Media articles and stats - Freo overruns gallant Tigers

[one-eyed]

Freo overruns gallant Tigers
7:19 PM Sun 10 June, 2007 | Back
By Mic Cullen
richmondfc.com.au

FORMER Freo defender Graham Polak starred for Richmond against his old side at Subiaco Oval on Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't enough for the still-winless Tigers who lost 18.15 (123) to 15.12 (102).

As has been the case so often this season, the game was in the balance until midway through the last quarter, when Fremantle booted five majors in 13 minutes to ice the contest.

Brett Deledio (25 possessions, six marks), Nathan Foley (25 touches) and skipper Kane Johnson (18) all worked hard through the midfield, while forward, Matthew Richardson (two goals) presented all day.


Jake King was also good with 20 disposals, while Polak finished with 15 marks and 24 possessions. Kayne Pettifer and Richard Tambling each kicked three.

Richmond jumped out of the blocks, having the first five shots for a return of 1.4, but the Tigers intensity and desire for the ball swamped that of Freo.

Des Headland then marked at 50 and converted, and it looked like the Tigers’ early hard work would be in vain, but three goals to the Tigers in time-on gave them a 20-point lead at the first break.

Pettifer scored from 25 metres after a laborious buildup, but then Shane Tuck was paid a free for high contact, and his handball to Brett Deledio resulted in a major.

Dean Solomon was then finally pinged for his undisciplined attack on hundred-gamer Chris Newman, who made the most of a 50m penalty to bang through a monster torpedo from 75 metres. That was the highlight of Newman's day, as he suffered a rib injury in the third term that forced him from the field.


The teams traded behinds early in the second, then traded majors before Fremantle strung a couple together to get the lead down to 13 points at the long break.

Chris Hyde nailed a beauty from the deep right forward pocket and excitement machine Richard Tambling then made the most of an intercept on the wing, ran inside 50 with a couple of superb baulks and kicked truly.

Just as happened in the first term, the Tigers got on the board before the minute was up when Pettifer converted from 50 after a good mark, but two in five minutes to the hosts dragged the margin back to a single goal.

Kent Kingsley was then the recipient of some terrific work from Matthew Richardson, who swiped the ball back inboard as it was about to go out in the pocket, and the former Cat kicked it from the square.

Fremantle then kicked four of the final six majors in the term as they hit the lead for the first time in the match, and took a one-point margin to the last break.

It was no surprise when the Tigers goaled inside a minute when Cameron Howat made the most of a great gather from Richardson after Deledio carried it down the outer wing and kicked to the top of the 50.

But Freo got the next three in five minutes to grab an 11-point lead, then another two which stretched the lead to 23 points.

Shane Edwards then got loose at 30 to mark and convert, Tambling converted on the run from 30 and Richardson and Edwards scored, but Fremantle had the answering goals each time.

Richmond plays Melbourne at the MCG on Friday, June 22.


FREMANTLE1.34.810.1018.15(123)
RICHMOND4.56.910.915.12(102)

GOALS

Fremantle: D Headland 5 M Pavlich 3 C Tarrant 2 B Peake 2 D Mundy S Thornton H Black G Ibbotson R Warnock A Grover.
Richmond: R Tambling 3 K Pettifer 3 M Richardson 2 S Edwards 2 B Deledio C Newman C Hyde K Kingsley C Howat.

BEST

Fremantle: D Headland M Pavlich P Bell M Johnson S McManus.
Richmond: B Deledio K Pettifer G Polak J King N Foley.

Umpires: C Kamolins M Ellis M Avon.

Official crowd: 37,177 at Subiaco Oval, Perth.

http://richmondfc.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/6301/Default.aspx?newsId=44828

[one-eyed]

Team Stats

Kicks:        210 - 197
Handballs:  152 - 132
Disposals:  362 - 329
Marks:       118 - 113
Hitouts:        13 - 39
Tackles:       32 - 64
Frees:         25 - 14

Individual Stats

Player                       Kicks     Handballs     Marks     Frees       Tackles     Score   
                                1 2 3 4 T 1 2 3 4 T 1 2 3 4 T    For Ag                     G B
 
FOLEY,Nathan            3 3 4 5 15 4 2 6 2 14 3 1 0 1 5 2 3 3 0 1
RAINES,Andrew         4 6 4 2 16 4 2 1 3 10 2 3 2 0 7 1 1 2 0 0
DELEDIO,Brett           3 3 4 2 12 5 2 4 2 13 2 2 2 0 6 2 0 0 1 0
TUCK,Shane               2 1 6 3 12 5 3 3 2 13 0 0 4 1 5 3 0 1 0 0
POLAK,Graham           3 4 4 0 11 5 3 2 3 13 4 5 5 1 15 2 0 3 0 1
KING,Jake                  6 8 0 1 15 0 3 1 1 5 3 6 0 0 9 1 1 1 0 0
BOWDEN,Joel             3 4 1 2 10 2 2 2 3 9 0 3 0 1 4 0 1 4 0 0
PETTIFER,Kayne         5 6 2 3 16 0 1 1 0 2 3 4 2 2 11 0 0 1 3 2
JOHNSON,Kane          1 2 4 2 9 4 2 1 2 9 2 1 1 2 6 2 0 2 0 0
HOWAT,Cameron        1 2 4 5 12 0 1 2 2 5 0 1 2 2 5 0 1 0 1 0
HYDE,Chris                 1 3 3 2 9 2 4 2 0 8 0 1 2 1 4 2 2 2 1 0
JACKSON,Daniel          2 1 4 2 9 1 2 4 0 7 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 0 0 0
TAMBLING,Richard       2 4 1 4 11 2 1 1 0 4 1 0 1 4 6 1 0 2 3 0
POLO,Dean                  3 1 1 0 5 2 3 2 2 9 1 3 1 0 5 0 1 0 0 0
RICHARDSON,Matthew 3 0 2 2 7 0 4 0 1 5 2 0 1 1 4 3 0 3 2 2
HUGHES,Cleve             3 1 0 2 6 2 1 3 0 6 3 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 1
PATTISON,Adam          2 2 1 1 6 2 1 2 1 6 2 0 1 0 3 2 0 5 0 0
WHITE,Matt                 0 4 1 0 5 2 2 1 2 7 0 4 1 0 5 1 0 1 0 0
NEWMAN,Chris            4 3 1 0 8 1 2 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0
EDWARDS,Shane         4 0 0 3 7 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 1 4 0 1 2 2 0
KINGSLEY,Kent            2 1 2 1 6 1 1 0 0 2 3 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 1 1
THURSFIELD,Will          1 1 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
 Rushed  4
TOTAL 58 60 50 42 210 44 43 39 26 152 37 36 26 19 118 25 14 32 15 12
 
HITOUTS: 13
50m PENALTIES: 0
GOALS: Free 3; Play 7; Mark 5
DISTANCE OF GOALS: 0-15m 4; 15-30m 2; 30-40m 1; 40+m 8

Top 5's

Contested possessions

Tuck             12
Deledio         10
Polak            10
Bell                9
Foley             9

Uncontested possessions

Bell              29
Raines         23
Foley           22
M.Johnson   18
J.Carr          18

Effective Kicks

Bell               17
Raines          15
M.Johnson    14
J.Carr           14
Pavlich          14

Inside 50

Bell               8
J.Carr           6
Pavlich          5
Pettifer          5
Tuck             5

Rebound 50

Polak            6
J.Bowden      6
Grover          5
Howat           4
Raines          4

[one-eyed]

RANKINGS

Pavlich         152
M.Johnson    147
Polak            133
Bell              131
J.Bowden      127
Pettifer         113
Headland      110
Richo            106
Foley            106
McManus       102
Raines          101
J.Carr           100
Black             97
Tambling       96
K.Johnson      92
Hayden          83
M.Carr            79
Tuck              78
Grover           74
Solomon        72
Deledio          71
Hyde             71
Pattison         71
Walker           69
Howat            69
Dodd             67
King              64
Thorton         59
Newman        59
Mundy           53
Peake            53
Sandilands     52
White             51
Tarrant           46
Jackson          46
Polo                45
Hughes           44
Edwards          44
Ibbotson         43
Hasleby           39
Kingsley          35
Warnock          23
Thursfield        16
McPharlin         10

[one-eyed]

Tigers give Dockers a fright
10 June 2007   Herald-Sun

 FREMANTLE kept its season alive, but was unconvincing in beating Richmond 18.15 (123) to 15.12 (102) in a poor spectacle at Subiaco Oval today.

After the Dockers slumped to a 26-point deficit in the second term, Des Headland produced one of the best displays for Fremantle, kicking five goals including three in a pivotal third term.

Richmond tried hard, but was unable to break its 2007 duck, despite Kayne Pettifer and Richard Tambling kicking three and Graham Polak's impressive return against his former club.

With Richmond a point behind entering the last term, Cameron Howat's goal looked like creating a major upset, but Heath Black's reply after Chris Hyde's crucial turnover was quickly followed by Matthew Pavlich's first goal.

Seemingly intent on proving Grant Thomas' selfish label wrong, the Freo skipper had created four others until then. But with the game on the line found three goals in 15 minutes to seal the result.

Fremantle was expected to be too strong and too canny for Richmond, but the start proved otherwise, with the first quarter one of the best for the Tigers this season.

Thirteen Richmond hard ball gets to one illustrated a gulf in desire, and Tambling's first goal inside 30 seconds sparked a genuine contest.

With five inside 50s came five Richmond scoring shots in the first six minutes, with only Tambling's goal to show for it.

But after Pettifer and Brett Deledio found the target, Dean Solomon's swing to the guts of Chris Newman drew a 50m penalty and a superb goal resulted when the Tiger converted with a 70m torpedo.

With the quality of football low, the odd moment of brilliance sparkled even more as a result, with Hyde's goal from the pocket and Tambling's second keeping Richmond ahead by half-time.

But that lead was steadily whittled away through Peter Bell's tireless efforts and Pavlich's vision - and Headland's desperately needed spark.

After a fortunate third goal from a free kick, the former Lion kicked a fourth after a great mark, despite inexplicably playing on when a set shot looked the easier option.

His third inside 10 minutes of the third quarter, from outside 50m, brought the scores all square and Freo worries eased.

Despite Howat's early strike in the final stanza, Pavlich's intervention ensured the Tigers stayed winless and Freo remained a chance of making the finals.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21882401%255E20322,00.html

[one-eyed]

Skipper Pavlich rises high above 'selfish' criticism
Courtney Walsh
The Australian
June 11, 2007

FREMANTLE captain Matthew Pavlich yesterday provided the ultimate rebuttal to claims he played solely for himself by leading the Dockers to a gritty 21-point win over Richmond.

While Des Headland stole the show with five goals, it was Pavlich who the frustrated Fremantle fans can thank for keeping the one-time flag favourite's finals hopes alive in a scrappy affair at Subiaco Oval.

The skipper played a critical role in the 18.15 (123) to 15.12 (102) win, and not just because of three last-quarter goals that secured a match very much in the balance.

It was his unselfish efforts in the second term, when Fremantle's season seemed to be slipping away, that righted the wayward Dockers and made a mockery of last week's claim by former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas that Pavlich cared more for himself than his team.

With the Dockers -- who are within a game of eighth spot after yesterday's win -- being thrashed across the ground and trailing by 26 points, Pavlich stood up.

Despite being double-teamed for much of the first half, Pavlich's clean hands enabled him to twice win the ball and hand off to team-mates waiting in the goal square as the Dockers sought to minimise the damage caused by a listless first half.

That the Dockers' attack on the ball was suspect early cannot be denied.

Richmond smashed Fremantle across the ball at stoppages and led the hard-ball gets 13-1 at quarter-time and 26-10 at the main break.

It is an area coach Chris Connolly will be keen to rectify given the Dockers' crucial match against the Western Bulldogs in Darwin on Saturday night.

It is an important match for both sides. Fremantle can level its win-loss ratio and replace the Bulldogs in the top eight with a win, but will need to improve on yesterday's effort, particularly before half-time.

Richmond led by 13 points at that stage, but should have been further in front after missing a string of simple shots in the second term.

Former Geelong player Kent Kingsley started the rot when he ran into an open goal and missed early in the term. Team-mate Nathan Foley then made a hash of a shot from straight in front within a minute and Cleve Hughes completed the terrible trifecta by blowing another sitter.

Had the Tigers kicked those three, the lead would have been six goals, but instead it was further evidence of a team that does not know how to win.

Fremantle started like it believed Richmond would be easybeats and the Tigers exploited the home side's lack of intensity.

Richard Tambling kicked a goal within 30 seconds of the opening siren, but the inaccuracy that marred the Tigers' second term was also present early.

The Dockers have been plagued by disciplinary problems in their disappointing start to the season and, thanks to Dean Solomon, provided yet another example of what not to do.

With fewer than two minutes left in the term, and with Richmond winding down the clock by chipping the ball in its defensive 50m, Solomon infringed against Chris Newman in an off-the-ball incident likely to draw the attention of the match review panel today.

The pair were scuffling with each other, but Newman ran off to present a lead and was taken down by Solomon from behind.

After receiving a 50m penalty, Newman latched on to a brilliant 75m torpedo punt from inside the centre square to kick the Tigers' fourth goal of the term and further embarrass Solomon for his undisciplined act.

Newman finished the match on the bench after being crunched in a marking contest in the third term as the Dockers started to find some run out of defence and through the middle.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21883069-2722,00.html

[one-eyed]

Skipper Pavlich rescues sinking ship
Mark Duffield | June 11, 2007 | The AGe

Yesterday they [Freo] were almost derailed completely by an exuberant Richmond superbly served by midfielders Brett Deledio and Nathan Foley, not to mention defender Graham Polak, who played better against his former team than he ever did for them.

The Dockers started like a team waiting for the sky to fall on their heads. Reactive and lazy, they surrendered the early initiative meekly and spent three quarters trying to dig themselves out of an early hole.

The Tigers, meanwhile, were inventive and resourceful. They grabbed the first two centre clearances and also had the first half-dozen ventures inside 50.

Richard Tambling kicked the first Richmond goal after only 40 seconds, and while Headland got one back for Fremantle after a spate of wasted Richmond opportunities, the rest of the quarter belonged to Richmond.

The Tigers simply dominated the contested possession 32 to 15, with superior endeavour and hardness at the ball. Deledio grabbed nine touches, as did Shane Tuck, and while the partisan crowd roared at the first-quarter free-kick count of nine to two in Richmond's favour, the reality was that if the Dockers wanted to know the reason for their opening-stanza predicament, they needed to look in the mirror, not at the umpires.

Richmond's fourth goal of the quarter summed it up.

Dean Solomon got a bee in his bonnet about Tiger Chris Newman and started hassling him off the ball. Eventually the hassling went too far and a round-arm forearm to the stomach resulted in a Newman free kick. Not content with this, Solomon went after Newman on the ground: 50 metres.

The left-footed Tiger launched a 70-metre torpedo. The ball could have been touched on the line but there was no Fremantle player on the line and the Tigers took a 20-point lead to the first break.

If Fremantle fans thought the first quarter was bad, things were about to get worse. Chris Hyde kicked the first goal of the second term to give the Tigers a 26-point lead and the teams traded goals until the middle of the quarter before the Dockers' resurgence began.

Headland and Peake got the last two goals of the first half to narrow the half-time margin to 13 points but it was a six-goal third quarter that gave the Dockers control of the game.

Headland kicked two goals in a row, Chris Tarrant finally managed to wobble a set shot through and Pavlich handed off another to send the Dockers to three-quarter-time one point in front.

They then unleashed an eight-goal final term to seal the match. Pavlich was, by this time, doing as he pleased. Indeed, while Pavlich was creating goals for teammates, his own teammates were denying more for him. A second-quarter bomb from 55 metres was disallowed thanks to a sloppy push in the goal square. A third-quarter arrow from a similar distance was denied when no teammate shepherded.

Pavlich still kicked three goals for the quarter and played a role in two others, while the Tigers ran out of legs, with Newman nursing sore ribs and Tuck a stiff back.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfmatchreport/skipper-pavlich-rescues-sinking-ship/2007/06/10/1181414139982.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

[one-eyed]

Pavlich great after roast
11 June 2007   Herald-Sun
Jay Clark

It was another heart-breaker for the Tigers, who fell to their 10th loss despite leading by as much as 26 points well into the third term.

They trailed by one point at the final change and, despite fighting on with five last-term goals, were overrun as the Dockers finally clicked into gear.

Tiger Brett Deledio was slick as usual and Graham Polak, in his first match against his old side, was brilliant early with nine first-half marks.

However, Polak faded in the second half as Fremantle started to show the football that made it billed as a genuine premiership threat before the season started.

But this will be remembered as another game the Tigers let slip through their fingers after a harrowing month that has included two narrow losses and a draw.

They dared to dream early in a stunning first-half onslaught.

Combining hard-nosed bravado with free-spirited run, the Tigers continually backed themselves to play on and surge up the corridor.

Catching Freo on the back foot, the Tigers stunned the crowd, charging to an early four-goal lead.

The game began sensationally as the league's clearance king, Nathan Foley, found Richard Tambling, who kicked the first major in the opening minute.

That set the tone for the rest of the half and the Tigers didn't fall for their usual trick of relying solely on Matthew Richardson.

Instead, running a slick overlap from the half-back line, the Tigers were prepared to trust other marking targets as Kayne Pettifer, Deledio and Kent Kingsley all snapped the Freo leash.

Their intent was best illustrated when Shane Tuck dived in under the pack, copping a knee to the head and a free kick. He then gave a handball to Deledio, who peeled around beautifully to slot a goal from 50m.

By quarter-time, Richmond had a staggering 13 hardball gets to Fremantle's one, and a 20-point lead.

In contrast, the Dockers lacked the intensity usually associated with teams fighting to keep their finals hopes alive.

Giant ruckman Aaron Sandilands dominated the ruck taps but, as has often been the case, his onball brigade was unable to take full advantage.

Up forward, Pavlich kept his side in the contest with a hand in Freo's first four goals.

Operating as a one-man band, Pavlich, often wedged in between Joel Bowden and Polak, was marking strongly.

Twice, the skipper handballed over the top to free men in the goalsquare to keep the Dockers in touch. They were down by 13 at the main change.

The Tigers were so late returning to the ground before the start of the third term that the Dockers were already waiting in position.

It mattered little as Richmond again drew first blood after the break, with Pettifer kicking his second goal on the run.

The match then became the Des Headland show as Fremantle responded, finally turning defence into attack.

Headland, celebrating wildly after each one, kicked three of the Dockers' six third-term goals from strong marking leads.

It set up a riveting last quarter, with Fremantle up by one point going into the last term.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21883540%255E19742,00.html

[bluey_21]

Thought Lids played a good game, would have been a brilliant game ala Essendon if he hadn't made a couple of blues. Brilliant hardness at the ball though. 10 contested possesions should put to bed any accusations of him being soft

[one-eyed]

Wallace returns fire to Connolly
Steve Butler | June 15, 2007 | The Age

RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace has reignited a public spat with Fremantle's Chris Connolly, claiming intense pressure on the Dockers' boss sparked his criticism of the Tigers' tactics last weekend.

Wallace was stunned yesterday that Connolly had repeated his bully-boy criticism of two years ago, saying Richmond used unfair physical tactics in its 21-point loss to Fremantle at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.

In May, 2005, Connolly went to great lengths to apologise to Wallace after accusing him of sending players out to "bash blokes" when he was coach of the Western Bulldogs.

On Wednesday this week, Connolly said he had no doubt Richmond players "started all the nasty type stuff", which led to an unproven striking charge for Dockers enforcer Dean Solomon.

Wallace believed the latest criticism came as Fremantle's season hung in the balance. "I wouldn't have thought we'd send out our 70-kilo, 18-year-old rover out to bash up their 30-year-old players," a bemused Wallace said.

"I would say the comments came from someone who clearly needs to be protective of his lot. I think Chris is under pressure about the manner on which his side's handling things and good luck to him."

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/wallace-returns-fire-to-connolly/2007/06/14/1181414462814.html

[mightytiges]

Wallace was stunned yesterday that Connolly had repeated his bully-boy criticism of two years ago, saying Richmond used unfair physical tactics in its 21-point loss to Fremantle at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.

On Wednesday this week, Connolly said he had no doubt Richmond players "started all the nasty type stuff", which led to an unproven striking charge for Dockers enforcer Dean Solomon.

Shows how soft Freo are if they think we are bully boys lol ???. Yep Solomon was provoked because he doesn't have a history of being brainless and giving away stupid free kicks  .

[Life goes on]

You might find there is a "bit of bad blood "" between Wallace and his former teammates eg Matthews, Dermie , Connelly etc.

[mightytiges]

You might find there is a "bit of bad blood "" between Wallace and his former teammates eg Matthews, Dermie , Connelly etc.

A reason he didn't coach Hawthorn?!

[Ox]

Yeah right.
Our players are tuff like that

I wish...

[WilliamPowell]

What a joke ....

Let me see Freo has the worst discipline record in the AFL this season. How Solomon didn't get cited this week is another joke for another day 

Let's see here's a fair stoush

71kg Shane Edwards -v- taking on 87kg Matt Carr

Or how about ...

81-85kg Andy Raines up against 95kg Chris Tarrant

Yeah right - fool

[bluey_21]

Lol at connelly trying to shift the attention on to some one else.