Games that shaped Richmond's seasonBy Bradley Dawson
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Source: SportsFanIf you'd given any Richmond person a season of 15 wins, eight losses and a finish of seventh at the start of 2013, they would have bitten your hand off taking it. Yet the second-half capitulation to Carlton in the Tigers' first final in 12 years made 2013 a bittersweet year.
After finally winning their season opener on the big stage against those same Blues and grabbing another couple of early wins, the Tigers were found wanting through rounds four to six against the big boys in Collingwood, Fremantle and Geelong, with echoes of 'false dawn' again ringing around the football world. But Richmond proved to be more than paper Tigers and backed up some fine mid-season wins with the big scalps of Hawthorn and Fremantle late to at last give their fans something to cheer about in September.
A host of youngsters continued to impress in good signs for the future: Brandon Ellis and Reece Conca built on previous years of promise, while debutant Nick Vlastuin looked a ready-made player, showing composure in traffic beyond his years. The addition of seasoned defender Troy Chaplin from Port Adelaide allowed Alex Rance to take the second or third forward, in turn transforming the previously shaky Richmond defence into one of the competition's more miserly. Dustin Martin, Luke McGuane, Ty Vickery, Jake King, and – unbelievably - Daniel Jackson all took necessary goal-kicking pressure off Jack Riewoldt, who still tallied a very respectable 58 goals for the year.
The Tigers' quick exit from the finals showed they are still short of a little class and composure under pressure, with another forward option required when Riewoldt is held and Vickery goes missing, as he does far too often. Liam McBean is one to watch for 2014. The post-season debacle with Martin should also work in Richmond's favour as the neck-tattooed one realises he still has to prove himself.
These are the games that defined Richmond's ultimately satisfactory 2013 campaign …
Round 1: Richmond 14.22 (106) d Carlton 14.17 (101)Richmond had lost the previous four season openers against Carlton by an average of 50 points, but the Tiger-army would have been delirious at half time after a dominant yet wasteful Richmond had smashed Carlton in every facet of the match to be 38 points up at the long break. The army would also have been choking on their chips as a fast-finishing Blues then stormed home from seven goals down to almost steal the show. Carlton actually should have won, but for Chris Yarran missing a couple of sitters late in the match. Vickery and Deledio excelled for the yellow and black, whose main emotion after the game had to be one of relief.
Round 4: Collingwood 16.17 (113) d Richmond 11.13 (79)In their first big test of the year after three wins to start the season against the Blues, Saints and Bulldogs, the Tigers looked overawed by expectations and were undisciplined in front of a massive crowd, giving away too many frees and soft 50-metre penalties. Then Travis Cloke went berserk against Alex Rance in the third quarter after an even first half, as the Pies slammed on the first eight goals of the quarter to put the Tigers back in their box. Richmond did rally to get back to within four goals at one stage in the final quarter. But they were still a fair way off top-four pace.
Round 12: Richmond 16.14 (110) d Adelaide 10.12 (72)Richmond had scored a confidence-boosting win over West Coast in Perth the previous week, though we were all learning that wasn't such a big deal by this stage of the season. This clash loomed as a real danger game against recent bogey side Adelaide, who were surely about to click into gear and get their season back on track. The Tigers, however, returned from the bye full of run to outscore the Crows in every quarter. They even withstood an early last-quarter Adelaide surge which in previous years would have seen the Tigers melt into a puddle of black and yellow syrup. But these tougher Tigers, led by a more consistent Dustin Martin with four goals, were learning how to kick winning scores without Jack Riewoldt having to kick a bag. Brett Deledio set the win up with 17 touches to half time as Richmond climbed to sixth on the ladder with a 7-4 win-loss record. Finals started to look like a distinct possibility.
Round 16: Richmond 6.17 (53) d Gold Coast 6.8 (44)Trips to Cairns had been good earners over the previous couple of years for Richmond, but costly in terms of premiership points. Crushed by the Kangaroos the previous week, if ever the Tigers needed to stand up, this was the game. In windy conditions they dominated possession and play and should have had their fans nice and relaxed by three-quarter time, yet the players, coaching staff and CEO Brendon Gale, who brokered the three-game deal to play in Cairns, would have been far from calm as the Tigers clung to just a 10-point lead late in the game. Riewoldt, who'd been missing all match, nonchalantly kicked a brilliant left-foot goal from the boundary to ultimately seal an overdue win up north. Tiger tagger Jackson continued his excellent season, doing the near-impossible to keep Suns maestro Gary Ablett to 'just' 26 possessions.
Round 19: Richmond 16.11 (107) d Hawthorn 9.12 (66)The Tigers were still yet to beat a big name after failing against all the teams above them except for an injury-depleted Fremantle two-weeks prior to this round 19 clash with the ladder leaders. In wet conditions, the Tigers got away to their usual flyer to lead by 22 points at quarter time, claiming the first 13 clearances of the game, but things looked ominous as the Hawks kept the Tigers goalless in the second quarter to edge ahead at half time. However, captain Trent Cotchin got motoring after the break, as did Brandon Ellis, with Richmond taking a handy three-goal lead into the final quarter before running away in the rain in scenes reminiscent of their previous year's upset to stun the Hawks by 41 points. It was official: the Tigers were now the real deal and were going to figure in September. Key defenders Rance and Chaplin performed the blanket job of the year in keeping Hawk forwards Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead to one goal between them.
First Elimination final: Carlton 18.8 (116) d Richmond 14.12 (96)An excited but nervous yellow-and-black faithful jammed the MCG to at last cheer their boys on in spring, and for one and a half quarters they would have liked what they saw. Firm favourites Richmond jumped a Carlton team, which had slipped in the finals back door through Essendon's suspension, to set up a handy four-goal lead at half time. Worryingly, the Tigers had spent plenty of early petrol and should have been further in front. Sure enough, from early in the third quarter it was all Carlton, with Chris Judd running rampant in an 11-possession third term, while Jarrad Waite and Nick Duigan both booted four goals to seal the come-from-behind win against a Richmond side that simply ran out of legs. An early hamstring injury to midfielder Conca probably didn't help the Tigers' cause, but they were outplayed by a finals-hardened team which ran further and played smarter. Deledio, Cotchin, and to a lesser extent Martin, handled the occasion, but Richmond paid dearly for playing an unfit Riewoldt, who was clearly unable to jump due to a sore knee. After the second half of 2013 had promised so much, the looks on Tiger supporters' faces as they trudged from the 'G' said it all: what a waste.
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