Tigers give Saints scare Rohan Connolly August 22, 2010ONE side with a top four spot assured and with two games to play before the important stuff starts, its opponent in 15th spot with nothing at stake but pride. It should be the recipe for a cruisy afternoon, but how often have we seen the same scenario produce the unexpected? And for at least three quarters at Etihad Stadium yesterday, that seemed a distinct possibility.
Richmond might have had little to play for, but its intent had been clear from the opening seconds, when Trent Cotchin took the ball and ploughed into the Saints' Adam Schneider. And it was even clearer by the 15-minute mark, by which time the Tigers had booted four goals to St Kilda's one.
If the Saints weren't going to attack this game with their usual relentless pressure, Richmond was determined to make them pay, and for a while they did.
Those four goals came in just six minutes, Troy Taylor kicking the first after a Sam Fisher fumble, then Jake King, playing as a defensive forward, somehow finding himself in 50-odd metres of space and capitalising accordingly.
The third was a moment that would have given Tiger fans plenty of heart for the years ahead, a seamless chain of possession, Brett Deledio finding Cotchin, who found King, who hit the leading Jack Riewoldt. And the younger Riewoldt soon enough had another after a mark and 50-metre penalty.
St Kilda's defence was temporarily in disarray, Riewoldt and King finding far too much space far too often, Deledio an architect off half-back.
It took something special to halt Richmond's momentum, and it was Riewoldt of the Nick variety who delivered with a superb left-foot ''bouncer'' from near the boundary. Not to be outdone, fellow key forward Justin Koschitzke clunked a beauty of a contested mark between Tigers David Gourdis and Alex Rance and converted.
The Saints, sure enough, started to work their way on top, booting four of the last six goals of the quarter. ''Roo'' and ''Kosi'' looked dangerous, and on a wing, Leigh Montagna had practically brought his own football, finishing the first half with an incredible 25 disposals, 10 of them contested, and seven inside 50s.
All the Saints' drivers started to lift, most notably Brendon Goddard and Nick Dal Santo, each of whom picked up 11 touches in the second term. Koschitzke began to restore his ailing confidence levels by the minute, three goals coming in the second quarter alone, the third of them giving St Kilda a 17-point lead. The Saints were able to hold Richmond at arm's length from then on, but never by far enough to really pace themselves through the rest of the match.
If St Kilda got anything out of this game, it was the form of Koschitzke. He hit the contests hard. His marking was sure. His kicking more confident than we'd been seeing. There was real presence about Kosi yesterday, one which made Riewoldt in turn a more dangerous target as well. Saints' coach Ross Lyon had said when his team was in trouble a few weeks back that it simply needed to score more. And it has, with two 17-goal hauls in successive weeks, and 23 the week before that.
Whether Lyon would be as happy with the organisation at times of his defence is more debatable, but at least St Kilda is no longer looking like a team that needs to negatively squeeze its opponent into submission in order to manufacture a win. As we came to discover in time last year, the Saints can score with the best of them, too.
And so, in time, might Richmond. The Tigers go into next week's final round a good chance to win a seventh game of the season, well beyond most people's pre-season expectations. Their Riewoldt also looks the likely Coleman medallist after a lion-hearted, seven-goal haul that involved his usual repertoire of unorthodoxy and strong marking.
You can see far more clearly the light on the horizon for Richmond these days, and it doesn't merely focus around one or two bright prospects - Dustin Martin, for one, was relatively subdued yesterday.
Deledio, however, is what Martin can aspire to be, wonderfully steady and level-headed, Cotchin is all class with a fair degree of hardness to boot, Daniel Connors has obviously precocious talent, Shane Edwards keeps getting better, and even a bloke who not all that long ago was a bit of a figure of fun in King is these days a more than handy part of the Tiger machinery.
Richmond supporters are known for getting their hopes up just a little too much over the off-season.
This summer at least, there's plenty of legitimate cause for their optimism.
For St Kilda, meanwhile, the future is nearly here. It's that pesky waiting around for another week or so that will be the tedious bit.
The Saints' main task against Adelaide will be to avoid injury. But another big effort from Kosi and another 100-plus touches between three midfielders probably wouldn't go astray, either.
It's fine-tuning time, and while the Saints are getting there, there's a couple of other teams still, for now at least, playing at a more perfect pitch.
PLAYER WATCH
St Kilda: The Saints have been waiting an eternity for Justin Koschitzke to come good. Yesterday afternoon he did, with an authoritative performance in the key forward post which netted him five goals, seven marks and a heap of confidence for a looming finals series. Nick Riewoldt, certainly, would have been pretty grateful to finally get a bit of a chop-out from a fellow marking target.
Richmond: Jake King is often a somewhat pilloried figure in the football world, but the little tough guy was great value for his team and spectators alike yesterday. Playing as a defensive forward, King revelled in his opportunity to snag a goal or two, indeed finishing the game with three, and early on particularly, causing the Saints' defence all sorts of headaches. One of his best games for the Tigers.
WHERE THE MATCH WAS WON
St Kilda looked a little lethargic early, but asserted its authority the longer the game went, making better use of its opportunities thanks to its superior skill and efficiency. The Saints had the game's three most dominant midfielders, and two imposing targets up forward in Riewoldt and Koschitzke, who ended up with eight goals between them.
WHERE THE MATCH WAS LOST
Richmond would have to be happy with its effort yesterday, the Tigers several times managing to clamber back into the contest after St Kilda had threatened to blow the game open. Where the Tigers do need to get better, unsurprisingly, is in their decision-making and disposal, even the likes of normally sure skipper Chris Newman guilty of the odd turnover yesterday.
BEST
St Kilda: Montagna, Dal Santo, Goddard, Riewoldt, Koschitzke, Gilbert.
Richmond: Riewoldt, Deledio, Cotchin, King, Connors, Edwards.
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