Tigers vs Freo game thread

[one-eyed]

The AFL site is tipping Freo....


WHO WILL WIN AND WHY
Richmond is one of the form teams of the competition at the moment, but Fremantle has been the surprise packet of the year. Fremantle has historically struggled on the road - and especially at Etihad Stadium - but has already beaten Essendon and Carlton there this year. You would expect the visitors to be too strong through the midfield, making it tough for the Tigers to supply enough ball to Riewoldt for a winning score.

PREDICTION
Fremantle by 15 points


Full preview here:
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/97716/default.aspx

[wayne]

Things are certainly going our way early. No Barlow, Tarrant and Fyfe (rate that kid highly). 

Riewoldt looks like he only has to contend with Silvagni or McPhee. He should be too good for either of them. If Griff gets McPhee, Griff should take him deep and use his height.

If we can dominate the middle (ruck aside) we're in with a very good show.

P.S. I hope someone breaks Ballantyne's face as well.

[Smokey]

P.S. I hope someone breaks Ballantyne's face as well.

Ditto.  I'm very quickly coming to dislike him as intensely as I dislike Milne.

[wayne]

Sportal tipping us again...

WE THINK:The Tigers are full of confidence and with that in mind a win against an undermanned Fremantle is not out of the question. In fact, the Tigers have won three of the past four matches between the sides and with Fremantle's historically poor record at Etihad Stadium, despite two wins there this season against Carlton and Essendon, this one shapes as an intriguing contest. Again, all eyes will be on Riewoldt and with injuries in mind, if the Dockers can't find a suitable matchup, their makeshift defence will be in for a tough afternoon. Still, the word consistency - one rarely used down at Fremantle in their 16 year history - has been a feature of this talented, young side in 2010, with the 36-point loss to Collingwood at Subiaco in Round 8 the only real poor performance of note. As to whether the Dockers can cover for Barlow, who's been nothing short of a revelation this year, remains to be seen. He's led their possession count in seven of 14 matches so his absence cannot be understated. The head says Fremantle but the feeling is the Tigers are riding some sort of wave at the moment and for their sake we won't jump off until it comes to an inevitable screeching halt. In a tight one Richmond by 12 points.

http://sportal.com.au/afl-match-preview-display/preview-richmond-v-fremantle-94488

[the_boy_jake]

We should be able to win this.

Dockers short down back where we are starting to get a system gelling.
Dockers down their best mid this season.
No real goal kicking target other than Pav. Others might be required down back.
Freo in Melbourne

We just need to win 40-50% of the stoppages. Obviously Sandilands will get the lion's share of the hitouts. Against Sydney in the middle period where we were getting smashed, Pyke and co were killing us

[one-eyed]

Taz unlikely to take on Tigers
By Nathan Schmook
1:00 PM Thu 08 July, 2010


FREMANTLE will make a point of protecting its defenders this week with star full-back Chris Tarrant unlikely to take on Richmond sharpshooter Jack Riewoldt at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
 
Coach Mark Harvey said Tarrant, who didn’t train on Wednesday night and is struggling with an achilles injury, was likely to join key defenders Antoni Grover (hamstring) and Luke McPharlin (knee) on the sidelines.
 
Riewoldt leads the Coleman Medal race with 53 goals and has benefited from improved inside-50 numbers in the Tigers’ past four wins, with Damien Hardwick’s side going into attack more than 50 times a game.

“We've looked at their supply over the past month,” Harvey said from Fremantle Oval on Thursday. “Their younger players are really starting to make the most of their opportunities and really establishing themselves in the team.

“And then on top of that they've got their big boy down there that's probably in the best form of any forward in the competition.

“(But) it's what you do before the ball comes down that's important… how much pressure you can put on up the field.”

Harvey said Fremantle had options to cover for its trio of injured key defenders, with Michael Johnson and Alex Silvagni in the side and All-Australian centre half-back Adam McPhee primed for a return to defence.

The coach said Fremantle had put a lot of time into preparing for the 195cm Riewoldt, who is listed as 2cm taller than cousin, St Kilda star Nick.

“He's got a different physique that probably suggests he's not as tall as Nick, but he actually plays tall,” Harvey said.

“He travels, he tries to work his opponent over (and) his timing is spot on at the moment. He's one grab and he's getting really good supply.

“I think as more time progresses with him and the more study that goes into him - and we've put a lot of study into him - the more you have to keep finding different avenues about the way you want to play football.

“We'd like to think we can continue on in that area but we understand we might have to support [our defence] a bit more.”

Harvey also confirmed Nat Fyfe (concussion) won’t play, with a host of young players in line for selection, including Nick Suban, Clancee Pearce, Tim Ruffles and Jesse Crichton, who is yet to debut.
 
Senior players Byron Schammer and Steven Dodd are also being considered to face the 15th-placed Tigers, with Michael Barlow’s leg injury prompting at least three forced changes.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/97751/default.aspx

[mightytiges]

LOL at Robbo on SEN 

He tipped Freo because he thought the game was at Subi. 5 minutes later after flooded with 100 txt messages he goes oh that Richmond game is at Etihad but I'm still tipping Freo as they are just a better team. 5 minutes after that he goes hmmm you know Ox as the Richmond game is at Etihad a lot of their "crazies" will show up ( that's us  ) and if there's 35-40k Richmond supporters there it'll create a cauldron-like atmosphere which will lift the spirits of the players. So I think he's tipping us after all that. Expert commentary at its best lol


I'm not sure we'll get 35-40k btw against Freo and at Etihad which a number of our supporters hate when its our home game. Anywhere near 30k would be a good crowd IMO.

[one-eyed]

Richmond's spearhead set for a feast
JUSTIN CHADWICK
July 8, 2010 - 6:39PM


In-form Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt could be set for another goal feast in Saturday night's AFL clash with Fremantle at Etihad Stadium as the Dockers frantically scramble to reorganise their injury-hit defence.

Fremantle's three key defenders - Antoni Grover (hamstring), Chris Tarrant (Achilles tendon) and Luke McPharlin (knee) - are all sidelined through injury, spelling bad news for the fourth-placed Dockers.

Riewoldt leads the Coleman Medal count with 53 goals but it's his past seven games that have sent shudders through the competition.

The 21-year-old has booted 38 goals during that period, including a bag of 10 against West Coast, two tallies of six and another haul of five.

Fremantle have been reduced to three 'viable' but hardly ideal options to cover Riewoldt - unheralded rookie Alex Silvagni, the out-of-form Adam McPhee or a rusty Michael Johnson.

It's little wonder Fremantle coach Mark Harvey said the emphasis would be placed on cutting off Riewoldt's supply rather than stopping the "big boy" himself.

"It's what you do before the ball comes down that's important," Harvey said on Thursday.

"It would be fair to say we've looked at their supply over the past month.

"He (Riewoldt) tries to work his opponent over, his timing is spot on at the moment, he's one grab and he's getting really good supply.

"He's playing with an enormous amount of confidence and he'll go to line up for goal and he'll kick it before he lets go of it on his boot."

Tigers midfielder Ben Cousins, who was hospitalised during the week, has been replaced by Jeromey Webberley in the only change to the team that beat Sydney in thrilling fashion last week.

The Dockers made three changes, replacing injured trio Michael Barlow (broken leg), Grover and Nat Fyfe (concussion) with Nick Suban, Clancee Pearce and Tim Ruffles.

It will be the first AFL game for 19-year-old Ruffles since he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in round 17 last year, with Harvey keen to see him work in tandem with Hayden Ballantyne in the forward line.

The Tigers have won four of their past five matches and Harvey conceded it was a danger game for his team.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/richmonds-spearhead-set-for-a-feast-20100708-1024g.html

[Tigeritis™©®]

P.S. I hope someone breaks Ballantyne's face as well.

Ditto.  I'm very quickly coming to dislike him as intensely as I dislike Milne.

  if someone (farmer or king) can smash him early hopefully he won't embarrass us again.

Take him out like Johnny Howat took out Johnny Barnes a few years back. Nice hit that one.

[one-eyed]

Bookie odds (luxbet.com)

Richmond   $2.55
Fremantle  $1.50

Line: 12.5 points



Sheeds, Walls, BT, Richo and Warney have tipped us. Virtually everyone else in the Hun and Age has tipped Freo.

[Chuck17]

P.S. I hope someone breaks Ballantyne's face as well.

Ditto.  I'm very quickly coming to dislike him as intensely as I dislike Milne.

Ditto x 3

May be a job for the enforcer Matt White

[dizza]

if our midfield boys can give Jack enough supply up forward, we should be able to win the game because their defence is in tatters basically. having Barlow out will help us somewhat, because the Dockers will have to get used to not having him there.

[MADTIGER2010]

Sydney are a tougher opponet for us. I expect to beat Freo by a few goals.

[the_boy_jake]

Sydney are a tougher opponet for us. I expect to beat Freo by a few goals.

Thing is for a quarter and a half against Sydney it was back to the bad old days getting smashed in the contest, unable to get the ball to our HF line and when we did just spotting up Jack who was double teamed. If Sydney kicked straight it would have been all over. Hopefully we don't lapse like that against Freo.

[Ramps]

We should be able to win this.

Dockers short down back where we are starting to get a system gelling.
Dockers down their best mid this season.
No real goal kicking target other than Pav. Others might be required down back.
Freo in Melbourne

We just need to win 40-50% of the stoppages. Obviously Sandilands will get the lion's share of the hitouts. Against Sydney in the middle period where we were getting smashed, Pyke and co were killing us

Need to keep Pavlich under control and we dont need a Ballantyne type kicking 3 or 4 to make things difficult. Also like to see us curb Mundy.