Media articles & stats: Tigers disappoint in final home game loss to St Kilda

[one-eyed]

Tigers disappoint in final home game

richmondfc.com.au
21 August 2016

Three of the game’s last four goals were scant consolation for the Tiger Army, who endured a low-scoring, nine-point defeat at the hands of St Kilda at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

Callum Moore’s first AFL goal on his league debut at the 25-minute mark of the last term, and another to Kane Lambert moments later, got the Tigers to their closest deficit since the early stages of the second term as the final siren sounded.

The rest of the match didn’t reach any great heights as a spectacle as the ball movement into the Richmond forward line lacked conviction and space, allowing St Kilda to control the game, rebounding and possessing the ball in their forward half for the majority.

Daniel Rioli (16 possessions, four tackles and six goals) was a shining light for the home side and must be in Rising Star contention this week, while Dustin Martin again tried hard, but didn’t have his usual impact. 

Eleven Tigers didn't lay a tackle in the first half in a performance that would have earned them the wrath of the coach at the main break.

They emerged with a renewed purpose after half-time, but it was not enough to deliver four points ahead of a trip to the SCG to face the Sydney Swans in their final game of the season.

Both coaches came good on their promise to turn their teams over in the final two rounds, giving fringe players opportunities to prove themselves.

For Richmond, young tall Callum Moore made his debut and defender Todd Elton played his first game this season and just his second in five years on the Tigers' list.

Moore, the seventh debutant for the Tigers in 2016, was starved of opportunities and finished with three marks and one goal.

Elton, meanwhile, kicked the opening goal of the match and had a mixed day, taking a courageous mark in attack and finishing with 10 possessions.

The first half was a nightmare for the Tigers, as the Saints went into attack 28 times to 12 to take a 21-point lead – which flattered the Tigers – into the main break.

The slow, cautious approach of the first half was flipped on its head in the third quarter, however, as midfielders Martin (31 possessions and seven inside 50s) and Trent Cotchin (28 and four clearances) and young forward Daniel Rioli (16 and two goals) drove a fightback.

Still, the Tigers couldn't capitalise kicking 1.4 from 15 inside 50s, leaving them with too much work to do in the final term.

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RICHMOND       2.1      2.5      3.9       6.10      (46)                 
ST KILDA          3.5      5.8      5.10     7.13      (55)         

GOALS
Richmond: Rioli 2, Elton, Riewoldt, Moore, Lambert
St Kilda: McCartin 2, Membrey 2, Gresham, Riewoldt, Billings

BEST
Richmond: Martin, Rance, Vlastuin, Rioli, Lambert
St Kilda: Ross, Montagna, Newnes, Steven, Acres, Riewoldt

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
St Kilda: McCartin (broken collarbone)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Matt Stevic, Curtis Deboy, Shaun Ryan

Official crowd: 35,255 at the MCG

Ian Stewart Medal voting:

9 votes -  S. Ross (St Kilda)
6 votes - L. Montagna (St Kilda)
2 votes - D. Martin (Richmond)
1 vote - D. Roberton (St Kilda)

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2016-08-20/round-22-match-report

[one-eyed]

Saints win ugly over lacklustre Tigers

Sam Edmund
Herald Sun
21 August 2016

RICHMOND was strolling the Las Vegas strip.

Or they might have been on the Bintangs in Bali, hitting the ca-sinos in Hong Kong or partying on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip.

Wherever they were, they weren’t at the MCG playing St Kilda in the first half on Saturday.

This may have been a Round 22 game that meant next to nothing, but the glaring problem for the Tigers was that they played like it in a day-dreamy first hour and St Kilda did not.

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick is a man under pressure, yet his blood would have been boiling behind the glass in the second tier of the Olympic Stand.

And chief recruiter Francis Jackson should be given a clear mandate this off-season — don’t even think about recruiting a kid who can’t kick a Sherrin. Because this keep-ball, possession-based game plan can’t be carried out by this group of players.

St Kilda’s slim finals hopes may have been snuffed out by a ruthless Sydney last week. While they had their own significant distribution issues here, the Saints at least maintained a level of desire and effort for four quarters and it got them their 11th win — 7.13 (55) to 6.10 (46).

This was one for the forgettable files. The Saints dominated the first half and were wasteful and the Tigers dominated the third quarter and had their moments in the fourth, but were also wasteful.

At quarter-time St Kilda had 3.5 to show for a whopping 17 inside 50s, while the Tigers had scrounged 2.1 from a paltry four entries.
Blake Acres. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy) NO

By halftime St Kilda was dominating that count 28-11. Richmond had laid only 18 tackles in a half, with 11 players yet to apply one. Then there was the fact they’d managed just 2.5 in a half of football after a goalless second term.

The Tigers were down by 21 points at the main break, but how it wasn’t 61 might go down as a minor miracle. There was no want to run, they were slow to react, slow to move, dropped simple marks and there were numerous looping forward handballs to teammates under pressure.

Dustin Martin was tagged out of it by Seb Ross and in a rare quiet one, Richmond’s prime mover had only 13 touches — four contested with only one clearance — to halftime. Ross had 15.

On the opposite side, Jack Steven had Kane Lambert for company, but put him to the sword with 16 and four inside 50s. Dylan Roberton was feasting on Richmond’s indecision in the air across halfback and Leigh Montagna was running amok at his feet.

But they were no oil-painting, the Saints, just ask Sam Gilbert’s wonky left boot. Their wastefulness was nearly as galling as Richmond’s non-competitiveness.

If Hardwick didn’t strip paint off the wall at halftime, Alex Rance yanked his teammates in for some stern words before the start of the third quarter.

The response was telling. Todd Elton started taking grabs, Martin came to life after moving forward, Sam Lloyd had an impact and the Tigers had laid 10 tackles in the first 10 minutes after 18 in the first hour.

Yet like St Kilda in the first half, they huffed and puffed and didn’t cash-in. Fifteen inside 50s to 9 and complete dominance resulted in just 1.4 and a third quarter they won by only eight points.

It was St Kilda’s first win over the Tigers since 2010. The only negative was yet another injury to Paddy McCartin. St Kilda’s luckless young forward kicked two early goals before suffering a suspected broken collarbone in a clash with Nick Vlastuin.
Paddy McCartin. Picture: Colleen Petch.

RICHMOND 6.10 (46)

ST KILDA 7.13 (55)

GOALS

Richmond: Rioli 2, Elton, Riewoldt, Moore, Lambert

St Kilda: McCartin 2, Membrey 2, Gresham, Riewoldt, Billings

BEST

Richmond: Martin, Rance, Vlastuin, Rioli, Lambert

St Kilda: Ross, Montagna, Newnes, Steven, Acres, Riewoldt

INJURIES

Richmond: Nil

St Kilda: McCartin (broken collarbone)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Matt Stevic, Curtis Deboy, Shaun Ryan

Official crowd: 35,255 at the MCG

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/st-kilda/st-kilda-defeats-richmond-by-nine-points-in-a-forgettable-round-22-clash-at-the-mcg/news-story/2d3c9660b44aed24948757106e30bbf3

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McCartin breaks collarbone in win against Richmond

Larissa Nicholson
The Age
21 August 2016

ST KILDA      3.5      5.8      5.10      7.13     (55)
RICHMOND   2.1      2.5      3.9      6.10     (46)

GOALS -
St Kilda:  McCartin 2,  Membrey 2,  Billings, Gresham,  Riewoldt.
Richmond:  Rioli 2, Moore, Riewoldt, Lambert,  Elton.

BEST -
St Kilda: Ross, Riewoldt, Montagna, Newnes, Acres.
Richmond: Martin, Cotchin, Houli, Rance, Rioli

UMPIRES Ryan, Stevic, Deboy.

CROWD 35,255 at the MCG.

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Paddy McCartin has cemented his standing as one of the unluckiest AFL players of 2016, breaking his collarbone early in St Kilda's match against Richmond at the MCG.

But despite losing the talented young player, the Saints beat an uninspired Tigers outfit 7.13.55 to 6.10.46.

It may have been a particularly close season, but this was a game that highlighted the difference in consistency and endeavour between the top-eight teams and the rest.

And although few teams have been more thoroughly analysed this year, Richmond's performance in the first half would do nothing to silence agitators who say big changes are needed at Punt Road.

A No.1 draft pick in 2014, McCartin started the game well, playing on one of the league's best defenders in Alex Rance.

The tall forward took a strong contested mark and had kicked two goals before clashing with the Tigers' Nick Vlastuin and leaving the ground clutching his right shoulder.

It was later confirmed on the boundary by St Kilda coach Alan Richardson that McCartin had broken his collarbone, another blow for the unlucky 20-year-old who had played just 10 games this year after getting concussed on three separate occasions.

The Tigers played well last week, only to allow Geelong to kick six goals to run away from them in the last quarter – and that was against a top-four team.

Against St Kilda they were lacklustre. Both teams made far too many skills errors, but Richmond in the first half showed an unwillingness to push themselves, to run hard, to contest and tackle.

The pace of the game was so meandering, the quality to underwhelming, that when the half-time siren sounded with the Saint 21-points up the 35,255-strong crowd did not bother raising a cheer.

Whatever coach Damien Hardwick told his team at half-time to put a rocket under them it worked, at least a little.

Jack Riewoldt was nowhere, managing just six possessions and did not lay a tackle or score in the first half – but within two minutes of the third quarter he kicked a goal.

Unfortunately for the Tigers he left the ground under the blood rule soon after with a suspected split lip.

Medical staff stitched him up but he missed more than 10 minutes of play.

The momentum had nonetheless swung a little in Richmond's favour, but like St Kilda in the first half, for the rest of the quarter they struggled to turn inside-50s into major scores.

Sam Lloyd, Todd Elton, Shaun Grigg and Brandon Ellis all missed shots at goal for the Tigers, one goal and four points for the team's 15 inside-50s.

St Kilda's Sebastian Ross was a force through the centre throughout the game and managed to restrict the impact of Richmond star Dustin Martin early on.

But he missed a set shot in the third, when the Saints got two points from nine entries.

Although showing a bit more spark after the main break, the Tigers were never quite convincing.

St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt set the tone in the final quarter with a goal in the opening minutes, but Richmond youngster Daniel Rioli returned the favour with a lovely snap shot goal out of contest.

Rioli worked hard all day and moments like that from a player at the start of his career would give hope to Richmond fans some hope for the 2017 season.

But Tigers' skipper Trent Cotchin went off with the blood rule and St Kilda's Josh Bruce launched a long, centring kick into the the Saints' goal square and Jack Billings got a toe to the ball to put the team three goals in front.

Senior players Dustin Martin, Bachar Houli and Cotchin, when he returned to the ground, saw a lot of the ball as the clock ran down.

Callum Moore and Kane Lambert gave them two more major scores in the dying seconds, but despite Richmond's late surge St Kilda won by nine points.

St Kilda have a good opportunity to finish the season with another win next week, when they play Brisbane at Etihad Stadium.

Richmond face a stern challenge with ladder leaders Sydney at the SCG.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-match-report/st-kildas-paddy-mccartin-breaks-collarbone-against-richmond-20160820-gqxaoe