Richmond put a Crows miracle to bedBy Steve Barrett
The Age
March 25, 2023 — 10.03pmRichmond’s first-half ascendancy in the clinches - they ranked 14th in the competition for clearances in 2023 - on the back of a similar strong showing in that department in their opening-night draw against Carlton, suggests prosperous times ahead for the Tigers’ revamped engine room.
And that’s with Martin and Trent Cotchin, both in the conversation for Richmond’s greatest-ever midfielder, having rarely attended a centre bounce across the season’s opening fortnight.
The long-term, off-season addition of prized recruits Hopper and Tim Taranto has transformed Richmond’s on-ball muscle, virtually overnight.
“I thought Hopper was huge and Taranto grew into the game as well,” Hardwick said. “Dion [Prestia] is just a wonderful player and I thought [ruckman] Toby [Nankervis] was terrific.
“We sort of haven’t had those bigger-bodied mids. If you look at the size of Tim [188cm, 87kg] and Jacob [187cm, 88kg], they’re big, strong boys. It’s something that’s been a little bit foreign to us but we’re getting better at it.”
Richmond denied Adelaide’s hard charge for miracle-making history, notching their first win of 2023 after fending off a furious second-half Crows revival.
Adelaide slashed their 45-point half-time deficit to one point at the 12-minute mark of the final quarter and had their gaze firmly affixed on conjuring their biggest come-from-behind victory.
The Tigers, with gun acquisitions Taranto and Hopper prominent and Noah Balta ascendant in the air, awoke from their prolonged slumber to put to rest Adelaide’s ferocious fightback.
Martin exited the match when Darcy Fogarty made it a one-point ballgame before Rhyan Mansell, having just substituted in, ended the Crows’ goal surge with a superb checkside finish against the grain.
Further six-pointers to Trent Cotchin, Samson Ryan, Tom Lynch and Shai Bolton added beef to the final margin.
Hopper shook off a nasty-looking ankle scare in the fourth quarter while backman Broad will certainly face scrutiny from the match review officer after his first-term sling tackle of Parnell left the Crows youngster concussed.
Fogarty goaled inside the opening minute, but the rest of the first half was played overwhelmingly on Richmond’s terms.
Their new-look engine room hummed like the Tigers of Old, leaving Adelaide gasping.
Ranked a lowly 14th in clearances last year, Richmond, as they did in their opening-night draw against Carlton, showcased their overhauled thirst for the centre-square contest.
In the Tigers’ round one draw against Carlton, Taranto filled his boots in a fine debut in the yellow-and-black.
This time it was fellow ex-Giant Hopper who proved the most influential player on the park, particularly in the opening half.
Repeatedly second to the footy, bereft of skills and discipline, unable to fashion the right match-ups and seemingly cooked physically following last Sunday’s taxing loss in the scorching Sydney heat to GWS, the Crows couldn’t have been in a greater mess at half-time.
When they walked off at three-quarter-time, though, they did so to a standing ovation.
Laird, uncharacteristically quiet last week against the Giants, stood mightily tall to lead Adelaide’s fightback.
His interior grunt work allowed the Crows’ exciting tall and small forwards to prosper.
Adelaide’s 5.8-to.1.1 third quarter sliced the deficit to 14 points but by the time they trimmed the margin to one point, as valiant as they had played across the previous 45 minutes, they had nothing left in the tank as Richmond gleefully fashioned a timely second wind.
RYAN FLYIN’Ryan entered Saturday’s clash with one career game - back in 2021 - in which he didn’t collect a single disposal.
A strong pre-season earned the towering forward a belated recall, and he repaid that faith with an early goal - with the first possession of his AFL career.
In the closing stages of that first quarter, Ryan juggled a clever mark and goaled with the second touch of his career to extend the Tigers’ advantage.
Ryan made it three goals from three kicks when he converted in the fourth stanza to help Richmond fight off Adelaide’s ferocious charge.
RACHELE ROCKINGLivewire Josh Rachele spearheaded the Crows’ third-quarter revival with two moments of crowd-wowing brilliance.
With his first act, Rachele received a handball from Lachlan Murphy and finished truly before celebrating with a celebration reminiscent of Tim Cahill’s iconic corner flag punch-a-thon.
Moments later, Rachele wheeled around Nick Vlastuin, snapped over a lunging Liam Baker and upped the celebration ante by making a beeline for the fans in the south-eastern pocket where he delivered some hearty high-fives.
Best: Richmond - Hopper, Taranto, Balta, Prestia, D. Rioli, Nankervis, Baker.
Adelaide - Laird, Sholl, Fogarty, Dawson, Rachele, Walker.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-tigers-put-a-crows-miracle-to-bed-open-their-winning-account-20230325-p5cv7n.html
