Our poor first quarters

[one-eyed]

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

[Hellenic Tiger]

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.

[one-eyed]

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 feedback 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

[one-eyed]

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

[mightytiges]

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.

[Hellenic Tiger]

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.

[Hellenic Tiger]

Seven times by more than four goals.
Seven times by more than three goals but less than four goals.