Tigers fail to catch rampant MagpiesRohan Connolly
April 16, 2011COLLINGWOOD 8.6 13.9 15.12 24.17 (161)
RICHMOND 2.2 5.7 11.10 13.12 (90)
GOALS Collingwood: Swan 4, Sidebottom 3, Cloke 3, Dawes 2, Beams 2, Thomas 2, Didak, Johnson, Wood, Blair, Ball, L Brown, Pendlebury, Wellingham. Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Martin 2, White 2, Graham, Deledio, Miller, King, Vickery.
BEST
Collingwood: Swan, Thomas, Sidebottom, Pendlebury, Cloke, Didak.
Richmond: Deledio, Martin, Cotchin, Conca, Jackson, Riewoldt.
REPORTS Collingwood: Leigh Brown (for allegedly striking Reece Conca)
UMPIRES Findlay, Chamberlain, Rosebury. CROWD 58,050 at MCG.
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THE Tiger hordes were roaring in the third quarter last night at the MCG, and with good reason. Their young side was on a roll, dominating possession and kicking the first four goals of the term, the likes of Brett Deledio, Dustin Martin and the even younger Reece Conca on fire.
It was heady stuff. Unfortunately for Richmond, in terms of the result, it was also largely irrelevant. This match had been as good as done and dusted since about 12 minutes after the start, by which time Collingwood had slammed on four goals to nothing, and helpfully reminded the Tigers of just how big the gap is between themselves and the very best.
Richmond's third-quarter 6.3 was as much as anyone had scored against Collingwood in a quarter since the Bulldogs booted 6.4 in a term in round one of last year.
But the bottom line remained that the Tigers were already 50 points in arrears when they finally stirred, and for all their third-quarter effort, still ended up losing by 71 after Collingwood restored the equilibrium with a thumping nine goals to two in the final term.
They're scary good, these Pies, carving out winning margins this season of 75 points, 87 points, five goals and now 12 goals without having played a full four quarters of their best.
Last night the damage started within 90 seconds when Dale Thomas was inexplicably left free running inside 50 and slamming home the first goal. Only 90 seconds after that, it was two, after Travis Cloke converted a strong mark straight out of a centre bounce clearance.
Five minutes further on and Thomas struck again, dishing off a handball to Heath Shaw, his kick locked in Chris Dawes's vice-like grip, maximum reward quickly realised. Then Richmond young gun Martin chipped a ball in the middle of the ground in Jack Riewoldt's direction. Bouncing in front of the Tiger forward, it was pounced upon by the Pies, Ben Johnson coolly slotting the fourth goal.
Four goals to nil, and by now it wasn't just the scoreboard looking ugly. Collingwood had 34 possessions in the first nine minutes to the Tigers' paltry 14. The clearances were 7-1 the Magpies' way, the contested ball 15-4. This already was shellacking territory.
Not for the first time, it was the perennially eye-catching Riewoldt who jolted his team into life taking a great grab in which he hipped out Chris Tarrant in mid-air whilst positioning himself to take the mark. He had a second in equally unorthodox fashion, trapping the ball with one hand and dribbling it just inside the goalpost.
But all that meant was that Richmond was keeping pace on the scoreboard instead of getting further behind.
Swan swooped on some goalsquare crumbs. Scott Pendlebury said thanks near goal after Tiger Shane Edwards played on and was caught. Steele Sidebottom threaded one from a tight angle. Then, with three seconds left on the clock, Jarryd Blair ran on to an advantage free kick conceded by an ominously clunky Tiger ruck Angus Graham.
Eight goals to two by the first break, and just to make sure their opponent wasn't going to creep back into this contest, Collingwood slammed on three of the first four scored in the second term for good measure, two of them to Swan, and the gap blew out to 50 points.
Perhaps even more depressingly for Richmond, the Tigers started to hold their own better in the contests, now let down by their own errors more than opposition pressure. In a few minutes, Martin turned the ball over to Harry O'Brien, Brad Miller missed from 30 metres, Jake King got ahead of himself and sprayed a shot out on-the-full, then, tellingly, Bachar Houli fumbled under some midfield heat, Blair mopping up, chipping to Cameron Wood, and another Collingwood goal the result.
That's the frustration for Richmond now. It has talent coming at a rapid rate of knots, it generally has the requisite effort. What it still lacks most obviously is sufficient skill under pressure, and the capacity to consistently make the right decisions. You can at least say now with more confidence that the Tigers will get there at some stage.That's a place Collingwood itself has been in. But, boy, does that seem like a long time ago now. And the way the Magpies can these days seemingly clock off for 30 minutes or so and still come out winning by close enough to 100 points, makes you realise just how long it's going to be before they're in that position again. And how much ground not only the Tigers, but the rest of the AFL, are going to have to make up on the reigning premier.
KEY STATS■ In the first quarter, Collingwood generated 14 scoring shots (8.6) from its 17 inside-50s. It had 24 disposals and grabbed nine marks inside 50 for the quarter.
■In the first quarter, Collingwood generated 14 scoring shots (8.6) from its 17 inside-50s. It had 24 disposals and grabbed nine marks inside 50 for the quarter.
■The Magpies won the contested possession count 153 to 111 across the night. It was too good right from the start, leading the count 17-4 after the first 10 minutes of the match.
■It was an even second quarter. Both teams had eight scoring shots for the term, with Richmond recording one more disposal, Collingwood recording two more inside-50s, and both teams winning 11 clearances apiece.
■Richmond kicked three goals to zip in the opening 10 minutes of the third quarter, recording 22 more disposals and 21 more uncontested possessions than Collingwood.
SWANNING AROUNDFootball's highest individual honour has eluded Collingwood ball magnet Dane Swan so far, but his 19 touches by half-time last night and 33 for the game stood out in a team bristling with talent. Coming into the match he led the club in long kicks, general kicks, was second in handballs, third in short kicks, fifth in handballs and third in handballs received. At least a couple of Brownlow votes might have been added to those numbers by the final siren.
BROWN IN DOUBTHe should only have to deal with a couple of nervous nights, but Leigh Brown went into the umpire's book in the third term after making contact with Reece Conca. Brown will probably beat the charge, but if he doesn't and Darren Jolly (knee) misses another week, second-string ruckman Cameron Wood will have a huge task against the Bombers on Anzac Day.
JACK'S BACKJack Riewoldt had a night to forget against the Hawks last week. In footy, fortunately, there's always next week and when it arrived Riewoldt set himself for a big night on a big stage against the Pies. He finished with four goals, a terrific contested mark against re-born Magpie Chris Tarrant and no reason for apologies.
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