Richmond have two glaring issues. They only found one ‘perfect fix’Catherine Healey
Fox Sports
March 16th, 2023 Richmond may have found the “perfect fix” for their midfield woes, but there’s still one area holding them back from premiership contention, according to Fox Footy’s Leigh Montagna.
The recruitment of “hard to find” Tim Taranto is set to address Richmond’s clearance concerns that saw the team “swimming against the tide” last season.
But Montagna is concerned the Tigers rely on “shoot out” wins too often, on the back of an inability to stop opponents scoring from the back half.
“When you look a bit deeper into Richmond … are they going to address the other facet of their game and that’s the team defence and their ability to stop playing in shootouts,” Montagna said on AFL 360.
“History says you have to be top-four /top-six (defensively) to win a premiership.
“They were 14th last year at stopping teams scoring from the back half. They got sieved quite often.”
Montagna highlighted the side’s 50-point practice match loss to Melbourne, where the Demons scored 72 points from their back half.
“Clearly the most of any team on the weekend,” he lamented.
“We’re loving the firepower in (Richmond’s) forward half … but none of them are above average in pressure.
“Can they fix this defensive element in their game? That’s what they need to do to win the premiership.”
Statistics show that during the Tigers’ golden premiership run they were ranked inside the top three without the footy three times in four years (2017-2020).
But for the last two seasons, they’ve been ranked 12th in 2022 and 8th in 2021.
Fox Footy’s David King believes Taranto will provide Richmond with the biggest upside in 2023 as he prepares for a “fascinating” debut season at Tigerland.
“I think he’s the perfect fix for an area that’s hard to replace,” King said of Taranto on AFL 360.
“They’ve had their issues with clearances over the last couple of years. I think Damien Hardwick has thought ‘Right, enough of swimming against the tide, having to win the ball back at halfback to counter punch and try and score’.
“(Taranto’s) about to have a huge impact on what Richmond do in 2023.”
Playing vision of Taranto beating both Christian Petracca and Alex Neal-Bullen in that practice match against the Demons, King was impressed by the strength the Richmond recruit displayed.
“He’s a big frame … he’s tougher than people give him credit for and these guys are hard to find,” he said.
“Guys that put their body in the absolute drop zone there, be clean, step out. That’s a tough ball to win.
“It’s hard to find contested players that can be so clean.
“He can go to full forward and swap with Dustin Martin. Swap with Shai Bolton.
“It’s going to be fascinating what he can do.
“If he’s 80 per cent what they are expecting, then they are back in the race again.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/richmond-have-two-glaring-issues-they-only-found-one-perfect-fix/news-story/c094652ccab3c8246e634d85bc452538
