Media articles and stats: Richmond storms home over the Crows

[one-eyed]

Richmond storms home over Crows
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen
3:45 PM Sun 01 August, 2010

A CRACKING second half has seen Richmond has all but snuff out a woefully inaccurate Adelaide's finals chances with a fighting 20-point win that finished in hail at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

The Crows are now two games and significant percentage outside the eight with just four games remaining, and they have a tough run home on the back of the 15.10 (100) to 11.14 (80) loss.

The first term was a turnover-fest, with both sides struggling in the slippery and gusty conditions, and in the second the Crows blew the opportunity to put the game away when they kicked 4.9 with the last 13 scoring shots of the term to lead by just three goals after going inside 50 16 times compared to the Tigers seven.

The third saw a much better effort from the Tigers as they outscored the visitors six goals to two - including debutant Robbie Hicks’ first AFL goal to take a single-goal lead in to the last on the back of a Luke McGuane major.

The Tigers got the first two goals of the term to get the lead out to 18 points, but Kurt Tippett’s first of the afternoon got one back before the hail arrived and turned the ground white, and the Tigers ran the game out with two of the last three goals.

The Tigers were brilliantly led by veteran midfielder Ben Cousins, who played his best game for the club, while a host of midfielders in Jeromey Webberley, Shane Tuck despite numerous turnovers, Shane Edwards, Dustin Martin and Daniel Jackson, while Brett Deledio and Chris Newman were as good as ever across half-back.

Next week, the Tigers face the surging Melbourne, while the Crows have the Western Bulldogs at AAMI Stadium.

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

Richmond  4.4   5.4   11.7     15.10  (100)
Adelaide   3.2   7.11   9.13   11.14  (80)

GOALS
Richmond: King 2, Riewoldt 2, Tuck, Webberley, White, Martin, Morton, Browne, Cousins, Hicks, Jackson, McGuane, Newman.
Adelaide: Douglas 2, Sloane, Dangerfield, Griffin, Vince, Walker, Reilly, Porplyzia, Thompson, Vince.

BEST
Richmond: Tuck, Cousins, Edwards, Connors, Jackson, Deledio, Newman.
Adelaide: Thompson, Symes, Mackay, Vince, Stevens, Doughty, Rutten.

INJURIES
Richmond: Andrew Collins (corked thigh) replaced in selected side by Robbie Hicks
Adelaide: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: McBurney, Kamolins, Jennings

Official crowd: 19,181 at MCG

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/99427/default.aspx

[one-eyed]

Tigers put nail in Crows' coffin

    * AAP
    * From: Herald Sun
    * August 01, 2010 4:45PM


RICHMOND has put an end to Adelaide's finals hopes with a stunning 20-point win at the MCG.

Richmond notched their sixth win in nine games with a comeback 15.10 (100) to 11.14 (80) victory.

Remarkably, the Tigers have now beaten every non-Victorian club this season, but are yet to defeat a team from their own state.

The Crows led by 19 points at halftime, but Richmond showed plenty of spirit to outscore them 10.6 to 4.3 in the second half.

Adelaide was as much at fault for their own demise, with some woeful kicking for goal costing them badly, particularly when they controlled the match in the second quarter.

Richmond led by eight points at the first change and went 14 points clear when Mitch Morton goaled 40 seconds into the second term.

But the Crows kicked 4.9 to nothing for the rest of the quarter to build a 19-point halftime lead.

The Crows' misses in the first half included a running shot from Patrick Dangerfield which sailed out on the full, with the youngster also missing from a set shot.

Ricky Henderson completely missed the ball with an attempt to soccer through from the goal-line in the first term, while ruckman Jonathon Griffin twice missed with snaps from the top of the goalsquare in the first half.

The Crows were made to pay for their continued wastefulness, as Richmond surged into the lead in the third quarter.

After Richmond closed to within 13 points with the opening goal of the term, Dangerfield botched another simple chance, before the Tigers swept forward to goal again and close the gap to seven.

Tigers star Ben Cousins narrowed it to a single point with a classy running goal, after a clever tap-on from Jack Riewoldt, before Adelaide's Jason Porplyzia sprayed a 40m set shot out of bounds.

He and Dangerfield finally found the target either side of a snapped major to Richmond first-gamer Robert Hicks, but late goals to Jeromey Webberley and Luke McGuane put Richmond up by six points at the last change.

The momentum continued early in the final quarter, with a roving goal to Matthew White and a contested mark and goal to ruckman Andrew Browne stretching the margin to 18 points.

With the Tigers on top, and heavy rain and hail pouring down midway through the term, the Crows never looked like coming back.

Rebounding defenders Brett Deledio, Chris Newman and Daniel Connors were all good for the Tigers, along with midfielders Shane Tuck, Ben Cousins, Shane Edwards and Dustin Martin.

Scott Thompson and Brad Symes were good in the midfield for the Crows, while Ben Rutten performed strongly on Tigers star forward Jack Riewoldt.


Best:
Richmond: B Cousins, D Martin, B Deledio, S Tuck, D Connors, S Edwards, C Newman.
Adelaide: B Rutten, M Doughty, R Douglas, B Symes, S Stevens.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-lead-crows-at-quarter-time-at-mcg/story-e6frf9jf-1225899635587

[one-eyed]

Team Stats

Disposals            365 - 372   
Efficiency%           75 - 73
Kicks                  184 - 209
Handballs            181 - 163
Con. marks             6 - 12
Uncon. marks        59 - 88
Tackles                68 - 69
Clearances           41 - 43
Clangers              49 - 47 
Hitouts                34 - 38  (Browne 16, Graham 14)
Frees                   16 - 23
Con. Possies       125 - 133 
Uncon. Possies    231 - 240
Inside 50s            46 - 45
Assists                  7 - 15
   

Individual Stats

player     D     EFF%     K     H     G     B     CM     UM     T     CL     C 
      
Tuck, S    33    67    15    18    1    0    0    4    10    10    5    
Deledio, B    32    88    16    16    0    0    2    4    3    1    4    
Edwards, S    28    57    13    15    0    1    0    3    8    4    6    
Newman, C    26    81    18    8    1    0    0    6    7    1    1    
Cousins, B    25    76    7    18    1    0    0    0    3    3    1    
Connors, D    24    58    16    8    0    0    1    3    3    3    0
Martin, D    24    88    10    14    1    0    0    0    2    6    2    
Jackson, D    22    73    13    9    1    1    0    2    3    3    5    
Morton, M    19    58    11    8    1    0    0    6    6    1    2    
Astbury, D    15    73    8    7    0    0    0    4    4    0    4    
King, J    14    79    11    3    2    2    0    5    2    0    1    
Webberley, J    14    79    6    8    1    0    1    2    2    0    2    
Farmer, M    13    77    4    9    0    0    0    4    1    3    0    
McGuane, L    11    64    6    5    1    1    0    2    0    0    5    
Graham, A    10    80    4    6    0    0    0    0    2    3    1    
Riewoldt, J    10    90    7    3    2    1    1    4    2    1    2
White, M    10    70    6    4    1    1    0    2    4    1    1    
Browne, A    8    100    1    7    1    0    1    1    1    1    2    
Hicks, R    7    86    3    4    1    0    0    2    2    0    1    
Moore, K    7    86    4    3    0    0    0    2    0    0    1    
Nason, B    7    71    3    4    0    0    0    3    1    0    1    
Thursfield, W    6    100    2    4    0    1    0    0    2    0    2

player     FF     FA     CP     UP     I50     A                

Tuck, S    2    0    13    21    8    1         
Deledio, B    1    2    9    19    4    0         
Edwards, S    1    2    10    19    3    0     
Newman, C    3    0    8    16    5    0     
Cousins, B    0    0    5    20    3    0         
Connors, D    2    0    11    13    1    0     
Martin, D    1    1    14    10    2    0         
Jackson, D    1    4    7    16    2    1         
Morton, M    0    0    2    17    3    0         
Astbury, D    1    2    2    13    1    0         
King, J    2    0    5    10    5    1         
Webberley, J    0    1    5    9    3    0     
Farmer, M    0    0    6    6    0    0         
McGuane, L    0    5    6    3    2    2    
Graham, A    1    0    4    6    2    0     
Riewoldt, J    0    1    3    6    0    1    
White, M    0    1    4    6    2    0    
Browne, A    0    2    3    5    0    0    
Hicks, R    0    0    3    4    0    1    
Moore, K    0    1    3    3    0    0    
Nason, B    1    0    1    6    0    0
Thursfield, W    0    1    1    3    0    0

http://superstats.heraldsun.com.au/gamestatslive/5015572.html   

[one-eyed]

Tigers' sixth puts Crows out of race
MICHAEL GLEESON
August 2, 2010

RICHMOND had begun to develop the sort of self-belief typical of good clubs but the Tigers needed to bide their time as they built towards becoming a strong team, coach Damien Hardwick said after his side extinguished Adelaide's flickering finals hopes yesterday.

Richmond won the MCG clash 15.10 (100) to the Crows' 11.14 (80), kicking four goals to two in pounding hail in the final quarter.

Hardwick said the win, Richmond's sixth for the season, proved to him the Tigers were becoming ''a good competitive football side''.
               
''I think our group is starting to get belief. And that makes good footy clubs, I reckon, the belief they have in each other, the belief in structures, the belief in the plan going forward,'' he said.

''I think that is what the guys are starting to grasp onto and I think that is why they are becoming a good competitive football side and we are only going to get better over the course of one, two, three seasons.

''If we get two to three more seasons into this squad, add some talent along the way, we just have to hang tough, do our time down the bottom and eventually the wheel turns.''

Adelaide surrendered any hope of a finals berth with another week of dreadful inaccuracy in front of goal that Adelaide coach Neil Craig condemned as amateur football.

The Crows' 11.14 included 4.9 in the second term to squander any chance they had of winning. It followed Adelaide's 9.15 against Port Adelaide the previous week.

''We can't put up with this sort of 4.9, that's amateur stuff, I'm sorry … We're a wasteful footy club at the moment,'' Craig said.

''We had four go out of bounds on the full from set shots, which is not good enough, the standard's not good enough. The pressure builds from one week to the next week, are we going to get a kick?''

Craig said the Crows would have to accept their inaccuracy in front of goal was not a ''one-off thing''.

''[We have to] be tough with ourselves and not back away from it and think it will be better next week [because] it won't be better next week, guys, I'm telling you, the pressure will be on next week.''

Richmond led by a goal at the last change but, with foul weather set to dump on the MCG and the Crows still alive for the finals, it was a commendable effort to lift and kick four goals to two to claim victory, Hardwick said.

''I thought our contested game lifted a notch in the second half,'' he said.

''I thought we were disappointing in that area early, we were a bit fumbly and over-used the ball by handball. I think in the second quarter we had 20-odd kicks [and] 40 handballs which in those conditions and with the pressure the Crows exert on you was not ideal.

''Dustin Martin was outstanding and Shane Tuck also in the congestion and it was good to have Daniel Jackson back also.

''For us it is all about how we are applying and what we are learning with the guys so the result to a degree is irrelevant.

''As long as we are doing the fundamentals of what you want to tick off every game then I am happy regardless of the result.''

Richmond had 13 goalkickers and used Luke McGuane as a forward to support Jack Riewoldt after David Astbury had begun to look settled in defence.

Patrick Dangerfield was one of the worst goal-kicking culprits for the Crows, kicking 1.2 and putting two shots out on the full.

Craig was dismissive when asked if the forward's confidence was shot.

''I'm not interested in confidence, I'm interested in people getting back on the track and showing some hardness to be able to finish the play when it's their opportunity,'' he said.

''We had an opportunity to win today and win very well and yet we go away a beaten footy club and any opportunity we had to keep our finals aspirations alive has probably gone out the window.

''That's two weeks in a row we've had an opportunity, particularly with the way the other results have gone and we haven't been good enough to take the opportunity.''

He said the club would use the remaining games of the season to ''keep the heat on ourselves'' and finish strongly even with finals hopes gone.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-sixth-puts-crows-out-of-race-20100801-111du.html

[one-eyed]

Tigers learn how to seal a victory
MARTIN BLAKE
August 2, 2010
 
HERE'S a snapshot of how far Richmond has come. In round seven, the Tigers went into three-quarter-time of a game against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium within a goal. Then Adelaide kicked eight goals in the final quarter to win handsomely over a team clueless in the art of closing out a match.

Not three months on, Richmond took a two-goal lead into the last quarter of yesterday's encounter with the same team, a club with a mathematical chance of playing finals.

What happened next was wholly instructive. Richmond kicked the first two goals to take control, then hung on for grim death as the end of the world descended upon the MCG, great, big hailstones that bounced off the shoulders of Ben Nason as he tried to kick a goal, and near-darkness that cloaked the ground.

Then the man-child Dustin Martin gathered his own smothered kick in the goal mouth and threaded a goal to make it 20 points. Then Jack Riewoldt beat Ben Rutten on the lead, stepped around to his left foot and finished it with a double fist pump to the crowd. Two young players happy to grab the responsibility.

Richmond has learnt how to win. Daniel Jackson, who returned to the midfield yesterday after a fortnight's suspension, observed the change.

''I said to the boys at three-quarter-time: 'We were in the exact same position over there earlier in the year against them and they were the ones who took the game on'. They beat us convincingly.

''This time we did what we had to do. We kept running forward and we were the proactive ones. The ball was inside our 50 [metre-zone] for ages. We've come a long way. It demonstrates how far we've come. Still a long way to go but it's a start.''

It was the second time this season the Tigers have come from behind to win over a finals contender at the MCG, the previous occasion being against Sydney in round 14.

At 6-12, they have made something of the year after a poor start with teething problems under a new game plan.

''In the past we'd get into winning positions but we didn't know how to win games,'' said Jackson. ''We didn't know how to close it out. We'd go into our shells, not take the game on. Now we keep it going. It comes with inexperience.''

Richmond was lucky in one sense. For most of the second quarter Adelaide dominated the contest but could not convert. After the Tigers kicked the first goal of the term to go 14 points up, Adelaide peppered the goal face with 13 scoring attempts.

But the Crows kicked 4.9 in that period, so that the 19-point half-time lead was kept manageable. Crows' coach Neil Craig would fume later about the ''wasteful'' and ''amateurish'' performance in front of goals, without mentioning Patrick Dangerfield (one goal from five shots) by name. Even Damien Hardwick admitted Richmond had been ''on the ropes''.

But in the second half, Richmond stepped up, kicking 10 goals to four. It was around the ball where the difference was made, with rag-tag Shane Tuck (33 disposals, 13 contested balls, 10 clearances, 10 tackles) setting the example along with Shane Edwards and the veteran Ben Cousins.

Tuck is no one's idea of a polished finisher, but he has something. ''What he can do is win the ball,'' said Hardwick.

Cousins' hard-running and smart decision-making kept alive the debate about whether he should continue beyond 2010. Hardwick described him as ''infectious'' among the group. ''You never lose your ability. You just lose your confidence,'' said the coach, who is still to decide about Cousins' future.

Across half-back, Brett Deledio's influence grew to the point where he dominated the last quarter, twice blocking Adelaide thrusts with contested marks. Deledio was a moderately good midfielder; as a running back, he is close to All-Australian. ''I love him on the half-back flank,'' said Hardwick.

As for Jackson, his return was welcome. After two suspensions in the season, he has promised to keep himself nice.

''I've had to adapt, learn to be more cautious about the way I play. Not that I did anything unfair, I wouldn't have thought, I just attack the contest hard but it's got me in some trouble this year. I've learnt that I can't afford to be on the sidelines.

''It was costly but you learn from your mistakes.''

PLAYER WATCH
Jack Riewoldt (Rich): Had a tough day against Ben Rutten. Tried a couple of hangers that went spectacularly wrong, but his second goal, a left-footer from an angle deep in the final quarter, sealed the win.

Scott Thompson (Adel): Started as a forward and quickly snapped a goal. Worked into the midfield and had Daniel Jackson as a tag, which made life difficult. Still had 28 disposals, seven clearances and eight tackles.

WHERE THE MATCH WAS WON
Richmond's hard bodies around the football were critical, especially Shane Tuck and Dustin Martin. The Tigers booted the last two goals of the third quarter to take the lead, then the first two of the last quarter before the rain and hail came.

WHERE THE MATCH WAS LOST
The Tigers should have been out of it at half-time. Adelaide's 4.9 from 13 consecutive scoring shots in the second quarter was described by coach Neil Craig as ''amateurish''. It left the door open for Richmond and the Tigers barged through.

BEST
Richmond: Deledio, Tuck, Newman, Cousins, King, Edwards, Jackson, Martin.
Adelaide: Rutten, Doughty, Thompson, Douglas, Stevens, Symes.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-learn-how-to-seal-a-victory-20100801-111e6.html

[one-eyed]

Blue skies ahead for Tiger cubs
Michael Horan
Herald Sun
August 02, 2010

RAIN, hail or shine, the youthful Richmond team has proved over past couple of months it will have a crack, no matter what.

The Tigers fought through all those elements yesterday to notch their sixth win of the season, a 20-point triumph against Adelaide at the MCG.

There were only 19,101 fans to see Richmond rally from 19 points down at halftime to edge six points clear at the final change and then, against the wind and, at times, driving hail, put an end to the Crows' aspirations of playing in this year's finals.

The Tigers - playing their ninth debutant for the year when Robert Hicks, 19, became a late inclusion to cover the loss of Andrew Collins - showed that some time in the not-too-distant future, they will be mixing with the upper crust of the league.

Not for the first time this season, Richmond showed its willingness to be up for a challenge and on this occasion it seized an opportunity to make Adelaide pay for its considerable sins.

In truth, the Crows should have just about buried the home side by halftime.

An extraordinary second term began with the Tigers holding an eight-point lead on the back of first use of the stiff breeze, and they slipped out to 14 points up when Mitch Morton scored within 35 seconds of the bounce.

From that point Adelaide enjoyed 11 free kicks to one for the term, went into its 50m forward zone 16 times and scored on 13 occasions.

The trouble was that the return was 4.9 as one Crows player after another butchered chances from medium-to-close range.

That's all Richmond needed.

By the 10-minute mark of the third quarter the Tigers had kicked three goals to zip to narrow the margin to a point - aided by the likes of Patrick Dangerfield missing from 10m and Jason Porplyzia kicking out on the full from 30m.

Soon after Dangerfield put another one out of bounds from only 20m, Tigers youngster Jeromey Webberley goaled to level the scores. Adelaide never saw the lead again.

Under a blackening sky Luke McGuane stormed into an open goal to give Richmond the lead seconds before three-quarter time and, despite a lingering notion the Crows might still come over the top with the wind, Matthew White and Andrew Browne - with his first goal in senior football - made the difference 18 points just five minutes into the final term.

Midway through the term the sky was almost black as a savage hailstorm hit the MCG, but by then the Tigers didn't need the heavens to intervene.

The sheer work rate and hardness at the ball led by Shane Tuck, Brett Deledio, Ben Cousins and skipper Chris Newman was simply too much for the woefully errant Crows.

Given what was at stake for Adelaide, its performance was simply weak.

A win would have put the Crows within a win of the top eight. They are left eight points and percentage adrift.

Given the Crows play the Bulldogs, Collingwood and St Kilda over the final month, perhaps yesterday's result has mercifully put their fans out of their misery ahead of time.

Richmond, meanwhile, has won six of its past nine - amazingly, all against non-Victorian sides - to signal it is on the rise.

Fairer weather ahead for the mighty Tiges.


Best:
Richmond: B Cousins, D Martin, B Deledio, S Tuck, D Connors, S Edwards, C Newman.
Adelaide: B Rutten, M Doughty, R Douglas, B Symes, S Stevens.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-lead-crows-at-quarter-time-at-mcg/story-e6frf9jf-1225899635587

[one-eyed]

Wasteful Adelaide throws away season
Stephen Rielly
The Australian
August 02, 2010


AND so another domino falls.

With five teams out of finals contention before the 18th round began last Friday night, a sixth joined them yesterday when Adelaide ran a blade across its own throat at the MCG.

A second term of kicking for goal reminiscent of Geelong's horribly wayward second quarter in the 2008 grand final snuffed out the flicker of finals hope the Crows had been warming themselves with. Demoralised by their own hand, or foot as it were, they let go of a 19-point half-time lead over Richmond that, in the end, became an embarrassing 20-point loss.

The defeat means that only percentage-boosting wins of outrageous size over top-four sides Collingwood, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs, and Brisbane at the Gabba, can bring them back from 11th and make available some sort of outside position.

By coach Neil Craig's own reckoning, that won't happen.

"We had our opportunity to win today and win very well. And yet we go away a beaten footy club and any opportunity we had to keep our finals aspirations alive have probably gone out the window," Craig said afterwards.

"It's two weeks in a row where we've had an opportunity, particularly with the way the other results have gone, and we haven't been good enough to take the opportunity."

The strange part about the Crows yesterday was that in the first half, and certainly the second term, they did look good enough.

After conceding the first goal of the second quarter, for instance, they banged on the next 13 scores of the term.

They played with physical authority and panache everywhere except before the goalposts, where a nervousness more often seen on the opening night of a school play than a football field gripped all.

After kicking that opening goal, the Tigers didn't score again for the term. They barely got the football beyond the centre but Adelaide did what the Cats did two years ago and squandered their moment with a return of 4.9.

They finished the match with 11.14 and four set shots put out of bounds on the full, three of them from normally reliable kicks Patrick Dangerfield and Jason Porplyzia.

"The Crows would be really disappointed with that second quarter. They had us on the ropes there for quite a period of time and just weren't able to finish us off," Richmond coach Damien Hardwick later admitted.

After kicking 9.15 against Port Adelaide in the Showdown a week earlier, Craig suggested later that his players succumbed yesterday to pressure of their own making. Clearly galled by the lack of fortitude, the Adelaide coach cut an unusually angry figure afterwards.

"It's the best competition in the world that we're playing in and some of our . . . what we're putting on show in terms of our kicking for goal is amateurish," he said.

"So what do we do about it? Recognise it first. It's not a one-off thing.

"We're a wasteful footy club at the moment. The last two games, have demonstrated that."

If Adelaide's profligacy typified a season of immense frustration and stymied ambition, the Tigers could see the doggedness and gradual improvement in their season within the triumph.

They persisted yesterday when defeat looked certain and ground away, mostly around the ball where Shane Tuck, Dustin Martin, Daniel Jackson and Ben Cousins led the way against Scott Thompson, Bernie Vince, Michael Doughty and Brad Symes. When an apocalyptic hail storm swept over the MCG in the final quarter, the strong-bodied presence of the Richmond quartet was especially significant.

Tiger captain Chris Newman and his partner on a back flank Brett Deledio were also excellent contributors but it was largely a matter of collective will, rather than individual joy, which enabled the Tigers to kick 10 goals to four in the second half.

In fact, 13 Richmond players shared the side's 15 goals, not a result that was going to help Jack Riewoldt claim the Coleman Medal but one certain to give Hardwick's young side a greater sense of menace.

Adelaide produced a like spread, with 10 players sharing the side's 11 goals. It was just that they shared more off-beam shots than straight ones.

On a day when lost opportunities sold away a season.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/wasteful-adelaide-throws-away-season/story-e6frg7mf-1225899745746