The worst 21 seconds in football? How the Tigers lost it.By Domenic Favata
SEN
15 May 2017ANALYSISSome would say Richmond’s two-point loss to the Fremantle Dockers on Sunday afternoon was typical of a club that have been crippled by mediocrity for over 35 years.
Others would point the finger at the coach, poor officiating at stages or the lack of Tiger organisation.
The fact of the matter is, Richmond were rubbish for three quarters and probably didn’t deserve to win and Damien Hardwick is most certainly not at fault for his team’s self-destruction.
But with 21 seconds to play following what appeared to be Brandon Ellis’ match-winner, the Tigers had the match ‘won’ so expectations naturally pivot.
This is where the onus is on the players and the players alone.
Let’s take a look at how Richmond lost this game, but also how the Dockers made every post a winner to give Mundy his second single-handed slaying of the Tigers after the siren in two years.
21 seconds to go, here is the Richmond setup for the restart. Note, Dustin Martin circled in red manning up the Fremantle sweeper Lachie Neale and quite loose in his checking. Also, there appears to be two Richmond players manning up three Dockers on the back of the square, with Daniel Rioli on his own on the wing.
Martin is drawn to the footy at the bounce, meaning his already loose distance between him and Neale is only further stretched. While the movement does not cost Richmond the game, note the three Dockers who began alongside two Richmond forwards on the back of the square, streaming forward unchecked. Safe to say if Neale did not get the footy, one of those three would have.
This is where the Dockers must be praised, with Aaron Sandilands’ outstanding performance capped off by this shepherd on the loose Martin, allowing Neale a free run at the ball with yards of space in front of him.
Neale storms away as Martin is left on his haunches in the centre square after bearing the brunt of a 122kg wall.
This is where it gets messy…
Without knowing exactly how many Richmond players have remained in the forward half, there appears to be nine Tigers in the defensive 50, all allocated a man and just one loose back, Alex Rance in the goalsquare.
Which means, with four players in the centre square, two on the wings and two off the back of the square, there is only one player unaccounted for, presumably deep inside the Richmond forward line.
One loose back with 20 seconds to go…
You’re dammed if you do and you’re dammed if you don’t here.
The Tigers could have flooded those two wingman and those in the forward 50 behind the ball to take up those spots marked with a white or we are left with what transpired.
If the Tigers did indeed choose to flood the defence, we’re probably left with those three or more Dockers off the back of the square all on their own, who may have still won the footy with the clearance.
Richmond didn’t flood numbers back and the result was a pin-point kick into a pocket of space for David Mundy to run onto the footy. Hardly defendable in that situation unless there are numbers back to support.
Rance is guarding the goalsquare for the typical panic long bomb in the dying stages, only Neale’s class and temperament effectively made Rance’s starting position redundant.
As an ‘armchair expert’ you like to think you know more than the players. The fact is, most teams in that situation would pride themselves and practice on winning the ball at the source, the centre-clearance.
The simple fact is the Tigers were brushed aside with relative ease and while flooding numbers back behind the ball is the obvious plan of attack, the craft of Neale and co. proved that once again, footy is no obvious game.
The Tigers are now the pride owners of both the worst 21 second and 25 seconds (Karmichael Hunt - Gold Coast - 2012) of football in AFL history.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/05/14/the-worst-21-seconds-in-football-how-the-tigers-lost-it/
