VFL R12: Richmond vs Werribee @ Punt Rd, Wed. June 8

[one-eyed]

VFL Tigers go down to Werribee

Richmond showed early promise, but were ultimately no match for a well-oiled Werribee outfit at Punt Road Oval on Wednesday night.

By Brenton Mann
Richmond Media
9 June 2022

From Hawaii to Punt Road Oval.

Mate Colina was used to wading in the sultry waters of Waikīkī; on Wednesday night he found himself making his VFL debut against Werribee on an icy and still mid-week night.

Colina got the crowd buzzing after a telescopic mark on the paint of 50, the giant key forward couldn’t resist Maurice Rioli Jnr streaming passed, hitting Rioli with a handball, who then composed himself to kick the Tigers’ first.

The category B rookie played out three-and-a-half quarters, splitting his time between forward and ruck and got through his first hit-out unscathed ready to tackle next week.

The round 12 contest under lights showed early promise for Richmond, unfortunately the well-oiled machine that is Werribee held the Tigers at arm’s length, clinching a 37-point win.

The Tigers of the south-west had answers to all the questions asked by their hosts, the final score reading 13.13 (91) to 8.6 (54).

Werribee showed its intent from the outset, blasting the ball inside 50 from the opening bounce and nailing the first goal.

Rioli’s goal followed and the faithful started to warm-up before the Tigers from down the Princes Highway slotted back-to-back goals.

Richmond arrested back momentum as Colina provided a beacon in the front half.

Unfortunately for the home side, they couldn’t garner momentum on the scoreboard as Werribee took a 14-point lead into quarter time. 

Jacob Bauer would have been a little more accustomed to the conditions he encountered in his Yellow and Black debut.

The springy key forward from North Adelaide made the move from Sydney to the SANFL powerhouse to put himself in an “elite environment” which culminated in Bauer finding his way to Tigerland.

Bauer warmed into his role in the second term, launching himself at the ball in the air, crashing packs and exerting his physical influence.

The mid-season draftee gave the Tiger Army something to cheer about in the final term, as Bauer marked with authority inside 50 and then pierce the ball through the teeth of goal.

His first major was just an entrée, with Bauer providing a focal point in attack, showcasing his marking prowess and veracity in front of goal.

Three goals in his first outing as a Tiger showed promise of things to come.

Another SANFL product, Rhyan Mansell injected life into Richmond early in the second term, putting his head over the ball inside forward 50 and drawing a free kick for his troubles.

Importantly for the Tigers, Mansell watched the canary yellow Sherrin sail through the goals into the night sky.

Werribee sensed the Tigers turning the tide and swiftly piled on three majors to push the margin out to 29 points.

Richmond’s effort couldn’t be questioned, but its execution in transition and ability to win contests forward of the ball were lacking, which meant it couldn’t keep the ball trapped in its half.

Trailing by 29 points, in the shadows of half-time, Noah Cumberland skated onto a loose ball in the Royal Hotel pocket and sliced through his first major in sync with the siren.

The goal and hope flickering for the Tigers as they entered the main break, intent of changing their fortunes.

The script remained unchanged however, with Werribee flexing its muscle and maximising its chances inside 50 with four goals for the third term.

Richmond changed the complexion of the game briefly late in the third term as Sam Banks kickstarted a chain from the back-half, which led to Sydney Stack nabbing a forward-half intercept.

Stack showed his innate awareness to find Tylar Young on a sharp lead, who marked strongly.

The defender-turned-forward gathered himself in foreign territory to snap his first goal of the night and Richmond’s only major of the third term.

Werribee led by 41 points at the final change and briskly made it 48 points before Richmond found its groove.

The home Tiger outfit gained reward for their momentum as Bauer jagged a trio of goals in the final term and Rioli Jnr sparkled with his second.

It wasn’t Richmond’s night, however its evolving maturity shone through as it stuck to the task and fought it out until the end.

RICH   1.2       3.2       4.4       8.6 (54)

WERR 3.4       6.7       10.9     13.13 (91)

Goal Kickers:

Richmond: Bauer (3), Rioli Jnr (2), Cumberland, Young, Mansell

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/1145444/vfl-tigers-go-down-to-werribee

[the claw]

Even Sonsie it seems is going backwards. He was at least getting plenty of ball early in the season.

Reckon we need to just let em play in their best roles and positions. Also put a bit of structure in place its ridiculous the way we setup imo.

We have VFL listed talls not a lot but enough to help us out as far as structure goes. Would also love for us to play more of the bigger bodied VFL listed players we have in roles like wing and midfield.

Reckon we should be setting up like the following Mirroring most of what we do in the seniors. Outside of Castagna and Ross the AFL named players are regular reserves players.

FB: Rhyan Mansell 180/78 22yo - Tylar Young 196/97 23yo - Joel Nathan 191/89 21yo
HB: Tom Brown 186/77 18yo  -   Bigoa Nyuon  197/93 21yo - Sydney Stack 179/78 22yo
Plenty of height with a couple of the VFL Boys in tall positions. Brown and Stack provide run and in their right positions imo and Mansell gets the shut down job on the smalls.

C: Sam Banks 187/71 19yo  -   Collier - Dawkins 191/93 22yo - Tyler Sonsie 181/73 19yo
R: Samson Ryan 206/104 21yo - Jack Ross 187/87  21yo  -  Thomson Dow 183/79 20yo

The players who need to be developed  thru the midfield are there. We need to find decent wingmen and Banks is there Sonsie gets a bit of freedom on the other wing. Like the idea of him with time to use his foot skills.

HF: Mathew Parker 188/?? 26yo  -  John Jorgenson 198/94 22yo - Judson Clarke 180/72 18yo
FF: Maurice Rioli 179/75 19yo  -  Ben Miller 198/98  22yo  -  Jacob Bauer 192/85 20yo

Lots of height for VFL. Clarke plays high hf Rioli as the pressure goal kicking small, Parker in his most suited role and giving a bit of experience. Plus  the three talls.
Miller i have had in the back of my mind for ages as a fwd, he played there against men as a junior and did well. The thinking is we really do need to find key forwards. Jorgenson is a good fit i prefer Mykelti Lefau but he has a serious injury. Last Bauer plays the third tall most likely his role in the seniors in the future if he makes it.

INT: Aarts 177/76 27yo - Jason Castagna 182/82 26yo - Will Martyn 186/83 21yo - Noah Cumberland 183/80 21yo - Mate Colina 213/111 23yo

Aarts and Castagna   as an experienced player Aarts  can be injected thru the midfield or where needed. Gotta admit i find it hard to pick Castagna even in the reserves.The other three are obvious parts of the midfield rotations.

Some of the VFL players id rather we play when the injuries hit. Just looking for bigger types as we have a plethora of smalls.
Lachlan Street 189/93 23yo  utility, Bailey Henderson 189/84 22yo Wing, Tom Brindley 195/83 23yo mid/fwd, Lachlan Carrigan 191/78 19yo wing. Fraser Elliot 188/89 20yo inside mid.

Plus talls when an opportunity arises Jack Scanlon 194/87 23yo kpf, Sam Tucker195/89 20yo kpd/kpf.

Still very young but its not all 19yo and it has structure and some size to it that should enable it to be competetive most of the time.

[Rampsation]

Banks looks like a good player imho. Sonsie and Brown have work to do.

[one-eyed]

Richmond VFL coach Steve Morris provides a summary of how the Tigers’ players performed in last Wednesday night's Round 12 match against Werribee at the Swinburne Centre.


Jack Ross (26 disposals, five marks, five clearances)

"He was outstanding on the day with his intent. He cracked in, tried hard, and led the way for our young team."


Ben Miller (25 disposals, nine rebound-50s, seven marks)

"I thought 'Funky' was pretty good. He let himself down on lead-ups at times, but all in all, was solid in the contest and made some good decisions on offence."


Samson Ryan (23 disposals, 40 hit-outs, six clearances, five marks)

"I thought it was his best game for the club. He had 40 hit-outs and battled really hard. His contested stuff was great and his aerial game was quite strong."


Tom Brown (20 disposals, seven marks, three inside-50s)

"He's taking some really good steps forward. He was really clean which was noticeable, and he is wanting to get more involved in offence. We're seeing a definite improvement in his defensive actions."


Bigoa Nyuon (17 disposals, six marks, three rebound-50s)

"He probably didn't stand out like he has been over the last months with a few lapses in concentration, but overall played a solid game."


Jason Castagna (16 disposals, seven inside-50s, five clearances, five tackles)

"He started with a bit of a circuit-breaker through the midfield. He had a really good first half before going up forward and probably found it hard to impact, but tried all day."


Tyler Sonsie (16 disposals, four rebound-50s, three marks)

"We're probably not getting the balance of contested ball that we were earlier in the season, so it's a challenge for Tyler to get in and under and win the footy for us, but we saw a few glimpses of what he's capable of in and around contests."


William Martyn (12 disposals, two tackles, two rebound-50s)

"Will has been really diligent in leading the backline over the last couple of months. Once again, he tried extremely hard. He got beaten a couple of times but didn't give up at any stage."


Sam Banks (12 disposals, two tackles, two clearances)

"We want the footy in his hands because he makes great decisions and is a wonderful ball user. We probably didn't see as much as we would like of that, but when he had the ball, he certainly made things happen."


Riley Collier-Dawkins (11 disposals, seven tackles, three clearances)

"While Riley had seven tackles on the day, we feel as though he can probably have more of an impact at this level, and the challenge is on him to do so."


Maurice Rioli (11 disposals, five tackles, three clearances, two goals)

"As is always the case, Maurice busted his gut for the team. He was asked to have more of an offensive impact, and it was great to see him have three shots on goal and kick a couple of really classy goals."


Jake Aarts (nine disposals, three tackles)

"It was a tough day for small forwards and whilst Jake tried everything he could, he probably struggled to have the impact that he would like to on the game."


Sydney Stack (nine disposals, three inside-50s, two marks)

"It was a game of two halves for Sydney. The first half, like most of our others forwards, he really struggled to get into the game. But, he went back in the second half and attacked that really positively and had an influence down back, which was great to see."


Thomson Dow (seven disposals, two clearances)

"He didn't have his best game and will be looking to bounce back in and around the contest next week."


Jacob Bauer (seven disposals, two inside-50s, three goals)

"It was really great to see Jacob work his way into the game, not only hitting the scoreboard and seeing his teammates celebrate his first goal in Richmond colours, but also to bring his teammates into the game late in the game."


Rhyan Mansell (five disposals, two inside-50s, one goal)

"Tried hard up forward and was able to hit the scoreboard. He didn't finish the game as he was an emergency for the AFL game the following night."


Noah Cumberland (four disposals, one mark, one goal)

"Noah was pretty sore on the night and didn't have the impact that we've come to expect from him. He kicked a really clever goal on the half-time siren, but he is well-aware that we're looking for more of an output from him."


Mate Colina (two disposals, one tackle)

"Started like a house on fire in his first game for the club. We're really excited to see what he can bring over the coming weeks. It's a really early stage of his development as a player and he will take a lot from his debut outing."

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/1149103/vfl-report-round-12