Small Tiger bares claws to make big impression
Martin Blake | April 26, 2009
CUSTOMARILY, it is a piece of Matthew Richardson's eccentric brilliance that turns the tide for Richmond. It has been so for years. But last night it was a boy from Melbourne who has spent three years in the VFL trying to prove that size does not matter who did the business.
Robin Nahas is 172 centimetres tall and weighs just 67 kilograms. He looks like he should be riding trackwork at Flemington rather than bouncing up against the gladiators of the AFL and being tossed around like a rag doll. Yet he refuses to bow to any logic.
Nahas, 21, has played three fine seasons for Port Melbourne and only cracked it for a senior AFL game when he was rookie listed by Richmond, and elevated to the primary list upon the injury to Richmond's former captain, Kane Johnson. Last night he played like it mattered in just his third game, burrowing into contested situations, sticking his tackles, attaching himself to bigger men like a gadfly, a 21st century version of Tony Liberatore.
The man-child inspired Richmond, especially in the first half, as it rolled over North Melbourne. Richardson twanged a hamstring early in the second quarter and was largely invisible. But Richmond found another way to break the ice and relieve the pressure on Terry Wallace.
Of course, there was some luck involved. The Tigers would argue they were overdue, but in any event, 13 minutes into the game Daniel Jackson buried North's captain and best player Brent Harvey in a tackle on the half-forward flank, and Harvey stayed down. Harvey would jog off with help from a trainer, his face contorted in pain, and not return. A dislocated left elbow was the diagnosis, a rare injury in football and a serious one.
Harvey's absence hurt North Melbourne badly. The Roos also had Michael Firrito under duress with a leg injury, suffered a minute after the Harvey incident, when the Roos had kicked the first three goals of the game. Lachie Hansen went down later clutching a hamstring in the final quarter, and North ran out of players.
But it would be wrong to downplay Richmond's effort too much. Wallace had lost his best player, Richardson, for a big stretch of the game with a leg injury, too, and while Richo was able to come back on to the ground in the third quarter, he had no impact.
With hindsight it is so clear. The Tigers were never as bad as they were playing in rounds one to four, which is the nature of football. Teams can lose their collective mojo and then the pressure is suffocating, especially at this level.
Last night the pressure valve eased open and suddenly Richmond found that it had some run and carry (through Brett Deledio and Jordan McMahon and newcomer Andrew Collins). It found that the back six, led by Joel Bowden and hard-as-teak tackling and pressure from Chris Newman, could stand up, holding North to just seven goals. It found that Jack Riewoldt (three goals) could present and pack mark and turn around and kick straight up forward and that a pair of inexperienced ruckman (Adam Pattison and Angus Graham) could be competitive.
The Tigers surged to the lead in the second quarter and were never headed.
By three-quarter-time they were 27 points up and then it became a celebration, the breaking of the drought. Deledio, who rose as the game wore on, sprinted through the middle of the ground early in the final quarter on a two-bounce run, looped a handball to Bowden, who drilled it. Bowden, who has seen the worst of times at Punt Road, arched back with both fists outstretched.
Richmond's fans exulted. For now, their pain has eased, and you would not read about it. The Tigers are only a game or so out of the top eight.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/small-tiger-bares-claws-to-make-big-impression/2009/04/26/1240606660223.html
