Can the Eagles survive against Richmond?Source: SportsFan
Author: Glenn Valencich
Wednesday, June 17, 2015 What's a more surprising fact: that West Coast are still third on the AFL ladder or that Richmond, after starting out 2-4, are suddenly one of the form teams?
We'd have to lean towards the Eagles' efforts following the season-ending knee injuries to defenders Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown, but the Tigers have given things a real shake lately. With Richmond being one of four teams with a 6-4 record, the four premiership points up for grabs on Friday night will be crucial.
After the Tigers went to Perth and ended Fremantle's unbeaten streak at Subiaco before resting up in their bye week, West Coast are heading to the MCG on a six-day break. It's their second consecutive six-day turnaround, having played Essendon last Saturday after a game in Tasmania the previous Sunday.
The short week is hardly their biggest concern, however. Impressive defender Jeremy McGovern appears likely to miss the match with a corked thigh, and 19-year-old Tom Barrass will make his debut if selected in McGovern's place. Richmond are finally learning how to play Jack Riewoldt, Ty Vickery and Ben Griffiths in the same team with success, and against the Eagles the three talls will line up for their third game together this season.
The first (the win over Port Adelaide) was shortened by Vickery's ankle and knee troubles, but their latest, the victory over the Dockers, was a four-quarter effort that really only needed two to succeed. Below are the three players' heat maps from the win over Fremantle, with Griffiths on the left, Riewoldt in the middle and Vickery on the right.
The trio combined for seven goals – two each to Griffiths and Riewoldt and three to Vickery. But a closer look at the first half, during which the Tigers kicked 12 of their 15 goals to basically put the game to bed, helps to realise how the three players work together.
On the end of a floating kick from Taylor Hunt, Vickery marked inside 50 to score the opening goal. Riewoldt was only just entering the arc at the time, and Griffiths occupied his defender slightly behind. The next goal came via Griffiths from another mark inside 50 as he found himself free with Riewoldt an option along the boundary line.
With the tone set through those two goals, the forwards began to work the ground. Vickery won a 50-50 contest on the wing before Richmond earned a goal after a repeat entry. For the Tigers' sixth goal, Griffiths picked up a clearing ball from Michael Johnson and the turnover allowed Vickery to run free into the pocket for an uncontested mark.
Early in the second quarter, Vickery kicked from just in front of the centre-wing logo to a leading Riewoldt, who marked and converted from just outside 50. Griffiths was on his way to the pocket behind Riewoldt as the No.8 marked before teasing his man with a run to the goal square. In all, the three players had a total of 15 possessions between the arcs in the first half. (See below for heat maps for Riewoldt and Vickery, which show their willingness to push forward while one stayed at home with Griffiths.) The trio needed just eight touches inside 50 to kick their six majors as they contributed to the team's total of 12 goals from just 21 entries.
All of this is to say that if Luke McPharlin and Fremantle's makeshift defence (Johnson was substituted out of the game with a hamstring injury) struggled, then how can an Eagles side minus McGovern expect to compete against Richmond's three forwards? The answer might not be with their direct opponents but up the field.
One month ago, the Tigers began winning more consistently when they slowed their play down by controlling the footy and considering their options. It's worked well enough to defeat the previously unbeaten Dockers, but it was only last week that West Coast won a game against the same type of opponent.
Essendon played typical Essendon football at Subiaco, taking 110 uncontested marks (to the Eagles' 78) and winning the uncontested possessions 292-213. But the Bombers went inside 50 just 35 times, and that's not only down to their poor structures. West Coast forced 52 clangers, the most by an opposition that has conceded at least 400 disposals to Essendon since the start of the 2013 season.
Despite the Bombers' 10-possession advantage in the second quarter, the Eagles throttled their progress and whacked them to the tune of five goals to one. On the heat maps below, showing Essendon on the left and West Coast on the right with both teams attacking to the right, note how the Dons tried to escape down their right side but the Eagles continually won the ball back and sent it back inside 50.
The first goal of the quarter was a Jack Darling major that came on the end of a coast-to-coast run after a Bombers behind, and three of the remaining four goals were kicked after an Essendon turnover. Darling's first game of the year was a huge success, even if he had fewer than 10 disposals for the first time since the final match of 2013. The 23-year-old still chipped in with two goals, basically his career average, and it will be interesting to watch how the Eagles' forward line travels in the coming weeks.
As convincingly as West Coast defeated the Bombers, the first and third quarters were both much closer. It was the second and fourth quarters that built the home team's lead; in the final term, four of their five goals were sourced via Dons turnovers.
The in-form Richmond are a daunting task, especially in front of their home fans on a Friday night. Yet the Eagles, as battered as they've been, have proven that they can cover in defence magnificently well. Whether they can survive one more hit – assuming McGovern doesn't push through some pain to get up – remains to be seen, but the blueprint is there and they've still got the tools to win.
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