VFL Tigers outclassed by Port Melbourne richmondfc.com.au
8 May 2016Richmond’s VFL side suffered its third consecutive loss, as it went down to Port Melbourne by 43 points at North Port Oval.
The Borough held the Tigers at bay for the majority of the match and ran out deserved winners, 13.16 (94) to 8.3 (51).
After a tight opening eight minutes, with neither side troubling the scorers, it was The Borough who grabbed the early ascendency on the scoreboard.
Richmond was defending admirably, with key-back Ryan Gale dominating in the air early on, but the visitors just couldn’t find a target forward of centre to finish off their work.
The back-six was working with cohesion and propelling Port’s early forays forward, but as the defenders propelled, the Tigers struggled to maintain possession and get the game on their terms.
The Tigers had to wait until the 28-minute mark of the first term to hit the scoreboard, as Ben Lennon converted after being awarded a free kick.
Richmond’s first quarter performance could have been summed-up in one snippet as Dan Butler streamed into an open goal, to only be denied by a desperate smother from a Port defender.
Tigers’ VFL coach Craig McRae wanted a concerted lift in the side’s intensity at the contest in his quarter-time address and implored his charges to spread the load.
“I just thought at quarter-time we had too many passengers in that area (contest) and we just weren’t strong enough and we coughed the ball up too easily,” McRae said.
“I thought it was left to too few, so I challenged that."
McRae also urged the Tigers to be predictable to each other, to play their style and get the game back on their terms.
The second term began positively for Richmond, as key-tall Liam McBean made-up for his turnover going inside-50 by capping off some excellent work by Nathan Broad.
McBean handed the Tigers the first major of the quarter, and a slither of momentum, which was quickly evaporated as The Borough hit-back almost instantly.
Port nailed five-goals-to-three with the wind in the second term, as the Tigers’ forwards struggled to adapt to the conditions, constantly giving up front position as Port’s defenders intercepted at will.
Goals to McBean, Butler and Marcon kept the Tigers in the hunt, but Port simply out-pressured and out-worked the visitors and took a 34-point lead into the main change.
The second-half was relatively even, with the Tigers improving in the contest and garnered improved flow in their ball movement, but never really mounted a significant challenge.
In the end, in an error-riddled game based on turnovers, The Borough capitalised better and took their chances when they presented.
McRae held the group behind closed doors after the game as they sit 1–5 and strive to improve.
“I went through every player and talked about when they’re at their best, what they bring to the table and their strengths,” McRae said.
“I’m a strengths-based coach.
“We talked about the guys that are displaying theirs (strengths) and the ones that aren’t.
“Fundamentally, if you want to be a good team, the more players that bring their strengths to the table is the reason why you’re a good team.
“We went into the game thinking we needed to have a really strong effort at the contest.
“You play them (Port Melbourne) down here (North Port Oval), we knew how tough it was going to be.
“You look for positives within the game, I think in the second half it was pretty even.
“I think right now we’re working really, really hard in elements of the game and you cough-up turnovers which teams go down and score, obviously.
“Conversely, we worked really hard to turn the ball over and we don’t capitalise, that’s the nutshell of the game.
“In the end, our contest was reasonably even, the tackles were reasonably even, I think we might have won but then you say, ‘Just tidy up the other parts of the game’."
Richmond wingman Taylor Hunt (25 disposals) endeavoured to lift his side, while Adam Marcon (27 disposals) and Tom Couch (24 disposals) battled tirelessly against the tide.
The Tigers face North Ballarat at Punt Rd Oval at 4:30pm on Saturday 14 May in a curtain raiser to the AFL side’s clash with Sydney at the MCG.
www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2016-05-08/vfl-tigers-outclassed-by-port
