AFL Report Card: Round 17Max Laughton, Ben Waterworth, Ben Cotton and David Zita
Foxsports
12 July 2021RICHMONDThe Tigers will be licking their wounds after coughing up a five-goal lead against the Magpies to slump to their fourth-straight defeat. Yes, they are missing some big names due to injury, including Noah Balta, Bachar Houli, Nathan Broad (all syndesmosis), Shane Edwards (ankle), Kane Lambert (hip/calf), Nankervis, Nick Vlastuin (both knee) and Dion Prestia (hamstring). But what will disappoint Richmond fans is that when Collingwood challenged them, they laid down and showed no fight. It puts not just their flag defence but also their finals chances in peril.
In the votesJayden Short (31 disposals at 83 per cent efficiency, 841 metres gained) was Richmond’s best, taking more ownership of kicking duties out of defence in Houli’s absence. Liam Baker (19 disposals, two goals) and Shai Bolton (26 disposals, one goal) were solid, while Tom Lynch booted a team-high three majors.
Room for improvementStill without Nankervis and coming up against dual All-Australian ruckman Grundy, it was no surprise that the Tigers got smashed in several key midfield areas, including disposals (-97), contested possessions (-25), clearances (-5) and inside 50s (-4). And as they have shown in the past, it mattered not for three quarters, able to play their normal scoring off turnover game. But it might be time for Damien Hardwick to retool their game plan, particularly considering they were scored so heavily against in the fourth quarter — conceding seven goals and putting through just one of their own.
GradeD-
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