Check out the first and last pars. Has anything changed?
Another roar from Tigers
By STEPHEN RIELLY
AT THE MCG
Richmond - schizophrenic, adrenalin junkies or, beneath the seemingly obvious inconsistency of performance, week in, week out pros?
It is true that the Tigers have put successive victories together only once this season and produced such a consistently inconsistent sequence of results that tipsters ritually abandon them every second week.
But what about the fact that the team has not lost two games in a row under Jeff Gieschen? This year or last. Or that so far this season the Tigers have taken down all of the fancied teams in the competition with the exception of St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs? Dangling from the Richmond belt are the scalps of Essendon, West Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide and, as of yesterday, North Melbourne.
Of course, perception and reality are not always one. Maybe there is a far straighter line to be drawn through Richmond's form to date than a quick glance at a win-loss chart allows.
Gieschen was entitled to say so last night, after his team had comprehensively beaten North at the MCG, by a 35-point margin that ought to have been greater.
His team played as one yesterday; even, consistent and dominant, without the overwhelming influence so often required for the team to play at its best from the likes of Matthew Richardson, Wayne Campbell and Matthew Knights.
Richardson cobbled together four goals in the second half but never looked confident against North's Glen Archer, and there was very little from Campbell, who was shadowed out of the game by Anthony Stevens before he was put out of it, concussed, by teammate Andrew Rogers late in the third term.
Knights was a minor factor until the last quarter and the ruck division consisted of two kids with nine games between them, Steven McKee and Luke Ottens, and occasionally the ungainly Paul Bulluss.
And yet the Tigers led from start to finish, clearly won all but two of the midfield battles and apart from a three-minute, three-goal burst from North in the third quarter which drew them to within 20 points, comprehensively subdued the Wayne Carey-led Roos attack.
Darren Gaspar enhanced his reputation once more by keeping Carey to a modest three goals and four marks, although he should shout a number of teammates a beer during the week for the assistance they gave.
Nick Daffy was the standout Richmond on-baller, as Brent Harvey was North's, but Daffy was not only able to consistently gather possessions. He also used the speed, accuracy and penetration in his kicking to decisive effect. Paul Broderick was often by his side, too, but did his most damaging work up forward with three goals and Ben Harrison, when he wasn't dropping back from his wing to help Gaspar, was also important.
It was the mosaic nature of the team's win that struck Gieschen, convincing him that the time was right to address that pesky notion of consistency.
"We pride ourselves on giving a really honest effort every week," he said.
"The truth is that we've managed to play with a similar level of intensity and commitment to the ball for about six or seven weeks weeks now. That's everyone.
"During that time we were beaten by the Bulldogs and the Saints but I think we played pretty close to our capacity on those days. If we strike teams that are a little bit below what we're at on any given day, we're going to win."
Perhaps even consistently.
Another roar from Tigers
By STEPHEN RIELLY
AT THE MCG
Richmond - schizophrenic, adrenalin junkies or, beneath the seemingly obvious inconsistency of performance, week in, week out pros?
It is true that the Tigers have put successive victories together only once this season and produced such a consistently inconsistent sequence of results that tipsters ritually abandon them every second week.
But what about the fact that the team has not lost two games in a row under Jeff Gieschen? This year or last. Or that so far this season the Tigers have taken down all of the fancied teams in the competition with the exception of St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs? Dangling from the Richmond belt are the scalps of Essendon, West Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide and, as of yesterday, North Melbourne.
Of course, perception and reality are not always one. Maybe there is a far straighter line to be drawn through Richmond's form to date than a quick glance at a win-loss chart allows.
Gieschen was entitled to say so last night, after his team had comprehensively beaten North at the MCG, by a 35-point margin that ought to have been greater.
His team played as one yesterday; even, consistent and dominant, without the overwhelming influence so often required for the team to play at its best from the likes of Matthew Richardson, Wayne Campbell and Matthew Knights.
Richardson cobbled together four goals in the second half but never looked confident against North's Glen Archer, and there was very little from Campbell, who was shadowed out of the game by Anthony Stevens before he was put out of it, concussed, by teammate Andrew Rogers late in the third term.
Knights was a minor factor until the last quarter and the ruck division consisted of two kids with nine games between them, Steven McKee and Luke Ottens, and occasionally the ungainly Paul Bulluss.
And yet the Tigers led from start to finish, clearly won all but two of the midfield battles and apart from a three-minute, three-goal burst from North in the third quarter which drew them to within 20 points, comprehensively subdued the Wayne Carey-led Roos attack.
Darren Gaspar enhanced his reputation once more by keeping Carey to a modest three goals and four marks, although he should shout a number of teammates a beer during the week for the assistance they gave.
Nick Daffy was the standout Richmond on-baller, as Brent Harvey was North's, but Daffy was not only able to consistently gather possessions. He also used the speed, accuracy and penetration in his kicking to decisive effect. Paul Broderick was often by his side, too, but did his most damaging work up forward with three goals and Ben Harrison, when he wasn't dropping back from his wing to help Gaspar, was also important.
It was the mosaic nature of the team's win that struck Gieschen, convincing him that the time was right to address that pesky notion of consistency.
"We pride ourselves on giving a really honest effort every week," he said.
"The truth is that we've managed to play with a similar level of intensity and commitment to the ball for about six or seven weeks weeks now. That's everyone.
"During that time we were beaten by the Bulldogs and the Saints but I think we played pretty close to our capacity on those days. If we strike teams that are a little bit below what we're at on any given day, we're going to win."
Perhaps even consistently.
