... the difference in the contest was in one sense as much about style as personnel.
Richmond won the contest of getting the game played the way they wanted it. Hawthorn had the better of that early on but Richmond stuck to their high-energy game of surging the ball forward and running in numbers.
Hawthorn’s style is like a sewing game (pick a hole, thread the needle and stitch it together). It’s effective if they are allowed to take repeated uncontested marks which they were able to do early on and move the ball by stealth forward. They took Richmond’s game away from them when they weren’t in possession of the ball by pushing up at Richmond hard on the mark and holding them from playing on.
But in the end they couldn't outlast Richmond as the weight of pressure shifted. Yes, Hawthorn lost Ben McEvoy and Mitch Lewis to injury (McEvoy came back on but was not the same), but it was about the pressure on the ball that Hawthorn was unable to resist.
For Richmond this was another critical victory, because it's all about banking wins through this period when they have so many injuries. It creates the hope that they keep themselves in contention to strike when Jack Riewoldt, Trent Cotchin and Toby Nankervis come back. In the meantime the most heartening thing was Dusty once more playing like a tiger of old.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/4-points-back-on-the-prowl-like-the-tiger-of-old-20190519-p51ozr.html
