AFL Report Card: Round 16Ben Cotton, Ben Waterworth, Catherine Healey and David Zita
Foxsports
3 July 2023RICHMONDThis was a jarring and uncharacteristic performance from Richmond. The Tigers came into Thursday night’s match against Brisbane with renewed hope under interim coach Andrew McQualter after three wins from their past four games. But McQualter was handed his first hefty loss in charge, going down by 81 points as Richmond’s hopes of a late push for the finals took a hit. The Tigers went into half-time with just 1.7 (13) – their lowest half-time score against Brisbane since their final meeting against them as the Bears in Round 18, 1996.
In the votesThe Tigers’ defence was put under enormous pressure by Brisbane, which conjured 68 inside 50s to Richmond’s 38. Noah Balta, Nathan Broad and Nick Vlastuin all had at least 20 disposals and eight intercepts each as they tried admirably to stop the onslaught. Jacob Hopper was his side’s best midfielder and could hold his head high, booting 2.1 from 22 disposalssals and six tackles.
Room for improvement
Dual premiership Kangaroo David King summed up Richmond’s performance bluntly yet aptly at half-time on Fox Footy: “Richmond can’t win it, they can’t move it and they can’t stop it. It’s a classic night where everything is going wrong.” The Tigers simply weren’t tough enough at the contest, while their slow reaction time at stoppage meant they were exposed in defence. Individually, Liam Baker wasn‘t at his effiecient best while Shai Bolton didn’t hit the scoreboard and struggled to have an impact. It was the Tigers’ biggest loss since Round 23, 2016.
GradeF
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