Richmond's small forwards changing the way footy is played (Herald-Sun)

[one-eyed]

Richmond AFL finals 2017: Small forwards changing the way footy is played

Al Paton,
Herald Sun
13 September 2017

RICHMOND has risen from 13th a preliminary final by winning in a way no team has done before. Will other teams try to copy the Tigers — and is that good for footy?

It’s accepted wisdom that you can’t win in September without a second key forward target, but the Tigers blew that idea out of the water on Friday night.

They played with one — Jack Riewoldt — and he didn’t kick a goal until late in the last quarter as Richmond romped to a 51-point win.

Instead, an army of small forwards chased, tackled and harassed their way to a winning score even though they didn’t get much of the ball.

“Five of their forwards had less than 10 possessions,” Mark Robinson marvelled in the SuperFooty Podcast.

“Rioli had seven, Jacob Towsend had three, Butler had nine — it’s their pressure. Richmond has changed the game a little bit.”

Geelong premiership captain Cameron Ling saw something similar from the commentary box.

“Maybe we’re seeing the evolution of the new forward line — just one tall, lots of small blokes being able to put pressure on and kick goals,” he said on Channel 7.

Riewoldt has kicked 51 goals this year to finish sixth in the Coleman Medal, nine more than Jake Stringer managed last year as the Bulldogs’ top goalkicker.

But while Stringer had Tory Dickson (40 goals) as a sidekick, Richmond’s next best goalkicker is midfielder Dustin Martin (32). Butler, Castagna and Rioli are next with 27, 24 and 21 respectively, but they say they are judged on pressure, not possessions.

“It’s always good to kick goals and get some crumbs, but our main role would definitely be just putting on pressure,” Castagna said after winning the Round 19 Rising Star nomination.

Robinson suggested a move further away from traditional full-forwards isn’t the best look for the game, but it might not last — which means the Tigers have to strike this season.

The Bulldogs perfected their handball game last season and won the premiership but missed the finals this year as other teams figured out how to combat it (among other factors), while the Eagles made it to the Grand Final in 2015 on the back of their unique “web” defence then were knocked out in an elimination final the next year.

“Richmond have got this weapon and they’ve got to use it, this has got to be the year,” Robinson said.

“They might not get back there and they’ve got something really going for them.”

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmonds-successful-forward-setup-is-changing-the-way-footy-is-played/news-story/bbc408ec09511c1be1b1b8185944df83

[Stripes]

I remember years a go when the Doggies were an incredible team playing Prelim after Prelim. They did it on the back of a small forwardline. They didn't pressure the way we do but their even spread of goal kickers made them very difficult to match up on and defend. After another Prelim defeat they followed the overwhelming advice of the footy world and hunted down a big key forward in Big Bad Barry. I feel that was a big mistake and given the results after his arrival, I think the numbers support this.

We finally have a game style that others are looking to follow. The difference is that we have the cattle to do it. In fact we have an embarrassment of riches with talented small forwards now. In any other year Bolton and Schnegle (sp?) would be getting a lot more game time. We recruited a collection of small forwards because it was a weakness of ours but we certainly couldn't have predicted so many of them would be performing all at once. This, as much as lacking another tall option up forward, is why we went down this path.

Pressure is the key which the Doggies showed last year. Amazingly we have even better 'Pressure' numbers than they did when they won last year.....

[lamington]

it's classic rock paper scissors right? if the midfield get's beaten at the contest or the stoppages are generating too much congestion and you can't get a clean kick forward they will get picked off by a key defender ala what Adelaide did to us. I think the small forward line plan is great for us this year but it isn't the silver bullet to win us 4 premierships in a row.

Similarly Port's game plan of 2014 where the whole team was just simply fitter than the competition they were able to run everyone off their feet and was the fastest finishing side in the comp. They had to win the premiership that year because as we all know in 2015 and 16 they didn't make finals as the team wisened up to their hard running style, blocked the corridor and dried up their scoring.

I really hope to dear god we can pull off GF win with an undersized forward line while coaches don't have time to dissect the style and find its kryptonite. All signs point to yes but the prelim next week will be a solid litmus test

[Stripes]

it's classic rock paper scissors right? if the midfield get's beaten at the contest or the stoppages are generating too much congestion and you can't get a clean kick forward they will get picked off by a key defender ala what Adelaide did to us.

I think we have developed strategies to combat that now. Prestia said as much in his interview after the last game and Dermi also made a point of it recently. Both suggested that our midfielders have learned how the small forwards like the ball delivered better over the last part of the year and our small forwards (I'm including Caddy & Townsend in this category atm) actually engage their opponent first to create the spillage for our other smalls to crumb. Townsend has been a real find in this. He is happy to smash the packs and force the ground ball. The strategy is only improving as our forwardline team learn better ways to work together to generate a score. I do think we need another tall forward but they would have to be mobile and have a defensive mindset.

[tony_montana]

it's classic rock paper scissors right? if the midfield get's beaten at the contest or the stoppages are generating too much congestion and you can't get a clean kick forward they will get picked off by a key defender ala what Adelaide did to us.

I think we have developed strategies to combat that now. Prestia said as much in his interview after the last game and Dermi also made a point of it recently. Both suggested that our midfielders have learned how the small forwards like the ball delivered better over the last part of the year and our small forwards (I'm including Caddy & Townsend in this category atm) actually engage their opponent first to create the spillage for our other smalls to crumb. Townsend has been a real find in this. He is happy to smash the packs and force the ground ball. The strategy is only improving as our forwardline team learn better ways to work together to generate a score. I do think we need another tall forward but they would have to be mobile and have a defensive mindset.

exactly, towno and caddy even though undersized a strong bodied players that are doing their job which is to halve the contest and not allow the taller defenders easy pickings.

This style has evolved considerably since we got dismantled by adelaide earlier this year