Say it: Yellow and blackBy Paul Daffey
Sun 08 May, 2011ALL RIGHT, all right, it's probably too early for such talk, but geez it's fun.
Richmond before this round was 10th on the ladder, with two wins and a draw. If the Tigers are still 10th after this round, having defeated Fremantle, it's fair to say they're 10th with a bullet.
Have a look at it: three wins in a row, all with fighting spirit and a dash of flair. Have a look again and scratch your chin.
Then admit it to yourself. Go on, admit it. If you don’t, you can bet that anyone in a black and yellow scarf in a Melbourne pub tonight will be saying it loud and clear.
Richmond, the club that was barely up to AFL standard a year ago, is a chance for the finals — and that's not the beer talking.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick did his best impression of a scoff when asked after the Fremantle win whether he'd thought about finals.
"It's round seven," he said. "In round 24 we may start to embrace it.
"We have still got a lot of areas we need to work on. We still give the opposition too many easy scores. We work hard for ours and we still give away some easy goals.
"We are not going to get ahead of ourselves, we've got a formidable opponent next week in the Western Bulldogs and we are very much looking forward to the challenge."
Yeah, right, the Bulldogs. Ask David Thorpe about the Bulldogs.
He left the Kennel in 1974 to become a premiership player at Richmond, in the days when the Tigers ruled, and although it's a danger to count your goals before they’re hatched, Hardwick is certainly building something at Punt Road of which David Thorpe would approve.
Look at the win over Fremantle, who, by the way, were fourth before the Tigers' trouncing. The match was even before the Tigers went berserk in the last quarter, winning 129 possessions to 69. That’s a gulf of 60 possessions in one quarter.
We just kept getting our hands on the ball, said Hardwick with magnificent understatement.
Richmond ended with 102 marks to 59, indicating that the Tigers were more prepared to run to space to present options.
The Tigers had 252 uncontested possessions to 144, indicating the Tigers were running like crazy and poor old Freo — the fourth-placed team, mind you— just couldn't keep up.
Fremantle did win the clearances 42 to 35, but even that statistic can be twisted in Richmond's favour. (Damn lies and statistics, etc.)
Fremantle took advantage, as they should, of Aaron Sandilands' dominance in the ruck. David Mundy had 12 clearances and Matthew Pavlich had 10. Their work at stoppages was often a delight to watch.
Trent Cotchin was Richmond's biggest clearance-winner, with seven, but while Fremantle relied on three brilliant players, Richmond had winners all over the ground.
Jack Riewoldt kicked four goals at full-forward in a performance that was more workmanlike than spectacular, while key defender Alex Rance was solid on Adam McPhee and Kepler Bradley. Bradley might have kicked four goals, but boy, he had to earn them!
The Richmond small forwards were like flies in a bottle, buzzing about laying tackles (Jake King had five) and kicking goals (Robin Nahas kicked four).
Upfield, the unheralded Shane Edwards continued his solid form, winning 24 possessions, while Cotchin had a huge game, winning 25 possessions and kicking four goals.
Cotchin had a problem in curtailing Pavlich, but the coach knows full well that you can’t have everything, even when you beat the fourth-placed team.
Hardwick was full of praise for his recruiting staff, which is fair enough.
"Our playing list has drastically improved," he said. "We have added Houli, Grigg; Cotchin has become the player we thought he could be, he's still got some way to go; Brad Miller has brought some structure; we've added Conca, Batchelor; there's been further improvements from guys like Nahas and King …"
He could go on.
Yes, there's a chink in this line of argument. Yes, Richmond defeated only North Melbourne and Brisbane Lions before mounting its charge against Fremantle, the fourth-placed team, and yes, the two most recent wins have been at the MCG against travelling teams.
But that is to quibble.
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey today commented on the mighty force of the Richmond supporters when the Tigers get their tails up. Damien Hardwick knows in his coaching heart that there's a rumble beneath the MCG.
Imagine it! A Richmind team with substance, built from the ground up, roaring and hollering towards September…
Go on, say it.
Yellow and black!
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/113312/default.aspx
