Third-quarter blitz sets new standard
richmondfc.com.au
By Matt Brown 2:04 PM Sun 31 May, 2009
RICHMOND midfielder Nathan Foley says the Tigers’ exhilarating eight-goal third quarter against Fremantle has set the standard the team must aspire to for the remainder of the season.
In a stunning 21-minute period after half-time the Tigers completely dominated Freo to wipe out a 14-point deficit and surge to a commanding 33-point lead.
Fremantle fought its way back into the game and took the lead in time on of the final quarter before a late goal to Mitch Morton gave the Tigers their second win of the season by just three points.
Foley said while the Tigers had struggled at times in the first half he could sense that something big was coming.
“I think it was always on the verge of happening,” Foley said.
“We were working away at it but our disposal let us down a bit. But we just kept working.
“In that third quarter things just clicked a little bit. Suddenly we were running for each other and breaking lines, we were winning contested ball around the stoppages and the disposal became a lot sharper.
“The great thing was we were able to really make it count on the scoreboard.
“Everything that we’d be working so hard for in the first half – and I suppose for the whole season – suddenly paid off.”
Foley said the challenge for the Tigers would be to reproduce their stunning third quarter form on a regular basis.
“We’ve shown that we can play some power footy and that’s got to be our expectation from now on,” he said.
“The standard has now been set and we just keep working towards playing the sort of footy we played in that third quarter patch on a more consistent basis.”
Foley shrugged off the intense media scrutiny the club and coach Terry Wallace had come under in recent weeks and said the players had never lost faith in each other.
“When it’s such a difficult time, winning a game of football is such a great feeling,” he said.
“When you come interstate and you all stay together, you really have a focus on getting back on the plane with a win.
“Even when (Fremantle) got back in front with minutes to go I don’t think we ever thought about losing.
“It was so intense there in the last ten minutes and a lot of blokes put their body on the line and won a lot of hard contested footy and, as a unit, we really worked hard together.
“It really could have gone either way but the moment that final siren went was just an amazing feeling.”
The Tigers now have to front up again on Friday night to face the in-form Western Bulldogs at Docklands.
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