Media article and Stats: Youthful Tigers downed by Dogs

[one-eyed]

Youthful Tigers downed by Dogs
richmondfc.com.au 
February 28, 2015 7:06 PM


An inexperienced Richmond side has been overrun by the Western Bulldogs in the first pre-season match for 2015.

The Tigers led during the final term, but conceded the final five goals to go down by 22 points in front of 9513 fans at Whitten Oval.

Richmond's youthful squad was lacking more experience when Reece Conca, David Astbury, Brandon Ellis and Shane Edwards didn't take their place in the starting line-up.

However, despite a lopsided inside 50 count and 15 fewer scoring shots, the Tigers put in an encouraging display.

Anthony Miles led the possession-getters for the visitors with 23, including five clearances, while Taylor Hunt collected 18 disposals and four tackles.

Shaun Hampson had the better of the ruck dual, winning 38 hitouts.

The Bulldogs dominated the opening exchanges, but couldn't convert their territorial edge on the scoreboard.

Kicking with a strong breeze, Richmond's first goal came after clean passage of play, which was well finished by Matt Arnot after 14 minutes.

Rookie Jayden Short snapped cleverly from the pocket soon after, sparking a run of three-straight Yellow and Black majors.

Ty Vickery's first goal put the Tigers in front at the 23-minute mark, and Steve Morris extended the advantage to nine points with a set shot goal after the siren.

The Tigers started the second term brightly, with Chris Knights marking his return to senior football with a goal on the run at the six minute mark.

But it was the last Richmond score of the quarter, as the Bulldogs used the breeze to kick the last five goals to lead by 18 points at half time.

It was a subdued start to the third term, until Sam Lloyd booted a 60-metre supergoal after a 50-metre penalty to reduce the margin to 10 points.

Knights added his second for the afternoon two minutes later, and Arnot put the Tigers in front on the three-quarter-time siren after a free kick.

Shaun Grigg booted the first goal of the final term, and Nathan Gordon added another in between some missed Bulldogs' opportunities, but the home side finished the stronger.

WESTERN BULLDOGS      0.2.3   0.7.7   0.7.10   0.12.17  (89)
RICHMOND                      0.4.0   0.5.1    1.7.3       1.9.4    (67)
 
SUPERGOALS
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Richmond: Lloyd
 
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Redpath 2, Dickson 2, T. Boyd, Dahlhaus, Stevens, Wallis, Stringer, Bontempelli, Macrae, Honeychuch
Richmond: Knights 2, Arnot 2, Short, Vickery, Morris, Grigg, Gordon
 
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Macrae, Bontempelli, Murphy, Stevens, Dahlhaus, M. Boyd
Richmond: Miles, Morris, Hunt, Lambert, Arnot, Vlastuin, Knights
 
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Liberatore (knee)
Richmond: Nil
   
Reports: Nil
 
Umpires: Farmer, Edwards, Armstrong, B. Ryan
 
Official crowd: Approx. 9513 at Whitten Oval

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2015-02-28/youthful-tigers-downed-by-dogs

[one-eyed]

WHAT WE LEARNED

Richmond: Hard to glean a great deal from the Tigers given the players they had out but the kids are certainly keen to have a crack. Kane Lambert was the best of the rookies with 15 possessions while Taylor Hunt looked good and racked up plenty of the ball, Todd Elton played on Tom Boyd and seems to have embraced a role in defence, and the Tigers' backline built around Jake Batchelor with Alex Rance, Troy Chaplin and David Astbury out stood up well in the first half. Anthony Miles looks set to carry on his impressive 2014 form with a commanding midfield performance
 
NEW FACES

Richmond: Former Cat Taylor Hunt was the most prolific with 18 possessions but mature-aged midfielder Kane Lambert made sure he was noticed with seven touches in the first quarter alone. Another rookie in Jayden Short kicked a nice goal in the first quarter while defender Connor Menadue caught the eye with his incredibly slight frame as he touched the ball five times. Reece McKenzie came on in the third quarter and went to full-forward, where he lined up against Michael Talia. He missed a set shot from directly in front after Mitch Wallis was caught with the ball and didn't do much else. Daniel Butler had five possessions, Nathan Drummond nine touches off half-back and Jason Castagna 12.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-02-28/match-report-dogs-v-tigers