Richmond set record lows during big loss to West Coast Eagles in Round 4, 2016Ben Waterworth
Foxsports
16 April 2016CARLTON was mocked for its horrid Friday night displays during 2015 — and was consequently scrapped from the timeslot when this season’s fixture is released.
And if Richmond produces more efforts like it did on Friday night — especially during the first half — the Tigers mightn’t find themselves in too many matches in footy’s prime time slot next season.
A fortnight after a terrible first half effort against Collingwood on a Friday night at the MCG, the Tigers produced yet another ordinary opening two quarters, this time against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco Oval.
As good and as clinical as the Eagles were during their 68-point victory, the sloppiness and indecision of the Tigers was the undeniable lead story of the first half.
While the 54-point differential at the main break wasn’t the worst reading the AFL world has seen, the Eagles’ lead could have been much greater.
West Coast had 23 scoring shots (10.13) to Richmond’s miserly four (3.1) during the first half.
That means the Tigers have now conceded 145 points in their past two consecutive first halves.
But the most alarming statistic for the Tigers surrounded the inside 50 count, which the Eagles comprehensively won 36-8.
Yes, you read that right — eight inside 50s in a half for Richmond.
It was the Tigers’ lowest inside 50 count ever and the second lowest since Champion Data began to record the statistic in 2000.
Dual North Melbourne premiership player and Fox Footy analyst David King didn’t miss Damien Hardwick’s men during his halftime analysis.
“This is as bad as it gets for Richmond,” King told Fox Footy. “This is as poor a performance as you’ll ever see.
“They’ve been undisciplined, they’ve been lost down back, they have no answers, they don’t know what the plan is.”
Richmond’s ball use out of defence — an issue that has continually plagued the Tigers across the first month of the season — again drew strong criticism.
Of the 152 disposals Richmond had in the first half, a whopping 125 of them were won behind the centre line, Most of them were in the defensive 50.
Dual Geelong premiership player Cameron Mooney said: “I haven’t seen too many teams win a game when they’ve spent most of the time in their back half trying to handball their way out of trouble.”
While the Eagles’ press and highly-publicised “web” defence gave the Tigers no easy possessions, Richmond players weren’t able to put themselves in aggressive positions that allowed them to clear and rebound the ball with ease. That forced the Tigers to handball unnecessarily, which led to turnovers, which led to scores.
“These are just simple, fundamental errors that easily can be overcome just with skill — and these boys right now don’t have skill,” Mooney said.
Like what occurred against Adelaide the week before, Richmond was handball happy in the first half, meaning they weren’t able to penetrate going forward
This was perfectly captured by Champion Data. In the first half:
DUSTIN Martin had 4 kicks, 9 handballs, 128m gained
ALEX Rance had 4 kicks, 10 handballs, 153m gained
CONNOR Menadue had 2 kicks, 5 handballs, 78m gained
TRENT Cotchin had 4 kicks, 7 handballs, 164m gained
COREY Ellis had 5 kicks, 6 handballs, 62m gained
King called for a drastic change to Richmond’s personnel in defence.
“Damien Hardwick has spun the magnets and tried a few things down back, but it’s a disaster at the moment. The players that are down there to take responsibility and kick the football aren’t accepting that,” King said.
“They’ve got to make some changes. What they’ve got in the backline isn’t working.
“I’m not sure who Damien uses down there. That’s his biggest problem — their lack of aggressive half-back runners and ball-carriers.”
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