Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy explains why underperforming trio hold the key to Richmond's fortune By Gerard Healy
FOX SPORTS
April 20, 2012 4:31PMDustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt and Tyrone Vickery were expected to roar as Richmond pushed for a return to finals football but, to this point of the season, the trio have been hardly heard.Richmond picked up their first win of the season against a shattered Melbourne side last week.
Before that Damien Hardwick's side were not disgraced in matches against likely top-four contenders Carlton and Collingwood, despite minimal input from three players who they regard as capable of pushing into the elite category of the competition.
The Tigers headed into the season riding a wave of enthusiasm from their success-starved supporters, mainly on the back of their 10-goal win over Geelong in the NAB Cup.
It was an impressive display but, put in its true context, not confirmation that the Tigers had finally arrived under Hardwick - as many suggested.
The Cats were just a shell of the team who won the premiership last year in that game in March and offered little resistance.
However, the performance of Martin in particular suggested he had matured over the pre-season.
Granted we are just three rounds into the season, but the numbers indicate Martin's slow start to the year.
He is averaging three fewer disposals than last year, down to 18.7 per game.
Anything under 25 per game is sub-par for where this prodigious talent should be - even if his endurance is not elite.
Martin's capacity to have an impact on the scoreboard is his greatest asset and like Cyril Rioli means he doesn't necessarily have to be a 35-possession midfielder to be a match-winner, but this is where he is most down and where the Tigers need him to improve quickly if they are to challenge Geelong on Sunday.
Last season he impacted regularly on the scoreboard, making him a dangerous proposition for opposition coaches. A bag of five against Brisbane and four against the Kangaroos helped him average 1.5 goals per game in 2011.
The most glaring dip in Martin's game to this stage of his third AFL season comes in the assists category. Last year he had 30 and he's yet to record one this year.
Ball-winning down, efficiency down, scoreboard impact down - it's not great reading for one so gifted.
Riewoldt, on the other hand, is having no trouble finding the footy. His problem is conversion.
The key forward is averaging a career-high 14 touches per game but he's kicked just 5.9 at an un-Jack-like 37.5 per cent. Last year he kicked 62.26 at just over 70 per cent.
Fellow key forward Vickery, who looked to be making progress in 2011, has opened this season without the enthusiasm we saw from him in some improved performances last year.
The Tigers invested an early draft pick in Vickery and a return this season of just five disposals and 1.3 marks per game is far from good enough.
Last year he was taking 4.3 marks per game and averaged 11.5 disposals. That doesn't make you a top-liner but it was trending in the right direction.
Vickery was a good foil for Riewoldt and made the Tigers far less predictable in attack when he commanded the footy and drew defenders as his form picked up last season.
He has been the inside-50 target just eight times in three matches as his teammates have found Riewoldt (23 times) and Brad Miller (14) with more regularity.
Vickery has taken just two marks inside 50 and kicked only two goals after 36 in 22 games last year.
The drop in output from Martin, Vickery and Riewoldt is a challenge for Hardwick to turn around as they are going nowhere unless this group hit top form, beginning this weekend against Geelong on their home ground.
Their last meeting with the Cats at Kardinia Park raised the bar of expectation and it's an opportunity for Martin, Riewoldt and Vickery to re-launch their season.
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