Tigers ready to put lessons into practice
3:31:01 PM Wed 18 May, 2005
Chris Riches
richmondfc.com.au
It was obvious by the muted reaction to the final siren at the MCG last Sunday that the Richmond players knew they had “dodged a bullet” in their Round 8 clash with Collingwood.
The wide smiles that players wore after their demolition of Carlton just a week before were replaced by expressions of relief. Even the traditional rendition of the theme song in the rooms after the game seemed noticeably subdued.
All those linked to the Club were just thankful for the win, against a horribly undermanned Collingwood team, which had not even come close to being competitive against Fremantle the week before.
An eight-goal to one final quarter – including a virtuoso five-goal performance by Nathan Brown, who had been well held until then by Magpie backman James Clement – sealed a come-from-behind victory for the Tigers. This might be indicative of a greater self-belief at Punt Road, the continued learning process for a side which has struggled so badly in recent seasons, or maybe an improved ability by players and coach to “stick at things” if they aren’t going the Tigers’ way.
But such a last quarter can also mask flaws and shortcomings that better teams will take a much heavier toll of in the future – something coach Terry Wallace will certainly emphasise to his players this week.
From a Richmond perspective, the first half of last Sunday’s game was almost entirely forgettable. The Tiger players may have been there in body, but seemed to be missing in mind and spirit as the Magpies took care of the basics.
Where Collingwood attacked the ball hard, tackled, pressured and got in and under to win contests, Richmond players appeared surprisingly hesitant and reactive.
Even allowing for Collingwood’s defensive flooding and containing mindset, the results of Richmond’s ordinary play were there to see at half-time. Despite almost doubling Collingwood’s entries inside 50, the Tigers were down by two goals and struggling to reel the Magpies in.
The real stars of the first half were Richmond’s defensive unit. Players such as Joel Bowden, Darren Gaspar and Andrew Kellaway, Ray Hall and Chris Newman, ensured that any promising forward thrusts the Magpies did mount were snuffed out and rebounded.
It was this defensive unit – which has allowed the sixth fewest points against in the league so far this year – that helped the Tigers stay close to Collingwood despite playing well below their best in the opening half.
Most of the third quarter was a replica of the first half, Richmond again pressing forward, but without reward. Tiger fans were left wondering at three-quarter time whether the team, which had tried to bomb long to Matthew Richardson for most of the match without success, could find a forward system that would work well enough to deliver a win.
Enter Nathan Brown . . .
Due to Trent Knobel and Troy Simmonds’ ruck dominance, Richmond’s midfielders were finally able to take complete control of the game in the last quarter. The likes of Mark Coughlan, Shane Tuck and Kayne Pettifer continually pumped the ball forward in the final term. And, the rest was left to Brown.
While his second goal was from a smart piece of roving, and his fourth combined a great mark on the lead with an intelligent finish, it will be his third goal – the one which put the Tigers in front – that will be remembered for a long while.
Combining athleticism, brains, ambidextrous soccer skills and sheer genius, Brown turned a quarter of a chance into a brilliant soccered goal; one which finally broke the resolve of Collingwood and saw the Tigers run away to win by 35 points.
Post-match, Terry Wallace said he had expected a frustrating day because of Collingwood’s tactics and commitment to a tight game plan. Ultimately, however, the Tigers were able to rise above this – and their own mediocre first half – to stage their third come-from-behind win of the ’05 season.
And, that’s the sort of positive Richmond should learn from Sunday’s match – the fact it won despite playing three quarters of ordinary football.
The fact that Wallace and his players actually believed they could come back and win, as long as they could stick rigidly to the game plan and work hard, marks a quantum leap forward in comparison to last year’s Richmond side.
Now the job for the Tigers is to ensure they carry what they’ve learned into a challenging quartet of games in the next month, against Brisbane at the Gabba, fourth-placed Melbourne, ladder-leader West Coast at the MCG, and the fifth-placed Kangaroos.
There’s a great opportunity for the Tigers to not only show what they have learned in the opening eight rounds this season, but to put that into action against really tough opposition.
It is going to be hard work, and there will still probably be more lessons to learn. But with some belief, some confidence, some trust, who knows what might happen?
Chris Riches
www.yellowandblack.infohttp://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=203524
