Injured Tiger may have been the answer to stopping star Crow Nathan Schmook
AFL.com.au
8 April 2016INJURED Richmond defender Dylan Grimes has left the Tigers in a quandary as they plot how to shut down in-form small forward Eddie Betts in Saturday's clash at Etihad Stadium.
Grimes, who will miss two weeks after another hamstring injury, would have been the Tigers' most likely match-up for Betts, who hit red-hot form in round two with five goals against Port Adelaide.
His absence leaves the Tigers' match committee in a tough position as they weigh up a number of options, including the left-field choice of key defender Alex Rance.
It has not been uncommon in recent seasons for opposition clubs to pit one of their tall defenders against Betts, given his proficiency in the air (he rated elite last year for contested marks and took 56 grabs inside 50).
The difficulty for Richmond, however, is by moving their All Australian key defender onto Betts, they are automatically weakened in match-ups against tall forwards Tom Lynch (six goals in round two), Josh Jenkins (five) and Taylor Walker (two).
One opposition scout spoken to by AFL.com.au viewed the Rance match-up on Betts as a long shot because of the way he likes to hang off his opponents and help teammates.
"He did that last week against Collingwood but he couldn't do that against Betts, so he'd have to change the way he plays from one week to the next," the scout said.
The negative implications from Grimes's injury in the first quarter of last Friday night's loss to Collingwood couldn't have come quicker.
Without their first-choice match-up for small forward Alex Fasolo, the Tigers looked to Nick Vlastuin to play a lockdown role.
A number of other players rotated on Fasolo, but none for more than 10 minutes in total, with the 23-year-old kicking six goals in a match-winning hand.
When it comes to Betts, the Tigers didn't have a set match-up for the 2015 All Australian last season, with five players each spending between 10 and 20 minutes opposed to him in round 19.
Vlastuin was one of those players, as were Troy Chaplin, who has been named this week, and Jake Batchelor, who is yet to play this season.
Steven Morris didn't play that match (he was an emergency) ending a long rivalry with Betts, and he has been overlooked again this week.
According to Champion Data, from 2013-2014 Morris played on Betts for about 80 per cent of each of the four games they played.
The former Blue kicked seven goals across those four games, but shapes as an even more dangerous threat on Saturday against a backline that will be stretched.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-04-08/injured-richmond-defender-has-left-tigers-in-a-quandary-as-they-plot-how-to-stop-eddie-betts
