Richmond, the biggest victims in closest season since 1928 could be top of AFL ladderSam Edmund
Herald Sun
14 June 2017IT is, dare we say it, oh so Richmond.
The Tigers, while much-improved this year, have been the biggest victims of the closest VFL/AFL season in 89 years.
After 12 rounds, 17 games have been decided by a goal or less — the most at this stage of a season since 1928.
That was an era with only 12 teams and six games a week. But even shrinking the sample size to start from 1995 and eight games a week, the evenness of this season — with one win separating fifth and 13th — has been remarkable.
This is a season of wafer-thin margins. Consider the Tigers, who are 0-3 in games decided by less than a kick — a margin where luck arguably determines the result as much as skill and structure.
The ladder makes very different reading for Richmond if the 17 games decided by a goal or less have their results flipped.
The Tigers would be 10-1, a game clear on top of the ladder with a match in hand and who knows? Maybe premiership favourites to go with it.
Three of their four losses have been freakish.
A harsh deliberate call against Jayden Short conspired against them in a five-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in Round 7, they lost after the siren against Fremantle in Round 8, despite being in front at a centre bounce with 21 seconds left, and, despite leading by 25 points at three-quarter time in Round 9, they conceded a kick-in coast-to-coast winner against Greater Western Sydney with 60 seconds to play.
Instead of 10-1, Richmond is 7-4, but its only defeat of note was the 76-point capitulation at the hands of Adelaide, which has dealt out four other beltings at Adelaide Oval.
Coach Damien Hardwick copped flak for the positive nature of his comments after the Giants heartbreak, but he knew the result didn’t fit.
“The GWS game in particular, I couldn’t have been prouder of the way my players played. For 80 per cent of the game we were absolutely outstanding,” Hardwick said on SEN last week.
“The (other) 20 per cent ... they were just too good. They rolled the dice and got some things on their terms and we tightened up a bit, which sides do at various stages, and once again you learn a little bit from that process.
“But the vast majority of that game we played some of the best footy we’ve played all year.”
GWS is 3-1 in close games, but could easily be 1-3, while there’s a reason 10th-placed Fremantle’s percentage is a miserable 78.5 — lower than 16th-placed Carlton’s. If the Dockers’ 3-0 record in tight games was reversed, Ross Lyon’s men would be 3-9 and 16th.
Coulda, shoulda, woulda, you ask?
Maybe, but in this closest of premiership races, there’s going to be a heck of a lot of that.
GAMES DECIDED BY A GOAL OR LESS
AFTER ROUND 1219 - 1928
17 - 2017
16 - 1954, 1965
14 - 2005, 1950, 1938, 2006
13 - 2002, 1980
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/richmond-the-biggest-victims-in-closest-season-since-1928-could-be-top-of-afl-ladder/news-story/55eeb7939921beede3cd0252411d98c4CLUB PLAYED WON LOSS POINTS
Richmond 11 10 1 40
Adelaide 12 9 3 36
Port Adelaide 11 7 4 28
GWS Giants 12 7 5 28
Melbourne 11 7 4 28
West Coast 11 7 4 28
North Melb. 11 7 4 28
Geelong 11 6 5 24
Sydney 11 6 5 24
Essendon 12 6 6 24
Collingwood 12 6 6 24
W.Bulldogs 11 5 6 20
St Kilda 11 5 6 20
Gold Coast 11 5 6 20
Carlton 11 3 8 12
Fremantle 12 3 9 12
Hawthorn 12 2 10 8
Brisbane 11 1 10 4
