Media articles & stats: Tigers survive Bomber raid to take Dreamtime honours

[one-eyed]

Tigers survive Bomber raid to take Dreamtime honours

AFL.com.au
Callum Twomey
May 25, 2019 9:57PM

RICHMOND:   1.2   4.7   8.11   10.13 (66)
ESSENDON:   0.3   1.7   2.10   6.14 (50)

GOALS
Richmond: Lynch 2, Castagna 2, Higgins 2, Baker, Prestia, Bolton, Rioli
Essendon: Langford 3, Begley, Laverde, Bellchambers

BEST
Richmond: Houli, Martin, Edwards, Baker, Prestia, Vlastuin
Essendon: Parish, Heppell, Bellchambers, Shiel

INJURIES
Richmond: Lynch (leg)
Essendon: Jake Stringer (hamstring), Shiel (hamstring)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Donlon, Foot, Meredith

Official crowd: 80,176 at the MCG

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IF RICHMOND could have picked a night to play without a ruckman, it was this one.

The Tigers entered Saturday night's Dreamtime at the 'G clash against Essendon missing first-choice big man Toby Nankervis through injury and suspended back-up Ivan Soldo.

But with teeming rain for the first half at the MCG, and slippery conditions thereafter, any advantage the Bombers could have enjoyed in the dry was gone.

And it left the Tigers, armed with a fleet of small forwards, a strong-bodied midfield and a dependable back half, to run away with a strong 22-point win.

Conditions suited the Tigers as much as they hurt the Bombers in the 10.12 (72) to 6.14 (50) victory, which was Richmond's sixth win from its past seven games.

The Tigers' front half was dominated by smalls, with Jack Higgins, Daniel Rioli, Jason Castagna, Shai Bolton and Liam Baker proving dangerous in the wet throughout the contest. They combined for seven goals, but also applied 21 tackles. 

Essendon, meanwhile, had a forward line of markers, headed by Shaun McKernan and Aaron Francis, and Jake Stringer before his hamstring injury in the second quarter.

Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti was Essendon's main option at ground level, but the livewire was quiet, continuing his run of being goalless in every Bombers defeat this year.

Richmond's ability to mop up the ball in their back half and sweep it forward was best represented by the performance of Bachar Houli, who was best afield for the Tigers as they cemented themselves among the top rung of contenders despite a long injury list.

The running half-back collected 37 disposals and was dominant in setting up the Tigers, while midfielders Dustin Martin (35 disposals, seven clearances), Shane Edwards (26) and Dion Prestia (25) were excellent.

Darcy Parish was Essendon's standout. The No.5 draft pick pieced together a career-best tally of 31 disposals (and eight clearances), was tough and clean, and showed why he should play in the Bombers' midfield on a full-time basis instead of across half-forward where he is often used.

Tom Bellchambers, as expected, dominated the ruck battle with 40 hit-outs against Tigers first-gamer Callum Coleman-Jones and newcomer Noah Balta, but the Bombers didn't capitalise on that.

Captain Dyson Heppell (26 disposals) was solid while Kyle Langford chipped in with three second-half goals, but the defeat was worsened by hamstring injuries to Stringer and star recruit Dylan Shiel.

Richmond held Essendon to its third goalless first quarter of the season, but the Tigers weren't much better, booting the only major of the term at the 10-minute mark.

Martin got off to a flyer early, but the Bombers midfield, steered by Heppell, who gathered 11 touches in the opening quarter, wrestled back control around the ball.

Parish's grunt work was excellent in the second term in powering the Bombers forward from the stoppages, but the Tigers' miserly defence proved too hard to penetrate and they led by 18 at the main break.

The Tigers kicked the first four goals of the third quarter, with Essendon's second goal of the game arriving at the 28-minute mark of the term.

Essendon came home with a flurry of goals, getting to within 15 points of the Tigers with eight minutes to play. But the Bombers gave themselves too much to do and, now perched at 4-6, their season might tell a similar story at its close.

MEDICAL ROOM
Richmond: Tom Lynch missed the last quarter with what appeared to be a leg issue.

Essendon: Stringer left the field in the second term with a left hamstring complaint and didn't return. His likely absence will add to the mass of injuries to the Bombers' forward line, which is already missing Joe Daniher (groin), Devon Smith (knee) and Orazio Fantasia (quad). Dylan Shiel received treatment in the changerooms early in the fourth term and missed the last quarter with a suspected hamstring concern.

NEXT UP
Richmond will be expected to continue its winning run next Friday night when it plays North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium. Essendon faces arch rival Carlton at the MCG on Sunday, with the Blues a bogey team for the Bombers in recent years.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-05-25/match-report-richmond-v-essendon

[one-eyed]

Injury-hit Dons count cost of Dreamtime loss

Sam Edmund,
Herald Sun
26 May 2019

Few teams surge like Richmond.

Add water and it’s like trying to stop a steamroller on rollerskates.

Hours of driving rain turned this Dreamtime game into a soggy slog and the Tiger machine purrs in the wet.

In what was a one-percenter exhibition, there were knock-ons, taps to advantage, smothers, and kicks off the ground in a relentless performance that overwhelmed Essendon.

We sound like a broken record, but the Richmond smalls were a constant threat in a game where the ball was always on the deck.

The Essendon forward half just didn’t have the same venom and looked top-heavy. Aaron Francis, Shaun McKernan, Josh Begley, Jayden Laverde struggled to apply the same pressure and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti was anonymous.

Yet as the rain stopped and the ground dried out, the Dons caught fire with five of the last seven goals of the game to slash a 43-point deficit late in the third to 22 at the final siren.

John Worsfold had flipped the magnet board upside down, but he’d left it too late.

To salt the wound and a fourth loss in their last five games, Jake Stringer and Dylan Shiel both strained hamstrings and will miss games.

In what has become an injury nightmare, Stringer and Shiel join Joe Daniher, Devon Smith and Orazio Fantasia on the sidelines.

STACKS ON

Sydney Stack has become a Richmond cult hero because his amazing backstory has been followed by instinctive acts, a hard edge and athletic brilliance at AFL level.

He only endeared himself more to his fans when he threw himself into the Tigers’ Dreamtime at the ‘G War Cry.

Members of the Korin Gamadji Institute found themselves with an unexpected leader when the Richmond defender joined in, running towards the Essendon players.

THE RAIN

You don’t see conditions like this too often anymore.

The heavens opened at the MCG late in the afternoon and the rain was falling steadily by the time the ball was bounced.

The bog heaps are forever consigned to history, but this is as wet and slippery as it gets for the modern-day player.

It finally stopped at halftime, but it made for a simplified game — flat hands, body lining the ball and long kicks.

“PRACTICAL UMPIRING”

Despite near-constant rain and very wet conditions, we got a deliberate out of bounds fest at the MCG.

With the ball sliding off the boot at all angles, the umpires weren’t in the mood for leniency, or what AFL boss Gillon McLachlan would term “practical umpiring”.

Instead, they penalised players six times for deliberate in the first half alone.

There were some harsh calls among that lot, but they were also largely consistent, which is all the players want.


BELLCHAMBERS V THE HYPHEN

A big-bodied, 11-season veteran against a teenager making his AFL debut.

Tom Bellchambers just had to dominate Callum Coleman Jones and he did, while also getting the better of Noah Balta at the stoppages.

If he wasn’t taking the ball out of the ruck, Bellchambers was palming with precision, with 17 hit-outs to advantage to two by half way through the second term.

The Tigers often deployed an extra midfielder at ball ups and boundary throw-ins in an attempt to blunt the Essendon big man’s dominance.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/dylan-shiel-and-jake-stringer-suffer-hamstring-injuries-as-richmond-holds-off-essendon-charge/news-story/2743ffdaf0529ce750d62f8409d38bea

[one-eyed]

Too little too late from Essendon as Richmond live the dream

Peter Ryan
The Age
26 May 2019

Relentless Richmond rolled back into the top four – for the time being at least – with a 23-point win over Essendon in the Dreamtime at the 'G match at the MCG on Saturday night.

The Tigers took advantage of the wet conditions to dominate the game whenever the ball slid along the ground, their fleet of small goalkickers too slick for the Bombers, which seemed to enjoy the wet conditions in the first half as much as an old man fixing a gutter during a downpour.

Richmond received a fright when Essendon surged late in the game to kick five of the final seven goals of the game but it was too little too late and Richmond rallied with a Brandon Ellis tackle killing the contest and a Dan Rioli goal ending it.

A hamstring injury to Jake Stringer before half time didn't help the Bombers' mood, which was already bleak, with with only Darcy Parish, Michael Hurley and Tom Bellchambers effective in their resistance.

It became worse still when Dylan Shiel suffered a soft tissue injury late in the game while Dyson Heppell copped a corkie that hampered him throughout the second half.

Richmond defender Bachar Houli was damaging off half back surging the ball forward for the small forwards to slide and crawl and disrupt as Tom Lynch – who was off the ground with a sore knee in the final quarter – halved every contest and brought the ball to ground.

As the Tigers opened up a 43-point lead during the third quarter, Essendon seemed to lose all confidence, appearing slow to release the ball as Richmond's pressure rattled them into mistake after mistake.

Despite having three club champions in Trent Cotchin, Alex Rance and Jack Riewoldt in the stands, the Tigers remain strong and bold with Shane Edwards proving the best stand in captain since Easton Wood took the Bulldogs to a flag and Dustin Martin finding a patch of vintage form as they recorded their ninth consecutive win over Essendon.

Amid the puddles and splashing emerged the players who most exhibit child-like exuberance when they play.

Richmond's Jack Higgins is the poster boy of such players, his courageous smother and follow-up helping him kick the game's first goal.

In the second quarter it was Liam Baker's time to turn the Bombers' defenders inside out, crumbing a ground ball, wandering past his opponents and snapping a goal as audacious as his hairstyle. In the wet conditions it was those plays at ground level that gave the Tigers an advantage as the Bombers were missing smalls.

Deliberate umpire

Four free kicks were paid penalising players for deliberate out of bounds (or showing insufficient intent to keep it in as the modern terminology) in the first quarter as umpires made it clear to the players the boundary line would not provide refuge in the wet conditions.

Not only did it increase the degree of difficulty for the players but it gave the crowd something to yell about in the cold conditions. By half-time it was six with a deliberate paid against Zach Merrett in the second quarter when he kicked the ball off the ground and it screwed off the side of his boot to cross the line cruel given the conditions.

Jason Castagna managed to goal from the seventh free kick when Adam Saad pushed the ball across the line early in the third quarter. No-one could argue it wasn't a consistent application of the rules but it seemed akin to junior football at times.

Wet 'n' Wild

With rain rare and a stadium with a roof such wet conditions as prevailed on Saturday night are increasingly rare. It made the game a relic, with the footy rushed forward at every opportunity and easy chest marks spilled as the football became as easy to catch as a fish. However, Essendon's Darcy Parish revelled in the conditions to show the Bombers they should not be mucking around in re-signing him. Forget his size, he has class and courage.

RICHMOND: 1.2 4.7 8.11 10.13 (66)
ESSENDON: 0.3 1.7 2.10 6.14 (50)

GOALS
Richmond: Lynch 2, Castagna 2, Higgins 2, Baker, Prestia, Bolton, Rioli
Essendon: Langford 3, Begley, Laverde, Bellchambers

BEST
Richmond: Houli, Martin, Baker, Higgins, Edwards, Prestia, Ellis
Essendon: Parish, Bellchambers, Hurley, Heppell, Hooker

INJURIES
Richmond: TBC
Essendon: Jake Stringer (hamstring), Shiel (hamstring)

Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Foot, Meredith
Official crowd: 80,176 at the MCG

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/too-little-too-late-from-essendon-as-richmond-live-the-dream-20190525-p51r5z.html

[Slipper]

In what has become an injury nightmare, Stringer and Shiel join Joe Daniher, Devon Smith and Orazio Fantasia on the sidelines.

Oh, poor Bombers, I feel really sorry for them.