ROUND 2 - RICHMOND vs WESTERN BULLDOGS - Telstra Dome (AWAY)
SUMMARY:
After a morale boosting win against fellow strugglers Hawthorn last Sunday and a new major sponsorship deal imminent, the Tiges enter round 3 against the Doggies at the Dome on Sunday in good spirits. The AFL in their wisdom have included this match as part of their rivalry round this weekend which is perplexing as apart from the Knights-Libba incident in 2001 these two clubs have no traditional historical tussles between them to speak of. More accurate to say it has all to do with Wallace having stints as player and coach at both clubs.
Richmond has made no changes to the side that outlasted the inaccurate Hawks. Unfortunately no one at Coburg put their hand up for senior selection when a couple would have been on offer as Coburg coach David Flood can testify when he didn't mince his words in a Eye of the Tiger article this week summarising the Coburg players' poor efforts last week. Our opponents, the Dogs, have made two changes with McMahon and more importantly for them Chris Grant returning to strengthen their line-up. Interestingly, Eade left out youngster Farren Ray. I thought he had been good for them in their first two games so am surprised to see him dropped.
PAST ENCOUNTERS:
Overall: 74-61-1
In the 00's: 5-2
At Docklands (Telstra Dome): 3-0
Last Time:
Round 8, 15.05.04. Home at the M.C.G.
Richmond 4.1 8.5 11.9 15.15-105
W.Bulldogs 1.8 6.13 8.19 10.22-82
Multiple Goalkickers: Richmond - Richardson 10, J.Bowden 3; Bulldogs - Murphy 2, Hahn 2, P.Bowden 2.
Attendance: 33,960
KEY STATS AND MATCH-UPS:
Even though our defenders held out the Hawks well towards the end of last Sunday's match, our backline continues to be our major weakness and concern. A weak Hawthorn side still way able to enter our defensive 50 arc 54 times while our foot skills delivering the ball upfield (mostly from the usual experienced hands) continues to leave alot to be desired resulting in far too many turnovers. Combined with our low centre-bounce clearance stats this of course explains why we have the worst defensive record in the League. Mind you the Dogs are not far away with the 3rd most points conceded, behind us and the Hawks.
Unless Grant, Darcy or the out-of-form Rawlings are pushed forward by Eade, the Dogs play with a mid-sized forward line with Brad Johnson at full forward surrounded by small to mid-sized players similar to the named Dogs' team below. This type of forward structure has caused the Tiges problems in the past even when we made the finals in 2001 as the nippiness of the smaller forwards has caught us out a few times as our KP defenders who aren't reknowned for their pace (as Gas found out on Mark Williams last week) once the ball is at ground-level. Having Gas or Kellaway on Brad Johnson or one of the other mid-size forwards aren't match-ups that give confidence to the Tigers. I would expect Bowden to remain at CHB on Bandy after a good game last week and sweep up across half-back as he did against Hawthorn.
The Dogs surprisingly lead the AFL in Inside 50's at 60 per game compared to our 48 so far this year. We obviously can't afford to be that generous if we want to have any hope of winning. If there is sufficient pressure up field to force the Dogs wide when attacking as Melbourne did to them last week the Doggies resort to bombs when they get to about 80-90m out from goal. They were often outmarked or spoiled effectively as a result.
In the midfield and back-half the Dogs tactically like to get large numbers back to help out their defence and flood the opposition's forward line. The main culprits Murphy and Gilbee are situated on flanks in front of the full-forward to block and cut-off his leads. This has worked very well in containing Tarrant/ Rocca and Neitz the past two weeks. In addition the Doggies upon obtaining possession in their backline like to counter by chipping the ball around to Murphy, Gilbee or Cooney waiting on a half-back flank as all three are the most precise kicks in the Bulldogs' line-up. The ball is then carried and kicked forward to the hot-spot. When the Doggies can move the ball through the corridor as they did against the Pies in the last quarter of that game this tactic works well. However, Melbourne exploited this last week by forcing the dogs kick out of defence wide via controlling the centre corridor like they did last night against the Cats. Melbourne also obtained a number of turnovers as all Bulldog players seem well drilled in following this chip chip chip to HB, run to centre and kick long style yet some often let themselves down via poor disposal with the final kick. The Dees then moved the ball quickly through the corridor to a number of waiting forward options (a lightning fast Davey leading to the opposite pocket and midifelders like Bruce and Yze pushing forward to kick goals) to counter the Dogs' flood despite Neitz being taken out of the game. We need to do the same despite our skill level being nowhere near that of the Demons at the moment to give Richo, Simmonds, Browny and co enough of the footy.
As for midfield match-ups the main ballwinner in the hard contests for the Dogs is Scott West. His foot-skills are probably his weak point but his ability to read the ruckwork of Darcy, rack up possessions and whip out a deadly handpass is what makes him a dangerous player. He didn't miss a beat the last time we played the Bulldogs despite us coming out no top. A huge job for Chaffey!
Hahn and Cooney are also able to win a fair bit of footy and clearances. The rest of the doggy smalls such as Giansiracusa, Eagleton, Cross, McMahon and Boyd are running receivers. Starve them of footy or force them wide and their run will dry up.
So far in our two games our ruckmen and midfield have been beaten at clearing from centre bounces yet at ball-ups we've done well winning majority hitouts and the only club with a positive clearance rate from ball-ups. Seems when there's a crowd around the ball we are ok yet in the 4 on 4 scenario inside the centre square we struggle. Knobel, Simmonds and Staff need to stand up in the ruck as they have had their colours lowered so far as a ruck combo. Again this week they will compete with one of the best ruckman in the comp in Darcy yet get some time against a fill-in (Bandy). That will give Johnson, Cogs, Tuck, Hyde and co a better opportunity to win or at least break even in the clearances.
Although I have alot of time for Harris, up forward Richo should be too good 1-on-1 on the run for any Bulldog defender. However he won't beat 3-4 opponents. Last week we still went to the big fella when he had Everitt and Barker floating in front of him. We won in the end by picking out other options in Browny and Pettifer who were free on the lead. With doggies flooding also we need to take that last 10-15 minutes into Sunday's game.
The Dogs will go in as favourites as their pups are 2 years ahead of our cubs and their usage of the ball is cleaner more often than ours is. For us to win we need to win our fair share of the ball through the midfield and apply enough pressure and intensity at the footy as we did last week to move the ball through the corridor quickly into our forward line. We also need to be smarter with our final pass with Richo most likely having to contend with Harris as his direct opponent while Grant, Murphy and Gilbee cut-out in front of him. If Richo is 4-1 down then there should be someone else free on the lead.
Lastly, one major advantage we will have is Wallace knowing most of the Doggy players inside out and how they like to play.
THIS WEEK'S TEAMS:
RICHMOND
B: Graham, Gaspar,Newman
HB: Hartigan, Kellaway, Chaffey
C: J.Bowden, Coughlan, Hyde
HF: Deledio, Richardson, Campbell
F: Krakouer, Simmonds, Brown
R: Knobel, Tuck, K.Johnson
Int: Stafford, Tivendale, Pettifer, Jackson
WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: McMahon, Harris, Hargrave
HB: Murphy, Grant, Gilbee
C: Cross, West, Eagleton
HF: P.Bowden, Bandy, Giansiracusa
F: Smith, B.Johnson, Faulkner
R: Darcy, Hahn, Cooney
Int: Birss, Boyd, Harrison, Rawlings
