Round 5 - Richmond v Fremantle (AFL)

Spent alot of time stewing over last weekends game, alot to think about, mull over and piece together why the Tigers fell over so short in the West.

From now, and i'm sure you will already know, the Tigers lost by the solitary 1 point. Some say it should have been by more, part of me agrees, but then alot of me suggests the Tigers should have infact won by more than 20 points, I'll detail why below:

The Tigers kicked of the game in style, another early goal and they dominated the midfield early. Cotchin was being tagged but was being aided by Brett Deledio. Martin was getting his hands on the ball and the debutant Nick Vlastuin had all the Tiger faithful cheering as he delivered two telling tackles to stamp his name into the team and show just why he is touted as the next Trent Cotchin.

Yes things were looking great and the Tigers were doing something this time around they hadn't all year... making the most of their goal opportunities. No easy goals missed which is a positive in itself as I've said all year, we've had chances to bury sides but mucked around and left them lingering around too long to finally wait for them to get a sniff.

One thing i've learned, and as much as I hate him, Ross Lyon is good in this sort of situation. He can identify areas of concern, inflict changes or measures to counteract and contain a side. He did it to us last time we played Fremantle and he did it again last friday night.

Freo's midfield began to hit the ball and the Tigers alot harder but the crucial part of Lyons puzzle was the Tigers half forward line. At the beginning of the second quarter Lyon instigated his game winning change, stop access to the forward line. His troops managed to put alot of pressure on the Tigers and his half back line managed to contain and minimise the amount of inside 50's and scoring opportunities.

Look whilst this was the case, the Tigers were not out of contention. The midfielders and half backs with their usual run out of defence then found it tough finding a target as the tall fremantle defenders stood tall and closed off most of the attacks.

This continued through the third quarter as our Midfield and more importantly, players like Dustin Martin went missing. Big Ivan fought hard but like the second quarter the Tigers were simply not finding easy path's into the forward line for us to be rewarded for hard work.

The fourth quarter was something different, you could sense the Tigers were close to mounting an offence but needed to sort out a few issues first.

Towards the last half of the final term the Tigers began to find avenues through the defence and began to pile scoring pressure on the dockers, the Tigers pushed three through the big sticks including a gem of a goal by Matthew White from the boundary line.

But, by far the worst incident (well close to) of an umpire in some time occurred, before Matt Whites brilliant goal from the far boundary line, he attempted to slot virtually from the same position a bouncing goal infront of a lunging Ty Vickory.

The ball bounced straight toward the goal where a waiting goal umpire was standing in clear view of the scenario. The crazy thing was, the goal umpire was half over the line and leaning against the far goal post. The ball proceeded to bounce directly into the goal umpire, then back into the play where a waiting Fremantle player then rushed the ball over for a minor score.

I haven't reviewed the official rules, nor do I care, the fact was, this little maggot of an umpire knew full well the ball had hit him, knew it was going through for a goal yet did nothing and proceeded as if nothing had happened. He had, as well as the field umpire and the other maggots sitting in the review booth, full control to call for a video replay to determine the truth behind the play.

No, this goal umpire instead pretended like nothing had happened and yes of course, Richmond go on to lose by 1 point.

Matthew Richardson, the great man, best summed it up in his regular article on the www.richmondfc.com.au website:

"Get the technology right, or get rid of it.  As it currently stands, the system is simply not working and it’s detracting from our great game.  Until such time as the proper mechanisms are in place to make correct judgments, go back to the way it was with goal umpires left to rule on their own."

People can argue til their blue in the face but the fair thing would have been a goal rewarded.

I am sick to death of this AFL and the people sitting in the rules committee and governing bodies, they're ruining our great game and introducing stupid rules to combat smart teams tactics. I know no other competition in the world that has as many yearly rule changes as our sport. I know no other competition that punishes a player who puts his head on the line, does the hard effort to get the ball but is then punished because he came in contact with the opposition player.

Yes I know it is to combat leg injuries but when you look at the statistics just exactly how many are we saving, 1 in 100? - Pathetic.

Reward and protect the player with his head down going for the ball, not the individual that is clearly going in to deliberately make contact with the player...

That's me on that issue, stop ruining our game and leave it be...

I think the definite positives to take out of the game was the debut of Nick Vlastuin, Chris Knights racking up 20 possessions and 3 great goals and also the re-emergence of Brandon Ellis.

So - Tigers now return home to face Geelong, Geelong are red hot at the moment in terms of win loss record but I still firmly believe they are very vulnerable. I don't think they're travelling as well as the ladder shows - especially when you compare the playing list against their prime..

I will be taking a breather next week so no round up for this game, this is due to myself being involved with a Race Meet at Morphetville Derby Day where we expect to make lots of $$'s but will drink our fair share also. I will be watching the game more likely at the Adelaide Casino but may not take in full analysis...

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

FREMANTLE        2.0   7.5   10.8  12.9  (81)                 
RICHMOND          5.2   7.3   9.5  12.8 (80)          

GOALS
Richmond:  Vickery 3, Knights 3, McGuane 2, Martin, Grigg, White, Riewoldt
Fremantle:  Ballantyne 4, Mayne 3, Walters 2, Suban, Hill, Crowley,

BEST
Fremantle: Barlow, Griffin, McPharlin, Pearce, Fyfe, Hill, Walters
Richmond: Knights, Edwards, Martin, Ellis, Cotchin, Vickery, White

INJURIES
Richmond:  Nil
Fremantle: Bradley (knee)

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond:  Brad Helbig replaced by Robin Nahas in the third quarter
Fremantle: Kepler Bradley replaced by Nick Suban in the second quarter

Round 4 - Richmond v Collingwood (AFL)

Ok I've held off for as long as I could, was very tempted to write this last weekend straight after the game but that would have been full of negative thoughts and no constructive criticism..

By now your reading this knowing the result wasn't what I had expected or hoped, yes my boys lost.

The wound goes deeper than just the loss, earlier in the day I made my long awaited come back to football, I last pulled on the boots some 12 years ago, back then I played my last season with the Vikings and kicked a nice 50 odd goals in only 10 games, including my never to be forgotten 10 goal haul against Christies Beach (in just 3 quarters of football...).

Knee injury was the reason I stopped playing and also I met my wife to be and moved 20km's away from the footy club, I was spending more time doing other things and sadly football lost. My knee wasn't right though, I spent my last season of football at Happy Valley with a massive knee brace which was awkward to move in and took about 10m off my old 60m kick...

Since then i've moved to a local club, Broadview Football Club (Tigers!!), my son has been playing junior football there for the last 5 years. Talking to one of the members he mentioned their D grade were short of players so I had a few days to think - yep lets do it..

Now, I'm atleast 20kg's heavier than last time I played, no where near as fit and 12 years older... My first training session everything was great, the next few days though - pain, just pain - body wasn't ready for such a training session hahaha. Over the course of the week I then had niggling issues, first the hamstring, then my driver but was still confident of overcoming these and lining up for the Tigers.

That I did, I got my chance to hit the ground midway through the 1st quarter and slotted into the forward pocket - very unfamiliar ground, most of my footy at HV was at Full Forward.. From the time I jumped on though I had nothing but hesitation in my mind, new club, new players, hadn't played for years... I just didn't know my place and what I should do - sadly two leads in the groin went... I hobbled to the bench at quarter time and rested it up. I guess to my credit (and a stern pep talk from my wife) I got back out there midway into 3rd Quarter and it was then I had my first shot on goal as a Broadview Tiger.

Sadly it just went shy of the left post and a point awarded, I finished out the rest of the game getting my hands on the ball a few times but in the end it didn't come down that much as we were soundly beaten by 18 goals... infact, that goal I missed, would have been our first and only goal for the game...

So - missing the 1st half of the Richmond game I sped home, sore and a gutted feeling...

Listening on the way home I heard the Tigers had a great first half matching Collingwood and allowing our midfield to dominate again - sadly the same issues from previous weeks reared their heads again... Missed Scoring Opportunities.

I hope this is a sticking point for Dimma at training and something he is focussing on as at this level the amound of easy shots on goal the Tigers have missed this year is disgusting. Tigers at the moment are content on just doing enough to maintain a lead rather than going for the kill and murdering the hopes and moral of the opposition.

Unfortunately what I saw when I got home and sat and watched the last half was nothing short of poor, this is harsh but I think the 3rd quarter we saw last weekend was by far the worst we've played all year.

Collingwood hit Richmond hard, their midfield dominated the centre and flooded it into their forward line where their million dollar focal point was winning a tough battle in the air against Alex Rance. To Rance's credit he fought hard, unfortunately the arm reach of Travis Cloke is a tough one to defend against, he has great hands, sadly I wish he came across during last trade period!

Rancey was given a spell and Chappy took over the duties on Cloke, sadly by that time the damage had been done, Collingwood piled on the goals and took a 4 goal lead, but by that stage our heads were already down. Chappy was the next casualty of the onslaught taking on some friendly fire to the head in a clash with newby Chris Knights.

Collingwood piled on 8 unanswered goals during that quarter and I watched in amazement as one of our best midfielders, Dustin Martin fell into his 3rd quarter curse and began increasingly quiet as his player Harry O'Brien ran freely and aided Collingwoods demolition.

To the Tigers credit they managed to add 2 goals late in the 3rd quarter to somehow still be a chance.

Even though the quarter was done and dusted, heads in the sand, there was still a feeling we weren't done and early goals would worry Collingwood...

Tigers started fresh and pushed the ball constantly into our forward line but 4... i repeat 4 early chances, some easy shots, were missed. We finally added a few through the two big sticks and crept to within 3 goals but by then the damage had been done, the early misses cost us again as Collingwood regrouped and surged again adding a few and then doing enough to keep Richmond off and securing the 34 point win.

34 Points doesn't really give Collingwood the notion of how dominant they were in the last half, 11 goals to 5 doesn't depict the 3rd quarter fright they gave the rest of the competition after they had 8 unanswered goals and looked unstoppable.

Highlights for me in terms of best players, the ever reliable Cotchin, Lid's tried hard, Grimes and Petterd. Ricky Petterd isn't featuring in the Tigers so called Best players which is a shame, his addition to the team this year has been nothing but positive, he's been getting his hands alot of the sherrin and his disposal has been quite good.

Looking at the Best players below i'm shocked to see Bachar Houli in there, his last half disposal was terrible which is a big shock considering I believe him to be one of the best out there. His first half must have lifted him up there cos sadly my Bachar didn't impress me...

How do we beat Collingwood next time, or even look ahead to Freo, Geelong and Port?

The answer is simple, our shots on goal. 11.13 is a terrible result, I saw 4 points that should have been goals atleast but thats not the only example, look back to the Carlton and St Kilda games... Early in first half we had them both dead and beaten - shocking misses though didn't bury them and kept them within striking distance. Yes the result was we won, but we didn't win convincingly like a Top 4 team like Collingwood, Sydney, Geelong or Hawthorn would do.

If we are to be one of the teams others fear, we urgently need to rectify issues like this, we can't in this our season of change, allow us to have so many close games when really we could have thrashed them.

Well, this week we're out at Freo on Friday night, should be a cracker of a game, I actually think we can win this providing our midfielders maintain for four quarters and we start hitting easy shots and get the goals up!

Players best be on their A game, we have the likes of Aaron Edwards booting 7 in the reserves and we're also expecting the debut of Nick Vlastuin this week... Nathan Foley also had a good hit out, expect him to return in a month's time if all goes well...

 Final Scores:

RICHMOND                    3.3   6.5   8.6  11.13  (79)       
COLLINGWOOD           1.4   5.8   13.12  16.17 (113)

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Vickery 2, McGuane 2, King, Edwards, Houli , Maric
Collingwood: Cloke 7, Sidebottom 4, Clarke, O'Brien, Elliott, Swan, Dwyer

BEST
Richmond: Cotchin, Deledio, Grimes, Houli
Collingwood: Cloke, Shaw, Fasolo, O'Brien, Reid, Sidebottom, Swan

INJURIES
Richmond: King (hamstring), Chaplin (head)
Collingwood: Brown (groin)

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Shane Tuck replaced by Brandon Ellis in the third quarter
Collingwood: Josh Thomas replaced by Dale Thomas in the third quarter

CHANGES
Collingwood: Goldsack replaced in selected side by Macaffer

Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Meredith, Mollison
Official crowd: 81,950 at the MCG

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

 

Footy Flashbacks - Richmond v Adelaide - Round 8 (1998)

 Whilst we anxiously wait for Round 3's Tigers clash against the Bulldogs I want to share with you some of my favourite footy flashbacks.

Growing up in Adelaide I never had the opportunity to build flashbacks of finals, grand finals or the 1st game of young guns whilst sitting at the MCG cheering on, instead I grew up coming from an SANFL background.

Misguided in my youth I started following the Crows in their first 2 years joining the AFL, yet I never had a favourite player and didn't get a chance to go to many games.

Towards the start of 1992 I started to follow Richmond closely, still not a full fan but had this feeling of really liking this team. A friend from school was a huge Tiger, he grew up in Melbourne and moved to Adelaide before he got to high school. We became good mates when he moved to my school and I found his passion for the Tigers was growing madly within me.

By the end of 92 I was ready, Begun my move to Tigerland has. (sorry tried to sound like Yoda from Star Wars..)

Anyhow 93 I witnessed the first game of probably the best player I've seen, Matthew Richardson. Enter my full passion, now I was following Richmond but more importantly a player which i'd drop everything to go and watch.


From that point on there was no going back... what had I got myself into... I later learned the history of the club and its depression since 82, sitting here now i've seen my team reach the finals only twice, poor Richo has retired but we are on the verge of our first finals campaign since 2001. Good times ahead.

The path of being a Tiger has never been easy, I witnessed some shockers with us losing by 15+ goals, one here in Adelaide where Modra kicked 10+...

But I've witnessed some real spectacular wins also and close games, the game I'd like to share is one of my favourite games i've ever been too.

Back in 1998 I started working for the SA Law Society, back then I was a fresh 19 year old still looking for work but never went onto Uni like most did. I found it tough as I had no experience, great with computers but noone would hire me as "sorry you don't have experience"... towards the tail end of my applications my response was, yes, until someone gives me a chance how do I get experience!

It was pure luck I found myself at the Law Society as part of an opportunity that came up through Work for the Dole. Somehow they found a small role there for me to start off with which then turned into receiving a contract for my first full time role. A few months into the position I made alot of friends and copped alot of grief from them being a Tiger, proudly displaying my Richmond desk flag for all to see.

May was approaching and I was really keen to go to the Adelaide v Richmond game but as Adelaide was realing in Crows Mania majority of the games were becoming sell outs so near impossible to get there.

By chance someone I worked with (who I still didn't really know) had a friend who was a season ticket holder and yes.... had a spare ticket. I jumped at the chance as I all I wanted to do was watch the Tigers, I had a inkling we would win but not 100% sure...

I met up with the unknown Crows Supporter outside the North Western side of the ground, nice lady she was in her late 30's early 40's and she took me to my seat, western side just off the middle of the centre.

Right from the get go it was a close game but the Crows managed to pull away from us in 3rd quarter, by that stage though the heavens decided to open up on us.

Thousands of Crows supporters, except for those diehard supporters, headed for cover to retreat from the rain. I myself, was going.... nowhere.

All throughout the game the nice lady, whose name I can't recall.. was really cheering for the Crows, each time they would get near there goals she would be nudging me and then a big nudge if they kicked a goal...

By the last quarter the rain was alot harder, this is a moment I'll never ever forget. The rain was the type of downpour only described as really big drops, heavy and straight. The rain fell so vertically we were drenched within seconds.

I looked back at all the supporters, they were cuddled up in their warm rugs and out of the rain sipping on warm drinks....

Momentum shifted, the dominance of the Crows in the 3rd started to shift to the Tigers coming back. I remember our boys handling the ball like it was dry weather, they silkily moved the ball into the forward line and kept pressing until the goal was scored.

We moved to within 2 goals, you could hear the cheer of the Tiger faithful who were still out in the rain, other than that you couldn't hear any Crows supporters. A roar in the background surrounded us as the rain got heavier, the rain hitting the roof was extremely loud.

Suddenly lightning begun to crash close by, big claps of thunder started filling mother natures symphony.

I remember one massive bolt flashing out of the sky and just like that the lights went out. Noone knew what to do and sat frozen in their chairs, I can't remember for sure but I think it was a few minutes before the lights came back on.

All the supporters undercover were shouting for the game to be called off, they were sure they had won.

Umpire blew the whistle and the game recommenced with only minutes to go.

The Tigers pushed, scored two more and we took the lead again in the dying minutes of the game, the look on all the Crows supporters was one to remember, for the Tigers supporters we were shocked, pure shock at the comeback.

With less than a minute to go we slammed on one more goal, surely that was it......

Siren went and the cheer from a thousand sounded more like 10,000!

All I remember from the siren was standing up, both fists held high and turning to the lady who was nudging me every Crows possession and screaming "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"!!

Not being aggressive or anything like that, it was a mutual supporter moment that she knew was all ok.. She grinned and nodded her head - well done she said.

The song came on and I launched onto my cold metal seat, turned around to all of those under cover and proceeded to sing the song the loudest I had ever before. With my right hand I began to point at all of those under cover and gave them the best damn rendition of We're From Tigerland I'd ever performed.

I think had those supporters not all scramble for cover and brave the weather like the rest of us I wouldn't have cared. But they made me angry that night, all ran for cover, just like their team did. So I let them know, I wasn't looking for a fight or anything untoward, I just wanted to let them know they needed to stay in their seats and support their team to the end, rain, hail or shine.

The Tigers stayed on the ground and sang the loudest rendition of our song heard interstate and with bucketing rain. The picture above shows it all, the torrential downpour, the elation and passion of the team as they fought one of their best battles.

I think for me this is one of the best I've ever seen, we didn't make the finals that year, but we did beat the Premiers at their home ground and never weakened until the final siren sounded.

It was a game that helped shape my love for Richmond, a game that sticks in your mind and you share with people and younger generations. It helped build hope that this club can be a great winning club, they just need the confidence to know they can.

Final Scores:

Richmond 14.8 (92)
defeated
Adelaide 11.13 (79)

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**

Prelim Final - ETPBC Div 5

Hi All,

I astounded myself early on Prelim Final gameday, I could still pick up the bat and swing hard... The grip I used with the "almost" dinger I tried again and perfectly it swung with no pain in my thumb... hmmm...

But realistically I won't be moving from the bench position... Unless it was the Grand Final and we needed some bat to be subbed in I won't be used at all, I can't even put my mitt on so really only a DH role would work or come in last inning for a hit...

So lets look at the game, sobering mood for me pre-game, still had nerves but different ones... not playing so it was like I was watching my beloved Richmond Tigers or Seattle Mariners, just hoping they'll win.

Our Divvy 5 team travelled down to West Torrens on an extremely hot, dry, humid 36 degree day. Felt more like 40 in that sun, no wind and just that yucky sticky heat.

Team looked good though, Cummo was a welcome addition after battling Glandular Fever and our boys were in high spirits that we could take this game.

Once we hit the field though the team wasn't as full of confidence, almost looked a shade nervous. Didn't use the bat well in first couple of innings and little things weren't going our way...

You could also notice it in the field, Robbo was working hard on the mound but bugger all chat around him...

Gussy made the stop of the day with a beautiful diving save at first, just narrowly missed getting the runner out but showed great courage diving to his right to snare the ball.

Sadly I had to leave early as was due for a family get together in Goolwa, this is a special occasion that we can't miss.

Years ago we pledged that we would make sure we attempt to participate in the annual Mervy every year to honor our nephew Jackson.

Jackson sadly passed away at birth a few years ago.

As I married into a golfing mad family, each year we get together and play a stroke comp for the Mervy Trophy, previously, under the old Calloway system, the winners each year were generally the ones which played regularly.

This year the rules had changed slightly and handicaps formed based on previous cards, this gave all players a much better chance of winning.

Myself, I finished last in the 2nd comp and since then (5 played overall) i've placed about middle of the pack.

With a broken thumb, I didn't think i'd actually be able to participate this year but pledged I would come out to support and try a swing to see how we go, I tee'd off first to officially start the mervy. Not sure who was more suprised, my golfing family or myself as I launched my drive straight and long up the middle of the fairway. I altered my grip so that the thumb was not touching the club and was free of my right hand so no connection or bumps would occur...

Really shocked, not for a minute did I think I could swing a club... I said I'd play 9 and see how we go.

I ended up playing all 18, had an awesome first 9 of 48 but dropped off a bit on the back 9 with 56. But still hit very well for someone with a broken thumb and I even beat the score from last year...

We all finished up and headed back to my brother in laws for a bbq tea, shortly after dinner the scores were announced, My golf mad father in law who plays the most out of everyone came dead last... woohoo! Slowly each name was read out - no Tony as yet...

Three names remained, two players who never really play (myself included) and one who plays regularly...

And there it was, I was named runner up tied for second and the winner, Bec has never won before either and is Jacksons mum. A fitting end to a great day, two unknowns in top 2 and Bec takes the cup for her son.

Overall a great weekend.

Now back to the game (sorry I tend to get sidetracked).

I was relying on my mate Jarrad to supply the scores, I said before I left, I wanted a play by play, pitch by pitch summary... no luck.

As we reached Goolwa the fateful message came in, East Torrens Div 5 team had lost in the final inning by 1 run.

When I left, we were 5-2 down and didn't look like over running them at this stage, it was there but not just yet..

Jarrad later revealed that we staged a massive comeback holding them to the one run over next 3 innings as we took the lead in the top of the seventh inning, leading 7-6 we looked like a history making win.

Sadly West Torrens levelled the score and then a dodgy shot dropped in for them to bring home the win.

Credit to them they were a good side, I still think we're better but, they're in the GF.

Season over and now West Torrens take on Glenelg in the Grand Final, personally, I hope West Torrens wins it over Glenelg. After our last "heated" game down at Glenelg where sportsmanship and gentleman's code was not even in their vocabulary.

Well thats my Baseball reviews over for the season, I'm off to rest this thumb over the next 6 weeks and look forward to an even bigger and better 2013-2014 Season.

Go RedSox!!!!!

Semi Final - ETPBC Div 5

Hi All,

Firstly apologies for the week delay getting this out, been a rough week and a half since the Semi Final - most know why but for those that don't all will be revealed shortly.

It was to be a massive day for me, not only was I heading to Soundwave straight after to watch Blink 182 but this was also my first ever real final.. Never played finals in my footy life at Happy Valley nor have I seen finals whilst playing baseball for East Torrens...

To say I was super nervous was an understatement...

Well, the first Semi shaped up to be an absolute cracker and it didn't dissapoint. Adelaide had our number this year winning both games in the regular season, first game they held us to only 1 run, 2nd game they narrowly beat us when we gifted the game to them.

Hot day started us out with Ralphy kicking the day off with a knock, Ralphy is looking more comfortable in the lead off role and Jonesy our regular is having some rest period a few slots back giving him time to mentally rest.

Memory isn't as good as it was before the end of the first inning, I still can't remember all the piecings of this next play but here goes...

I think from memory we had a runner on 1st when the Adelaide batter hit deep out to Jarrad at right field, I ran back to third base ready for the throw. The ball came in but wasn't on the full and was to bounce short about a metre in front.

Now I have let alot of balls through this year, this wasn't going to be one of them. If I missed it, certain run and error. I came off my base and ready to take it as it hit the deck but the bounce kicked it up quite sharply narrowly missing my glove.

But it didn't miss me hitting me squarly in the head, just above my right eye.. Lucky it didn't hit me in the eye...

Umpire called time and the boys checked to see if I had concussion and attended to a small cut above the eye. All good and I insisted I continue - looked like a unicorn though sporting a horn!

Didn't affect me too much though as I was able to secure my only hit in the next inning, hit nicely through short to advance scoop to second.

Jarrad advanced us around and I managed to get to second when I turned and noticed Scoop recorded a geriatrics's moment when he kept walking off third towards home plate, wasn't running though, just walking... pitcher quickly threw ball to 3rd and was tagged out... Chalk this one down to amnesia or something...

Robbo pitched all day and he really did a pearler of a job, hitting the zone nicely and keeping the batters thinking.

Red Sox managed to get up to a nice lead as we moved on to 4-1 however Adelaide pulled back a few and we were leading towards the 5th inning 6-4.

Memory has me, I'm not sure if this happened now in the bottom of the 4th of 5th but here goes..

My second body blow for the game came with the last out of the inning, the adelaide hitter burned a drive to me sitting at 3rd, hit very hard but it dipped at the last second. I moved my glove behind it and got down to the ball.

It hit my glove on the high right hand side and agony began, the ball spilt out but I was able to recover and throw him out at first. I noticed straight away something was wrong, the ball, when it hit the glove, it hit the top of my thumb and the swelling told me something wasn't right...

Being as stubborn as I am I didn't want to come out and wanted to see how it would go for next inning and batting.

Well if batting was something to go by it was fine. With two runners on and two outs I went to the plate, watched my usual first ball just to see how its coming in, then proceeded to launch a ball into the stratosphere... Sadly it was hit with too much height and the wind held it a metre short from being a Home Run.

Next inning I went back out to 3rd but by that time the thumb was very swollen and it hurt to catch the ball, Robbo too noticed this as he threw a ball to me and I hesitated greatly to catch it...

That was me done, we went 3 up 3 down that inning and Robbo and Matty took me out to bring Curtis in - a wise move, I couldn't een touch the thumb then...

Ralphy lead the pack with a stellar batting display, he wasn't the only one though, young Mr Laws connected well twice getting to the gaps in the outfield and overall our batting lifted dramatically with most getting off the bus as Robbo likes to call it...

By the top of the 6th we held a good lead to which we extended out to 14-4 at the end of our bat, 3 more outs would enforce the mercy rule and we would leave early knowing one of the best games would secure us a Prelim!

3 up 3 down, Robbo capped of a fantastic game and the Red Sox ran out winners 14-4, This was a massive team effort and I was beside myself! Man I was sore but the feeling of winning my first ever final drowned it out completely... We just beat the side who was top for most of the year and we hadn't beaten all year - throw in the fact we were playing at their home ground. Yep this will be remembered for a long time!

Ok so the fallout was a cracker, we changed and sped to Soundwave, by that stage I had a massive horn on my head from the first knock and I couldn't move my thumb which now was extremely swollen and turning purple...

Blink 182 was awesome but the event sucked for me as when we reached the blink stage it was near impossible to move, there was nowhere to get through the crowd and a sea of people pushed each other as we moved towards the back - Phone reception was non existent too resembling the TV show Revolution...

Finally after 25 minutes of stressing and sense of being lost I found my wife and we watched the remaining 30 minutes of Blink... Blink were awesome and should have been the final act.

Linkin Park was ok, I got to hear my favourite song What I've Done but other than that it wasn't Blink.

Metallica was so so... Most will disagree with me but I wasn't really impressed, they played 4 songs I knew and to be honest I kept looking at the clock for it to be over....

If Soundwave promoters are reading, make sure if Blink 182 are there next year, give them a 2 hour finale spot - they would kill it far better than Metallica did...

Anyway, by monday morning I was in a heap of pain and wolfing down panadene forte tablets to help stem the pain..

I went to the doctor who, before I could tell him about my thumb, went straight for the lump on my head... He then informed me that I had cracked the bone in my nose, I knew it was red and sore but it didn't bother me as much as the lump on my head...

Bummer...

He then said the thumb did look nasty and immediately arranged X-rays to be taken.

X-rays done and I was starving so we started heading off to the pub when the phone rang, it was the x-ray place... X-rays were ready to be picked up and taken to doctors, I replied but I'm not going back to the doctors today.. Response wasn't encouraging, Umm yes you are...

Hmm that didn't sound good, I headed down to the doctors who started examining the film.. His face was priceless and I knew it wasn't good.

The verdict... Broken Thumb in three places, possibly need surgery to correct and have screws put in to mend...

Thats me season done... expecting 6 weeks out whilst it recovers...

So - Our Divvy 5 team now shapes up against West Torrens away next week with me to warm the bench for them...

Go Red Sox!!!!!!!

Round 18 - ETPBC Div 5

A very hot day was forecasted and it managed to bring what it threatened, a very hot 37 degrees with hardly any cloud cover.

With that came in the reduced game rules, this enforces a maximum of 5 innnings or 90 minutes...

For someone like me who was starting on the bench, that brings in nothing but angst on whether you will be played or not.

Robbo started on the mound and got off to a flyer, zone was good and not many opposition hits through the five innings and really worked hard to keep them at bay - recorded some good strikeouts too!

Gussy again proved to be the one pitchers hate the most being walked twice, Cummo was the hitting specialist for the day twice with big bombs into the gaps and also superb speed to reach third twice for back to back triples.

Cummo's first proved to be a spark the team needed, most were telling him to hold off at 2nd but Cummo knew his pace would beat the throw to 3rd.

Hard to determine which highlight was the best on the day, so I think line honors need to go to both Cummo and Jonesy.

Jonesy is now known as the aerial defender, late in the 4th inning with runners in scoring position, a big bomb was hit to deep left field. For all money Jonesy looked beat on this one as it was well hit, from nowhere Jonesy lept back and took a superb catch which recorded the final out of the inning and any chance of Southern coming back to challenge the lead.

Red Sox ended up holding them off in the last to record a 7-1 win over Southern and securing our place in the finals.

I'm super excited, never in history of sport have I reached finals, not unless you count mixed netball which I don't think I will... During my football life at Happy Valley, my junior years were spent being thrashed by teams like Reynella and Morphett Vale, sometimes by 30 goals... During my senior years at the club we won games but never enough to reach finals, often missing out by one or two.

In my baseball career we haven't made it over the 4 years i've played, the year I missed our team won the flag.

This is something to savor and I look very forward to the challenge.

See you all down at Adelaide this weekend to cheer on the Red Sox!

Round 15/16 - ETPBC Div 5

Hi All,

Firstly apologies for the delay in writing articles for the last two games, reason for delay... well I'm still that shocked and angry at the result.

Round 15 saw our Red Sox take on Golden Grove at home, GG has lost alot of games this year to teams we have accounted for well - yet GG always seem to have the wood on us and this game was no exception.

The game was full of suprises, whilst I won't go fully into the inning by inning I'll touch on some highlights.

Sadly for us alot of them were not good ones, Cummo had the first bad luck in inning 1 with a ball heading through him, Gussy sadly had the same late in the game which let a couple through and I also managed to bobble one late in the game also...

We didn't take advantage of our opportunities which was our downfall in the end, we had a chance to steal the game in the last inning with myself sitting at 3rd as the tying run but sadly the fairytale finish wasn't to happen with DR grounding out to finish the game.

That one was gut wrenching, a game we needed to win, not only for finals but for ourselves, GG has the wood on us for many years, its time we show them they aint as good...

Myself, well, My hitting is something i'm really pleased with over the last 5 games, according to my stats (hoping this is what the scorers agree with...) I'm 9 hits from the last 17 at bats including the big bomb out at Gawler. Included in that stat was my 2 from 4 with my first knock bringing in a couple of runs.

Fielding is my big worry at the moment, i've had 10 errors this year according to the scorers, thats 10 too many, yes very hard position but something I need to work on. Sadly for me its also a confidence thing, I lost a heap of confidence weeks ago and I'm slowly clawing it back.

So in a heartbreaker the Sox went down 8 - 9...

Round 16 we were on a road trip to Glenelg, everyone who know's me will know I love my Tigers, just not these ones.

In the past few years the games at Glenelg have never been pleasant, the strike zone has always been miniscule and we always tend to hear "New Rules" that come into play...

Theres two good things about playing at Glenelg, One - Its the birthplace of my first ever Home Run, Second - I love the fact the biggest jumbo jet to depart from Adelaide Airport will fly directly, and very low, above your head...

Yep its a superbly scenic ball park.

So, Glenelg of late have been hot, they've moved to first spot on the ladder and look to have added a few players since we last played them. Last time the result was 2-1 in our favour.

Red Sox came out hitting in the first few innings, we also had alot on base over the course of the game courtesy of the pitcher who wasn't hitting the zone.

We ran out to an early 4-1 lead however that was turned around but some good hitting by Glenelg but also some very good base running helped them level the scores and then never look back as they ran out to a 9-4 lead late in the game.

We pushed for contention right throughout that game, Robbo pitched well but was hindered by not being able to find a consistent and nice strike zone, it was small and very inconsistent. Fielding wise I think we weren't too bad but they were just hitting the gaps well.

Our bats were good early but then all of a sudden with runners on base we were skying balls instead of hittting the ground and into the gaps..

7th inning came and went just like that, we managed to go down without making a whimper, ready for the time and game call another swifty came from nowhere and caught us completely offguard..

Glenelg was getting ready to bat......

All year, each time the home side is winning in last inning and the away side has bombed out without getting infront - its been "Time & Game". Not at Glenelg.

**Removed comments here incase of further issues** Those there know my frustration on this issue.
To say we were all annoyed is an understatement, we risked injuring our pitchers arm and the simple fact, we could not win...

Ah well, thats how they play it so be it, we play it differently. Here's hoping we see them again come finals and we repay the favour...

Ok so last few games we are at home against Goodwood and Southern Districts, we just need the one more win and we're home and hosed sewing up 4th position and securing that Finals Birth i've so longed for...

So get down to Payneham oval and cheer us on as the mighty Red Sox push for finals!