Media articles and stats - Tigers overwhelm Blues

[one-eyed]

Tigers overwhelm Blues
20 August 2006   Herald-Sun
AAP

RICHMOND overwhelmed Carlton by 46 points in today's AFL match at Telstra Dome.

The 21.14 (140) to 14.11 (95) result means the bottom-placed Blues are probably destined for another wooden spoon, with their last two games against finalists Collingwood and Sydney.

Greg Stafford kicked four goals for the Tigers and defender Andrew Raines continued his push for the Rising Star award with another outstanding game.

Captain Kane Johnson blanketed Carlton's Nick Stevens in the midfield.

Blues full-forward Brendan Fevola kicked three goals, all in the second term.

Carlton looked much sharper at the start of the game and kicked four of the opening five goals to take an 18-point lead.

Barnaby French was looking strong in the ruck and the Blues were winning the ball out of the centre.

But the Tigers steadied late in the term to trail by only five points at quarter-time.

Carlton's fifth goal at 24 minutes into the first term would be its last for 21 minutes as Richmond suddenly broke the game open.

It kicked seven unanswered goals in the second term to lead by 38 points.

Just when the Blues looked shot, Fevola kicked three goals of the match to reduce the margin to 29 points at half-time.

Again, Richmond broke clear at the start of the third term and led by 45 points midway through the quarter.

But the Tigers appeared to become a little cute with their disposal and the Blues steadied through the midfield.

Carlton kicked the last four goals to three quarter-time for a 24-point deficit.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,20190560%255E19742,00.html

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Team Stats

Kicks       222 - 215
Marks      124 - 108
Handballs 122 - 149
Tackles     36 - 36
Hitouts      28 - 21
Frees       12 - 16

Individual Stats

Player             K  H  D M HO T FF FA G B
A.Raines        10 14 24 5 0 0 1 1 1 0
J.Bowden       14  8 22 7 1 2 1 1 0 0
B.Deledio       13  9 22 4 0 0 1 0 1 0
S.Tuck           16  6 22 4 1 1 0 0 1 0
C.Hyde            7 14 21 8 0 1 0 0 0 1
P.Bowden      10 10 20 3 0 2 1 0 0 0
N.Foley         10 10 20 2 0 5 0 1 1 0
D.Polo            11 8 19 6 0 2 2 0 0 1
M.Richardson 16 3 19 11 0 2 3 0 3 5
K.Pettifer        17 1 18 6 0 0 0 2 2 1
G.Tivendale     12 6 18 7 0 3 1 0 2 0
K.Johnson        8 9 17 4 0 0 2 2 0 0
M.Chaffey       6 10 16 3 0 3 0 0 0 0
R.Hall              6 10 16 6 1 2 0 1 0 0
C.Howat         14  2 16 4 0 1 1 2 0 0
A.Krakouer     10  5 15 5 0 3 2 0 3 2
T.Simmonds     6  9 15 4 14 1 0 1 1 0
R.Tambling     11  2 13 7 0 4 1 0 0 2
M.White           5  8 13 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
G.Stafford        8  2 10 6 1 2 0 0 4 0
A.Pattison        1  3  4 1 3 1 0 1 0 0
J.Schulz          4  0  4 4 0 0 0 0 2 0
 
Top 5s

Ranking Points

Richo           120
Krakouer      120
Tivendale      117
Tuck             109
Koutoufides   107 

Contested Possies

Tuck             10
Koutoufides    9
Hall                8
Krakouer        8
Polo               8

Uncontested Possies

Scotland        21
Lappin           20
Raines           20
Whitnall         20
Carrazzo       18

Effective Kicks

Pettifer         14
Houlihan       14
Tuck             13
Lappin          12
Whitnall        12

Inside 50

Carrazzo       9
Pettifer          7
Deledio         7
Tivendale      7
Richo           5

Rebound 50

J.Bowden      9
Whitnall         6
P.Bowden      6
Deledio         5
Simpson       5 

[one-eyed]

Tigers thrash cellar-dwellers
4:48:34 PM Sun 20 August, 2006
Jason Phelan
Exclusive to afl.com.au

CARLTON: 5.2, 8.6, 13.7, 14.11 (95)
RICHMOND: 4.3, 13.5, 16.13, 21.14 (140)

GOALS –
Carlton: Fevola 3, Whitnall 2, Waite 2, Houlihan, French, Walker, Betts, Koutoufides, Bryan, Bentick
Richmond: Stafford 4, Richardson 3, Krakouer 3, Schulz 2, Pettifer 2, Tivendale 2, Foley, Tuck, Deledio, Simmonds, Raines

BEST –
Carlton: Scotland, Koutoufides, French, Houlihan, Carrazzo, Lappin, Fevola
Richmond: Foley, Raines, Tivendale, Johnson, Deledio, Stafford, J. Bowden

INJURIES – Carlton: nil
Richmond: nil

REPORTS - Wiggins (Carlton) reported for striking Deledio (Richmond) by umpire Ellis in the fourth term

UMPIRES - Grun, Ellis, Hendrie
CROWD - 37,094 at Telstra Dome


Richmond secured its 10th win of the season with a 21.14 (140) to 14.11 (95) win over Carlton at Telstra Dome on Sunday.

After a shaky start, the Tigers set up the win with a nine-goals-to-three second term, soaked up a third-quarter challenge and then powered away in the last.

Richmond's youngsters were prominent with Andrew Raines (24 touches) and Brett Deledio (22 disposals) among the best, while Greg Stafford had a good day up forward with four goals.

Full article at: http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=290729

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Win hardly perfect: Wallace
5:54:36 PM Sun 20 August, 2006
Jennifer Witham
Exclusive to richmondfc.com.au

Richmond coach Terry Wallace believes the Tigers didn't make the most of their opportunities in the third term against the Blues despite his side notching up their 10th win for the year in comprehensive fashion.

Wallace said he was happy with the way his side was able to employ a spectator-friendly brand of football for most of the afternoon but rued the Tigers' misses that allowed the Blues to edge their way back into the contest.

"At times I thought we played it a little bit simplistic, I thought the last quarter all we wanted to do was just bang it in there and allow our big guys to do the job," Wallace said, after the 45-point win.

"When they're getting tired it just doesn't necessarily always happen that way so I thought we lost a lot of opportunities in that last quarter to actually extend the lead a bit further.

"I think the long-kicking game is what most people want to see, they want to see run and carry and kicking over a line, and I thought we delivered that reasonably well for most of the game."

Full article at: http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=290774

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Shock, horror, game won by kicking long
Michael Gleeson
The Age
August 21, 2006

Facing a Carlton charge, Richmond returned to a more traditional form of the game.

FOR those troubled by the confusing reconstruction of the game into zones and possession — where contests are as ugly a blight on the game as intemperate commentators — yesterday two old clubs found a return to traditional football concepts.

With Carlton rudely slipping away from Richmond early, the Tigers adopted a novel, slightly dangerous approach.

Down by four goals, Terry Wallace loaded his forward line with four talls and instructed that at all costs the ball be tucked neath the arm and kicked long to one of them. It mattered not which one.

In turn that meant that Greg Stafford, the very definition of an unreconstructed ruckman, was able to create a rare opportunity.

"It works well, provided we deliver the ball right and we start from half-back with plenty of run, if we don't and we don't use the ball right, then we are t@s on a bull, to be quite honest, but when we deliver the ball well and move it to the right spots, it works well," Stafford said after the game.

"For me, considering where I have come from, I have not displayed that sort of form all year so to kick four was handy, but it's amazing when the guys run hard and move the ball quickly, you can catch defences out but when you move it slowly, it's very hard.

"It's funny people come out and say that it is great to see when it works, and look it should be used more often, but defences have got better over time so it doesn't always work.

"And provided your team is delivering it the right way with plenty of speed and run, it can work, but when they are stagnant and drop numbers back and you start going wide, it's very hard and that's when it doesn't work and you need to rotate your forward line a bit.

"When you start bringing the ball in through the corridor, the forwards can lead either side, but when they start bringing it down one side in slow play, then forwards tend to gravitate towards each other and that's when you tend to run into each other, spoil each other and get in each other's way. It just doesn't work that way."

Stafford completed the match with four goals and Matthew Richardson three, Jay Schultz two and Troy Simmonds one.

Interestingly, the notion of loading the forward line with tall players was not one that was entirely designed around exploiting those tall players. It appeared as much intended to stretch Carlton and force Lance Whitnall to his opponent. Until that time Whitnall had roamed wide and pressed forward, kicking the first goal of the match and demanding the match be played on his terms

"If you don't plan for Lance during the week, you are kidding yourself because he just reads the game so well and he is prepared to leave his bloke, he is prepared to stand 40 metres off his guy," Richmond coach Terry Wallace said.

"Lance is such a good player I thought he was causing us some concern in the first quarter and we wanted to get him back a bit deeper and I thought we were able to achieve that, not only achieve that but hurt them on the scoreboard."

Wallace is rarely noted for his excitement at having tall players in his structure, preferring the fleet footer to the seven-footer. He is more concerned, as he puts it, to achieve goals through positions than personalities.

"We vary it throughout the game, we finished the game with three smalls running out of the goal square — I think we had (Kayne) Pettifer, (Richard) Tambling and (Andrew) Krakouer out of the goal square at the end of the game.

"We like to vary it up because if you keep dishing up the same, it makes it a little bit predictable and a little bit easier for the opposition to match you up. I have always been of the belief you get goals out of positions rather than one person kicking the goals, and that's why I was pleased we had 11 goal kickers again this week and that's where you want to go as a footy club."

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/08/20/1156012412701.html

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Richmond's talls feast on takeaways
Emma Quayle
The Age
August 21, 2006

RICHMOND 4.3 13.5 16.13 21.14 (140)
CARLTON 5.2 8.6 13.7 14.11 (95)

Goals:
Richmond: G Stafford 4 A Krakouer 3 M Richardson 3 K Pettifer 2 J Schulz 2 G Tivendale 2 B Deledio N Foley A Raines T Simmonds S Tuck.
Carlton: B Fevola 3 J Waite 2 L Whitnall 2 A Bentick E Betts C Bryan B French R Houlihan A Koutoufides A Walker.

Best:
Richmond: A Raines K Johnson B Deledio P Bowden J Bowden G Stafford.
Carlton: A Koutoufides L Whitnall A Walker B French.

Injuries: Richmond: G Tivendale (ankle). Carlton: S Wiggins (concussion).

Reports: S Wiggins (Carlton) reported by field umpire M Ellis for charging B Deledio (Richmond) in the fourth quarter.

Umpires: S Grun M Ellis C Hendrie.
Official Crowd: 37,094 at Telstra Dome.

TERRY Wallace was not entirely happy when he gathered the Richmond players together at three-quarter-time against Carlton at Telstra Dome yesterday.

The Tigers had started their afternoon desperate to match what they did last season — notch their 10th win, but this time with a younger, more future-driven side.

They had let Carlton take most of the ruck knocks, but thrashed the Blues when the ball came to ground, and carried the ball from half-back with relentless, "take-me-on" runs.

They had scored 16 goals, largely though a gigantic forward line that not only kept Lance Whitnall occupied, but let those Richmond runners kick long, and keep things simple.

They were also four goals up, but Wallace wasn't satisfied. The Blues had scrounged their way back, and he also wanted his side to keep making things happen, and not punish themselves for some missed chances, hurried snaps and occasional selfish acts.

"We thought in the third quarter we wasted opportunities. We were a little selfish in a couple of our actions with the footy, not centreing the ball and trying to kick goals from the boundary line," he said.

"We were four goals in front, so it was either going to be a little bit of panic stations, or be strong and confident enough to run the game out and do what you needed to do. I was pleased with the way they handled that."

The Tigers began to load their forward line early, sitting Troy Simmonds deep and alongside not only Matthew Richardson, but Jay Schulz and Greg Stafford.

It was Carlton, though, that made the quick start, partly through those players' opponents. Whitnall scored the first of the Blues' goals, then got the ball to Barnaby French for another, before Andrew Walker sneaked down and kept his side two kicks clear.

Richmond could have levelled the scores on the quarter-time siren had Richardson's shot not wobbled wide, but Stafford scored in the first minute of the next term, and the Tigers were away.

It began in the centre square, where the Blues got first touch, but watched Nathan Foley, Chris Hyde, Dean Polo and Shane Tuck gobble it up hungrily. Kane Johnson sat on Nick Stevens, and the Tigers scored three of their six straight goals from centre takeaways.

When the Blues got to half-forward, they either poked optimistic passes towards Brendan Fevola and his two or three opponents, or watched it get zoomed away by Brett Deledio, Matt White, Andrew Raines and others.

Carlton got better when Anthony Koutoufides and Heath Scotland clogged things up in the middle, and when Andrew Walker left Kayne Pettifer and moved to Deledio, denting some of his dash and providing one of the game's more entertaining duels.

The Blues needed Fevola to score twice from outside the 50-metre line to keep in touch at the big break but, while their goals arrived more easily in the third term, they came only after Richmond had raced away.

It wasn't only that Richardson and Stafford, who kicked three and four goals respectively, were worthwhile targets; when the ball fell to their feet, Andrew Krakouer and Richard Tambling ducked through their legs and created second and third scoring chances.

The Blues should have been gone, but weren't. Whitnall scored again, and a nimble Jarrad Waite roved a goal-square ball for another. From the bounce, the Blues rushed forward, the ball slipped through Chris Bryan's hands and was sharked by Koutoufides, who scored.

Wallace's three-quarter-time words must have worked, because the Tigers started strongly, goaling three times in the first nine minutes to kill off any chance of a third Carlton resurgence and satisfy their coach.

"I was really pleased that they were determined to have a nice, solid win," Wallace said.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/08/20/1156012412695.html

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Tigers not sinking: Wallace
The Australian
August 21, 2006

RICHMOND will finish just outside the finals again, but coach Terry Wallace is positive.
The club that made an art form of finishing ninth in the late-1990s will most likely finish 10th this time.

But the Tigers showed yesterday they are going in the right direction after a 45-point win over Carlton at Telstra Dome.

The result also means the Blues are likely to score their third wooden spoon in five seasons, with their final two games against Collingwood and Sydney.

A win over second-bottom Essendon next week will mean the Tigers have 11 wins for the season, one more than last year when they finished 12th.

Wallace noted the Western Bulldogs, last year's ninth-placed side, qualified for the finals on Saturday.

Ninth or 10th to Wallace is fine, provided the club is not treading water mid-table.

"We were desperate to make sure we did no worse than last year's performance," he said.

"To equal it, we thought (that) was a win anyway; to better it will be a bonus.

"The club used to get laughed at for finishing ninth, there's nothing wrong with finishing ninth on the way up.

"If you're hovering around ninth and just sort of floating around there, it's a horrible position to be. I legitimately think if it's ninth, 10th, wherever we finish, we're advancing."

Carlton started well, but Richmond took the game by the throat in the second term and was too good for the Blues in the centre clearances.

"We've played percentages of games. We go to sleep for 20 minutes in the second quarter, the game is all over," Blues coach Denis Pagan said.

"In the second quarter, that (centre clearances) killed us ... if there's one statistic for the Dome, it's centre bounces."

Wallace was displeased with his team at three-quarter time after the Tigers nearly let Carlton back into the game.

For a match involving two non-finalists, it was an entertaining afternoon with plenty of long kicks to marking contests.

It gave a glimpse of the sort of style Wallace wants to see consistently from his team.

It was also the second successive week that the Tigers kicked 21 goals.

"The long-kicking game is what most people want to see, they want to see run and carry, kicking over a line -- we delivered that reasonably well for most of the game," Wallace said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20193312-36035,00.html

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Raining stats: Andrew Raines gets one of his 10 kicks against the Blues. He also picked up 14 handballs.
Picture: George Salpigtidis

Tigers cash in
21 August 2006   Herald-Sun
Bruce Matthews

IT WAS entirely appropriate that Andrew Raines should dash downfield, accept a handpass and ice Richmond's victory with its last goal.

After all, Raines has spent most of the season stopping goals with such efficiency that he's favoured to be hailed this year's AFL Rising Star.

When the young Tiger abandoned his half-back domain at Telstra Dome yesterday to run on to a Matthew Richardson handball, the booming kick on the run did more than register the first goal of a blossoming AFL career.

That inspiring act put a stamp on one of the most exhilarating games of the season between two teams with nothing more than pride and development resting on the result.

What was this strange game that Richmond and Carlton revealed to 37,094 appreciative fans? A fast break from the centre, long kick to a marking forward, goal and bring it back to the centre to do it all again.

No chipping sideways, none of the infuriating no-risk policy of waiting for an unmarked teammate, even if that means going backwards. And no sign of flooding.

This was a Sunday shootout, an old-style tribal rivalry that at least for one afternoon allowed everyone to forget how the game in this town has been hijacked by interstate football powers.

Richmond coach Terry Wallace reaped a rich harvest from loading his forward set-up with Greg Stafford and at times Jay Schulz and Troy Simmonds as alternatives to Matthew Richardson.

An absolute dominance from the centre clearances (23-11) by an onball brigade led by Nathan Foley netted 10 goals for Stafford, Richardson and crumber Andrew Krakouer to set up the 45-point triumph.

"The long kicking game is what most people want to see, the run and carry and kicking over the line, and I thought we delivered that reasonably well for most of the game," Wallace said.

"If you look at sides I've had in the past, that's the style of footy that I've liked. I like a free-flowing, risk-taking, high-scoring game of footy, and I think most people do.

"But sometimes you don't always have the cattle to do what you want to do and we are responsible as coaches for winning games and to the game itself. Sometimes it's a balance."

Carlton coach Denis Pagan was left to bemoan the thrashing in those critical take-aways, which was puzzling considering the sterling work of Blues ruckman Barnaby French in getting first hand on the ball.

"In the second quarter, they killed us. If there's one statistic for the Dome, it's centre bounces," Pagan said.

Richmond's breathtaking nine goals in the second quarter blew open the contest and, significantly, the booty was shared by eight players to illustrate the intense and diverse pressure bearing down on the Blues' backline.

Carlton ace Brendan Fevola kicked three goals in eight minutes just before halftime to temporarily arrest the scoreboard slide.

But Fev became so frustrated by the close attention of opponent Joel Bowden and his helpers that he even signalled to the interchange bench for help late in the second term.

"We might have been too Brendan-conscious," Pagan said later.

A run of four goals by Carlton late in the third quarter cut the margin to a reachable 24 points and the Tiger lapse prompted a stern reminder from Wallace at the three-quarter time huddle.

"I just said they could either feel sorry for themselves over a few lost opportunities or go on with it. And I was pleased that they were determined to have a nice, solid win," Wallace said.

"We controlled most of the aspects of game, but towards the end of the third quarter we just became a little bit individualistic, trying to kick a few goals from the boundary line and doing things we weren't early in the game."

Richmond premiership coach Tommy Hafey watched the game from a radio box high on the Docklands wing.

And the disciple of the kick-it-long principles would've brightened his afternoon for far more than simply a Tigers victory.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,20194190%255E19742,00.html

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Wallace's top 10
21 August 2006   Herald-Sun
Bruce Matthews

RICHMOND is determined to finish 2006 with a bang despite being out of finals calculations.

Wins by Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs at the weekend mean the Tigers' dismal percentage will doom them to, at best, ninth spot.

But coach Terry Wallace says his main aim was always to improve on last season.

``We see the numbers as being important. We were desperate to make sure we did no worse than last year's performance,'' Wallace said.

Richmond's 45-point thumping of Carlton at Telstra Dome yesterday equalled last season's 10 wins. And it's the second week in a row the Tigers have booted 21 goals.

They return to the MCG to finish the season against Essendon on Saturday night and then West Coast.

``We probably went in last year with a few more senior bodies ...
so to equal it (win-loss) we thought was a win and to better it will be a bonus. We're now into bonus territory,'' Wallace said.

``We've got two opportunities to get ahead of the ledger.

``There's nothing wrong with finishing ninth on the way up.''

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,20193740%255E19742,00.html

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Tigers ninth with a bullet, says Wallace
Emma Quayle
The Age
August 21, 2006

RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace has no qualms about Richmond's middle-of-the-ladder finish, believing his young team is well placed to achieve greater things next year.

Wallace said that while no club wanted to hover for a long time in ninth place, and that their finish would cost the Tigers draft picks, there was no shame in finishing just outside the finals if it was part of an upwards curve.

Richmond beat Carlton by 45 points yesterday to notch its 10th win for the season and move into "bonus territory" by matching the club's 2005 performance.

Wallace pointed out that the side that finished ninth last year, the Western Bulldogs, would play in September this season, and that the Tigers would take a younger side into 2007.

"If you come ninth, yes the draft selections and that sort of thing has an impact. But I still think, a winning culture and winning development in lieu of one or two positions either way, give me the wins and give me a side that thinks they're going somewhere," he said.

"As I've sort of said to our supporters earlier on in the piece, the club used to get laughed at for finishing ninth, but I reckon there's nothing wrong with finishing ninth on the way up.

"I reckon if you're hovering around ninth and just sort of floating around there, it's a horrible position to be in. But I legitimately think if it's ninth, 10th, wherever we finish, we're advancing, and providing that graph keeps heading in the right direction, I'm comfortable with that."

Wallace applauded the performance yesterday of his captain Kane Johnson, who shut down Carlton midfielder Nick Stevens after he had done similarly comprehensive jobs on opponents including Simon Black, Shaun Burgoyne and Scott West.

Johnson missed training sessions earlier last week with the flu, but Stevens was also restricted by a neck injury. He declared himself fit despite requiring scans for a possible disc problem.

"I think (Johnson's) gotten under the radar of a lot of people. In the past he's probably been recognised as a ball generator, but he's keeping blokes to nothing," Wallace said.

"He's keeping them to fives and sixes and sevens and those sort of numbers, for blokes who have been the best players in the competition and the leading players within their teams. His discipline is outstanding."

Carlton coach Denis Pagan said many of his young players were almost a season away from the experience needed to be competitive and the club needed the injection of talent from another draft in order to rise.

"Maybe they are 15 games away at being able to compete all the time," Pagan said.

"Maybe it's another draft as well, who knows? We really needed Marc Murphy on deck and Josh Kennedy on deck to be able to participate in the last part of the year to get some experience for next year.

"It certainly hasn't helped our cause (that they have been injured).

"We have played nearly all our young guys, there's a couple we wanted to knock on the door a bit harder (but) they didn't do that. It's a massive gap between VFL and AFL (and) I think it is getting bigger."

NEAR MISSES

1994: 12 wins. Edged out by Melbourne (seventh) and Collingwood (eighth) on percentage.

1996: 11 wins. Eighth-placed Hawthorn had 11 wins and a draw.

1998: 12 wins. Missed out to West Coast (seventh) and Essendon (eighth) on percentage.

2000: 11 wins.

2006: 10 wins. Trails ninth-placed Geelong by percentage.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/08/20/1156012412692.html