Media articles and stats: Tigers demolish Dees

[one-eyed]

Tigers demolish Dees
By Nick Bowen
Sat 14 Apr, 2012

RICHMOND            4.4    6.8    15.11 20.13 (133)
MELBOURNE          2.3    5.6      6.6    11.8 (74)

GOALS
Richmond: Cotchin 3, Miller 3, Conca 2, Nahas 2, Deledio 2, Maric, Martin, Riewoldt, Houli, Vickery, Grigg, Jackson, Tuck
Melbourne: Clark 2, Howe 2, Trengove 2, Dunn 2, Watts, Jones, Sellar

BEST
Richmond: Grigg, Conca, Houli, Deledio, Cotchin, Rance, Martin, Tuck
Melbourne: Howe, Jones, McKenzie

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Melbourne: Grimes (Concussion)

Subs:
Melbourne's Lynden Dunn replaced Stefan Martin in the third quarter
Richmond's Addam Maric replaced Tyrone Vickery in the final quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Schmitt, Armstrong, Mitchell

Official crowd: 49,826 at MCG

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MELBOURNE'S horror start to 2012 has continued with Richmond overwhelming the Demons by 59 points at the MCG on Saturday.

After honourable defeats at the hands of Carlton and Collingwood the Tigers registered their first win of the season, 20.13 (133) to 11.8 (74).

Richmond ran the Demons off their feet as they dominated uncontested possessions and broke Melbourne's resistance with a nine-goal-to-one third term that built its eight-point half-time lead into an impregnable 59-point buffer.

From the opening minute of the third term to the first minute of the final term, the Tigers kicked 10 goals, their last nine consecutive.

Shaun Grigg was outstanding on a wing for the Tigers. He racked up a game-high 37 possessions and his preparedness to run symbolised the Tigers' dominance.

Robbie Nahas was equally impressive in the Tigers' forward line, the small forward's speed and evasive tricks bamboozling Melbourne's defence. Nahas finished with 2.2 but set up several other goals for Richmond with his forward pressure and deft passing.

The Tigers had plenty of other stars, with Nathan Foley, Reece Conca and Shane Tuck among their best.

In his 150th game, Brad Miller also was a valuable contributor for the Tigers with three goals, while Jack Riewoldt lowered his colours to James Frawley, who held him to one goal.

For the Demons, Jordie McKenzie kept Trent Cotchin to just eight possessions in the first half, but the classy Tiger midfielder rebounded in the second half, kicking three goals after spending more time up forward.

Demon Mitch Clark started the game strongly up forward, taking several strong marks in the first term, but ultimately the Tigers' control of general play limited his opportunities and he finished with two goals.

Nathan Jones' work in the centre briefly got the Demons back into the game in the second term, while Jeremy Howe's strength overhead - he took 11 marks - gave Melbourne fans some cause for optimism.

But in a further blow to Melbourne, at the three-minute mark of the final quarter co-captain Jack Grimes had to be helped to be bench with apparent concussion after a strong tackle by Daniel Jackson.

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/6301/newsId/133056/Default.aspx

[one-eyed]

Team Stats

Disposals          427- 268
Efficiency%         77 - 66    
Kicks                228 - 172    
Handballs         199 - 96    
Con. Possies    133 - 119
Uncon. Possies 294 - 149   
Marks               114 - 92
Con. Marks           5 - 18    
Uncon. Marks    109 - 74
Tackles               71 - 57
Clearances          43 - 25
Clangers             44 - 43
Hitouts               31 - 39 ...... ( I.Maric 24, Vickery 4 // Jamar 34, Sellar 4 )
Frees                  25 - 15    
Inside 50s           65 - 30
Marks In50          16 - 14
Rebound 50s       18 - 40
Assists                 10 - 5    
1%ers                 31 - 22
Supercoach      1908 - 1390
Dreamteam      1849 - 1269


Individual Stats

PLAYER              D      K      H     CP    DE%     M   CM     T   CL   FF   FA   I50  R50   G   B   GA   SC

S.Grigg             37    19    18      9      84%    12    0      2      6    2    1      7    1    1    0    0    147
S.Tuck              30    15    15    16      80%      6    0    11    12    4    1      7    1    1    1    0    152
R.Conca            29    16    13    10      76%      8    0      5      3    4    0      2    1    2    0    0    115
B.Houli              29    13    16      6      83%      7    1      1      0    0    0      2    1    1    0    0    111
N.Foley             28    16    12      6      64%      6    1      8      2    1    0    10    0    0    2    1    114
B.Deledio          27    14    13      4      85%      7    0      2      1    0    0      4    1    2    0    2    108
T.Cotchin          22    14      8      9      73%      5    1      4      5    2    0      6    2    3    1    0    126
D.Jackson         21    12      9      8      71%      7    0      3      2    1    1      4    1    1    0    0      77
R.Nahas            21    16      5      5      67%      4    0      4      0    2    0      6    0    2    2    3    112
C.Newman        20    14      6      5      80%      4    0      2      0    0    0      2    2    0    0    0      68
D.Martin            19    13      6      4      58%      2    0      1      1    0    1      6    1    1    0    0      70
D.Grimes          18      9      9      6    100%      9    0      2      0    2    1      0    0    0    0    0      92
S.Morris            18      3    15      5      94%      3    0      3      1    0    1      0    0    0    0    0      64
B.Ellis                17      7    10      3      88%      5    0      3      1    0    1      1    2    0    0    0      49
A.Rance            17    11      6      5    100%      9    2      3      0    1    1      1    3    0    0    0      93
S.Edwards        16      8      8      9      69%      0    0      4      3    0    3      1    0    0    1    1      57
J.Batchelor       14      8      6      6      93%      6    0      3      0    1    0      0    2    0    0    0      86
J.Riewoldt        14      8      6      5      57%      6    0      1      1    0    2      1    0    1    3    3      62
I.Maric             13      2    11      6      77%      3    0      6      2    3    2      2    0    1    0    0      94
B.Miller            10      5      5      3      90%      4    0      1      0    2    0      0    0    3    0    0      67
T.Vickery           5      4      1      3      60%      1    0      2      3    0    0      2    0    1    0    0      42
A.Maric              2      1      1      0      50%      0    0      0      0    0    0      1    0    0    0    0        2

http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/16931/Default.aspx#fixtureid=7679&tab=Stats
http://live-footy.heraldsun.com.au/StatsCentre/Index/20120320120140302

[Ruanaidh]

I remember the knock on both Grimsey and Rancey was that they cant kick Even today on 3aw they said our weakness is our backline's disposal - and that was after the game  I mean to say, 100% efficiency is well.....you do the math

[one-eyed]

Talking points: Richmond v Melbourne
By Peter Ryan
Sat 14 Apr, 2012


Dominance
WHEN you have the ball you always look quicker, but in the third quarter the Tigers looked to be channeling Usain Bolt. They burst from the stoppages, found space through the middle and tackled ferociously when they were without the ball. It was the Richmond many of its supporters have been waiting a long time to see. The Tigers kicked nine goals in the quarter and had an amazing 21 more inside 50s and 92 more disposals than Melbourne during that period of the game. It was a smashing.

A mature performance
Richmond president Gary March said pre-game that what the Tigers had to do against Melbourne was get the job done. The Tigers did that with an explosive third quarter and March thinks it's a portent of things to come: "We've got great expectations for this playing group and our expectations were to improve on last year and be challenging for a top eight spot. We don't shy away from that and we expect that journey to start today." For the sake of Tiger fans let's hope it's not another false dawn.

Dustin delivers
When Dustin Martin burst out of the middle at the 15-minute mark of the third quarter from a centre clearance, skipped off a lunging Jordie McKenzie and kicked a 60m goal it was game over. Martin is a special player with a fend-off that he is likely to become famous for. In the final quarter he controlled play in front of the MCG members, bouncing, handballing and regaining the ball and at one stage looked a chance to kick the goal of the year. He was just one of the stars of the day alongside Trent Cotchin, Reece Conca and Brett Deledio. However Hardwick quite sensibly said it was the performances of lesser lights Shaun Grigg, Nathan Foley and Bachar Houli that was most pleasing.

Tackle or turf?
Twice Melbourne's Jack Grimes and Richmond's Daniel Jackson tangled near the interchange bench and on both occasions Grimes applied fierce tackles on Jackson. They were legitimate tackles but the players came off second best as their heads hit the hard patch of ground that rings the members' wing with great force. Whether it was the tackle or the artificial turf surrounding the boundary that caused the damage will be a subject of debate. Jackson took some time to get up in the first half while Grimes left the second encounter groggy and concussed.

What next Melbourne?
The players met without the coaches after the game and emphasised the need to keep their chins up and stay positive. There is little prospect of senior players Brent Moloney and Colin Sylvia returning from injury while Liam Jurrah will come back through the VFL in two weeks. The Demons lack a crumbing forward and run outside the stoppages, and now they are in the early rocky stages of a rebuild. Hard yards lay ahead for Melbourne supporters.

http://www.afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tabid/208/newsId/133091/Default.aspx

[one-eyed]

Richmond delivers Melbourne a mauling

    Bruce Matthews
    From: Herald Sun
    April 15, 2012

RICHMOND midfielder Shaun Grigg was like the pest at a party. Was it something I said that no one wants to come near me?

Really, it was Grigg's innate ability to find space on the MCG that would've left him to sleep soundly last night after his big contribution to the Tigers' first win this season.

The former Carlton defender gathered a career-high 37 possessions as one of a multitude of dominant Richmond players who set up the 59-point win against a disappointing and eventually dispirited Melbourne.

"The only thing I can put it down to is a new pair of boots, the first time I've worn them," Grigg said.

The Tigers' dominance across the midfield and out of the backline resulted in a lopsided 425-266 possession count.

And the Demons were never going to threaten when they ventured inside 50 for an almost all-time low 30 times on a perfect afternoon for high scoring.

"Just the way we moved the ball inside 50 in the second half was the one thing we wanted to work on coming in at halftime," Grigg said.

"Once we got that right and we controlled the clearances, that was it."

Grigg, Shane Tuck (32), Reece Conca (29), Houli (29) and Nathan Foley (28) were ball magnets, exercising complete control from half-back through the midfield.

So pitiful was Melbourne's second-half resistance that it's hard to make an accurate assessment of Richmond.

That will be answered in coming weeks when these freewheeling Tigers confront opponents that won't let them find space and the loose ball at will.

Melbourne had triers rather than winners, including forwards Mitch Clark and Jeremy Howe, defender James Frawley on the dangerous Jack Riewoldt, Jordie McKenzie on Trent Cotchin in the first half and onballer Nathan Jones, who led the brief second-quarter fightback.

No one really anticipated Richmond's absolute third-quarter dominance, the Demons having pulled back a 20-point deficit in the first quarter to hit the lead early in the second.

Even when goals from Riewoldt and Brad Miller gave the Tigers back the lead, they took only an eight-point edge into the long break.

But it was all Richmond in the nine-goal third term.

It was as if the Melbourne players eased off to admire their handiwork ... or maybe it was the shock of seeing themselves in front on the scoreboard.

Simply, the Tigers worked harder. Feeding off the centre bounce dominance, they ran and spread to put Melbourne's backline under siege.

It all unravelled so swiftly for Melbourne.

An interchange infringement and the resulting 50m penalty handed an easy goal to ruckman Ivan Maric - one of the Tigers' 13 contributors.

Whatever could go wrong, did go wrong for the hapless Demons.

Like co-captain Jack Grimes knocking himself out when Tiger Daniel Jackson landed on him after a tackle near the boundary line.

It was a damning second-half capitulation, especially in a game that was well within reach at the start of the second half.

FOUR POINTS with Warwick Green

1. HE may have only played 17 games for Richmond, but Brad Miller still got his own banner. Today was his 150th AFL match, against the team for which he ran out 133 times. The Tigers cheersquad heralded the former Demon as ''One hell of a Tiger''.

2. IN his previous 66 matches, Shaun Grigg's best statistical return was 32 disposals in last year's Round 17 match against Gold Coast. Today he had bettered that by three-quarter time, going to the final break with 34 touches. He ended the game with 37 possessions.

3. IT was classic Dennis Cometti. When Robin Nahas delivered a clever pass with the outside of his foot during the last quarter, Cometti commented on Triple M: ''Well, he's pulled that one out of his Nahas.''

4. UNQUESTIONABLY the worst umpiring decision of the day came midway through the third term. Nathan Jones laid a late bump while Shane Tuck kicked the ball downfield and came off second best, clutching his shoulder. Umpire Justin Schmitt, 40 metres away, ran in and declared that Tuck had collected Jones with a swinging arm. Schmitt guessed and guessed wrong.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/melbournes-horror-season-continues-after-being-pumped-by-richmond/story-e6frf9jf-1226326565868

[one-eyed]

Tigers repay fans' faith
Rohan Connolly
The Age
April 15, 2012

ABOUT five minutes into the second quarter at the MCG yesterday, you were starting to wonder just how the long-suffering Richmond hordes might react to yet another insult to their decades of unshakeable faith.

In a game their side desperately needed to win, and against an opponent that had started the new season in far worse fashion than even they, the Tigers fans were watching an early 20-point lead evaporate with remarkable speed and, even more gallingly, as much through their own team's lack of cool and football smarts.

Jeremy Howe had pegged one back for Melbourne late in the first quarter. Barely a minute into the second, Nathan Jones had reduced the margin to single figures after Dustin Martin cannoned into his back.
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A couple of minutes after that, Alex Rance conceded a 50-metre penalty to Jack Watts, who had no trouble converting. And when Mitch Clark booted his second barely five minutes in, Melbourne had hit the front.

The portents weren't good, with the Demons ahead in contested ball and having won nine of the previous 11 clearances, both areas in which the Tigers had fallen well short for a couple of years. And Trent Cotchin, their most reliable hard-ball winner, was being held in relative check by Melbourne ''stopper'' Jordie McKenzie. All of which made what happened next a pleasant surprise.

Perhaps the Tigers themselves pondered for a moment the rage that might be unleashed if the pattern continued. Because to say that things suddenly clicked would be putting it mildly.

A previously impotent forward set-up began to function, Richmond finally grabbing some marks close to goal, and its runners beginning to again find space.

That sent the Tigers to the long break with at least some renewed self-belief. And a 20-minute burst of power in the third turned a result still very much in doubt into a confidence-boosting belting.

It was Brett Deledio who got the ball rolling, disturbingly for the Demons, with a goal-square pack parting like the seas to allow him easy access.

Shaun Grigg, en route to a career-high 37 disposals, slotted the next, three more coming over the next five minutes, including the day's clear highlight, a centre-clearance win from Dustin Martin, then a shrug of a despairing McKenzie, before casually slamming it through from 60 metres.

It was all coming apart rapidly for the Demons, confirmed when an interchange infringement gifted Ivan Maric another goal, and a brace from Reece Conca, in clearly his best game for Richmond, rubbing it in further. An eight-point half-time lead had grown to 59 by the final change, the margin the same by the end after a final quarter that allowed a few of the poorer Melbourne performers to flatter their own contributions, and the Demons flatter themselves on the scoreboard with five goals on top of the paltry six they had already managed.

Coach Damien Hardwick is smarter than to read too much into what turned out to be a canter, but would have taken as much satisfaction from the hard-ball stats in which Richmond has been consistently belted for a couple of years now, and the past couple of weeks, as from the scoreboard.

This time, the Tigers ended up winning the contested ball, and belted the Demons in the clearances for good measure. That had much to do with veteran Shane Tuck, Cotchin coming good when it mattered, Conca, the run of Nathan Foley, and a great defensive forward game from Robin Nahas that kept the Tigers looking dangerous near goal even without much of a contribution from Jack Riewoldt, well held by James Frawley.

The latter was one Demon who could hold his head high, along with the spring-heeled Howe, McKenzie, Watts and Jones. But it was the lack of fight when things started to turn against Melbourne that must have anyone of red-and-blue persuasion as concerned as the lopsided scoreboard. It certainly all appeared to get to co-captains Jack Trengove and Jack Grimes, both of whom struggled to set any sort of example.

And perhaps the most depressing statistic for the Demons wasn't the scoreboard, but the possession tally, which ended up a measly 266 to Richmond's 425. Howe was the only Melbourne player with more than 17 disposals. However bad things were looking for Richmond early in the second quarter of this game, they couldn't possibly have looked as bleak as the abyss into which the Dees are now staring.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-repay-fans-faith-20120414-1x0hm.html#ixzz1s3jPbcEp

Best:
Richmond: S Grigg S Tuck R Nahas R Conca B Houli T Cotchin N Foley B Deledio.
Melbourne: J Howe J Frawley N Jones J Watts J McKenzie.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-ambush-demons-20120414-1x05l.html#ixzz1s3jgimqX