All aboard Tiger train
22 May 2005
Herald Sun
Jon Ralph
TICKETS please! The Richmond bandwagon that was close to overflowing this season is packed out after the Tigers outlasted the Brisbane Lions in a pulsating Gabba encounter last night.
In a rollicking match, in which the Tigers seemed to have thrown away their chances with last-quarter stage fright and inaccurate kicking, they surged at the death to put the Lions' season in the doldrums once again.
Snapping at the Lions' heels all night, the Tigers went ahead when a Michael Voss handball deep in defence missed a target and saw Nathan Brown spin on to his right foot and goal from close range.
Four points up with two minutes still to play, they iced the clock until, fittingly, Shane Tuck won the last stoppage of the game to cap a stunning game.
Less than a year ago he played his first game against the Lions at this venue, but last night along with a renewed Mark Coughlan, Kane Johnson and a heroic Matthew Richardson, he dragged Richmond over the line.
Down at every change, the Tigers answered the critics and dispelled the notion they didn't have the class to rise to the occasion when the heat was on.
The midfield held sway despite the best efforts of Voss and Tim Notting, the miserly defence again held firm despite Ashley McGrath's five goals and Brown lifted to the occasion after butchering four third-quarter chances.
The loss sees the Lions plummet down the ladder once again with Leigh Matthews's team having extracted only one win from five home games and only three in total for the year.
Jonathan Brown was well-held by Mark Graham, Tuck heroically butted heads all night with Voss, but once again the Lions were run off their legs by a younger team with more midfield depth.
Nathan Brown had declared earlier in the week: "Get on the train, get on the caboose", and, as he had against Collingwood last week, he turned his words into deeds.
Richmond unfurled its new confident game plan early on, not only winning the midfield, but chiselling low balls into its leading forwards.
By the 15-minute mark of the first quarter it doubled the Lions' possession tally with Coughlan the dominant force and Troy Simmonds on fire at centre half-forward.
With Akermanis off with what seemed a serious right ankle injury, the Tigers looked set for a break-out night at the Gabba.
But as always Brisbane got the ball into the hands of those that do the most damage – Simon Black, Voss and Nigel Lappin – and the Tigers suddenly saw its 13-point lead turn into a two-goal quarter-time deficit.
Akermanis had returned to lead Greg Tivendale a merry dance, Lappin took the ball from the centre bounces from precision and McGrath had converted their work with three early goals.
When Black roved superbly to snap on his right foot the Tigers were the best part of three goals down. Richmond has been nothing if not persistent this year, and slowly it began to turn the ship.
Last year in Round 14 at the Gabba Jay Schulz kicked five goals and Tuck was a raw debutante. Ten months later Schulz came on in his first run for the year and goaled from 50 metres, his first down-payment to the Tigers after costing them their TAC Cup sponsorship.
And while Tuck's opponent Voss was in his best touch of the year, the Richmond tagger ran himself into the ground with 17 half-time possessions. When Kayne Pettifer kicked his first goal on Chris Johnson, the Tigers again had their tails up.
Richardson, comically sporting an enormous head bandage after an early knock, was pushed back in defence in the last five minutes of the half and responded with a pair of surging runs and an inspirational smother.
As the Tigers went into the main break only two points down, you had the sense Terry Wallace was keeping his powder dry for the second-half.
Instead, all the fans got was a mistake-ridden first start to the half in which both sides missed targets, tackles, and five consecutive shots at goal. Richardson had his super-hero cape on with two sublime majors to break the deadlock, but while he has been dubbed Batman this year, his partner Robin (Brown) had left his kicking boot in the Bat Cave with four missed shots.
It led to a dramatic last quarter in which the Lions surged first as its will to win came to the fore, until Brown's genius gave Richmond's top-four aspirations a huge boost.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,15368308%255E19771,00.html
