Tigers in top four as Saints bid final farewell to veteran Nick RiewoldtWarwick Green
The Age
28 August 2017RICHMOND
4.2 11.5 12.7 19.8 (122)
ST KILDA
1.2 4.3 8.6 12.9 (81)
GOALS -
Richmond: Townsend 5, Riewoldt 3, Grigg 3, Butler 2, Martin 2, Prestia 2, Graham, Cotchin.
St Kilda: Gresham 5, Billings 2, Membrey 2, Longer, Bruce, Riewoldt.
BEST -
Richmond: Martin, Astbury, Cotchin, B Ellis, Nankervis, Townsend, Grigg.
St Kilda: Gresham, Billings, Dunstan, Longer, Steele.
UMPIRES: Donlon, Nicholls, Hosking.
CROWD: 69,104 at the MCG.
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This match may well live on in football history as Nick Riewoldt's swansong, but in the context of this season it could well be remembered as the victory that set up Richmond's tilt at a flag.
In Nick Riewoldt's last AFL game it was his younger cousin Jack and his Richmond side that left victorious looking towards the post-season.
While Riewoldt was chaired from the MCG and into retirement, the Tigers were cheered from the MCG and into the top four.
With one major objective realised, Richmond looks capable of ticking off another box by winning its first final since Riewoldt's debut season, back in 2001.
And Tiger fans will desperate hope the club can soon achieve another major goal, by re-signing match-winner Dustin Martin, after he again put in a best-afield performance.
Martin started the match isolated deep in the forward line, but soon pushed up into the fray, where St Kilda afforded him enough space to tear the match open in the first half.
By the time the Saints shifted Koby Stevens on to him as a hard-tag late in the second quarter, the damage had been done.
Martin then began the second half as a midfielder running off the back of the square, and was quickly picked up by Jack Steele, who managed to subdue his influence for a quarter.
But after St Kilda had dragged itself back into the contest by the final change it was Martin who sealed the result with two minutes that showcased his brilliance early in the final term.
First he kicked a running goal with a banana kick, to extend Richmond's lead to 32 points. Moments later he pounced on a loose ball on the wing, gave his opponent a drive-by fend-off and had a bounce before drilling a pass with the outside of his boot to Jacob Townsend, who converted for his fourth goal, killing off the contest.
The Tigers set out their stall early, with a wide open forward line that created opportunities for their runners to
stream into space. They kicked the opening three goals, all of them to smaller forwards who benefited from this set-up.
At the other end of the ground their backline was organised, disciplined and held its shape, and when the Richmond defenders
brought the ball to the ground the Tigers streamed forward in waves, with a frightening pace that has the capacity to carve apart the opposition.
There are those who query the big-stage credentials of the Richmond forward line, but it again functioned well.
With either Martin or Riewoldt playing as the lead-up target, the smaller forwards played further from goal, where they could either sprint forward to score, or work hard to apply pressure and tackle.
Futhermore Townsend proved a handy avenue to goal, getting on to the end of some click ball movement further afield.
Richmond and St Kilda came into this match ranked second and third respectively for tackles in the forward 50, but it was Richmond who dominated this area of the game early.
Mostly it was the crumbers, such as Daniel Rioli, chasing down defenders and forcing panic kicks, which directly created goals for Townsend and Martin. But even resting ruckman Toby Nankervis managed to create the pressure, chasing down the much smaller and faster Mav Weller.
Trent Cotchin was another who kicked a goal courtesy of a superb tackle by the under-rated David Astbury, who wrapped up Jade Grehsam on centre wing.
For the Saints the day was a disappointing way to farewell their champion.
Riewoldt, who has the capacity to exude all the on-field warmth of an Eastern Bloc villain in a Bond movie, had a frustrating day. St Kilda's delivery into its forward half was often diabolical, and he was matched against determined opponents in Astbury and Dylan Grimes.
The highlight was a set-shot goal from 50 metres in the third quarter, which drew hair ruffles from nearly every teammate. The nadir came when he was penalised after being caught in the middle of the ground in a tackle from ninth-gamer Nathan Broad, who then had the temerity to let the veteran know all about, leading to a wrestle on the turf.
St Kilda had few players who clearly won their position, the obvious exception being impressive young forward Gresham, who kicked his team's first three goals and finished with a fifth on the final siren.
Both teams formed a guard of honour for Riewoldt after the match, with teammate Josh Bruce and, cousin Jack Riewoldt, carrying him from the ground.
With Sam Gilbert and Leigh Montagna out of the team injured, Riewoldt took the field without any of his Grand Final teammates alongside him.
But after the match, his wife Catherine and sons James and Will were flanked by several Saints from those 2009-10 teams, such as Lenny Hayes, Brendon Goddard and James Gwilt.
Riewoldt revealed after the match that he did not know how he would feel about heading off into retirement, but was appreciative to have received a text message from Bulldogs skipper Bob Murphy, who assured him that "the sun does come up" the day after your final game.
And for Richmond the sun will definitely come up in September and there is plenty of reason to believe it will shine on the Tigers well into the finals campaign.
VOTESDustin Martin (Rich) 9
David Astbury (Rich) 7
Trent Cotchin (Rich) 7
Jake Gresham (StK) 7
Brandon Ellis (Rich) 7
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-match-preview/tigers-in-top-four-as-saints-bid-final-farewell-to-veteran-nick-riewoldt-20170827-gy58ja.html
