Round 3 - Richmond v Western Bulldogs (AFL)

Tigerland is a buzz at the moment with supporters and the media going nuts over the boys sitting 2 wins and no losses at the start of the season...

One hoodoo down our Tiger boys set firm target on the lowly Bulldogs, we haven't won our first 3 straight games since our dominant year of 1995, the year we almost made the Grand Final...

Cotchy headed to the centre of the ground for the coin toss, just as one of our lasses botched the initial toss... finally the toss had been corrected and we got the result we wanted.

Much anticipation surrounded the first quarter, the third is usually the one to nail the game but it was super important for the Tigers to stamp their dominance early...

And that it did, the ball fell into the hands of Brett Deledio and he sprinted towards striking distance and launched a ball some 60+ metres and it went through one bounce for a goal.

Experts are stating that was the quickest goal in AFL history, TV commentators are saying 14 seconds, when I was watching the clock on the TV it looked more like 10 seconds!!

Absolutely one of the best goals i've seen, nothing better than watching a midfielder with a huge burst of pace, bounce the ball all the way through and nail the goal.

The Tiger army was certainly in full voice, but sadly we failed to capitalise on our opportunities. Again, as we did against Carlton & St Kilda - we were extremely inaccurate infront of goal, missing some very easy chances. Dimma roared into the group ruing the missed chances...

At the end of the first quarter we finished with 9 points and only 4 goals to show for ourselves. Extremely disappointing given the early dominance of Deledio, Martin, Cotchin, Houli, Grigg etc... just to name a few...

Second quarter started and the Tigers were threatening to move, but just couldn't shake the Bulldogs as we only scored 3.2 for the quarter, again missing some easy shots but also a bit sloppy and turning the ball over.

Third quarter came and so did some relatives.. haha, I sadly missed a fair bit of the third quarter but thanks largely to the AFL app for the iphone, I managed to keep abreast of the score and could see we piled on the goals to extend the lead further by another three at three quarter time.

From all reports, the main group I mentioned before lead by Cotchin, Deledio and Martin were having a field day, the new comers Chaplin, Petterd and Knights also were having an impact across the ground.

Fourth quarter started and it was time to get rid of the Dogs although they managed to put the first two majors on the board. From then though it was all Richmond, piling on 7 out of the next 9 goals to run out victors by 67 points.

67 is closer than I expected, I really thought we again missed crucial chances to put them away early. Like all other games these early misses can dent the game but our midfielders were completely dominant this round and the Bulldogs had nothing to show for it.

Deledio, Martin and Cotchin were outstanding, Grigg & Houli threatened an entrance in the top 3 players but was hard with the efforts of the first three.. I found it really hard to find players that didn't perform on the day, it truly was a team effort.

Jumping Jack showed some great aerobatics pulling down a couple of great pack marks, Luke McGuane again was a key forward threat and Ty Vickory made his presence felt. Little Shane Edwards booted 2 and was a little livewire along with Jake the Push Up King!

Standout for me though was Deledio, he was just a joy to watch as he sped through the middle of the ground on numerous occasion's, acting as a conduit between the backline and the forwards. He has sat behind the likes of Cotchy the last few games but I reckon he pushed ahead this game..

You know,  its a damn exciting time to be a Richmond supporter when you look at your midfield led by Captain Cotchin, Brett Deledio, Dustin Martin, Shane Tuck etc. The amount of talent each one has is unbelievable. Each has the ability to change a game completely and when all are firing it is simply a lovely game to watch.

Well we know shift focus to Round 4, a massive massive clash against Collingwood. I've said this alot this year especially against Carlton & St Kilda, if we are to be Collingwood, this is the year to do it.

Some very interesting match ups will be made, I'm hoping the boys can stick closely with Collingwood until half time, keep the pace and energy in reserve and then nail them hard in the 3rd quarter. My prediction, Tigers by 18 points.

So Final scores for Round 3:

Richmond - 20.15 (135)
defeat
Bulldogs - 10.8 (68)

From this week onwards I'll start adding extra stats to each Round:

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 5, Deledio 3, McGuane 3, S. Edwards 2, Martin 2, Knights, Houli, Jackson, Tuck, Maric
Western Bulldogs: Jones 4, Cooney 2, Stevens, Griffen, Giansiracusa, Dahlhaus

BEST
Richmond: Martin, Deledio, Cotchin, Houli, Maric, Morris, McGuane
Western Bulldogs: Cooney, Griffen, Jones, Morris, Wallis

 

Round 2 - Richmond v St Kilda (AFL)

Well Round 2 there was increased hype surrounding the Tigers, they finally ended their hoodoo with Round 1 defeats at the hand of Carlton and their cubs showed why they have the most formidable midfield in the competition.

I overheard someone saying Richmond were again staring down the barrel of another record they need to overcome, They hadn't won their first 2 games to start the season in 16 years.

That's a massive amount of time to chalk up 2 wins from 2 games... I was sure that was wrong as there has been seasons where we started really strong then fell over in final 10 or 12 games.. Nope the record books has it correct.

So again the hype surrounding our great club was truly peaking and so were the hopes and ambitions of some 50,000+ members.

St Kilda, after their loss to Gold Coast the week before, was expected to show alot more fight however their fitness was a concern as the conditions up in Queensland were quite humid and hot with a number of players going down with cramp in the final quarter.

Luke McGuane showed real glimpses of being one of our power forwards with two ripper pack marks and snaring a couple of goals whilst Dustin Martin was busy early having the ball sticking to him and racking up 11 possessions.

Richmond again dominated the possession and inside 50, but, like the Carlton game was wasteful and again amassed a 10 points for the half and only finishing with 8.10 (58). Richmond really need to review this, yes some are rushed but easy set shots not taken can really hurt the team as this builds momentum and kills the mindset of the opposition if you pile on the goals... If we had and finished more like 12.6 going into the half i believe we would have finished them off in the 3rd.

The second half showed much of the same although the Riewoldt battle heated up with both going head to head.

Trent Cotchin in his usual self shook off the tag placed by Clint Jones, only having 9 possession's to half time Trent amassed 22 in the second half to finish a top with 31 possession's for the game.

Richmond showed more poise this week in the latter part of the final quarter, against Carlton last week they looked worried and were nervous when attempting to move the ball out of their backline, this week they looked a little more settled and were able to counteract the Saints push and keep them at least 10 points clear.

The Tigers ended up getting over the line by 17 Points, for me, this was closer than I believe it should have been. The Tigers took over the lead in the 1st Quarter and never gave it back, at times were very wasteful in their shots on goal but also hitting the target.

The biggest worry for me Friday night was the ease in which St Kilda dominated us in marks in our attacking 50. We constantly bombed the ball in long or went towards a pack only for our forwards to be out of position and the tall saint defenders taking the grab.

I don't think this will be an issue against the Bulldogs this week but one to watch out for when we face Collingwood the week after...

Disappointment's: For me there wasn't alot to be disappointed with other than the marking inside our attacking 50 (yes I say this despite the big grabs by Jack, Jake and Luke...)

Jake Bachelor was ok but often looked for the player in contests rather than keeping his eye on the ball, which led to a lot of marks against him and easy shots on goal.

Ty Vickory was not impressive at all, which is a shame as last week against Carlton he found alot of space and took some great marks, maybe he's feeling crowded with both Jack & Luke there?

Positives for me: Well there were alot, Troy Chaplin played well in only his 2nd game since moving from Port. Jake King really impressed and was unlucky to pull down mark of the year. Luke McGuane is making a serious push to be the 2nd key forward to Jack Riewoldt, Grimes was great in his first game back since injury.

They big winners for me though were Ricky Petterd, Reece Conca and Trent Cotchin.

Trent showed why he is one of the favourites to win the Brownlow this year, yes tagged early but a great player knows how to shake off a tag and that he did, massing 31 possession's and being a big influence.

Reece Conca, I'll go down as saying that's the best game he has ever played for the Tigers. Alot of people have always had huge raps on him, me not so much as I think I was always overcome by the likes of Cotchin, Deledio and Martin as being the next youngsters to shine.. But I'll happily say that Reece was in the Top 3 of being best on ground.

Ricky Petterd, alot (critics/supporters) didn't like his invitation to pre-season, I always liked him though and thought Melbourne were stupid for getting rid of him last season. Ricky's presence and foot skills really helped us out and I would also put him in our top 3 best players considering it was only his first game for us too!

So, Tigers are sitting 2 wins and 0 losses which hasn't occurred for 16 years, We shift our sights to the Bulldogs this Sunday and hope to push for 3 straight wins.

If you're not yet on board as a member, get on now. Even if its just an interstate membership which I'm on, costs around $75 each year but your financially apart of the club and more importantly another tally to the clubs push of 60k+ supporters!

Final scores:

Richmond 14.15 (99)

defeat

St Kilda 12.10 (82)

**Photos courtesy of the Richmond website... www.richmondfc.com.au**

Trent Cotchin - The Future of Tigerland

Trent Cotchin to me is how i would want my junior players model themselves on for their development.

 

Trent epitimises the hard work ethic and using your footy brain rather than getting caught up as a midfielder that just tags other good players out.

His work rate and team ethic is one i haven't seen at Richmond for some time. I remember one game i watched with my son, Trent was off the half back and ran past another player to receive a handball, he then short passed it across half back and continued to run past and receive another handball, he handballed it up to another player whilst they manouvered around the opposition.

Any other player would have stopped there and caught their breath, not Trent Cotchin, he continued to the opposite wing and created space to then receive the ball back and eventually deliver into the forward line for the new Coleman medalist Jack Riewoldt to get onto.

That one passage of play is what caught my eye the most about Trent and why i have such a huge respect for him, his effort across that half back is something he does game in game out, not just in that area but all over the ground.

Funny the games he has off form and not as much of an impact he still manages 30 touches...

Richmond right now are on the cusp of breaking the finals drought, its no wonder supporters like myself are so passionate and excited for the future and the present.

This year we missed by just a few games, yet i count atleast 6-8 games we lost by under 2 goals, atleast 4-6 of those were in last few minutes...

We have the players to really break this drought and make a real impact on our future, just one finals appearance will do so much for this club, not just to finally taste finals, this will catapult us into a sense of what we've been yearning for... This isn't just for the players, i'm talking the club in general, supporters, administration, players etc..

Players like Trent are what Finals & Brownlow dreams are made of, he thoroughly deserved his Richmond Best & Fairest and I can see he will win many more in the years to come, Get around him too for Brownlow this year, if he doesn't win it like i think he will, it will come in the next few years.

Should Trent take over the Captaincy from Chris Newman who just recently announced he is stepping down from the captains role, Absolutely, Trent is the ideal captain, yes concerns are his age only currently being 22, however he is far more mature in his years than most give credit for. Everytime he enters the training grounds or the ground on gameday he enters with team in mind, not individual growth, team.


I can't wait to watch him over the next ten years as he is what will drive our success.

(Photos courtesy of Herald Sun & The Age)