One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on April 10, 2011, 10:21:28 PM
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Our starts been a problem in previous years but this year we've pretty much been pumped in all our first quarters and had to play catch up. Something else Dimma and the coaching staff need to address as it can't be blamed on fatigue.
Carlton: 2.8 (10 shots) to 3.0 (3 shots)
St Kilda: 4.6 (10 shots) to 2.4 (6 shots)
Hawthorn: 7.1 (8 shots) to 1.3 (4 shots)
2011 Quarter Stats
Quarter W D L For Against %
1st 0 0 3 6.7 (43) 13.15 (93) 46.24 :P
2nd 1 0 2 12.5 (77) 14.11 (95) 81.05
3rd 1 0 2 9.11 (65) 4.11 (35) 185.71
4th 0 0 3 6.10 (46) 13.13 (91) 50.55
Total 2 0 10 33.33 (231) 44.50 (314) 73.57
http://finalsiren.com/Fixture.asp?TeamID=8
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Yep big problem.
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One of these :P for our final quarters too.
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... as it can't be blamed on fatigue.
Think you can put it down to lack of experience.
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fair observation about our starts. As a young side we have to work hard on getting four quarter efforts. We were lucky we weren't blown away by Carlton in first quarter. We were blown away in the first quater by Hawks and will be by the magpies if we don't improve in that area.
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I have been saying this for ages, we are not turned on from the first bounce. We have wlaways had this problem and it must be rectified. We play catch up footy all the time.
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Add another one to the poor first quarter list: 2.2 (4 shots) to 8.6 (14 shots) :-\
Dimma said after the game that we gave away 8 frees to 2 in the first quarter from simple holding on frees and the Pies got 3 goals directly from free kicks.
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No, I am just not going there, as I said I have for the past 2 years we love playing catch up.... :banghead :banghead :banghead
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It appears we need a quarter or so to settle and realise what the opposition are doing before we get into the game :-\.
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Agree with comment our last quarters are not flash either.
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Add another one to the poor first quarter list: 2.2 (4 shots) to 8.6 (14 shots) :-\
Dimma said after the game that we gave away 8 frees to 2 in the first quarter from simple holding on frees and the Pies got 3 goals directly from free kicks.
You didnt say it but I thought the Umpires helped put us out of it then first 20 min. Sure our trunovers were them main problem but some of those frees they got and some we didnt made it very hard to get into the game. Thing is I have seen this in every Collingwood game this year and it very disturbing.
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You didnt say it but I thought the Umpires helped put us out of it then first 20 min. Sure our trunovers were them main problem but some of those frees they got and some we didnt made it very hard to get into the game. Thing is I have seen this in every Collingwood game this year and it very disturbing.
I agree.
Blaming the umpire is like banging your head against a brick wall. The minute you start doing it you lose credibility in the eyes of other football followers.
Even so, both you and I know they were very bad and cost us a lot, particularly early on in the game when we were trying to get into it. A young team has enough doubts and fears without needing the umpiring contributing to their worries.
Unfortunately nothing will be done so we have to be content in the knowledge that we know it's not purely sour grapes.
I think it is proved that you need to be a top team with a top reputation to get a good run with the umpires. We just have to claw our way to the top. The best we can hope for is a fair run but it happens very rarely. I don't mind poor umpiring as long as it's consistent for both teams. I suppose that would make it good umpiring. :rollin
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You didnt say it but I thought the Umpires helped put us out of it then first 20 min. Sure our trunovers were them main problem but some of those frees they got and some we didnt made it very hard to get into the game. Thing is I have seen this in every Collingwood game this year and it very disturbing.
I agree.
Blaming the umpire is like banging your head against a brick wall. The minute you start doing it you lose credibility in the eyes of other football followers.
Even so, both you and I know they were very bad and cost us a lot, particularly early on in the game when we were trying to get into it. A young team has enough doubts and fears without needing the umpiring contributing to their worries.
Unfortunately nothing will be done so we have to be content in the knowledge that we know it's not purely sour grapes.
I think it is proved that you need to be a top team with a top reputation to get a good run with the umpires. We just have to claw our way to the top. The best we can hope for is a fair run but it happens very rarely. I don't mind poor umpiring as long as it's consistent for both teams. I suppose that would make it good umpiring. :rollin
Always happens to a side at the lower end of the ladder against a side at the upper echelon when it comes to free kicks and 50/50. SUre we tried hard and lacked the polish and what not of the PIes but let the gsame run its natural course and not further influence it with decisions that get paid one way and get ignored the other.
Maybe we should start our warm up a little later and stay out a little longer. :-\
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Agree with comment our last quarters are not flash either.
At least there is a reasonable excuse for those Elim - young legs and no stamina - and that will change with time. The poor first quarters however...............
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You didnt say it but I thought the Umpires helped put us out of it then first 20 min. Sure our trunovers were them main problem but some of those frees they got and some we didnt made it very hard to get into the game. Thing is I have seen this in every Collingwood game this year and it very disturbing.
I agree.
Blaming the umpire is like banging your head against a brick wall. The minute you start doing it you lose credibility in the eyes of other football followers.
Even so, both you and I know they were very bad and cost us a lot, particularly early on in the game when we were trying to get into it. A young team has enough doubts and fears without needing the umpiring contributing to their worries.
Unfortunately nothing will be done so we have to be content in the knowledge that we know it's not purely sour grapes.
I think it is proved that you need to be a top team with a top reputation to get a good run with the umpires. We just have to claw our way to the top. The best we can hope for is a fair run but it happens very rarely. I don't mind poor umpiring as long as it's consistent for both teams. I suppose that would make it good umpiring. :rollin
Agree also. It's embarrassingly obvious whenever you watch a game that the low ranked side has a battle getting a break-even deal from the maggots. And I don't buy into the crap that the top sides are prone to get more frees because they play in front and are thus more likely to get free kicks. The inconsistency almost always reflects ladder position and it seems to be the case now more than ever.
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Add another one to the poor first quarter list: 2.2 (4 shots) to 8.6 (14 shots) :-\
Dimma said after the game that we gave away 8 frees to 2 in the first quarter from simple holding on frees and the Pies got 3 goals directly from free kicks.
You didnt say it but I thought the Umpires helped put us out of it then first 20 min. Sure our trunovers were them main problem but some of those frees they got and some we didnt made it very hard to get into the game. Thing is I have seen this in every Collingwood game this year and it very disturbing.
Some of their "free-kicks" in the first quarter were atrocious decisions. And when they're that frequent, the "it was a mistake" excuse only goes so far. What tends to happen though is that later in the game (when the damage is already done) the decisions start to go the other way to try and "even it up".
At the end of the day though, umpiring is only part of it. I think our biggest problem is by far and away the fact that our fluent style of play is taking us a while to get going, and that's what we need to focus on.
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I have been saying this for ages, we are not turned on from the first bounce. We have always had this problem and it must be rectified. We play catch up footy all the time.
Maybe we should start our warm up a little later and stay out a little longer. :-\
Interesting comments.
It was very noticable at the pre-season game in Shepparton against the Hawks that our pre-game warm up was so much softer than theirs.
After the teams ran on the field the Hawks did sprint run throughs to warm up and then the onballers did centre bounces with the ball passed on a lead to Roughie or Buddy. Their backs did spoiling drills against the other forwards and practised rebounds.
At the other end we did goalkicking practice like at the school lunchtime and a few half hearted run throughs.
They came out and pounded us with their intensity from the outset.
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Great thread. A clear pattern has emerged and it needs to be addressed.
Can't keep playing catch up and expect to win.
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5. SLEEPY STARTS
RICHMOND is the worst starting team in the competition with a -90 points record in first quarters across the first four games.
Most of the damage is being done in the first 15 minutes, when the Tigers are -56 points.
Might be time for a bit of John Northey fire 'n brimstone. Maybe they could give Tim Smith, Carlton boxing coach and part-time motivator, a call.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/the-game-gets-grubbier/story-e6frf9jf-1226040387944
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5. SLEEPY STARTS
RICHMOND is the worst starting team in the competition with a -90 points record in first quarters across the first four games.
Most of the damage is being done in the first 15 minutes, when the Tigers are -56 points.
Might be time for a bit of John Northey fire 'n brimstone. Maybe they could give Tim Smith, Carlton boxing coach and part-time motivator, a call.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/the-game-gets-grubbier/story-e6frf9jf-1226040387944
Funny that Northey is mentioned because that's who I thought off re this subject.
Saw the warmup in the rooms a few times when Northey was coach and remember clearly he had to cool down the players when they used to do a pile in just before going onto the ground so they didnt hurt each other.
Of course that was old style football and wouldn't be suitable for modern times. :whistle
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An observation I make is this. We always seem to be out second from the two teams and we go in a few minutes before the opposition. Don't know what that means but maybe we need to stay out there longer.
Early last year Dimma had them doing tackling drills and handball drills in close quarters in their warm ups to get a feel for the ball and body contact whereas I have noticed that we are back to the kicking drills shooting for goal and stretching near the goal posts. Perhaps we need to be more intense and get back to some simple physical confrontation and intimidation drills to get the blood boiling and mental switch on. :-\
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Still a major issue that needs addressing despite the win. It seems we need the first 10 mins for everyone to get up to speed with the game and organise our planned structures each week and in that time we gift 3-4 goals to the opposition. In the end becuase North aren't that good we won the remaining 3 quarters by 5 goals and were the dominant side in general play.
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Yep, really starting to irk me these slow starts, just no intensity until the 3rd qtrs.. It has to stop.
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Yep, really starting to irk me these slow starts, just no intensity until the 3rd qtrs.. It has to stop.
No excuses with our starts next week against the bottom placed Lions although they did jump Melbourne at the 'G a fortnight ago. If we want to become a good side we should be aiming to jump them early to break their confidence. Beginning the game with our intensity at being first at the ball and contest would be a start to fixing our first quarters problem. Once again we were second to the ball and reactive early on tonight.
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Slow starts a mental issue for Tigers, says Justin Leppitsch
Matt Windley
Herald Sun
April 29, 2011
RICHMOND assistant coach Justin Leppitsch says the Tigers' poor first-quarter performances this season are a mental issue that needs to be fixed.
The Tigers have been swamped early in several matches.
"We have addressed it and we did start slowly again on the weekend (against North Melbourne)," Leppitsch said yesterday.
"I guess it was six scoring shots to four when you look at it, and while the gap was still four goals, it's still probably our best result for first quarters.
"It's hard to put a finger on it. I think it's more a mental thing with our group than a physical thing because, physically, we are a very fit team.
"It's just a matter of attacking the game nice and early and we have broached that."
Leppitsch said there was no simple solution.
"I don't think there is," he said.
"You'll find clubs have trends and this is the first time this one has bobbed up in my time here at the club.
"It's interesting. I think all you can do is broach it with the players, speak about it.
"We've tinkered with their warm-up a bit also, but does it help or does it hinder them? You don't really know. Really, it's up to the players to take control of the game."
Leppitsch said there is no risk of Dustin Martin getting ahead of himself following recent positive publicity.
Teammates Nathan Foley and Jack Riewoldt this week described Martin as the best second-year player they've seen, while the Herald Sun yesterday revealed Martin is second to only Hawthorn's Lance Franklin in total score involvements this season.
"I don't think Dustin would get carried away with much," Leppitsch said.
"He's a very quiet character and he keeps to himself. You won't see him speaking too often in the media, that's just his type of personality.
"He just plays true football. He goes out there, he's not an overly structured sort of character.
"But you talk about knowing how to manoeuvre your body in contested sorts of situations, he just knows that better than anyone and it doesn't seem to matter about the size of the opposition either, he just knows how to do it well. He's a great natural footballer."
Leppitsch said the substitution rule had helped Martin become more versatile.
"He's spent more time forward. And it's helped us realise that he can play there for longer periods of time whereas last year he would have rested on the bench."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/slow-starts-a-mental-issue-for-tigers-says-justin-leppitsch/story-e6frf9jf-1226046569875
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Still back to the drawing board. Despite Brisbane kicking the first goal inside 30 seconds :P I thought we might have steadied kicking the next two but then we went to sleep again playing reactive second to ball footy. We are just not switched on when we have these complete fade outs in games :-\.
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Concentration over 4 quarters is what is needed. Loss of intensity in 3rd annoying because we should have thrashed them. They are a Young side and this is going to happen for a while.
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Got a fair bit to work on still the Tigers, when we get over this psychological hurdle will be another baby step on our journey.
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ANOTHER shocking first quarter against Brisbane. Not so much the score, but the way we played. The amount of times Brisbane had 3 or 4 players free on the Southern Stand wing whom they used to get the ball directly from our 50 to theirs was a joke, and we fell back to the old habit of over-possessing the ball but getting nowhere and eventually coughing it up. Luckily we got going in the 2nd quarter, but some of the errors we made in the 1st quarter would have been pounced upon by better sides than Brisbane.
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A win is a win. 4 points, young players getting better. Great coach and assistants. Plan in place. New facilities. Benny Gale..... Things are looking good!
I'm content at the minute. :gotigers
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Get John Northey to come in as special guest MC 10 mins before each game :thumbsup he used to work the boys up good and proper before each game
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Dimma addressed this in his email video and says there's a complete fall away in contested possessions in our first quarters. He blames our guys feeling intimidated against the top sides and that we give away too many free kicks.
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Brisbane and North aren't top sides and we got outscored by both.
We still have yet to win a first quarter this season.
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As great as the win was today once again our first quarter today was ordinary. Very lucky to be level with us stuffing up our kick-ins :P. We just seem to need a quarter to get into the game and counter anything the opposition try :-\. Thankfully Freo's answer to Goldilocks couldn't kick straight all night :lol.
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cant find androids name on the Richmond list
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agree with mighty tiges
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It's gone beyond a joke now after 8 straight weeks. Perhaps we should run out 30 mins before the game starts so we are ready to play by the first siren :scream
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You just can't start that poorly against teams like the bulldogs. If we had started right we could have beaten them but we didn't and we paid the price
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Maybe Hardwick needs to go more defensive in the first quarter. Is it possible our game plan is a little too attacking against fresh legs and therefore early pressure makes it harder for us being a young squad to play in that way. It appears to me that as the game goes on we seem fleeter footed than the teams we have beaten thus far but early its more even. I think until we get the across the board body strength we are going to struggle early in games.
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towards the end of the first quarter they showed the time in each clubs forward half.
it was 60% to us 40% to them.
They just made more of their opprtunites than we did, a trend that continued most of the game.
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Agree Al, we were more guilty today of butchering the ball than not having enough of it.
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You just can't start that poorly against teams like the bulldogs. If we had started right we could have beaten them but we didn't and we paid the price
yeap
Our 1st qtr was deplorable :banghead
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It's becoming our season killer, for a season that doesn't have to be another average one.
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Spot the quarter out :P
2011 Quarter Stats
Quarter W D L For Against %
1st 0 1 7 17.21 (123) 40.35 (275) 44.73
2nd 4 0 4 36.27 (243) 34.26 (230) 105.65
3rd 3 0 5 37.18 (240) 27.33 (195) 123.08
4th 4 0 4 32.25 (217) 32.36 (228) 95.18
Total 11 1 20 122.91 (823) 133.130 (928) 88.69
http://finalsiren.com/Fixture.asp?TeamID=8
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no excuses, your there to play from the 1st bounce
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Matty White was asked today about our poor first quarters....
The one issue for Richmond is its slow starts this season - a factor that cost it any real chance against the Bullddogs last weekend.
''We addressed it after the game. I think we went down by 35 points and we were down that far in the first quarter. So we're addressing eveything so we go from the very first bounce and we're not playing catch-up footy for three quarters after that,'' White said.
''We're trying to put a finger on it, its a work in progress at ther moment. We've shown glimpses - against Brisbane and Fremantle were were fairly close at quarter-time and we were able to get over the line there.
''I think its just a mindset thing.''
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-welcome-big-stage-test/story-e6frf9jf-1226058287968
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Could it be the way that they warm up? ie: not enough running.
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We might have been close against Freo at Quarter Time, but that was only because their kicking was atrocious. We have not had one good first quarter this season.
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We might have been close against Freo at Quarter Time, but that was only because their kicking was atrocious. We have not had one good first quarter this season.
thats bs
many points were from rushed behinds
and many shots at goal were from tight angles
i dont buy that crap
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Its obviously got something to do with the pre game routine - it sux arse
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No point us guessing what it is, they don't even know why we start off so slow. Not much point saying we win the 3rd qtr if we lose the game either. We have only finished a first qtr level with Freo this year 20 points a piece. Other than that we have lost every first qtr.
We let them opposition get that 4-6 goal break and they maintain that all game...it's starting to annoy the pee out of me.
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We might have been close against Freo at Quarter Time, but that was only because their kicking was atrocious. We have not had one good first quarter this season.
thats bs
many points were from rushed behinds
and many shots at goal were from tight angles
i dont buy that crap
"Many" shots? Try one. Mayne's shot from 50 near the boundary is the only shot that can really be described as from a tight angle. 4 of their 8 behinds SHOULD have been goals (Pavilich, Mayne's 2nd kick after the clanger kick-in from his first shot, Van Berlo and Hill should have converted at least 2 of those 4 shots into goals), and Freo were dictating the game in their own half for the vast majority of the quarter. Whilst we were efficient, the majority of our scoring shots in that quarter came on the counter-attack, as opposed to the rest of the game where we very much played the game on our terms.
Call it "bs" and "crap" if you like, but Freo had the chance to give themselves a 3-4 goal buffer, especially given the amount of time the ball was in their half of the ground, and fortunately for us they squandered that. Take nothing away from our performance in the rest of the game, the boys were simply superb, but our first quarter was nowhere near the standard of the rest of the game.
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I don't buy it either. They kick 1 one of those goals and the ball goes back to the centre. They only got those shots on goal because we couldn't get it out from the kick in. As soon as they did kick a goal we got it out of the centre and kicked one.
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After 13 rounds it's still happening :-\. We were fortunate tonight we were playing the bottom side and we could play catch up after giving them a 20 minute and 4 goal start.
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The players are being re-active rather than pro-active. They seem to be waiting to see how the opposition are going to go about things so they can adjust and orientate themselves in the game then once orientated they start to move forward. They need to go out and dictate things themselves from the get go and not wait to react to what is happening to them.
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Would have helped tonight if it was 22 vs 22, not 25 vs 22. First quarter umpiring was an absolute disgraceful exhibition of home team bias.
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The players are being re-active rather than pro-active. They seem to be waiting to see how the opposition are going to go about things so they can adjust and orientate themselves in the game then once orientated they start to move forward. They need to go out and dictate things themselves from the get go and not wait to react to what is happening to them.
Hard to disagree with that RR. That sort of reactive mentally probably also shows up in us getting to a 3 goal lead and then switching off again turning the game into a narrow-margin scrap rather than being pro-active and going for the throat to put the game away
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i thought is was only the first half of the quater brisbane were on top. we finished the quarter off well and had one more scoring shot than brissy. also would have looked better if the first three scores were all goals, as they should have been
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i thought is was only the first half of the quater brisbane were on top. we finished the quarter off well and had one more scoring shot than brissy. also would have looked better if the first three scores were all goals, as they should have been
Dead right Al, we controlled the game from midway through the first quarter onwards.
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yep watching the first half of the 1st quarter :banghead l was seriously ready to change the channel on the TV, it was that bad.
THE TIGERS OF OLD.
After not watching the Sydney game at all last week & yet to watch the replay, l just needed my Tiger fix & kept watching.
Reality we should have been well in front at 1/4 time.
Starts with the actions of the captain still making some critical mistakes, Set shots at goals, Rewoldt pulling his head in & playing team football & holding his lips together.
How to fix this, Kicking with Dusty this morning, & free beer for the players for kicking ass last night with Raines watching in the stands sooking :jump
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Dimma was asked again today about our poor starts ..
Hardwick said the Tigers had been working hard to address their recent slow starts and were determined not to be jumped by the Demons on Saturday.
"Our second, third and fourth quarters are all pretty good but our first quarters, slow-start-wise, we do struggle a bit," he said.
"But we don't want to jump out of the blocks in the first quarter and then lose the second, third and fourth."
"We've analysed it to death.'
http://www.sportal.com.au/afl-news-display/tigers-feeling-fresh-127429
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Whatever the recipe was for the Essendon game copy that formula and go from there.
We won the first lost the second narrowly streaked away in the third and had all the answers in the last.
Get cracking lads.
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First quarters need fixing
By Jen Witham
9:12 PM Sat 02 Jul, 2011
DIRECTLY after Richmond's 103-point loss to Carlton on Saturday, Damien Hardwick said he never wanted to speak of the match again.
The Tigers' coach was a stunned figure after the game, which was reflected in his unusual move to coach the final quarter from the box and not his usual spot on the boundary.
While he was adamant the coaching staff would "bin the review", there is something Hardwick and co. will have to look at this week if the Tigers are going to recover from the mess that has become their past month, their round 13 win over the Brisbane Lions aside.
Their first quarters.
The Tigers have won just one first term this season; against Essendon in round nine, and have drawn one, against Fremantle in round seven.
Against Carlton on Saturday, they were down by 22 points by the first change, despite having just two less scoring shots than the Blues.
"It would be nice to get off to a good start. There certainly were stages but Carlton started hotter; granted after their performance last week they were always going to do that," Hardwick admitted afterwards.
"We just couldn't rectify the scoreboard at any change."
Before the game, Hardwick told 3AW the coaching staff were trialling a range of tactics to try and get the side up and moving early, to avoid a situation where they were chasing their tails all afternoon.
He didn't go into specifics, but the players' recent move to hold their final huddle before the first bounce near the goalsquare - something Collingwood started doing last season - could be one.
Drawing on the energy from the crowd could be one mechanism designed to alleviate the lethargy that has seen them forfeit 12 out of 14 quarter-time leads this season.
Another tactic could come from Hardwick's decision to leave his players on the field for the final quarter and observe from the heights of the coaches' box.
Hardwick, in his second year as a senior coach, has been a fan of coaching from the boundary in a bid to make it easier to pass on direct stuff to his players; many of who are still learning.
He abandoned that when the Tigers trailed by 89 points at the final change in a view to next week.
"We just spoke to our guys at three-quarter time about how we start the last quarter is how we want to start next week's game," Hardwick said.
"Forget the scoreboard, zero-zero; we just want to play for next week.
"We just wanted to get upstairs and let the players dictate their own and watch them from that scenario and it was just a different aspect to have a look at it."
The review this week won't exist but you can bet there will be some discussion about the Tigers' lack of resilience, determination and resistance.
"It's probably the first time we've been categorically thrashed in a hell of a lot of areas; granted our form against the Dees wasn't great last week but at least we came back and fought our way into the game," Hardwick said.
"We didn't show any fight at any stage today."
Next week, the Tigers meet the Bombers in a rematch of their round nine Dreamtime at the 'G win.
In that game, they led by one point at quarter-time and trailed by one at half-time before kicking away slightly in the third term.
Whatever they did that week to lead early on and stay physically and emotionally involved in the contest will need to be recaptured if they're to do similar to Carlton and rebound from a disappointing loss.
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/117667/default.aspx
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Tigers caught napping, just for starters
Matt Murnane
July 6, 2011
IF THERE is anything for Richmond to salvage from its deplorable first-quarter record it's this: the one opening term the Tigers have won this year came against this week's opponent Essendon.
On that occasion, the Tigers headed the Bombers by one point at quarter-time and piled on 14 goals in the following three terms to bankroll its season's most memorable triumph to date.
But in every first quarter before and since, Richmond has been caught napping and in five of the club's eight losses, the Tigers have trailed by more than 20 points at the first break.
It's a big problem, captain Chris Newman said yesterday, and one Damien Hardwick's men need to sort out immediately if they are any chance of breaking the club's streak of September near-misses.
Even bottom-placed Gold Coast went into quarter time better placed than Richmond, the AFL's slowest starting team, and Newman admitted he and his teammates were growing tired of playing catch-up football week after week.
''It's a big problem, particularly with a young side. It's really important to get off to a good start or at least be competitive in the first quarter,'' he said. ''We have been reasonably disappointing with our first quarters and it's something we've addressed, no doubt.''
The Tigers gave Carlton a 22-point start last weekend, an advantage the Blues used to ram home a 103-point belting which Newman described yesterday as ''embarrassing''.
Richmond's average efficiency inside the forward 50 falls away drastically in the first quarter, 17.4 per cent compared to 31.7 per cent in the second term, and kicking efficiency, in general, is down.
The Tigers also average 7.9 contested possessions fewer than their opponents, suggesting the concerns are not purely about execution.
Newman dismissed suggestions the players were either too relaxed to win the contested ball, or too pumped up to finish suitably inside 50, before adding the poor starts had little to do with the club's pre-game routine.
Instead, the Tigers skipper said the record was a reflection of a young team trying to mature as quickly as possible, yet conceded that playing in front of big crowds, such as the one it will encounter at the MCG this Saturday night, could also be a factor.
''I think it's just part of our development. We just need to deal with our first-quarter efforts and turn up to play footy,'' he said. ''But I think with big games like on the weekend, we need to start handling the crowds better than we have been.''
The Tigers have been able to overcome quarter-time deficits to secure four wins and a draw in addition to the victory against Essendon.
In all six of those games, rising stars such as Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin have featured in the team's best players.
But as good as the youngsters have been this year, Newman said it was unrealistic to expect they could drive the team through the whole season and called on the club's senior players to ''step up''. ''If you rely on those sorts of guys to get you over the line, then you're kidding yourselves,'' he said.
''And that's where we have to step up as a leadership group, and myself as captain, to try to take control … so it's not reliant on too few.''
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-caught-napping-just-for-starters-20110705-1h0s0.html#ixzz1RGEnmvgs
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I wouldn't say we won the quarter in general play but at least we're in front at 1/4 time for once this year.
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I wouldn't say we won the quarter in general play but at least we're in front at 1/4 time for once this year.
For twice both times against the Bombers.
Stat I want to know is how many times we have been outscored by 4 goals or more in any quarter this season.
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Seven times by more than four goals.
Seven times by more than three goals but less than four goals.