Tigers of old, the good and the badMartin Blake
August 30, 2010IN the end, Richmond's day mirrored its season. It was at once a day and year of great strides, yet little tangible progress, and a 15th placing.
Fifteen minutes into the last quarter of yesterday's pulsating game at the Docklands, Damien Hardwick's emerging team was on the cusp of pulling off one of the great heists.
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Having trailed by a whopping 59 points early in the third quarter, the Tigers had booted the first four goals of the final term after a strong finish to the third to move within a kick of Port.
The momentum appeared to be unstoppable; each of the 37,674 crowd provided an extra set of legs, so it seemed.
Richmond sent the ball to the top of the square where Troy Taylor picked up the crumbs from the marking contest and left-footed it through. The crowd exulted.
Down on the boundary, even Hardwick was moved. ''I was celebrating like a two-bob watch down there,'' he said later.
But it was a mirage. Taylor's goal was disallowed, an off-the-ball free kick paid against Andrew Collins to Port's Troy Chaplin. The air fizzed out of Richmond's cause in an instant.
Port booted the next three goals to ice it, although the Tigers were still coming at the finish, trying to extract a win to send off the retiring Ben Cousins. They fell 10 points short.
Ultimately they were made to pay for a mistake-riddled second quarter in which they were opened up to the tune of 10 Port Adelaide goals, most of them from dreadful turnovers.
After the game, Hardwick poured on the perspective. ''He (Hardwick) said to us: 'Enjoy the time off, but remember we're 15th in the AFL','' said Mitch Morton, whose 28 disposals and three goals almost turned the match. ''If anyone's getting ahead of themselves, they're kidding themselves.''
Outside of that dreadful 30 minutes of the second quarter Richmond was the better side, and substantially. But what began with Robin Nahas' errant handball a minute into the second stanza turned from a spotfire to a raging blaze of ineptitude. Brett Deledio turned it over for another Port goal. It was contagious.
Hardwick, whose own description of the quarter was ''horrendous'', noted that at one point of that quarter Richmond simply refused to kick the Sherrin. It was that comedic.
Said Morton: ''We just went away from our game plan. We lost by 10 points, but we probably couldn't have played a better game in terms of what we did wrong and what we did well in terms of our game play. In the second quarter we went away from our game plan and we got blown out of the water.
''Third and fourth quarter we went back to the game plan and won the quarters. It's pretty simple. It's about having the courage to stick to it.''
Port was paced throughout by on-baller Travis Boak, who showed why there was such a fuss before the Power managed to secure his signature with a best-on-ground 31 disposals and three goals.
Boak was magnificent and when the game went on the line, he found space to kick one goal then set up the next one. He never wilted to the finish; nor did ruckman Dean Brogan, nor rookie forward Daniel Stewart, who kicked four goals.
Richmond also had fine individual players on the day. Notably Morton was inspirational, Trent Cotchin tunnelled in at the stoppages all day and Jake King completed his finest season with a great small forward's game.
Jack Riewoldt was swamped by Port defenders from start to finish but still managed to kick three goals to finish with 78 for the season and the Coleman Medal.
Port greeted him with not just one opponent [Alipate Carlile] but a few others, too. Each time it was bombed to Riewoldt, two and three Port players swept across, left their own men, and leapt over Riewoldt.
Hardwick marked the season as a pass, but only just. ''We wanted to see from a coaching point of view a style that we could say 'that's our game'. That's how it's going to pan out.
''We've still got a lot of work to do in a lot of areas.''
PLAYER WATCH
Ben Cousins (Richmond): Came on to the ground to strong applause at the six-minute mark, having passed fitness tests on his sore hamstring. Was on and off the bench and made some slick interventions, linking up play. Fought to the end and finished with 21 disposals in his final game.
Dean Brogan (Port Adelaide): Monstered the inexperienced Angus Graham in the ruck, giving the younger man a clinic in body-positioning. Was a pivotal player in the win along with best-afield Travis Boak.
WHERE THE MATCH WAS WONAfter the scores were level at quarter-time, Port smashed Richmond with 10 goals to one in the second quarter behind Dean Brogan's ruck dominance and Travis Boak's efficiency at ground level. The Tigers found the margin too great to bridge.
WHERE THE MATCH WAS LOSTRichmond's disposal and decision-making reached amateurish levels during the second term. The Tigers handed the Power a string of early goals with turnovers and sniffing a kill, Port was more than ready to take advantage. Richmond surged back to within a kick in the final quarter but an off-the-ball free kick that denied Troy Taylor his crumbed goal snuffed out the challenge.
BEST Port Adelaide: Boak, Brogan, D Stewart, Carlile, Rodan, Logan, Westhoff, K Cornes.
Richmond: Morton, King, Cotchin, Newman, Martin, Nahas, Edwards, Moore.
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