A tale of the long Tiger tailMichael Gleeson
The Age
26 April 2016This is what Richmond do. It could be called déjà vu, or it could just be called Richmond in round five.
Last year they were two and four after six rounds and made the finals. The year before it was two and six, and they snuck into eighth.
That history doesn't make the situation they are in now any better, just more frustrating. At best it buys them the entitlement to think they can again turn it around.
It does however breed the idea of a team that requires crisis and an absence of expectation before it performs. It is a team that has played with the sense that only once nothing can be lost is it possible for something to be gained.
The sense of a déjà vu Tiger season should also not surprise because nothing substantially changed at Richmond between seasons to figure that the results would be different.
The only AFL-ready player to come into the club to help improve them was Chris Yarran and he has yet to be sighted and won't be for some time.
No new ruckman was brought in, as no decent improvements were considered to be on the market. Zac Smith's form at Geelong puts paid to that idea.
Damien Hardwick was right when he observed of this of his team's failings: "There are some players we know that can play better that are not playing to the level of expectation. I would love to individualise but the reality is we have too many players at this stage that aren't playing as well as I think they can."
The Tigers' tail is long. Their "bottom six" is a bottom nine or 10 players. Good top eight teams have docked tails.
Some among that long Tiger tail - three from Sunday night being Corey Ellis, Connor Menadue and Daniel Rioli – get a pass on age, promise and the need to invest time and games.
Others – Steven Morris, Jake Batchelor, Troy Chaplin, Jake Townsend and Kane Lambert, for instance – do not get that sort of concession because they have either been around long enough or have been brought in as mature players ready to go.
Morris came back into the side and again the same shortcomings were apparent: he works hard, he is honest and he tries, but teams know to channel attack through his opponent. On Sunday night Jeff Garlett finished with four goals; Morris had six touches, half of them ineffective.
Other players like Kamdyn McIntosh blend as many sloppy moments with those that provide optimism. That is acceptable in a team doing well but when they are playing as Richmond are, you cannot also be choosey about committing to contests.
Richmond re-signed Hardwick in the off-season after conducting a searching reflection on whether he was the right man to take them further. Whether they conducted the same sort of appraisal of the remainder of his coaches' box to decide if he has the right people advising and challenging him is uncertain. If it was done then it might be worthy of review.
Richmond have not yet had Brett Deledio or Yarran. They missed Ivan Maric in the early rounds, Dylan Grimes is a loss and Reece Conca would be considered an absence if it were not for the fact he is seldom ever there.
But the most troubling manpower loss has been among those on the field and the way they have played.
Richmond's defensive game has collapsed. Last year they were hard to score against, but this year they open the door. They have conceded the third most points against this season. Carlton are defending better than the Tigers.
Last year they were the second best team for defending kick-ins, locking the ball in and stopping teams taking it the full length of the ground to score. This year they are the worst team at it.
Last year if they turned the ball over they had defensive mechanisms to stop being hurt on the scoreboard so they were the third best side for conceding scores from turnovers. This year they are third worst.
They simply cannot stop or hold teams up, giving up a goal from 29 per cent of opposition inside 50s, which is the second worst return of any side, better only than Brisbane.
They were a mid-table attacking side last year – ranked eighth for the number of inside 50s they would get compared to their opposition in a game. This year they are the third worst.
So the numbers show they are bad. But it is who has dropped away that is alarming.
Anthony Miles' form was so poor he was dropped to the VFL. He did well last week and earned a recall. On Sunday he was OK.
Shane Edwards missed the round two loss but in his other four games he has not gotten the ball as much as usual and more troubling, his contested possession rate at 6.8 per game is his lowest since 2011. In addition, he is only laying 2.8 tackles a match – his lowest rate since 2012 – suggesting he is not getting inside and earning his own ball as much as he has in the past.
The Tigers have earned the right to think they can turn it around from here. But that is thin consolation.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/recovery-session-a-tale-of-richmond-and-their-long-tail-20160425-goe87p.html
