4 Points: Sleeping giants awake for the final run homeMichael Gleeson
The Age
8 July 2019The top two teams lost. The reigning premiers jumped to second. The 2017 premiers beat up on the bottom team in the most destructive first term we have seen this year.
The tightest race will be for the final two places in the eight, with eight sides jostling for those spots.
But the more compelling race is at the top. Collingwood are sinking fast and Geelong have stumbled. Geelong's loss is not an undue concern, but Collingwood's is.
But the performances of West Coast and Richmond, the last two premiers, have greater significance for the shape of the top four.
... Then there are the premiers that preceded them. Smashing the Suns does nothing to change perceptions of Richmond's season and the forecast of what might come next except for this little moment of symmetry. After 16 rounds Richmond is sixth on the ladder with nine wins, which is precisely where they were in 2017, and their percentage is about the same as it was then.
That season they had barely an injury; this year they've barely had a player who has not had an injury.
Richmond oddly enough now look like a better team, because of the players they have uncovered and developed out of necessity. Some, like Sydney Stack, probably would have got chances without injuries, but the injuries opened up opportunities sooner. Injuries certainly expedited things for Mabior Chol. Toby Nankervis will be back within a fortnight. Jack Riewoldt will be back next week.
The measure of Richmond's season is that now they are worrying about not who is missing from their best 22 but who will be forced to miss out. The injury wheel has turned at Punt Road.
Chol does not deserve to miss out but with Riewoldt, Josh Caddy and Tom Lynch in the forward line, how many tall target players can they use? The Tigers' game that had been structured around one tall and five pressure smalls was always going to shift with Lynch's arrival but the emergence of Chol changes the dynamic again.
Lynch is third in line for the Coleman Medal presently. He has 17 more goals than the next best Richmond player, and has had a below-par season.
When he has a good season, after a full pre-season, Richmond will be formidable.
Lynch is getting better. Richmond is getting better. It's easy to be carried away smashing the bottom side but the Tigers have managed to hang on in the most meaningful way by winning sufficient games. Trent Cotchin is back and has seamlessly recovered his form. Dion Prestia might be leading the Jack Dyer medal at the moment. Jason Castagna is having more of an impact on games than ever before.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/4-points-sleeping-giants-awake-for-the-final-run-home-20190707-p524yy.html
