Tigers vs Hawks game articles and stats

[one-eyed]

Tigers fall short
7:11:17 PM Sat 25 February, 2006
Jason Phelan
Exclusive to afl.com.au

Richmond has stormed home in the second half at Telstra Dome on Saturday, but the strong finish wasn’t quite enough to get the Tigers home as Hawthorn withstood the challenge to emerge with a 10-point win.

The Tigers trailed by as many as 26 points at half-time but closed to within 11 at the final change and hit the front late before Mark Williams’ second and third goals of the last term saw the Hawks to a 1.11.10 (85) to 0.11.9 (75) victory.

The heat was on early as the two sides probed and tested the other's defences like a couple of prizefighters in the ring, but neither was able to find a way through as the opening minutes ticked by.

The Tigers held a slight edge in the early exchanges, but it was Chance Bateman for the Hawks who finally landed the first blow with a beautifully executed nine-point play and the assist going to Nick Ries who supplied the pass with 12 minutes played.

 
Richmond opened its account soon after when Brett Deledio guided his first kick of the match right through the middle, but Hawthorn had warmed to the task and was creating more opportunities in front of goal. A couple of golden chances went begging, however, and it was the Hawks by just seven points at the first break.

Joel Bowden would like to have the first 30 seconds of the second quarter back as his fumble with pressure coming allowed Ben Dixon to snap the Hawks' third. Despite Deledio's second major coming soon after, Hawthorn was on a roll now and slammed through three unanswered goals to skip out to a 26-point lead.

Patrick Bowden should have pulled one back midway through the term, but his close-range effort hit the post. David Rodan had been lively in his first match back from a knee reconstruction and he converted soon after, but Jarryd Roughead restored the buffer when he kicked truly after marking well.

Williams, the Hawks' leading goalkicker of last season, was prominent in the second quarter and his second goal after the half-time siren saw his side leading by 26 points.

With the first half played at a frenetic pace, the game became more of a slog in the third term which appeared to suit Richmond. The Hawks' run and creativity out of the middle dried up and turnovers crept into their game allowing the Tigers to narrow the margin to 11 points at the last break with goals to Greg Stafford and Shane Tuck.

As expected the Tigers came hard in the last and looked to have done enough for the win when they snatched the lead before the heroics of Williams carried the day.

Hawthorn will now travel to its second home in Launceston next Saturday for a quarter-final clash against the winner of the Adelaide-Port Adelaide match at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.

HAWTHORN: 1.1.5, 1.7.8, 1.7.9, 1.11.10 (85)
RICHMOND: 0.2.1, 0.5.3, 0.7.7, 0.11.9 (75)

NINE-POINT GOALS: Hawthorn:Bateman.
Richmond:Nil.
SIX-POINT GOALS: Hawthorn:Williams 5, Bateman 2, Roughead, Dixon, Hodge, Miller.
Richmond:Deledio 2, Hyde 2, Stafford 2, Richardson, Rodan, Tambling, Tuck, White.
BEST: Hawthorn:Bateman, Jacobs, Guerra, Hodge, Croad, Vandenberg.
Richmond: Tuck, Johnson, Deledio, Hyde, Rodan, Simmonds.
INJURIES: Hawthorn:Everitt (leg).
Richmond:Nil.
REPORTS: Nil.
UMPIRES: Bandy, Hay, McLaren, Allen
CROWD: TBC at Telstra Dome.

http://afl.com.au/?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=247717

[one-eyed]

New players - how they went
8:47:56 PM Sat 25 February, 2006
Jason Phelan
Exclusive to afl.com.au

RICHMOND

Patrick Bowden: Showed a good understanding with brother Joel as the two linked up on several occasions. Got plenty of the ball, but let himself down with poor decision-making a couple of times. Finished with 16 touches and nine marks and, despite a few lapses, looks to have plenty to offer his new club.

Jeremy Humm: Could prove to be an astute pick-up by the Tigers as he was clearly comfortable in his surroundings having played with the Eagles for five years. Got involved early and didn't do his chances of elevation to the senior list any harm with an 11-possession, six-mark performance.

Matt White: Came on late in the first quarter and appeared to struggle to adjust to the pace of the game. Sprayed a shot on goal out of bounds and committed a couple of turnovers, but got better as the game progressed, showing pace and a bit more poise late when he picked up the ball on a wing and took it all the way for a goal.

Cameron Howat: Changed with White for most of the match and similarly struggled to get a handle on the tempo of the game. Once again, got better as the match wore on and showed he possesses a booming left-foot, but will need to work on his disposal down at Coburg.

http://afl.com.au/?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=247730

[one-eyed]

[one-eyed]

[one-eyed]

Wallace's comments from the Age and H-Sun:

Tigers coach Terry Wallace admitted his side was disappointing but insisted Richmond, which was missing several senior players including Nathan Brown, Darren Gaspar and Mark Coughlan, was on track for its 2006 campaign.

"No coach is ever satisfied in losing a game of footy and nor am I when the game was winnable but I am satisfied in the fact that we had 11 players putting their hand up or looking to play round one that weren't playing there today," Wallace said. "I legitimately think that we would have seven changes at least to our round-one structure … So all is not lost by any stretch of the imagination."

While he conceded Richmond's error-riddled performance was "ordinary" and labelled Matthew Richardson's struggles as "disappointing", he said there was a lot of improvement left before the Tigers' round-one encounter with the Western Bulldogs on March 31.

"From our point of view, I thought we played really pretty ordinary in the first half, turned the ball over really badly and our use of the ball was very poor," he said.

"Probably the disappointing factor was in the end of the day when we were able to get in front and with two minutes to go, you'd like to think that with a bit of momentum going your way, you can actually get the result.

"But a couple of things, a couple of breaks by them in the last two minutes and all of a sudden, we've come away without the result."

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/02/25/1140670302454.html

Meanwhile, Richmond coach Terry Wallace said the Tigers had been "pretty ordinary" especially in the first half, turning the ball over badly.

"We trained all week on being able to hold on to the ball which we didn't do at all," Wallace said.

"We trained for something that was their style of play but we just didn't handle it very well."

Wallace said the match turned when he decided to switch tactics and play one-on-one contests.

"The disappointing thing was that with 10 minutes to go and a bit of momentum going your way you'd like to think you could actually get the result," he said.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,18270942%255E19742,00.html