Author Topic: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?  (Read 7225 times)

Offline mightytiges

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Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« on: June 28, 2005, 04:53:15 AM »
Can we turn things around or will it be same old same old  :-\ ?

The Swans have won 5 of their last 6 and are at full strength but they had a tight win in heavy conditions against the Pies while we've had the week off with hopefully all the injury niggles gone and Richo's knee on the mend. Plus the game is at the 'G and it looks like it's going to be cold and wet conditions so their overpossessing chip & chip gameplan might come up a cropper.

I'm nervous about the umpiring with Paul Roos complaining about them. I hope they don't try to "even-up" for the Swans this week at our expense  >:(.
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letsgetiton!

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Re: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2005, 06:53:45 AM »
we can win but ui very much doubt we will, esp if guys like tiv are still in the team

Online WilliamPowell

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Re: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2005, 01:37:37 PM »
Can we turn things around or will it be same old same old  :-\ ?


I am hopeful (perhaps just deluded :-\ ;D) that the weeks break has meant the return of some confidence in the players.

More than that I just hope the break has enabled the likes of Simmonds and Knobel in particular to overcome their injury niggles because I think the ruck is one area that we need to exploit the Swans.

As for Richo's knee - well whether it's still sore or whatever he'll just be Richo busting his gut for the team.

I'll be interested who Roos tees up Kirk to tag - I wouldn't be surprised if its Tuck which wouldn't be so bad because Tuck has so far shown that he can handle being tagged and that would them free up Coughlan and Johnson in the middle
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Offline mightytiges

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Re: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2005, 06:09:12 PM »
The Swans are beatable as they don't kick big scores so all their games are usually close affairs but you need a smart side (which we aren't) to break them down as they flood back then catch sides on the rebound. They also like to chip the ball around and deny the opposition possession.

One thing the Pies did last week when they fell a few goals behind and were having difficultly scoring was resort to a small forward line. The Swans defenders really struggled with it and the Maggies almost stole the game and in fact should have given the number of chances they had. Something for Terry to keep in mind if Richo is still not full right with his knee and immobile.
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Offline mightytiges

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Another opposition milestone game
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2005, 06:01:51 PM »
300 games to Paul Williams  :-\
« Last Edit: June 30, 2005, 04:10:55 AM by mightytiges »
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Offline JohnF

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Re: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2005, 06:33:36 PM »
Another game we'll go into full of hope and come out proclaiming the end of the world as we know it.

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Re: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2005, 07:21:53 PM »
So John,would it be correct to assume that Sydney will be having a sphincter picnic
at our expense ?

Offline the_boy_jake

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Re: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2005, 10:31:24 PM »
As for Richo's knee - well whether it's still sore or whatever he'll just be Richo busting his gut for the team.


You never know with Richo how serious the injury is. I sometimes get the feeling that he exacerbates the limp or the hobble or the grimace on his face when he drops an easy mark or lets his man get in front position. I've no doubt he's tough, the sheer amount of running the big fella does proves that, but unlike say Carey who was always strutting around proudly and arrogantly and wouldn't let his opposite number see him hurt, I get the feeling that Richo really cares what people think of him, and if he is playing badly because he is limited by a niggle he likes to let everyone know.

I'm off to hide from Julz for a few days.  :help

Offline mightytiges

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Re: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« Reply #8 on: June 30, 2005, 04:41:46 AM »
Another game we'll go into full of hope and come out proclaiming the end of the world as we know it.

LOL but I feel fine  ;)

If it was going to be a dry sunny day then the Swans would be too quick and smart for us IMO. However the forecast for Saturday is showers, windy and a coldish 14 so that should even things up a fair bit and the winner should come from which side wants the footy more and keeps things simple and direct.
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Offline JohnF

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Re: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« Reply #9 on: June 30, 2005, 06:38:16 AM »
So John,would it be correct to assume that Sydney will be having a sphincter picnic
at our expense ?

lmfaoooo, unfortunately, I foresee the loss of some elasticity in the said muscle.

Hope I'm wrong. MT makes a good point about the weather being to our advantage.


You never know with Richo how serious the injury is. I sometimes get the feeling that he exacerbates the limp or the hobble or the grimace on his face when he drops an easy mark or lets his man get in front position. I've no doubt he's tough, the sheer amount of running the big fella does proves that, but unlike say Carey who was always strutting around proudly and arrogantly and wouldn't let his opposite number see him hurt, I get the feeling that Richo really cares what people think of him, and if he is playing badly because he is limited by a niggle he likes to let everyone know.

I'm off to hide from Julz for a few days.  :help

lmfaoo, yeah Richo's all heart but he's a 'bit' of a drama queen.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2005, 06:42:34 AM by JohnF »

Offline mightytiges

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Knobel out with the flu - Staff in
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2005, 03:29:16 PM »
On the news they said Knobel missed training due to the flu (just got it within he last 24 hours). Staff is back in the side as the Club got permission from the AFL to swap Staff for Morrison in the emergencies.

Unless Stafford is over his ankle injury fully I can't see him rucking  ???. I would have thought Patto would have been a better option. It's going to be wet so we just need someone who can jump and make a contest at stoppages. The rest of the time the ball should be on the ground.
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Offline mightytiges

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OER Preview - R14: Richmond vs Sydney
« Reply #11 on: July 01, 2005, 06:54:04 PM »
OER PREVIEW - ROUND 14 - RICHMOND vs SYDNEY at the M.C.G. (Home)

SUMMARY:

After four straight defeats the last being a 70-point hiding at the hands of the Crows in Melbourne at the Dome, the mid-season break could not have come fast enough to those at Punt Road. During the break the team flew up to the Whitsundays to sit down and figure out how to get back on track. This Saturday we will see how successful this pow-wow was as the Tigers face the in-form Sydney at the M.C.G. in a traditional afternoon clash. In a must win game for Richmond if we wish to remain in the top 8 we have made 3 changes with Hall, Hartigan and debutant rookie Will Thursfield coming in for ..Knobel (flu), Morrison and Jackson.   

Our opponents the Swans after a poor start to the season and AFL endorsed criticism of their dour and "boring" style of play have been able to turn results their way to sit fifth on the Ladder winning six of their past seven matches albeit all except for one (against an undermanned Port Adelaide side) have been against bottom 8 sides. Sydney regain Jude Bolton and Fosdike.     

[color]PAST ENCOUNTERS:[/color]

Overall: 99-74-1

In the 00's: 4-4

At the M.C.G.: 22-11

Last Time:

Round 22, 28.08.04. Home at the M.C.G.

Richmond 4.4 4.7  5.8   6.8-44   
Sydney   3.2 6.7 10.10 16.12-108

Multiple Goalkickers: Richmond - Richardson 3; Sydney - N.Davis 5, O'Keefe 3, O'Loughlin 3, Hall 2.

Attendance: 29,777 

KEY STATS AND MATCH-UPS:

The Swans play a predictably dull yet very effective style of footy whereby they like to strangle the opposition. Although Sydney has the lowest possession count in the league this is mainly due to them holding onto the ball trying to deny the opposition the footy. They work on the principle if the opposition don't have the ball then they can't score against us. The Swans will patiently wait and chip the ball around to find an opening then run hard and try to hit a leading forward whether it be Barry Hall (39 goals) or one of their many midsized leading forwards in O'Loughlin (26 goals), Nick Davis (13 goals) or O'Keefe (13 goals). They are a very even side across the park with not too many stars but Paul Roos has them very well drilled in the way he wants them to play and the team most weeks has the discipline to stick to the gameplan. They have a number of quick running players which enables them to hold up the opposition and flood back when they don't have the footy and then catch sides on the counterattack if there's a turnover with a fairly open forward line.     

Knobel's absense due to the flu is a blow especially with Stafford struggling to comeback from injury (so much so he was initially dropped back to Coburg). This will me Simmonds will have to do the bulk of the ruck against Jolly, Ball and possibly Goodes. I would've rather Patto was brought in instead of less than 100% fit Stafford. With the forecast for wet and windy conditions the ball will spend most of the time on the deck so we just needed someone who can jump and provided a contest. Staff's ankle injury he suffered a month or so ago won't help him there.

As for midfield match-ups Tuck (23 poss)-Kirk (21) and Cogs (23)-Jude Bolton (22) should go head-to-head with Ablett (15) tagging Johnson (23) and Chaffey (14) tagging Paul Williams (18) who collected 25 possessions last week against the Pies. Tivs and Kenneley would be the most likely other match-up. Kirk and Bolton are the main ballwinners for the Swans and need to be shutdown or at least have their influence on the game nullified. Both are in the top 4 in the AFL in clearances and top 10 in winning uncontested footy. The latter an area the Tiges have been exposed in all year. Bolton is also in the top 10 for inside 50 while Kirk is top 5 in handballs, top 10 hardball gets and the number one tackler in the competition (another area we are poor in). 

Defensive match-ups should go like Gas on Barry Hall, Hall on Goodes, Kellaway on Nick Davis, Hartigan or Newman on O'Keefe while rumour has it that Thursfield will get the job on O'Loughlin which is a highly risky ploy there by Terry if that happens but he must have faith in Will to do the job. Virtually all of the Swans forwards are lead-marking types so to stop them we need to apply pressure on the Sydney midfielders to they aren't allowed like the Crows were to run forward with ease and give lace-out passes to their leading forwards. We'll get murdered if that happens. Likewise the Swans ploy of flooding back will work perfectly for them if we turnover the footy with pathetic disposal. That's what I'm most worried about. 

Although injuries shouldn't be used as an excuse, the lose of Browny has really hurt our forward structure as we've returned to our bad old habits of stop-start footy and being too Richo-centric. Too add to our woes Richo himself has been carrying a dodgy knee which has restricted his play closer to goal making it easier for opposition defenders to double and triple team him. It also hasn't helped that our disposal over the past few weeks has been not up to AFL standard.

To fix this we need more fun and flow in our game to bring our other forwards into play so we can kick more goals. Apart from the Eagles match our scoring has been well below the magical 16 goal tally Wallace set out at the start of the year as a key indicator. We won't win too many more games if we're only kicking 10 or 11 goals per match. That's back to the Frawley days. We also our midfielders to push forward to the 40m-50m mark to chip in with a few goals themselves. The likes of Tivs, Bowden and Pettifer can easily kick 50m. We need to start using this advantage and not 100% of the time try to pinpoint a forward closer to goal. Not only will we kick more goals but it'll stretch the opposition's defence and make us less predictable.

As for forward match-ups one of Leo Barry, Saddington or Craig Bolton will take Richo. The Swans will revert to their usual double teaming of the big fella by playing Barry or Bolton man-on-man on Richo while Saddington  plays in front. Barry has been Sydney's number one rebounder (in the AFL's top 10 in fact) so the Swans may wish to keep him away from Richo so he feels more confident running off one of our other forwards. Simmonds with get Roberts-Thomson although now that Knobel is out and it's going to be wet we may only keep Richo up forward as our only tall and go with a small forward line. The Swans defenders last week found it very difficult when the Pies reverted to small forward line and almost pinched the game as a result. This would also free Simmonds to move into the ruck. The other smaller match-ups will most likely be Krakouer-Crouch, Pettifer-Dempster and Mathews-Cambo. These other forwards of ours need to run towards the opposite side that Richo leads to drag defenders with them.

OVERALL: Despite the Tiges averaging 40 more possessions and 6 more inside 50s per game than the Swans plus the Swans last in the League in total kicks and scoring on average only 83 points per game, if it were dry sunny conditions tomorrow Sydney would rightly go in as favourite on form and confidence. Our skills and decision making over the month haven't been up to scratch to pick the Tigers to win. However the predicted showers and cold and windy conditions should even up the skill level and bring the match back down to who wants the footy the most and put their bodies on the lines while keeping things simple and direct. Richmond has had 4 days in sunny warm Queensland to talk about how we can turn things around through improving and increasing our kick and tackling tally. Time now to turn it into practice on a cold and wet Melbourne midwinter's day. Otherwise it'll be another quiet September.

THIS WEEK'S TEAMS:

RICHMOND

B: Newman, Gaspar, Kellaway
HB: Bowden, R.Hall, Chaffey
C: Hartigan, Coughlan, Tivendale
HF: Pettifer, Simmonds, Deledio
F: Krakouer, Richardson, Campbell
R: Stafford, Tuck, Johnson
Int: Raines, Graham, Thursfield, Hyde

In: R.Hall, Hartigan, Thursfield
Out: Knobel (flu), Morrison, Jackson

SYDNEY

B:  Dempster, Barry, C.Bolton
HB: Mathews, Roberts-Thomson, Kennelly
C:  McVeigh, Ablett, Crouch
HF: O'Keefe, Goodes, J.Bolton
F:  N.Davis, B.Hall, O'Loughlin
R:  Jolly, Kirk, Williams
Int: Buchanan, Ball, Saddington, Fosdike
All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be - Pink Floyd

Offline mightytiges

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Sugar's 50th match for the Tiges
« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2005, 03:21:28 AM »
300 games to Paul Williams  :-\

It's also Kane Johnson's 50th game for the Tigers. Congrats Sugar  :thumbsup
All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be - Pink Floyd

Offline Mopsy

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Re: Can we turn things around this week against the Swans?
« Reply #13 on: July 02, 2005, 12:18:41 PM »
I see where Tambling has not been picked for Coburg
perhaps if Knobel does not play it could be Simmonds into the ruck,Richo to CHF,Delidio to FF and Tambling to HFF.