Richmond’s ‘era might be coming to an end’ — especially if this major flaw remainsMax Laughton
Fox Sports
May 11th, 2021 It’s “reasonable” to ask whether Richmond’s “era might be coming to an end”, according to Melbourne champion Garry Lyon, amid serious questions about their defensive lapses.
Through eight rounds, the Tigers sit 4-4 and only inside of the top eight on percentage, having dropped games to Sydney, Port Adelaide, Melbourne and Geelong - all four of whom are inside the top six.
Seemingly as usual, the premiers are battling a mid-season injury plague, with a nightclub fight seeing Shai Bolton added to a medical room already featuring Trent Cotchin, Kane Lambert, Dion Prestia and Shane Edwards among others.
“I think it’s reasonable to ponder that the era might be coming to an end,” Lyon said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.
“And it’s just as reasonable to know that you’re gonna be horribly embarrassed by them when it’s not. And that’s where we’re at - that’s not sitting on the fence, that’s where it’s at.
“History is against this footy club as well. So all of these things are conspiring to make those who aren’t Richmond think they have a chance, which I think makes the competition great.”
The On the Couch team were most concerned about the Tigers’ defence, which has been opened up repeatedly, and not just in their losses.
It began in Round 1, when Carlton scored a massive 35 points from scoring chains starting in their defensive 50, and was horrendous in Round 8 when Geelong scored 49 points from that source.
St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt pointed out the Tigers heavily rely on their system, rather than star personnel, but suggested the absences of experienced players were causing the system to misfire.
“We know the really key outs they’ve got - senior players, really experienced players, players who know the system so well,” he said on Fox Footy.
“Damien Hardwick, he goes on ad nauseam about how they’re a system-based team. So don’t worry about individual personnel, it’s how the personnel fit into the system.
“But when you’ve got the injuries that you do, and the players who are coming in are the likes of (Rhyan) Mansell, (Riley) Collier-Dawkins, (Patrick) Naish, (Jake) Aarts, (Jack) Ross, players who aren’t used to playing the system, we know in team defence ... it only takes one player in a team defence system to break the whole thing down.
“When you’ve got four or five in there that haven’t played the system that much, I think that’s really important context to overlay across everything.”
Triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown suggested another reason for the Tigers’ issues; a rule change that has limited one of their tactical advantages.
“It’s troubling the way teams have been able to move the ball end-to-end this year,” he said on Fox Footy.
“The man on the mark - the Tigers have been the best team at exploiting the man on the mark. Now that’s been taken out of their hands, so teams have been able to move the ball, I wonder if that’s having an impact also?
“They’re the second-worst team in the competition at defending ball movement from end-to-end. (The worst) that’s North Melbourne ... and to me that’s not a premiership team.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/richmond-tigers/afl-2021-richmond-tigers-problems-analysis-defensive-issues-on-the-couch-injuries-flag-chances-news/news-story/a0bcc08444ef808646d3d449bee0e099
