VFL R12: Richmond vs Northern Bullants @ Preston City Oval, Sat. July 3

[The Machine]

Stack, Parker, D Rioli and Martyn all good.
I would still look at Miller for a block of games. The frees are a disaster but we don't help ourselves as we are so sloppy.
Big Samson had a decent game.

[The Machine]

Mansell also good

[HKTigerB]

Stack, Parker, D Rioli and Martyn all good.
I would still look at Miller for a block of games. The frees are a disaster but we don't help ourselves as we are so sloppy.
Big Samson had a decent game.

Samson monstered their ruckman, so he started jumping early, leg out and denying Samson access to the ball, play on.  Lachie Street covers for Samson for 5 mins, puts his shoulder in the the Preston ruckman and wins a tap.  Blocking.  Free Kick Preston.  Numpties are numpties.

[Diocletian]

Parker good lmao....

[Francois Jackson]

He isnt good dio but have you seen our soft we have become? What choice do we have? Continue to play george, ross, chol, etc

[Diocletian]

Oh I'd still give him a crack at this point nonetheless ...would at least play him ahead of George for sure....couldn't do any worse...

[one-eyed]

VFL Tigers push Bullants all the way

By Brenton Mann
AFL Media
3 July 2021

Richmond VFL's Round 12 clash with the Northern Bullants at Preston City Oval was a throwback to yesteryear and inner-suburban footy on a wintery Saturday afternoon.

The Bullants, buoyed by their win over arch-rivals Carlton the week prior, made it two successive wins at home, outlasting Richmond 8.7 (55) to 5.12 (42).

The opening quarter was highly contested, with both sides aiming to win the ball on the inside and surge it forward with speed, attempting to lock it in their front-half.

The ball lived between the arcs for large chunks of the first quarter, with both sides searching for open targets inside 50.

Derek Eggmolesse-Smith enjoyed his positional change to a wing, sweeping back well to provide cover inside Richmond’s defensive 50 and then got involved in forays forward.

Tigers Daniel Rioli and Sydney Stack also spread hard from the back-half, but it was Daniel’s cousin Maurice who provided the highlight of the first quarter.

With the ball bubbling around in the centre square, Rioli received a lightning handball from Ryan Garthwaite and with clear grass between he and the goals, he flicked into high gear.

A trio of Bullants chased but to no avail, Rioli slammed the ball through for the Tigers’ opening major.

Northern kicked back-to-back goals towards the back end of the quarter, taking a 15-point lead into quarter-time.

Rhyan Mansell was another defender who provided spunk and spark, stiff in his defensive actions and proactive by hand and foot.

The second quarter mirrored the first in the sense that the ball pinged between the arcs and both sides had high numbers at the contest.

Richmond kicked the first goal of the quarter via the booming right-boot of dashing wingman, Hugo Ralphsmith.

The Tigers transferred the ball to the outer wing where Ralphsmith gathered the bouncing ball, fought through a tackle, and slammed the ball in hope onto his right boot from 60 metres out.

The ball carried on the breeze, clearing the desperate hands of the Bullants defenders in the goal square and cleared the goal line.

Northern hit back soon after, restoring its 13-point lead.

Richmond got the game back on its terms for the last half of the second quarter, locking the ball in its front-half and stifling the Bullants’ ball movement.

Bigoa Nyuon had a direct hand in the Tigers’ third major after deftly guiding the ball down to Steve Morris who flicked to the ball to a surging Eggmolesse-Smith, who pierced the ball onto the chest of Dylan Cook.

Cook found himself in space inside 50, judged the wind blowing across his right shoulder and converted his set-shot.

Northern’s lead was cut to four points by the main break, with the Tigers hot on its heels.

Maurice Rioli was stalking Northern defenders, forcing turnovers inside 50, Daniel Rioli, Stack and Eggmolesse-Smith were cat-like and dynamic with their ball movement and Richmond started to swarm the Bullants.

It took 15 minutes for the opening goal to be kicked in the third term and unfortunately for Richmond, it was kicked by the Bullants.

As was the case for the previous two quarters, both sides were staunch defensively and proved hard to penetrate.

The Tigers pressured the ball carrier at every opportunity but again struggled to inject rhythm and flow into their ball movement.

Kicking with the wind, Northern added two more goals for the quarter and held Richmond goalless.

To be victorious, Richmond would have to overcome a four-goal deficit with the wind in the final quarter.

The Bullants kicked the all important first goal of the final term and led by a game-high five goals.

The goal against stung the Tigers into action as they forced the ball forward at will and gained reward for effort inside 50.

Samson Ryan marked strongly on the lead and converted a tough set-shot, dragging the deficit back to 19 points.

Shortly after, Ryan Garthwaite trapped a Northern defender and was justly rewarded with a free kick.

Garthwaite didn’t waste any time, setting sail from the paint of 50 as the ball sailed through at goal post height.

The margin was 13 points with under five minutes to play.

Richmond kept the pressure on but ultimately couldn’t pile on the goals to reign in the deficit.

BULL: 3.3 4.3 7.7 8.7 (55)

RICH: 1.0 3.5 3.7 5.12 (42)

Goals:
Richmond: M.Rioli (1), Ralphsmith (1), Cook (1), Ryan (1), Garthwaite (1)

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/970295

[one-eyed]

Richmond VFL playing coach, Steve Morris, provides a summary of how the Tigers’ players performed in last Saturday's loss to the Northern Bullants.

Matthew Parker (31 disposals, 11 tackles, 11 inside-50s)

"Was sensational for us on the weekend. Had 11 tackles and was hard and tough inside, and also led our contested possession count."

Sydney Stack (29 disposals, four tackles, six rebound-50s)

"Sydney had 29 disposals. He was really important for us and our link-up play. When he's up and firing, he's a super important player for us."

Will Martyn (27 disposals, seven tackles, seven marks)

"Will has been really important for us from a contested point of view lately, but it was good to see him start to get a little bit more contested ball and develop that side of his game."

Rhyan Mansell (26 disposals, six marks, four rebound-50s)

"You know what you're going to get from Rhyan. He was very strong defensively, but it was also pleasing to see him have a great offensive output on the day."

Daniel Rioli (26 disposals, seven marks, five tackles)

"Daniel spent time once again across half-back and is learning a new role. His physicality was really strong on the day and he's starting to get better starting points. He certainly is playing above the level at this stage.'

Derek Eggmolesse-Smith (19 disposals, three tackles, three inside-50s)

"Derek played wing for the majority of the game on the weekend. His work rate to outnumber and his voice out on the field was sensational, ensuring that we were set up in the correct structures which was pleasing to see."

Hugo Ralphsmith (18 disposals, seven marks, four inside-50s, one goal)

"Played well on the weekend. He used his speed on a number of occasions. His development is very important to us as he offers us something different."

Ben Miller (16 disposals, seven marks)

"Ben was very good one-on-one on the weekend. He probably let himself down in a couple of contests but overall he's developing really nicely and his skills by foot certainly stand out."

Noah Cumberland (13 disposals, three marks)

"Found a little bit more of the footy on the weekend. His contest work was great, we'd just like to see him finish off a little bit better in front of goals and with the footy in hand."

Bigoa Nyuon (13 disposals, seven marks, three rebound-50s)

"Found the footy a little bit on the weekend. Probably needed to tidy up his set-ups around stoppage in the back half, but when he's near the footy, he does really impact the play and he's developing nicely."

Samson Ryan (12 disposals, six marks, 33 hit-outs, one goal)

"It was a really good opportunity for Samson to focus on his ruck work against a seasoned ruckman, as he hasn't spent much time in the ruck all year and will be required to do so."

Ryan Garthwaite (seven disposals, eight tackles, one goal)

"Battled his backside off on the weekend. He probably didn't get the reward on the scoreboard that he was after, but he put a lot of pressure on for us up forward with eight tackles, and his work in the air was really important for us."

Maurice Rioli Jnr (six disposals, six tackles, one goal)

"Didn't quite have the impact that we would like him to have. We need to continue to find ways to bring him into the game as he's an extremely exciting player, which was highlighted by his goal of the day showing his blistering speed."

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/973444/vfl-report-round-12