Media articles - Injuries sour Tigers' win over Swans

[one-eyed]

Injuries sour Tigers' win over Swans
By Peter Veness
10:43 PM Fri 29 February, 2008

RICHMOND had a convincing NAB Challenge win over the Sydney Swans in Narrandera tonight but lost promising key position player Jay Schulz to a worrying rib injury and Graham Polak to a foot injury.

Tigers star Matthew Richardson kicked five goals to lead the Tigers to a promising 17.11 (113) to 13.10 (88) victory, but the injuries were a concern for coach Terry Wallace.

Wallace said Schulz was going to be taken to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital because he was struggling to breathe, but the Tigers medical team decided to get him back on a plane to Melbourne tonight.

"Jay Schulz has got a rib injury, we're not exactly sure of the extent of that," Wallace said after the match.

"He'll get x-rays tomorrow.

"If you cop a full-blooded knee to the ribs going at the pace these blokes are going at, I think it was Richo (Richardson), so that's a hundred-odd kilos sort of going through your ribs, a bit of friendly fire."

Wallace said the 22-year-old had pulled up okay soon after the match but would be closely examined tomorrow.

Ruckman Troy Simmonds came off as a precaution with stiffness in his quadricep and the Tigers suffered a third injury to Polak, who came off with a bruised heel.

Despite the injuries, the Tigers won convincingly thanks to Richardson's straight kicking and the pace of Nathan Foley and Richard Tambling through the midfield.

Wallace was happy with both the result and style of play from the Tigers.

"We've got more speed in that area (the midfield) and probably just more guys who can work through the middle of the ground, which is something that we've been trying to work towards for three or four years now and finally we're seeing some of that come to fruition," he said.

Swans coach Paul Roos wasn't worried by the result, admitting he was more concerned about giving some youngsters a run and getting key players like Barry Hall, who kicked four goals, and Michael O'Loughlin match fit.

Ed Barlow, Jared Moore, Heath Grundy, Matt O'Dwyer and Jesse White all came in for praise from Roos, who said he would be looking for all of the youngsters to press for game time in the season proper.

"The main thing tonight was about playing against a team that was full strength, sometimes you can play in these games where one team's got a lot of good players and the other team's got not so many and I thought tonight was good," Roos said.

Brought to you by AAP

http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/tabid/7106/News/NewsArticle/Default.aspx?newsId=55764

[one-eyed]

Pics from last night's game:

http://www.gspimages.com.au/photography/results/?q=collection:AFL%202008%20NAB%20Challenge%20-%20Sydney%20v%20Richmond&sub_code=all

[one-eyed]

Injury count sours solid Richmond win
Narrandera, NSW | February 29, 2008 - 11:16PM

RICHMOND 5.5 10.7 15.8   17.11 (113)
SYDNEY      3.3   7.7 11.9   13.10 (88)

Goals:
Richmond: M Richardson 5 B Deledio 3 K Johnson 2 C Hughes S Tuck G Polak K Pettifer R Tambling N Brown M White.

Sydney: B Hall 4 J Bolton 2 J McVeigh D Jolly B Kirk M O'Loughlin J Moore R O'Keefe L Ablett.

Best:
Richmond: M Richardson B Deledio K Johnson.
Sydney: B Hall E Barlow J Bolton.

Injuries:
Richmond: J Schulz (rib) T Simmonds (foot).
Sydney: Nil.

Reports: Nil. Crowd: 8296 at Narrandera Sports Ground, Narrandera NSW.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/injury-count-sours-solid-richmond-win/2008/02/29/1204226997369.html

[one-eyed]

Tigers thrash Swans
Daily Advertiser
MATT MALONE
March 3, 2008

Richardson booted five goals and tore Sydney’s defence to pieces to lead the Tigers to an emphatic 17.11 (113) to 13.10 (88) win.

In front of a crowd of 8296, Richmond got off to a flying start and never let the Swans in.

On occasions the Swans managed to get within two goals, but a Tigers forward line of Richardson, Brett Deledio and Graham Polak caused constant headaches for the Sydney defence.

Richmond midfielders Nathan Foley, Kane Johnson and Shane Tuck led the charge and racked up plenty of possessions to set up the win. In a sad night for the Swans, Barry Hall was a clear standout up forward, booting five goals against numerous opponents, but the former captain did not have enough helpers.

Sydney’s defence was down and their midfield lacked the firepower of Richmond’s, with Adam Goodes, Luke Ablett and Brett Kirk all having quiet nights by their standards.

The only negative for the Tigers was a suspected rib injury for utility Jay Schulz, who was stretchered from the ground late in the second quarter.

Richardson gave the Narrandera crowd a sign of what was to come in only the second minute, when he took a strong mark inside 50 and kicked truly to boot the opening goal of the day.

Jarrad McVeigh was quick to reply with the Swans’ first goal, but the opening 25 minutes was all Richmond’s.

Richardson kicked two and Cleve Hughes, Graham Polak and Shane Tuck all scored majors as the Tigers raced to a 28-point lead.

Hall then started to get into the game, kicking the final two goals of the quarter, but he also missed two straight forward shots on goal as Richmond entered the first break with a 14-point lead.

The two teams went goal for goal early in the second term, with Hall registering his fourth goal just 11 minutes into the second term.

Midway through the term, a Jude Bolton goal and a Darren Jolly monster from outside 50 put the Swans within two straight kicks. But another set-shot miss from Hall on the half-time siren cost Sydney dearly, and Richmond entered the main break with a three-goal lead.

Sydney kicked two of the first three goals of the third term, through Brett Kirk and Michael O’Loughlin, and again the Swans looked set to launch a serious challenge.

But a brilliant piece of crumbing work and a goal from Richardson put the Tigers back on track. Two goals towards the end of the third term to Kane Johnson saw Richmond enter the last change with a 23- point advantage.

A impressive goal on the run to Ryan O’Keefe in the opening minute of the final quarter put Sydney within reach at just 17 points behind. But Richmond responded through Deledio and then Richardson to shut the gate on the Swans, giving the 2007 wooden-spooners an encouraging pre-season victory.

http://dailyadvertiser.yourguide.com.au/news/sport/afl/tigers-thrash-swans/1194584.html

[one-eyed]

Some more crowd pics from Narrandera



http://dailyadvertiser.yourguide.com.au/photogallery.asp?page_mode=1&ixGallery=1204&page=2

[one-eyed]

A bit more....

Dreadful showing no need for panic
Daily Advertiser
Matt Malone
March 3, 2008

Roos was instead focusing on all the positives from Friday night's game, where Sydney was on the wrong end of a 25-point drubbing.

A near full-strength Richmond team, led by champion forward Matthew Richardson, annihilated the Swans and in the process exposed several weaknesses in Sydney’s line-up on its way to a 17.11 (113) to 13.10 (88) win.

No run out of defence, a slow aging midfield and a one dimensional forward line would all be areas of concern for Roos as the Tigers ran riot in the pre-season trial.

But Roos was not worried by the poor performance and said the Swans' preparation was still on track for round one.

Full article at: http://dailyadvertiser.yourguide.com.au/news/sport/afl/dreadful-showing-no-need-for-panic/1194652.html

[wayne]

A near full-strength Richmond team, led by champion forward Matthew Richardson, annihilated the Swans and in the process exposed several weaknesses in Sydney’s line-up on its way to a 17.11 (113) to 13.10 (88) win.

No run out of defence, a slow aging midfield and a one dimensional forward line would all be areas of concern for Roos as the Tigers ran riot in the pre-season trial.

Makes us sound good