A look at Damien Hardwick’s big headache in defenceYoung Demon Jacob van Rooyen not only took the game away from Richmond on Monday night, he exposed much deeper issues. How did the Tigers get here?
Scott Gullan and Ed Bourke
HeraldSun
April 25, 2023 Richmond’s bold move to plug holes in its midfield has left it leaking in an even more dangerous position.
If there were any Tigers fans who didn’t appreciate how important three-time premiership defender David Astbury was to this team, they should now.
Watching Melbourne’s 20-year-old fourth-gamer Jacob van Rooyen torch Richmond in the final quarter on Monday night was a nightmare waiting to happen.
At the end of 2021, Astbury surprised many by retiring at the age of 30 after 155 games.
Back in 2017 Astbury, Dylan Grimes and Alex Rance were a brick wall which allowed Richmond to unleash a kamikaze game style on the rest of the competition.
Then Rance suddenly walked away from the game, so the Tigers were forced to turn Nathan Broad into a third tall defender, a move which has been a surprising success story.
Ryan Garthwaite was supposed to be the answer and was an emergency for the 2019 grand final team but he was gone two years later after just 14 games.
There was hope the versatile Noah Balta could fill the void, given he stepped up during the 2020 premiership campaign.
The Tigers recruiting staff saw what was happening and three months after Astbury’s retirement announcement they made two decisive moves to fix the problem.
In the 2021 national draft, they took tall defender Josh Gibcus at No.9 and also traded for veteran North Melbourne full-back Robbie Tarrant.
Problem fixed, they figured.
Gibcus showed in 18 games last year that he certainly looks the part but a horrible hamstring injury in the pre-season has meant he is AWOL, while Tarrant can’t seem to get his body right.
He’s now 33 and only played six games for his new club so the jury is well and truly out on that experiment.
Against Melbourne, they were forced to play mature-aged rookie Tylar Young as the third tall defender alongside Balta and Grimes.
He was found wanting as Van Rooyen won the game with three last quarter goals and, with Balta having to be moved into the ruck in the last quarter, the state of the Tigers defence was brought into sharp focus.
With the Tigers season at flashpoint, it’s a headache Damien Hardwick could do without.
https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/afl-round-6-2023-jacob-hopper-says-the-tigers-will-relish-the-chance-to-correct-their-form-against-melbourne/news-story/cbb9ba551f421c2e9c1bde726d75a63e
