Three-week stretch to reveal a clearer picture of Richmond’s prospects this seasonThe Tigers are not exactly humming along and trouble lies just up the road with the toughest three-week stretch of their draw all season. It will present a much clearer picture of their prospects.
Jay Clark
HeraldSun
April 1, 2023 Richmond has a polish problem.
For the second time in three weeks Damien Hardwick was left to lament some fundamental skill execution errors from his team which cost them any chance of stopping a red-hot Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night, leaving his team at a set of early-season crossroads.
In Hardwick’s own words, the Tigers have been going OK after making a bold play at the trade table to load-up in the midfield on prime ballwinners Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto.
But these next three weeks are a doozy for the yellow and black.
Starting on Saturday afternoon at the MCG, the Tigers take on Western Bulldogs at the MCG, followed by Sydney Swans at Adelaide Oval for ‘Gather Round’, and then Melbourne on Anzac Day eve in probably the toughest three-week stretch of the draw they’ll face all season.
If the Tigers were humming along, it wouldn’t be such a big concern.
But the Tigers coughed the ball up far too easily under the might of the Magpies forward pressure on Friday night, racking up 28 “giveaway turnovers” in the first half.
It was an alarming number, according to the senior coach.
“That’s through nothing but skill execution and decision-making errors,” Hardwick said.
“Twenty-eight!
“We had eight in the second half, and a lot of that can be put down to Collingwood’s good play but in particular our poor play.
“We didn’t use the ball anywhere near well enough, 28 is an incredibly high number.
“You are going to struggle to stay in games when you give the ball away 28 times.”
To be fair, the Tigers were missing four key players, and Dustin Martin (hamstring), Jayden Short (calf) and Hopper (knee) are all expected to be back next weekend, including Short who is ahead of schedule.
Those three clearly help against the Dogs on Saturday, but there is a certain balance in the Tigers’ game style they are yet to get right in 2023.
Coming into the clash against Collingwood, Richmond was the No. 1 forward intercept team in the game. Their pressure is back.
But they aren’t finishing or executing as well as they would like.
In Round 1 against Carlton the Tigers had 21 more inside 50s than the Blues, yet drew the game due to some missed opportunities and connection problems in the forward half.
And while they fended off a charging Adelaide late last week, again the Tigers were poor by hand and foot when the Magpies turned the heat up.
Daniel Rioli, who to be fair has had an excellent start to the season, led the turnover count with eight, Jack Ross had seven, Nick Vlastuin six, and Liam Baker and Tim Taranto had five each for the match.
In that sense, they played into the Magpies’ hands, and Craig McRae’s men probably could have put this game away in the first-half, but sprayed it in front of goal, kicking a wasteful 8.15 (63) for the night to Richmond’s 7.7 (49), keeping the door ajar for the Tigers momentarily in the third term.
The challenge for Hardwick is how does he coach his team to be more lethal and precise by foot around the two new hard nuts in the engine room in Hopper and Taranto. Taranto is a quality player, but his use by foot has also been up and down so far this season.
And the improvement needs to come in a hurry over the next three weeks when Richmond can either make a statement that it is one of the genuine challengers in 2023, or just an also-ran.
Since the 2020 premiership, Richmond missed the finals in 2021, and then scraped in last year but bombed out in the first week of September, going down to Brisbane in a thrilling elimination final loss at the Gabba.
They had no Grimes (hamstring) and Martin was underdone in that one.
But these next three weeks may also say a lot about the list, which Hardwick and Co have clearly backed-in this year to help climb back up towards a top-four spot.
Richmond has seven 30-year-olds in its regular senior team, led By Trent Cotchin, Jack Riewoldt, Martin, Grimes, Marlion Pickett, Tom Lynch and Dion Prestia, not forgetting Robbie Tarrant.
If the Tigers’ top-eight ambitions don’t materialise this year, then there will have to be some considerable change. So the stakes are high for Richmond in 2023.
Youngster Noah Cumberland turned the game momentarily with his ball use in the forward half in the third term, lacing out three targets to help get the score back to within one straight kick.
Cumberland’s defensive actions are a work in progress, but he is creative and smart with the footy. It was at odds with the Tigers’ first half.
Hardwick said the Tigers shouldn’t be too harshly judged just yet, but clearly the next three weeks will be telling.
“I thought we fumbled and bumbled in and around the contest and I thought they (Collingwood) were cleaner,” Hardwick said.
“Are we playing well enough at the moment? We are going OK, but we can certainly get better in some areas.
“Some sides are going well and some sides aren’t going so well.
“It is pretty early to judge sides on where they are at, at the moment. I know we are quick to jump on that as an industry.
“But the reality is you have just got to let the game settle a bit and figure out what happens from here.”
At half time, Collingwood was also dominating the contested possession battle, winning 88-70. By the end of the game, Collingwood had increased the difference to 23.
Baker said Hardwick was blunt about that part of the game, too.
“We got smashed around the ball,” Baker said.
“’Dimma’ challenged us on our contest stuff, which is tough to hear when we are getting smacked around the ball contest-wise.
“The boys take it to heart, but credit to them (Collingwood)”.
Perhaps it showed how much they missed the four stars who were out, including Nathan Broad who will miss another three matches with suspension.
If the Dogs were under the microscope last week, the spotlight will turn to Richmond if the club can’t return to the winner’s list next weekend as part of this tough month.
https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/afl-collingwood-vs-richmond-all-the-news-from-friday-night-footy-at-the-mcg/news-story/85d72f55f5f8da7d8c6276a9b282ca1d
