Shane Edwards gathers 24 touches in Richmond’s disappointing loss to MelbourneSam Landsberger
Herald-Sun
April 24, 2015 11:04PMWHEN Richmond players climb out of bed on Saturday morning with their season dangerously close to spiralling out of control there is one surprising Tiger who can hold his head the highest.
The little-known dasher could walk down Swan St with scarce recognition and that seemed to translate to the centre square at the MCG last night.
His stats sheet at half-time made for inspiring reading.
But the Tigers’ fixture leading into the Round 11 bye makes for a depressing sight — and they can expect the blowtorch to shine on Punt Rd next week.
Edwards led all-comers for disposals (15), clearances (six) and was one shy of the tackle (four) count at the main break.
He was the reason the Tigers stayed in the disappointing 32-point loss to Melbourne for three quarters as Richmond finished with its lowest score against the Demons in 25 years.
Captain Trent Cotchin last week said Edwards was now regularly bobbing up in game reviews for his selfless efforts.
“The coaches have a lot of trust in him,” Cotchin said.
“He’s thrown into the centre bounce a lot because of how good he is at winning centre-bounce clearances.”
Last week his return of 17 pressure acts — the buzz stat in footy — and 10 score involvements flew under the radar.
And his total of 24 disposals (17 contested) to go with seven clearances was jus as impressive in tougher conditions and he could have an early lead on best-and-fairest voting.
Edwards played his best contested game as a rare Tiger willing to get his hands dirty and Champion Data recorded 11 different opponents for him, including a tag from Heritier Lumumba to start the second half.
The 26-year-old slotted the first goal of the second quarter and the last of the third term to keep the Tigers afloat, but his swift elevation this season to Tigers stat status will provide little comfort to coach Damien Hardwick today.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/shane-edwards-gathers-24-touches-in-richmonds-disappointing-loss-to-melbourne/story-fndv8t7m-1227319688963
