Taming CrowsBy Paul Daffey
Sat 30 Jun, 2012RICHMOND can think of itself as lucky or unlucky going into its round 14 match against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.
The Tigers might fear the wrath of the Crows, who would be keen to rebound after their surprising 32-point loss to North Melbourne last weekend.
Or they might have learnt a few things about how to put away the Crows from the Kangaroos.
Adelaide has tendency to push its forwards towards the stoppages to crowd the area, relying on its capacity to win the clearances in heavy traffic and then push its players forward to the next contest.
The form of Patrick Dangerfield and Rory Sloane has increased the effectiveness of this tactic.
If the Crows win a clearance close enough to their forward 50, they kick long to key forwards Kurt Tippett and Taylor Walker, who are two of the in-form forwards in the competition.
Walker's 32 goals rank him fourth in the competition, while Tippett's 26 goals are ninth. The work of small forwards such as Ian Callinan (18 goals) is equally important.
While the Crows rank fourth for going inside 50, according to Champion Data, they're second for scoring once inside 50.
This is a seismic improvement on last year, when the Crows ranked 17th.
In terms of total score, they have gone from 15th last year (an average of 79 points a game) to sixth this season (102).
While Richmond's points-for is about the same as last year (95 per game), its defence has improved.
To beat the Crows, North Melbourne developed a plan around halting the Crows' ability to charge forward from stoppages.
The Roos made sure one defender didn't follow his opponent into the stoppage area, instead using that defender as a spare man across half-back. The Roos then assigned a forward to come up and mind the defender's opponent in the congested area.
The Crows are the No.1 inside team in the competition, with their ability to extract the ball from stoppages setting them apart this season.
The Roos' sweeper, however, was there to mop up the Crows' hurried kicks from stoppages.
The sweeper then began a counter-attack that, in many cases, resulted in scoring opportunities.
The Roos had five more clearances than the Crows, a noteworthy statistic on its own, but killed the Crows in goals scored through turnovers.
North Melbourne's tenacity around the ball and the man across half-back were crucial to the victory.
Richmond, under highly-regarded defensive coach Ross Smith, plays a seventh defender more often than not, enabling backmen such as Dylan Grimes and Alex Rance to act as sweepers and become important attacking weapons.
Grimes, who is back for the Adelaide match after five weeks out with a torn hamstring, has the highest average marks in the team (seven), highlighting his ability to intercept.
Rance ranks second for average marks with six.
Full-forward Jack Riewoldt has an average of only four marks, and no other Tiger forward averages more than two marks a game.
The Tigers' strengths mostly are the opposite to Adelaide's.
While the Crows are one of the longest-kicking teams and have one of the lowest handball counts, the Tigers handball more than any other team in the competition.
They kick and handball so often that they have the highest disposal differential in the league, while they also rank fourth for kicking efficiency.
It's just that when they get inside 50 they struggle to convert because there's been no other effective target besides Riewoldt.
The stats of the Crows and the Tigers come together in one crucial area— hit-outs to advantage — for which they're equal first in the rankings.
This makes Adelaide's Sam Jacobs and Richmond's Ivan Maric the most effective ruckmen in the competition, with the fact that Jacobs pushed out Maric from Adelaide giving their duel extra spice.
It's set to be a highlight of what promises to be a match of contrasts.
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