Aggressive Tigers need time on the defensive
Andrew Dowling
Citizen Journalist
Written on Tuesday, 30 April 2013 07:37
Under Brendan Gale's leadership Richmond Football Club has come on in leaps and bounds. There is a sense of ambition around Tigerland that has been lacking for decades, ambition that needs translating into performances on-field.
I hate defensive footy. I can't abide the trash that Ross Lyon inherited from Paul Roos and the football drivel that Malthouse peddled at the Pies for nearly a decade. But for the Tigers something needs to change, and soon, or they will waste the prodigious talent they have in this current team.
Whilst the goal umpiring mistake made for hysterical commentary and allows Damien Hardwick to blow off a little steam, the real issue remains that the Tigers do not do the simple defensive tasks well.
From the stands the main reason appears to be the surfeit of attacking midfielders that won't work as hard going the other way. Dustin Martin is the worst of this defensively dysfunctional lot. Cast your mind back to Martin's half-hearted chase of Chris Yarran in round one last year when the Blue kicked a miraculous goal. Reverse the roles and Dusty would burn off Usain Bolt. It is not that he can't chase or tackle, it is that he won't.
But it is Brett Deledio that frustrates me the most. Here is an athlete who can play great footy. He is a great size, has the build of a modern footballer and is blessed with great speed, can gather the footy equally well in the air and on the ground and can kick the bladder out of the Sherrin. But put a hard tag on him and he turns to water.
Ryan Crowley is a modern day bully who delights in making great ball players look over their shoulders all day long. His job on Deledio was game changing this round, and the fact that Lids wouldn't mentally challenge Crowley was not lost on the tough tagger.
Deledio has to steel himself for these types of challenges and use a combination of skills to render Crowley and players of his ilk impotent. The first part of the equation is to tackle them, hunt them and bust them whenever he gets a chance. The second part is to run them ragged; perpetual motion knocks the stuffing out of every player, but for the tagger it is a nightmare. Those missions accomplished, he then can use the time and space to make his opponent pay with his sublime skills and excellent decision making, forcing a strategic rethink.
If Deledio is unable to cope with the mentality of being tagged than he needs to return to the comfortable back flank and live his days out with his potential unfulfilled.
What is truly missing at the Tigers is a character and leader like Nick Maxwell. Whilst Maxwell could not hold a candle to either Trent Cotchin or Deledio in terms of ball finding ability, as a leader he is head and shoulders above both.
Maxwell coaches his backline through games. He directs them and brings each player back to their primary task and ensures the defensive strategy is maintained from the first bounce until the final siren. Heath Shaw is dragged back when he goes in search of the ball, midfielders are directed into critical spaces and players leave their opponents to protect their teammates who may be outnumbered. And he never attempts skills that he knows he cannot execute. Maxwell is a defensive genius.
Against Fremantle, the Tigers would've won if they had Nick Maxwell playing in their team. Hayden Ballantyne would never have found so much space and time at a stoppage and certainly not at such a critical juncture in the game.
The Tigers need to find their own Maxwell, and if they can't then disappointment will find them all too often.
Offensively, the Tigers have multiple options. Vickery is beginning to demonstrate why he was so highly rated as a junior. For a big man he moves well, is exceptional below his knees and his kicking action is reliable. Vickery could be a ten-year tall forward.
Whilst Jack Riewoldt has won a Coleman medal or two as deep forward I would like to see him play higher up the ground more often, especially against team like the Dockers who tend to clog the forward line and make leading virtually impossible. At times like this Riewoldt tries to wrestle with strong bodied and strong minded defenders. He has neither the body nor the temperament for such tactics.
As a high forward he could become up a link-up player as the Tigers move the ball with precise kicking out of the back half. He is fleet of foot, has good hands and can turn a defender inside out with his clever leading - and he won't have to wrestle. The other advantage is that he could lead back into the forward line from a higher position and kick goals from just inside the arc.
Finally, the Tigers need to support Ivan Maric. The mullet has been a revelation at Richmond but he is getting jumped on and jumped over by taller and more athletic ruckmen by the week. It is beginning to wear him down and it is affecting his ability to get back and support the fragile Richmond defence. It is time one of the young talls was given an opportunity to develop into his able bodied sidekick.
Premiership windows are only open temporarily. Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santo and Nick Riewoldt have seen theirs slam shut and it can takes years and a new crop of players to prize it open again.
The Tigers are on the precipice of something special, but their chance needs to be grabbed with both hands and with a greater sense of urgency than is currently being demonstrated.
Brendon Gale has given the team the right training environment and overseen the appointment of some excellent personnel. The club is financially sound and the culture at Board level is stable.
It is now time for Hardwick and his men to deliver some long overdue silverware into the trophy cabinet at Punt Road.
They will have no defence if they don't succeed.
http://www.backpagelead.com.au/afl/9274-aggressive-tigers-need-time-on-the-defensive
