How Richmond “smashed” its way to a premiershipReece Homfray,
The Advertiser
2 October 2017DAMIEN Hardwick introduced us to a new football term on Saturday night that should go straight up on Adelaide’s whiteboard when players return for pre-season training.
“Smashes”.
Speaking about skipper Trent Cotchin’s game which wasn’t statistically huge (21 disposals) but in terms of physical impact was enormous, Hardwick said:
“Trent - I choke up a bit speaking about this guy but he’s just a battering ram today,” Hardwick said.
“I don’t know what his possessions were but he would have had 15 smashes and I don’t think you even classify them, but he’s a freak.”
If “smashes” was in the football dictionary it would describe a player cannoning into a contest at speed and if they didn’t win the footy they would at least take their opponent out with them.
Where was that physical intent from Adelaide?
I would hate to know the total number of “smashes” the Crows had on Saturday.
If Cotchin did have 15, Adelaide would have been lucky to have that many as a team.
Cotchin plays kamikaze footy, it almost cost him a grand final the way he attacked the ball and the man in the preliminary final, but that’s just it - it’s unconditional.
At what stage did Adelaide crunch one of Richmond’s players in the Grand Final? When did a key forward smash a pack, lead with their knees and make a Tiger think twice about going back with the flight of the footy?
When did they tackle an opponent and not just grab them but bury them into the turf?
There wasn’t even any push and shove, apart from a brief moment on the quarter-time siren when Jake Lever fired up, to try to unsettle the Tigers.
It was such a stark contrast to the Crows team that beat Geelong a week before.
That night there was push-and-shove and aggression even before the first bounce when the Crows wouldn’t let Patrick Dangerfield get forward of centre.
They hunted the Cats and when they didn’t the footy they made Geelong earn every kick.
Maybe Adelaide was so confident in its ability that it was too calm and composed for a Grand Final.
We don’t know what was said behind closed doors but maybe the Crows needed to be revved up, to play right on the edge.
Instead they stared down the Tigers at the national anthem, kicked the first two goals and looked like passengers after quarter-time.
When the tide turned in the second quarter there was no response and when the ship really started to go down in the third quarter there was even less.
Josh Jenkins is 200cm and 108kg which is remarkably similar to Charlie Dixon who is 200cm and 105kg.
Can you imagine what Dixon would have been like if Port Adelaide was going down like the way the Crows did on Saturday?
You don’t even need to imagine. Just get a copy of the Power’s elimination final loss to West Coast to see what Dixon did when he didn’t have the footy - crashing packs, chasing, tackling, lunging and ... smashing in.
Adelaide out-tackled Richmond by three on Saturday and had seven more disposals.
But it was the acts that aren’t measured on a stats sheet that show why the Crows were “smashed” by 48 points on the scoreboard.
GRAND FINAL POWER RANKINGS
1. RichmondPrevious ranking: 8, 5, 2, 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 10, 6, 5, 6, 6, 5, 7, 6, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 3, 2, 2
Last 5: WWWWW
They’ve done it and I have to admit I got it wrong - badly.
Four weeks ago while doing our finals predictions under the section ‘headline you’ll never see’ I wrote “Richmond wins the flag”.
No surprise that page was printed out and waiting on my desk when I arrived home from Melbourne yesterday.
Everything I thought wouldn’t happen did. Richmond’s supposedly suspect bottom six players starred and they kicked a winning score while Adelaide’s forwardline couldn’t function.
While the Crows got stage fright, Richmond managed to deal with the hype on a magnitude that only Richmond in a Grand Final will truly know. So much for their mental weaknesses.
The Crows found their aggressive streak when they beat Geelong in Round 18 and carried it through their first two finals, but not in the third and most important at the MCG on Saturday. They were bullied, pure and simple.
If Adelaide is brutally honest, only two players won their positions on Saturday - Matt Crouch in the midfield and Luke Brown blanketing Daniel Rioli in defence.
Sam Jacobs was solid while Rory Laird, Rory Sloane and Hugh Greenwood started like a house on fire in the first quarter but faded.
Richmond had winners all over the ground. Dustin Martin won the Norm Smith Medal and Alex Rance starred as usual, but it was unsung heroes like Bachar Houli, Shane Edwards and Jack Graham who made the difference.
Only they’re not unsung heroes anymore, they are premiership heroes. Forever.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/expert-opinion/grand-final-power-rankings-how-richmond-smashed-its-way-to-a-premiership/news-story/6d12bf317fdb8819577a063cea6df828
