Author Topic: Richmond has proved its gamestyle is working but will it stand up to finals? -HS  (Read 450 times)

Offline one-eyed

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Richmond has proved its game style is working, but will it stand up to finals?

    MARK ROBINSON
    Herald Sun
    July 04, 2015


A TICK over 12 months ago, Jack Riewoldt had one of those Jack moments.

It was the Thursday before a match against Greater Western Sydney and Old Jack had put his foot in his mouth and had Damien Hardwick’s foot “in his a---”.

With the Tigers on a three-match losing run, Old Jack embarrassingly said: “Unfortunately, we went one way with our game, and the game went the other way really. We probably tried to copy Hawthorn a little bit too much with our kicking style.”

Ouch.

The gaffe became a calamity. In scenes never seen before and unlikely ever to be seen again, Old Jack dashed from the club to Richmond train station to avoid the waiting media.

He hid behind cars and darted up back streets, but his escape plan was thwarted when he had to stop and buy a train ticket.

On the Saturday against GWS, Old Jack kicked 10 goals.

It was Old Richmond then, too. The Tigers belted the Giants and then lost the next four games. Reeling, Old Richmond then peeled off nine victories to make the finals.

New Jack and New Richmond face the Giants on Saturday.

The Tigers have won five of their past six matches. They include wins on the road against Port Adelaide, Fremantle and Sydney, and a late Sunday arvo dogfight over Collingwood in Round 7 at the MCG, which is far better recognised now than it was then.

New Jack is killing it. The game’s greats such as Wayne Carey and Dermott Brereton see in New Jack something of their old selves.

They see a team-oriented matchwinner. A leader with purpose. A player aware of his own strengths while being aware of team requirements.

Even Mark Maclure, a long-time Old Jack critic, is in love with the New Jack.

New Richmond is confident, disciplined and measured with the ball.

Not all the time, because as much as New Richmond has weapons, it’s still a work in progress.

The finals are 10 weeks away and we don’t know whether Old Richmond will return to haunt New Richmond. It’s called consistency of game style and whether it will stand up.

Fremantle’s does. Hawthorn’s does. Sydney’s ... yes, still does. West Coast and Collingwood are like Richmond: A work in progress.

Two years ago, an opposition coach said the Old Tigers were the quickest ball-moving team in the competition — exciting and brash but suspect to turnovers and scores against.

The New Tigers are more careful with their use of the ball.

There are old fashioned theories — their best players are playing their best football, the defensive group is wiser and cohesive, the kids are men — but there are also countless statistical categories from which to draw.

Scores from behind centre tell us how well a team transitions the ball.

In their seven wins this year, the Tigers have been phenomenal in scoring from the defensive half.

They have recorded 56 points (Carlton), 64 (Brisbane), 55 (Collingwood), 26 (Port Adelaide), 30 (Essendon), 43 (Fremantle) and 45 (Sydney).

In their five losses, it’s been 23 points (Western Bulldogs), eight (Melbourne) 33 (Geelong), 34 (North Melbourne) and 19 (West Coast).

At 2-4, the Tigers changed their game style. Well, the speed of their game style.

A Champion Data insider told the Herald Sun: “Richmond wants to simply deny the opposition uncontested possession. They work their way from behind centre slowly and therefore make it harder for the opposition to punish them from turnovers. It is a strategy that has worked in wins, but hasn’t in losses.

“Their scoring percentage from defensive-half chains is far higher in wins than losses because they go slower and once they do get the ball inside 50, they score 53 per cent of the time in wins compared to 32 per cent of the time in losses.

“And as a result of going slower in wins, they concede just 37.7 points from turnovers, in losses they concede 63.2 points per game.”

Another glaring number is that in wins the Tigers are +14 in uncontested marks and -11 in losses. In wins, they control the ball better or allowed to control the better.

Clearly, Richmond have found its way — the Richmond way, as Hardwick has termed it — and it’s working.

The negative is opposition teams know the best way to beat Richmond is to clamp them from behind centre. It’s easier said than done and Richmond has proved its style stands up against the higher-ranked teams.

But will it stand up in the pressure surrounds of the finals? Will teams deny them goals from behind centre?

Melbourne got them with in-your-face pressure. The Bulldogs put up a wall/zone and allowed the Tigers to chip wide and then punished them on turnovers.

There are differences between Old Richmond and New Richmond, but not vastly so.

Undoubtedly, there is more character, more guts in their performances, in particular the Sydney win.

Similar to Old Jack and New Jack, Richmond has grown up a lot in the past 12 months.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-has-proved-its-game-style-is-working-but-will-it-stand-up-to-finals/story-fnp04d70-1227426872200

Offline 🏅Dooks

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Wasn't it Blobbo who was pumping us up in the media a few days ago, saying we could win the flag on current form?

He's certainly been on a journey with us over the past week. I wonder how many games of ours he has been to.

In any event, as flattering as some comments are, I think it's important that each person view our finals potential in there own context.

"Sliding doors moment.
If Damian Barrett had a brain
Then its made of sh#t" Dont Argue - 2/8/2018