View from the coaches' box: Jade Rawlings on how to win the grand finalJade Rawlings
The Age
28 September 2019RICHMONDAll clubs want to have an indentifiable brand of play that is unerringly followed and believed in by players, coaches and the entire club. Richmond lead the AFL in this.
The Tigers made significant change before the 2017 season and since that first JLT game of 2017 they have played with a recognisable brand.
Richmond want to go forward with the ball at every possible opportunity. That sounds obvious but not all teams do it, some like to hold, to transfer play sideways, to keep control of the ball at all costs.
Richmond are very comfortable in a game of chaos, as this enhances their chances of playing the way they want to.
If any Richmond ball carrier feels pressure they will go forward with the ball at first at all opportunities, through a kick, handball or knock on. It is a territory and pressure game.
The predictability of this enables players further afield to be in play ready for the next contest. This method also provides the defence with time to set the ground up the way they want to.
Richmond are excellent at using their numbers when they win the ball back. You will rarely, if ever, see a player in the TV screen that does not receive the ball in a chain of possession.
It suits their athletic profile to play this way, because they can seriously run. They value GPS metrics very highly. Daniel Rioli once did extra running after a VFL game at Williamstown, as he had not hit the markers that the strength and conditioning experts required from him.
Their defensive method is very invasive when the opposition win the ball in contested areas. They refuse to allow the opposition any time or space to make a decision – this keeps the game in a chaotic state.
If the opposition takes a mark or receive a free kick, they are able to position themselves very quickly to restrict marks through the corridor. The result they are after is the opposition kicking long down the line and this then feeds their strength because the opposition is kicking to a contest.
The only time I have seen the Tigers vulnerable defensively is when teams take multiple marks against them. Normally they are happy to let a team kick backwards because they all push up and reclaim the forward territory. They keep squeezing and making it harder for the opposition to find exits.
The Bulldogs late last year and Collingwood in round two this year are two examples where multiple marks stressed Richmond’s defensive system. GWS are a team that are prepared to go back and around to stretch the opposition defence.
The number one thing for me is their genuine spirit, passion and love they have for one another.
I love to see players genuinely celebrate the successes of their teammates, as it shows what they truly value. To see defenders punch the air when a teammate scores a goal is always a great sign. Jack Riewoldt chased down Jack Henry in the fourth term last week and the kick went out on the full. Two teammates rushed to him to acknowledge the effort – this is a total team.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEYPart of getting to the grand final and the obstacles they have overcome is what will make the Giants a hard team to beat.
The Giants have had a tumultuous season, but every time they look down and out, and vulnerable, they bounce back.
Injuries, losing tight games (the Essendon game), season-long questions over Stephen Coniglio’s future, two games where they didn’t kick a goal in the second half, two out of three finals played away from home, and media speculation surrounding the future of senior people within the club all tested the character of the club.
GWS are a very good stoppage team. They are quite strategic with how they set up, depending on how they believe they can exploit a team, or, how they can restrict an opposition strength but also how they can set up to best exploit their most influential players.
Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly are damaging outside players. When opposition teams tag them, the Giants attempt to position them somewhere that is going to unsettle the opposing team while not compromising what they want at stoppages.
This can be through putting them to half-forward and challenging the tagger to go into defence on them, or they send the tagged player to an opposition midfielder at the stoppage and so create a one-on-two (the Giants player would take his tagger with him as he moved onto a Richmond midfielder so suddenly there is one Giant and two Tigers playing on one another).
The explosive power of Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper and Zac Williams enables them to break away from stoppages and get the ball into one-on-one contests in the forward half.
Matt de Boer's role has been hugely successful for them this season. They know they can put him to the opposition’s most influential player and de Boer generally does his job. He reminds me a lot of a player who wore number 3 at North Melbourne about 10-12 years ago (Brady Rawlings).
The Giants have two modes they can play in when in possession. If they ever sense an offensive outnumber they will maximise it.
They can put all their talent on show in these scenarios. They run, carry, kick to a player in space, lengthen the ground and then get a goal out the back. That has been a trademark Giants play over the years.
What is noticeable about their play now is how they handle it if they are slowed up. They are methodical with retaining possession and remaining calm until an easy option emerges. This sometimes means going backwards and switching to the other side of the ground. Eventually they will kick long down the line to a contest, but not until they have exhausted every possible option by foot first.
They are also very good at kicking to each other inside 50. They can find space like few other teams inside their forward 50, as they always stay on the move.
The Giants play with genuine spirit. This got tested at the Gabba in the semi-final, but the spirit emerged under the highest level of pressure and this convinced me that they are the real deal.
PREDICTIONRichmond by 25 points.
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