Richmond V Geelong - sold out!

[Stripes]

A few interesting Average stats comparing the two teams after their first three games -

Kicks
Tigers - 213        Cats - 196

Handballs
Tigers - 178         Cats - 129

Marks
Tigers - 101        Cats - 74

Tackles
Tigers - 61           Cats - 73

Goals
Tigers - 13        Cats - 15

Top Goals Kickers
Tigers - Miller: 7, Riewoldt: 5
Geelong - Podsiadly: 12, Hawkins: 11

Top Possession
Tigers - Grigg: 29, Cotchin 25, Rance 24
Geelong - Selwood 28.7, Chapman 19.3


The interesting stats form me were the goals kickers. They are extremely reliant upon their two big talls to kick their score where, even though we have almost scored the same on average as a team (again only looking at 3 games), we seem to share the load and get more from our midfielders. They also have one very dominant midfielder and it falls away very quickly after that.

Can we tag Selwood, Pods and Hawkins out of the game is the big question. If the answer is yes we will win this game.

[Eat_em_Alive]

Great stats stripes,

I think we overuse the ball and work harder for less reward.
I would also suggest geelong aren't playing the way they want to, and I'm sure they can compensate for the goal kickers if they had to. When they thrash teams down there they have many multiple goal scorers.

I like your idea though. just wish they could put thought in outcome

[one-eyed]

ATTENTION RICHMOND SUPPORTERS IN GEELONG!!!

The club has decided to allow us to head down to Simmonds stadium tomorrow to watch the Tigers train!!
They have gone out of their way for us Geelong and surrounding region based supporters to have a chance to see our boys in action!!
All info will be on the RFC website shortly!!

I'll post this in the training thread as well. From RFC twitter:

"Geelong Training: 2pm session tomorrow can enter Simmonds Stadium via the Polly Farmer gates in Moorabool Street, at city end of the ground."

[one-eyed]

Tigers will look at other ways to nab an advantage
Inside Football
AFL News
Wednesday, April 18 2012


While Richmond fans' optimism about securing a victory over Geelong on Sunday is underpinned by a NAB Cup thrashing of the Cats seven weeks ago, star Tiger Brett Deledio has a vastly different take.

Asked if the Tigers' nine-goal belting of the Cats would give his side an edge going into the Simonds Stadium clash, Deledio said: "Probably not. It's a different game against a different side and we'll be a little different as well."

While taking little from a pre-season win, the dual best-and-fairest winner was happy to hang his hat on his side's midfield depth, which he believes can match the league's elite.

"You've got to have depth to go with the big boys and we've got it now I think," Deledio said.

Last weekend against Melbourne the Tigers gathered 160 more disposals and won the inside-50 count 65-30 on the back of a rampant midfield.

Deledio, who turned 25 this week, said it was incumbent on the midfielders to assist Trent Cotchin when he was heavily tagged.

"We're doing our best now to look after him, but it's something we've got to get better at," he said.

"You look at Gary Ablett who gets 40 (possessions) despite getting tagged, so we've got to help Trent and make sure he's got every opportunity to get 30 plus."

Deledio paid tribute to young defender Dylan Grimes, whom he likened to Essendon star Dustin Fletcher thanks to his ability to produce a last-minute spoil.

"It's a big rap, but he's got some Fletcher-like traits," he said.

"He's really blossomed and his kicking and decision making is getting better with every minute he plays.

"Together with Alex Rance they are giving our defence some real structure."

That structure will get tested on the weekend by Cats duo James Podsiadly and Tom Hawkins, who have combined for 23 goals in three matches this year.
 
http://www.insidefootballonline.com/news1.html

[Stripes]

Great stats stripes,

I think we overuse the ball and work harder for less reward.
I would also suggest geelong aren't playing the way they want to, and I'm sure they can compensate for the goal kickers if they had to. When they thrash teams down there they have many multiple goal scorers.

I like your idea though. just wish they could put thought in outcome

They've played some good opposition but no better than we did in the first two weeks. They just don't seem the same team and are heavily reliant upon their older players pulling the rest of the team along. Besides Selwood and Hawkins the rest seem to have lost their mojo. The problem though for us is that last weeks loss and our win against them may be the motivation these senior players need to fire up. I hope the spirit is willing but the body is wanting for these guys though.

[dwaino]

A few interesting Average stats comparing the two teams after their first three games -

Kicks
Tigers - 213        Cats - 196

Handballs
Tigers - 178         Cats - 129

Marks
Tigers - 101        Cats - 74

Tackles
Tigers - 61           Cats - 73

Goals
Tigers - 13        Cats - 15

Top Goals Kickers
Tigers - Miller: 7, Riewoldt: 5
Geelong - Podsiadly: 12, Hawkins: 11

Top Possession
Tigers - Grigg: 29, Cotchin 25, Rance 24
Geelong - Selwood 28.7, Chapman 19.3


The interesting stats form me were the goals kickers. They are extremely reliant upon their two big talls to kick their score where, even though we have almost scored the same on average as a team (again only looking at 3 games), we seem to share the load and get more from our midfielders. They also have one very dominant midfielder and it falls away very quickly after that.

Can we tag Selwood, Pods and Hawkins out of the game is the big question. If the answer is yes we will win this game.

Great post, Stripes. I've been looking at similar things this week and have been taking a bit out of the Cats v Norf game. There is another side to Selwood with the highest possession getter. Bartel has played loose man behind the ball in rounds 2 and 3 because Scarlet is out. Teams have cottoned on, and Norf did it best by sacrificing their best forward to take the best defender out of the game (not too much different to us as we're clearing the 50 and our mids and smalls are running in, as opposed to kicking to a contest). This forces Bartel back behind the ball otherwise it's open space or 1 on 1s with their 2nd, 3rd (or 3rd and 4th since no Scarlet) defenders. Cats are struggling to find a replacement for Ling and Boomer only had a soft tag because I imagine they had someone running with Swallow instead. He was involved in almost every Norf score when he was on the ground. Jackson will no doubt run with Selwood and I reckon Chappy will go to Cotchin. This is why we need Martin to return to form. We haven't been strong on the contested mark in the forward line this year, which I imagine because we are playing key forwards as opposed to a full forward, and Miller and Co are leading into space more and we have such a big spread of goal kickers, and I don't see it a big change to the current plan to employ the same tactic as Norf and isolate Geelong's weakest defender in our forward 50. As long as we aren't getting smashed in the middle and can rack up some inside 50s, this forces Bartel behind and he won't be able to run with any one. If we bring in 3 back talls (not sure at the expense of who though), Batch would be ideal to put a hard tag on one of their offensive mids too and would be dangerous on the rebound and in attack without a direct opponent, and could go with Bartel when the poo hits the fan.

I agree that Geelong's game verse the Dawks was taxing, but is being read into a little too much. It was still a 6 day turn around and never affected them in the previous seasons. I imagine it was the most taxing on their young guys and I still reckon we can catch their greener blokes a little under done. Norf killed Geelong with handballs and uncontested possessions. We are second and first in those respectively, miles ahead of the Cats (almost double). We need some massive efforts and some fellas need to get their fingers out of the bums, but I don't see why we can't give the Cats a decent push.


Dwaino's genius to beat the Cats:

-Isolate Geelong's weakest defender
-Negate Bartel
-Run and spread at speed

Also, we have ripper smalls, mids and ball carriers, not sure why we don't just pinch Carlton's kick in strat (which they killed us with in round 1) if we're struggling so much to get out of the press.

[dwaino]

Great stats stripes,

I think we overuse the ball and work harder for less reward.
I would also suggest geelong aren't playing the way they want to, and I'm sure they can compensate for the goal kickers if they had to. When they thrash teams down there they have many multiple goal scorers.

I like your idea though. just wish they could put thought in outcome

They've played some good opposition but no better than we did in the first two weeks. They just don't seem the same team and are heavily reliant upon their older players pulling the rest of the team along. Besides Selwood and Hawkins the rest seem to have lost their mojo. The problem though for us is that last weeks loss and our win against them may be the motivation these senior players need to fire up. I hope the spirit is willing but the body is wanting for these guys though.

Yep! Though I reckon Selwood still has it (just doesn't look as good when everyone around is dragging the chain), blokes like Stevie J stink a bit at the moment and would be a good trial by fire for someone like Morris.

Their senior players have been doing well, but no Ottens, no Ling, and their senior injuries, many of the younger players have been kept out of the side for so long and are still finding their feet and are a little underdone at the moment.

[smasha]

Our defenders are smart now.
Grimes and Rance are clever cookies.

Carn Tiges!

We can bloody win this one if we are smart.

Footy smarts!

[one-eyed]

No easy task in taming Tigers
Geelong Advertiser
Michael Auciello
April 19th, 2012

GEELONG says it is under no illusions it is facing a finals contender this Sunday.

But while Richmond enjoyed a 10-goal win over the Cats in the NAB Cup last month, coach Chris Scott says that result will have absolutely no relevance to this week's contest.

The Tigers stunned an underwhelming Geelong by 59 points in the third week of the pre-season competition, playing a near full-strength team.

But Scott said he could take almost nothing from the match as the two sides prepare to meet again at Simonds Stadium this Sunday.
What do you want to see from the Cats against the Tigers this Sunday? Have your say on the feedback form below

"I'd say, if it's not completely irrelevant, it's 99 per cent irrelevant," Scott said.

"It probably gives us an idea of the way they want to play with their full complement, but the last three games have more relevance than that one.

"We didn't play well that day, but it was very, very early stages in our preparation as well, particularly with our senior players.

"I think they (Richmond) have been pretty good to start the year, they had a good pre-season, played good footy through the pre-season comp and lost to two very good teams in the first two rounds and had a good win on the weekend.

"It's hard to know after three rounds exactly where everyone's at but we wouldn't be surprised if Richmond's closer to the top half of the ladder than the bottom half."

Defender Andrew Mackie is no certainty to take on the Tigers are suffering a head knock against North Melbourne and being subbed out of the game at half time.

"He certainly hasn't been ruled out, he's got a little bit of a split lip, but that goes for about half a dozen of our guys who have got little cuts and bruises," Scott said.

"The question is, can we be convinced that he's over the knock to his head, and we don't even really try to test him until later in the week."

Scott said he was "very confident" Mathew Stokes would return after missing last week, while he was "mildly confident" defender Billie Smedts would play against Richmond.

Speedster David Wojcinski (foot) will return to the VFL this week with Scott hopeful he'll be pushing for senior selection within a couple of weeks.

"He's trained really strongly, and we're hoping to get a good performance from him, it'd be nice to have him back in the next fortnight or so," he said.

Defender Josh Hunt (calf) is also likely to return via the Cats' VFL side against Werribee tomorrow night.

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2012/04/19/320641_gfc.html

[Stripes]

Two great posts here Dwaino! Gives us some hope which we desperately need coming up against the Cats!

Great post, Stripes. I've been looking at similar things this week and have been taking a bit out of the Cats v Norf game. There is another side to Selwood with the highest possession getter. Bartel has played loose man behind the ball in rounds 2 and 3 because Scarlet is out. Teams have cottoned on, and Norf did it best by sacrificing their best forward to take the best defender out of the game (not too much different to us as we're clearing the 50 and our mids and smalls are running in, as opposed to kicking to a contest). This forces Bartel back behind the ball otherwise it's open space or 1 on 1s with their 2nd, 3rd (or 3rd and 4th since no Scarlet) defenders. Cats are struggling to find a replacement for Ling and Boomer only had a soft tag because I imagine they had someone running with Swallow instead. He was involved in almost every Norf score when he was on the ground. Jackson will no doubt run with Selwood and I reckon Chappy will go to Cotchin. This is why we need Martin to return to form. We haven't been strong on the contested mark in the forward line this year, which I imagine because we are playing key forwards as opposed to a full forward, and Miller and Co are leading into space more and we have such a big spread of goal kickers, and I don't see it a big change to the current plan to employ the same tactic as Norf and isolate Geelong's weakest defender in our forward 50. As long as we aren't getting smashed in the middle and can rack up some inside 50s, this forces Bartel behind and he won't be able to run with any one. If we bring in 3 back talls (not sure at the expense of who though), Batch would be ideal to put a hard tag on one of their offensive mids too and would be dangerous on the rebound and in attack without a direct opponent, and could go with Bartel when the poo hits the fan.

I agree that Geelong's game verse the Dawks was taxing, but is being read into a little too much. It was still a 6 day turn around and never affected them in the previous seasons. I imagine it was the most taxing on their young guys and I still reckon we can catch their greener blokes a little under done. Norf killed Geelong with handballs and uncontested possessions. We are second and first in those respectively, miles ahead of the Cats (almost double). We need some massive efforts and some fellas need to get their fingers out of the bums, but I don't see why we can't give the Cats a decent push.


Dwaino's genius to beat the Cats:

-Isolate Geelong's weakest defender
-Negate Bartel
-Run and spread at speed

Also, we have ripper smalls, mids and ball carriers, not sure why we don't just pinch Carlton's kick in strat (which they killed us with in round 1) if we're struggling so much to get out of the press.

I wonder if Bartel will be left to fill the gap in the backline against our defenders. I would suggest that they will start on the attack and have him playing midfield but if our forwards look dangerous they will make the switch. You also mentioned your hope that Martin gets off the leash (why would be fantastic btw) but I think if we have a similar scenario to the Melbourne game where we have a lift from all our second stringers - Foley, Grigg and Edwards in particular - then this will make us extremely difficult to stop.

Geelongs biggest problem really is not their midfield but their rucks. This is why we won by so much in the NAB Cup, because big Ivan feed our midfielders running from behind him. We played one extra small mid/defender who then ran past and were feed by the midfielder who got the tap down to and away we went. I wonder if they will try and play more small negating forwards to stop this???

Yep! Though I reckon Selwood still has it (just doesn't look as good when everyone around is dragging the chain), blokes like Stevie J stink a bit at the moment and would be a good trial by fire for someone like Morris.

Their senior players have been doing well, but no Ottens, no Ling, and their senior injuries, many of the younger players have been kept out of the side for so long and are still finding their feet and are a little underdone at the moment.

Selwood could explode if he is allowed to but no Ling hurts them. Johnson could do anything and regularly does so Morris would have to be his niggly best if we are to keep him in check. Chapman is the key to this game though. He is their +1 and if he steps up it takes the focus off Selwood etc. He is been ordinary so far so lets hope he continues in this form against us.

We really need Vickery to step up but I just can't see it happening at this stage and I'm not sure if this is because he is playing further up the ground or is just having a bad patch.

We have a real chance to win but all the stars would have to align here for it to come off. 
 

[Loui Tufga]

Chapman is due for his twice a year hammy twinge.....fingers crossed 

[Willy]

Chappy's best is behind him now. Let him stay on the park and become frustrated.

[Loui Tufga]

Chappy's best is behind him now. Let him stay on the park and become frustrated.

Lawl...Either or

[one-eyed]

Another media outlet expecting Geelong to just roll up, rebound and flog us 

Preview: Geelong v Richmond
Ben Sutton
Sportal
19/4/2012

WE THINK:
The last time Geelong lost to North Melbourne they came out and belted Richmond by 157 points to kickstart their five-year dynasty. While a similar margin this week is highly unlikely, expect a fired up Cats outfit after a relatively slow start to the season. Geelong appear to have lost their hardness with the reigning premiers losing the contested ball in each of the first three matches. They also haven't got enough out of their veterans with Steve Johnson, Paul Chapman and Joel Corey all struggling for form. Richmond on the other hand are up and about after some strong performances to open the season. They pushed Carlton in the season opener and looked good against the Pies except for 10 minutes of the third quarter. They are also coming off a 59-point hammering of Melbourne so will be full of confidence. But they have won just one of their last 15 matches against the Cats and with Geelong set to unfurl last year's premiership flag before the game expect a big victory for the hosts. Geelong by 45

Full preview here: http://www.sportal.com.au/afl-news-display/preview-geelong-v-richmond-172236

[Owl]

Because every game is just a replay of the last one Ben Sutton you sniveling pole smoker.