Media articles & stats: Dees lift to sink plucky Tigers

[one-eyed]

Young forward fires late as Dees lift to sink plucky Tigers

By Callum Twomey
afl.com.au
24 April 2023

MELBOURNE    2.2   6.2    10.5   15.6 (96)
RICHMOND      5.2   8.4    10.7   11.12 (78)

GOALS
Melbourne: Chandler 3, van Rooyen 3, Fritsch, Jordon, Langdon, Neal-Bullen, Oliver, Petty, Pickett, Viney, Gawn
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Cumberland 3, Hopper, Mansell, Martin, Ryan

BEST
Melbourne: Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Gawn, Lever, Sparrow
Richmond: Short, Riewoldt, Taranto, Martin, Hopper

INJURIES
Melbourne: Nil
Richmond: M.Rioli (hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Melbourne: Bailey Laurie (replaced Trent Rivers in the fourth quarter)
Richmond: Hugo Ralphsmith (replaced Ben Miller in the fourth quarter)

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THE SENSE of urgency registered with Melbourne.

Trailing by two goals late in the third quarter against Richmond in Monday night's annual Anzac Day eve clash, the Demons had to make their move.

Seven unanswered goals later and Melbourne had locked away its fourth win of 2023, a hard-fought, at times scratchy and at times pulsating 18-point victory at a packed MCG.

The Demons' usual faces all lifted to the occasion, with hardened midfielder Jack Viney consistent throughout to claim best afield honours, midfield duo Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver stepping up and taking control, Jake Lever dominant in the air and ruck pair Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy having a big say on proceedings.

The 15.6 (96) to 11.12 (78) victory also included a brilliant three-goal final quarter from youngster Jacob van Rooyen, the young Demon taking his moment when it mattered.

The boo was replaced by the 'Roo', with the cheers for the second-year Demon reverberating around the ground in Melbourne's biggest home game of the season.

Richmond came with a plan and executed perfectly in the opening quarter. The Tigers took an 18-point advantage into the second term, with Noah Cumberland's three first-quarter goals lighting the fuse for the yellow and black.

Without spearhead Tom Lynch in attack, the Tigers were careful not to bang the ball in long for Steven May and Lever to cut off and intercept. Instead they went low, causing havoc in Melbourne's back half as Cumberland's speed caught them off guard.

Richmond was dangerous at ground level, swooping on loose balls and following up, with Rhyan Mansell's last-minute snap symbolic of a term where the Tigers' hunt had overwhelmed the Demons.

Richmond jumped to a 25-point lead midway through the second quarter on the back of Jack Riewoldt's pair of goals, but late goals to Bayley Fritsch and Ed Langdon cut the Demons' deficit back to 14 points at half-time.

Jayden Short's influence continued to be significant, with his penetrating kicking and speed breaking the lines, but Melbourne had started to get some points back in the midfield battle deep in the half to shift the momentum.

They carried that into a lively third term, with Kade Chandler's two-goal effort lifting them, but Riewoldt responding with his own two goals. As the game lifted in intensity, so did both teams, who drew on their big-game experience – between them they have won four of the past six premierships – to match each other's blows.

After a manic last minute of the term that included a rough slide tackle, some tough tackling and tight non-umpiring calls, Oliver's set shot after the three-quarter time siren just sailed over the line to bring the Demons back to within two points at the final change.

The Tigers couldn't control the Dees' run from then, with van Rooyen crucial as the Dees jumped to 4-2 to start 2023.

Young Dee grabs his moment
It had been a quiet night for Melbourne's new fan favourite Jacob van Rooyen until his moment came in the last quarter. As Melbourne got its run on, van Rooyen joined in on the action, taking a big flying mark over Tigers backman Noah Balta in the early stages of the term. With the perfect sit, van Rooyen took his chance and then coolly kicked the goal. Moments later he won a free kick from the same forward flank but his kick that time faded right for a behind, before he then took another mark a minute later. The purple patch was confirmed when he kicked his second and then third goals later in the term in an important cameo.

Rucks have their say
The return of Max Gawn to lead Melbourne's ruck division alongside Brodie Grundy was expected to give the Demons a clear advantage in the ruck and midfield battle against Richmond, who are missing Toby Nankervis and Ivan Soldo due to injury. It saw Ben Miller thrown into the starting ruck and big forward Samson Ryan also pinch-hit, with the pair combining for 21 career games against 'Gawndy's' 367 AFL matches. The Tigers duo battled manfully, with Ryan also hitting the scoreboard, but Gawn's impact was significant in the second half, with the captain having 17 disposals, a goal and taking eight marks.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/911774/young-forward-fires-late-as-dees-lift-to-sink-plucky-tigers

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‘We were about to sub him out’: Burst from Demons cult hero turns game

Peter Ryan
The Age
April 24, 2023 — 10.21pm

Match-winning Melbourne forward Jacob van Rooyen was just moments from being subbed out of the game before he went on a rampage, kicking three final-quarter goals to give the Demons a hard-fought win over Richmond.

Demons coach Simon Goodwin revealed after the game that he changed his mind only when van Rooyen took a huge mark early in the final term after being virtually unsighted for the first three quarters. The 20-year-old went back and slotted the goal to push the Demons lead beyond a goal.

With his confidence back he had three more set shots for goal to finish the match with 3.1 in front of 83,985 spectators at the MCG.

“We speak about it a lot, being able to stay in the now and stay present in the game, and you would say at three-quarter time he certainly wasn’t having his best night. At one stage we were thinking about subbing him. Thank God we didn’t do that and he managed to turn it around,” Goodwin admitted.

“He had a really good last quarter ... he was pretty much coming off at his next rotation and we were about to sub him out, and he took a couple of clunks and we said ‘keep going son, you’re away now’.”

His purple patch came midway through the Demons’ fightback as they slammed on seven unanswered goals from midway through the third quarter to record a come from behind win over a desperate but wasteful Richmond in a pulsating Anzac Eve clash.

But they had to work hard to overcome an excellent Richmond plan.

Richmond threw more punches in the first half than they had thrown in the previous three rounds as they looked to find some rhythm in their stuttering season. But they could not keep it up with Christian Petracca and Jack Viney instrumental in turning the tide the Demons’ way.

Richmond’s big recruits Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper made an impression in the first half as the Tigers dominated clearances until midway through the second quarter.

That gave Richmond early territory with Noah Cumberland making the most of his chances in the first quarter, kicking three goals to set the Tigers on their way. Two of his three were snaps executed in identical fashion as he took a lateral step before snapping on his left foot. However Michael Hibberd moved on to him at quarter-time and shut him down.

With ascendancy in the centre, the Tigers were able to implement their plan to fire the ball in low and hard inside 50 from all angles.

The approach was worrying Melbourne, with Jack Riewoldt on the end of several passes. Unfortunately, from the Tigers’ perspective, the straight shooter could only kick 2.2 from four shots.

They shot to a four-goal lead and the Demons were staring down consecutive defeats.

But with no time to waste the Demons lifted. Inspired by their vice captain Jack Viney, they began to shift the game’s momentum, winning territory and creating goal scoring opportunities and drew within striking distance at half-time.

The third quarter was end-to-end football, with the game played with both teams keeping the accelerator to the floor. It did not help either side to hit targets as they turned the ball over repeatedly but gradually the Demons chipped away at the margin with Riewoldt’s two goals allowing the Tigers to keep their noses in front.

But they were losing their handle on the game, as Hibberd shut down Cumberland, and the Tigers squandered chances late in the third quarter with Samson Ryan and Maurice Rioli jnr missing set shots only to watch Clayton Oliver kick a goal after the siren to bring the final break’s margin back to two points.

Kade Chandler kicked two important goals in the third quarter and ensured the Demons hit the lead early in the final term when he picked up a loose ball in the goal square and kicked a goal.

When van Rooyen took a screamer moments later and converted the goal the momentum was with Melbourne. He immediately followed up with a second goal to break Richmond’s hearts and stamp himself on the competition with the Demons’ season in good shape while the Tigers are well off the pace.

Melbourne: 2.2 6.2 10.5 15.6 (96)
Richmond: 5.2 8.4 10.7 11.12 (78)

GOALS
Melbourne: Chandler 3, van Rooyen 3, Neal-Bullen, Viney, Pickett, Fritsch, Petty, Langdon, Jordon, Oliver, Gawn.
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Cumberland 3, Hopper, Mansell, Ryan, Martin.

BEST
Melbourne: Petracca, Hibberd, Viney, Gawn, Langdon, Neale-Bullen, Grundy.
Richmond: Short, Hopper, Riewoldt, Daniel Rioli, Balta.

VOTES
Christian Petracca (Melbourne) 8
Jayden Short (Richmond) 8
Michael Hibberd (Melbourne) 8
Jack Viney (Melbourne) 7
Max Gawn (Melbourne) 7

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/melbourne-storm-over-the-top-of-gallant-richmond-20230424-p5d2vr.html

[one-eyed]

Tigers blow lead as breakout Dee sparks comeback triumph

Ed Bourke
HeraldSun
25 April 2023

Melbourne has landed a massive blow to Richmond’s finals hopes, coming from behind to snatch an 18-point win over the spirited Tigers in front of a bumper Anzac Day Eve crowd.

Precocious talent Jacob van Rooyen announced himself on the big stage with a stunning three-goal final term including a soaring pack mark, while returning captain Max Gawn made a rusty start but dealt the hammer blow with a deft tap-in goal to put the result beyond doubt.

Efficient ball use going inside 50 and relentless pressure helped Richmond open up a 25-point lead midway through the third term, but the Demons’ forward half finally began to click after the main break, as Christian Petracca exploded with 14 second-half disposals and Kade Chandler booted three goals.

The Demons moved the ball fluently and their handball game was slick, but were far from their best going inside 50 during the first three quarters, while Richmond were more ruthless going the other way.

Jayden Short showed his importance to the Tigers’ outfit on his return with 30 disposals and a game-high 644m gained, while a resurgent Jack Riewoldt fought brilliantly against the Demons’ defence with a second consecutive four-goal haul.

The crowd of 83,985 was the second largest of the seven Anzac Day Eve clashes, just shading the 85,657 who attended in 2017.

Maurice Rioli Jr limped off late in the final quarter with what appeared to be a hamstring injury in a further injury worry for the Tigers.

NOAH’S DUSTY FIRST QUARTER

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick explained Noah Cumberland’s surprise omission from the side at the beginning of the season as due to the presence of Dustin Martin, raising some eyebrows as he raised on-field similarities between the then nine-gamer and the three-time Norm Smith medallist.

Hardwick was proven right after Cumberland played the first quarter against the Demons like he was Martin’s mirror twin.

The 22-year-old bulldozed his way past three Demons to snap the Tigers’ first goal off his left boot and was a dangerous threat in the air and on the ground, eventually forcing Melbourne to swap Martin’s direct opponent Michael Hibberd onto him after a dominant three-goal opening term.

TWIN TOWERS NEED TIME

Melbourne was unsurprisingly unable to get the best from its All-Australian ruck combination, playing their first game together in a month.

Perhaps out of a need to manage captain Max Gawn’s minutes, the Demons appeared reluctant to use the pair up forward, keeping Brodie Grundy confined to the bench for 17 minutes in the first quarter.

The duo were solid without fully capitalising on Richmond’s inexperience in the ruck, but Gawn clunked three marks in the first few minutes after halftime in a sign he had found some rhythm.

JACK’S RARE MILESTONE

Jack Riewoldt’s second goal for the night was the 400th of his career on the MCG, with the 34-year-old joining his former teammate Matthew Richardson (464) and Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd (461) in an elite club.

Riewoldt needed to lift from his quiet start to the season with Tom Lynch sidelined, and apart from some first half yips in front of goal the Tigers veteran could not be faulted.

He followed his four-goal haul under duress against the Swans with another 4.2 and seven score involvements, expertly handling Steven May and Jake Lever by working up the ground into space where the Demons’ intercepting duo were not willing to go.

Missing their chance

Bad kicking is bad football.

Hardwick didn’t mince words when pointing the finger at his side’s goalkicking as the reason for the 18-point loss.

They wasted too many opportunities to have significant scoreboard pressure on the game which allowed Brodie Grundy and others to lift in the final term to get the Demons home.

Richmond kicked 6.9 goals from set shots compared to 9.5 goals by Melbourne.

In the last quarter Ben Miller, Sampson Ryan and Liam Baker all missed gettable set shots while even the normally reliable Dustin Martin was on the wrong side of the ledger, finishing with 1.3 goals.

SCOREBOARD

DEMONS 2.2, 6.2, 10.5, 15.6 (96)

TIGERS 5.2, 8.4, 10.6, 11.12 (78)

BOURKE’S BEST
Demons: Petracca, Viney, Hibberd, Jordon, Brayshaw, Oliver.
Tigers: Taranto, Riewoldt, Short, D Rioli, Hopper, Bolton.

GOALS
Demons: Chandler 3, van Rooyen 3, Neal-Bullen, Viney, Pickett, Fritsch, Petty, Langdon, Jordon, Oliver, Gawn.
Tigers: Riewoldt 4, Cumberland 3, Hopper, Mansell, Ryan, Martin.

UMPIRES Broadbent, Deboy, O’Gorman, Rosebury.

INJURIES
Demons: none.
Tigers: M Rioli (hamstring).

CROWD 83,985 at the MCG

BOURKE’S VOTES

3. C. Petracca (Melb)

1. J. Viney (Melb)

1 T. Taranto (Rich)

https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/afl-round-6-2023-jacob-hopper-says-the-tigers-will-relish-the-chance-to-correct-their-form-against-melbourne/news-story/cbb9ba551f421c2e9c1bde726d75a63e