poor start, Richmond was able to change things around mid-game which led to a 53-point turnaround.
Damien Hardwick shifted Shane Edwards and Liam Baker across half-forward after the main break to negate the way North Melbourne’s half-backs were dominating play after a substandard two-goal first half.
Aside from personnel movement, the Tigers also shifted their game plan after allowing the Kangaroos 72 uncontested marks by half-time. That was reduced to just 30 in the second half with the Tigers nicking David Noble’s game plan halfway through, taking 66 marks without pressure across quarters three and four.
The reigning premiers also ramped up the pressure and got their scores from turnover game back up, breathing life into their season in the process.
For the Tigers faithful it was also brilliant to see Maurice Rioli Jnr do some nice things on debut while Thomson Dow, who was a late in for Kamdyn McIntosh, produced a quality performance in game five with 22 disposals.
Negative: Horrendous start, inability in the middleAs mentioned above, the Tigers started poorly.
North were at times toying with them in the first quarter before taking a 20-point lead into the main break. That could have been more if the Kangas made the most of all their chances.
What was more worrying early was Richmond’s inability to win a centre clearance. At one point, North led 8-0 in centre clearances, before the Tigers went some way to bridging the discrepancy by winning 7-6 in the second half.
If they want to beat the Giants this weekend or even qualify for finals, they’ll want to fix up that side of their game.
- Andrew Slevisonhttps://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/08/10/one-positive-and-one-negative-from-your-clubs-round-21-performance/
