Matthew Lloyd: Richmond has so much at stake in Dreamtime gameMATTHEW LLOYD,
Herald Sun
27 May 2017IF Joel Selwood played for Richmond, it would be sitting on top of the ladder after nine rounds.
Selwood’s playing ability is one thing, but it’s his “jump on my back and follow me” leadership style that consistently changes the course of games for Geelong.
Selwood senses better than any other current player when a match is slipping away and also when the opposition must be buried.
That style of leader would have won Richmond its past three games, when the Tigers had put themselves in commanding positions and had all but taken the four points.
Selwood’s physical and mental courage to will himself into the contest at the appropriate time has made him one of the greatest captains the game has seen.
Strong on-ground leadership would have seen the Tigers beat the Western Bulldogs, Fremantle and GWS Giants but a lack of cool heads and strong decision-makers has cost them badly.
The Tigers have historically frozen in finals and big moments like the past three weeks and, until they stand up and handle the pressure, they will not earn the respect they so crave.
This is not just about the skipper, Trent Cotchin. This is about every coach and player at Richmond who, for whatever reason, cannot change the well-worn script of their club.
The Tigers never seem to reach an equilibrium. They always seem to be on a rollercoaster of massive highs or extreme lows and nothing in between.
Coach Damien Hardwick was criticised last week for saying how incredibly proud he was of his players after their last-minute loss to the Greater Western Sydney.
I understood where he was coming from, in that they are matching every team they play this year.
The Tigers could quite easily have been eight wins and one loss, having been comprehensively beaten by only the Crows in Round 6, and this is a far cry from the non-competitive side they were for the majority of 2016.
That is the positive but the negative is that the Tigers are on a four-game losing streak and on Saturday night they come up against a red-hot Essendon side that desperately wants Richmond’s position in the top eight.
The Dreamtime at the ‘G game should draw a crowd of about 90,000. Like Anzac Day, it is a game on the football calendar that every player knows will be scrutinised heavily.
How will the Tigers respond? Will they come out with a fierce desire to right the wrongs or are they a broken team with shattered confidence?
Who is going to take control if scores are close late in the last quarter and play a Selwood-type game?
They are the questions I am asking of the Richmond Football Club and I cannot wait to see how they handle such a big-occasion match coming off three heartbreaking losses.
Richmond members and supporters want to see change and not feel like they are being set up for a fall week after week.
Despite the close losses, Richmond is not the side it was during the first five weeks.
The Tigers have lost their ability to score due to the fact that they are no longer working hard enough to create that manic pressure inside forward 50m through Dan Butler, Daniel Rioli and Jason Castagna, as they were earlier in the season.
Richmond averaged 102 points a game in the first five weeks because of that pressure, but only 71 points in the past month.
The Tigers have gone from best to the worst performed side for points scored from forward half turnovers.
About 42 per cent of their total score was coming via pressure acts in attack, but that has plummeted to 25 per cent in their four-game losing streak.
With the pressure in the attacking half falling away, the Tigers’ defence, which was ranked No.1 for points conceded in the first five rounds, has now fallen toNo.11.
The Tigers were conceding only 75 points a game during their winning streak, but that has risen to 92 points.
Opposition clubs have counter-acted Richmond’s high-pressure game by looking to play on at all costs in the defensive half from marks, which has lessened the Tigers’ small forwards’ impact and limited their main score source.
David Astbury will most likely get the job on in-form Essendon big man Joe Daniher. Astbury has had a great year, having lowered his colours only to Taylor Walker, who kicked five goals on him in Round 6.
Alex Rance would then go to Cale Hooker, who will be doing his best to keep Rance occupied all night and away from Daniher.
Joey will try to use his reach and height advantage in one-on-one contests without Rance being able to give the aerial support at which he has become an absolute master.
Only percentage separates the clubs going into this game but the form lines over the past fortnight are poles apart.
Essendon enters the game chock-full of confidence while Richmond will run onto the MCG riddled with self-doubt.
This will be the 13th meeting between the clubs in the Dreamtime match. So far it’s six-all.
Thirteen is an unlucky number for some but it has to be the night Richmond puts a stop to mediocrity and starts making its own luck.
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