Jay Clark, Herald Sun
August 25, 2019 8:04pm
Timing was everything for Richmond this season.
They may have stumbled out of the blocks and looked like missing finals altogether at one stage mid-season, but Damien Hardwick has got his wish heading into September.
The rampaging Tigers notched their-ninth straight win as they brushed aside a persistent Brisbane at the MCG to lock up a coveted double chance.
They’re humming, Richmond, after another outstanding defensive performance from Nick Vlastuin, Dylan Grimes, David Astbury, Nathan Broad and Bachar Houli kept the Lions to only 55 points.
It was Brisbane’s lowest score of the season.
But the Lions lost no admirers, either after fighting back from a slow start to seriously challenge Richmond, albeit briefly, in the third term.
And there will be one thing which will play on Hardwick’s mind until the two teams meet again in a fortnight at the Gabba, where Richmond has won the past eight straight matches against the Lions.
While the Tigers were brilliant down back, Brisbane onballer Lachie Neale ran riot with 51 possessions to ensure Brisbane held sway in the clearance battle 48-33 and centre clearances 14-8.
If the Lions are allowed off the leash again in the engine room, they will fancy themselves to capitalise much more on the scoreboard on their home deck.
The difference, however, was Richmond put in another commanding performance intercepting the ball across half back and then capitalising inside 50m on the rebound.
Richmond’s twin tower forward set up was dangerous all day and outmarked the Lions inside 50m 16 to eight.
EARLY DAMAGE
Marcus Adams was the most lonely man on the MCG yesterday.
The former Bulldog was lauded for his role on Tom Hawkins last week but the strong-bodied defender was destroyed by an on-fire Jack Riewoldt on the lead early in this one.
Riewoldt piled on four goals before Chris Fagan made the move and switched Darcy Gardiner on to the Tigers’ spearhead early in the second term.
That said, Dion Prestia and Dustin Martin’s delivery to Riewoldt on flaming runs out of the middle was superb in the first quarter.
That first term was as good as the Tigers have played all year, right on the eve of finals.
Adams, whose confidence looked shot by this point, got the job on Trent Cotchin and immediately gave away a free kick to the Richmond skipper early in the second term.
Talk about a nightmare.
It will be a long fortnight for Adams who faces the same test on Riewoldt if Richmond can isolate the same match-up again deep forward when they meet in the first final.
Hardwick will be desperate to orchestrate that match up again in September.
ANGRY CHARLIE
This is why Grimes is a lock for the All-Australian team.
The shutdown defender kept Charlie Cameron to only one possession in the first half.
After tearing the Cats apart last week, Cameron produced the quietest half of footy he has played all year, and was clearly unhappy with some of Grimes’ defensive tactics.
Cameron showed his frustration when he approached the emergency umpire and AFL staff on the bench early in the third term about the way Grimes was manhandling him.
Lions’ staff had to escort him away from the officials in an incident which the AFL will review.
The Lions will also take their case to the umpiring department.
Grimes had the speed to match Cameron and was typically courageous in the air, spoiling almost everything in his area.
Fagan had a long chat with Cameron on the bench in the second term in a bid to spark the livewire.
SCOREBOARD
RICHMOND 6.2 8.6 10.7 12.10 (82)
BRISBANE 2.1 4.4 7.6 8.7 (55)
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Lambert 2, Martin 2, Rioli, Castagna, Lynch, Ellis
Brisbane: Cameron 2, Zorko 2, McCluggage, McInerney, Hipwood, Robinson
BEST
Richmond: Vlastuin, Martin, Grimes, Riewoldt, Houli, Prestia, Lambert
Brisbane: Neale, Zorko, McCluggage, Robinson, Rich, Andrews, Martin
INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Brisbane: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: O’Gorman, Meredith, Fleer
Official crowd: 76,995 at the MCG
JAY CLARK’S VOTES
3 — Nick Vlastuin
2 — Dustin Martin
1 — Lachie Neale
TIGERS WON’T LET NEALE LOOSE AGAIN
Jay Clark
Richmond will consider tweaking its midfield set up to stop Brisbane Lions’ ball magnet Lachie Neale having another field day in their qualifying final in a fortnight.
The Tigers locked-in third spot with a 27-point win over the Lions and plan to get ruckman Toby Nankervis back from a groin injury for the showdown at the Gabba.
Hardwick says the Queensland fortress will hold no fears for the Tigers who have won their past eight matches at the venue and nine on the trot this season.
But Hardwick admitted Neale’s 51 possessions were a concern as the Brownlow Medal fancy dominated inside the engine room with 14 clearances.
The senior coach said he was pleased with the Tigers’ overall form heading into September but conceded Neale’s red-hot clearance work in the mid-part of the game was a threat.
Hardwick said the Tigers would assess some “structural things” this week.
“Lachie Neale was incredible during that period (fightback), with 51 (possessions) and I don’t know how many clearances he had, but he was very dominant during that part of the game,” Hardwick said.
“We try and quell the influence where it is, at the source, but he is very agile at the stoppage, that’s the strength of him.
“His agility can get him in and out of traffic quickly, but it (tagging) means you are also reactive as well.
“So whether we back in our boys (without a tag) we will have a look at it and have a better assessment come Monday.”
Richmond was installed as the $3 premiership favourite with TAB on Sunday night after Jack Riewoldt snagged four first-term goals to jump the Lions at the MCG.
While Dylan Grimes’ defensive tactics on Charlie Cameron will come under the spotlight this week, Hardwick lauded his defender’s ability to play after hurting his ankle last week.
Hardwick said the Tigers weren’t worried about playing the first final interstate at the Gabba after recovering from a slow start this season.
“The good thing about it, the dimensions are pretty similar to the MCG, so it’s not going to be anything foreign to us,” Hardwick said.
“And our boys have played pretty well there, but they (Lions) are a bloody good side, so it’s going to be a tough game.
“To turn at 7-6, and then to reel off seven or eight wins in a row against some quality opposition sides is an enormous credit to our playing group and the leaders.
“So we acknowledge the good work that we have done, but we also acknowledge there is a power of work to do to get where we need to go.”
Hardwick said Nankervis, who missed the victory with a groin problem, would play VFL on Saturday, in an attempt to play in the qualifying final.
“It’s a nagging type of injury,” Hardwick said.
“He trained today and he looked OK, but it’s an injury that will take some managing.
“The rigours of AFL footy, rucking against some bigger type of opponents, he probably didn’t handle it as well as we would have liked last time.
“But he has done a lot of strength work to get that batter. He looked pretty good at training today, so hopefully he pulls up OK and we can suit him up for Saturday week.”
August 25, 2019 8:04pm
Timing was everything for Richmond this season.
They may have stumbled out of the blocks and looked like missing finals altogether at one stage mid-season, but Damien Hardwick has got his wish heading into September.
The rampaging Tigers notched their-ninth straight win as they brushed aside a persistent Brisbane at the MCG to lock up a coveted double chance.
They’re humming, Richmond, after another outstanding defensive performance from Nick Vlastuin, Dylan Grimes, David Astbury, Nathan Broad and Bachar Houli kept the Lions to only 55 points.
It was Brisbane’s lowest score of the season.
But the Lions lost no admirers, either after fighting back from a slow start to seriously challenge Richmond, albeit briefly, in the third term.
And there will be one thing which will play on Hardwick’s mind until the two teams meet again in a fortnight at the Gabba, where Richmond has won the past eight straight matches against the Lions.
While the Tigers were brilliant down back, Brisbane onballer Lachie Neale ran riot with 51 possessions to ensure Brisbane held sway in the clearance battle 48-33 and centre clearances 14-8.
If the Lions are allowed off the leash again in the engine room, they will fancy themselves to capitalise much more on the scoreboard on their home deck.
The difference, however, was Richmond put in another commanding performance intercepting the ball across half back and then capitalising inside 50m on the rebound.
Richmond’s twin tower forward set up was dangerous all day and outmarked the Lions inside 50m 16 to eight.
EARLY DAMAGE
Marcus Adams was the most lonely man on the MCG yesterday.
The former Bulldog was lauded for his role on Tom Hawkins last week but the strong-bodied defender was destroyed by an on-fire Jack Riewoldt on the lead early in this one.
Riewoldt piled on four goals before Chris Fagan made the move and switched Darcy Gardiner on to the Tigers’ spearhead early in the second term.
That said, Dion Prestia and Dustin Martin’s delivery to Riewoldt on flaming runs out of the middle was superb in the first quarter.
That first term was as good as the Tigers have played all year, right on the eve of finals.
Adams, whose confidence looked shot by this point, got the job on Trent Cotchin and immediately gave away a free kick to the Richmond skipper early in the second term.
Talk about a nightmare.
It will be a long fortnight for Adams who faces the same test on Riewoldt if Richmond can isolate the same match-up again deep forward when they meet in the first final.
Hardwick will be desperate to orchestrate that match up again in September.
ANGRY CHARLIE
This is why Grimes is a lock for the All-Australian team.
The shutdown defender kept Charlie Cameron to only one possession in the first half.
After tearing the Cats apart last week, Cameron produced the quietest half of footy he has played all year, and was clearly unhappy with some of Grimes’ defensive tactics.
Cameron showed his frustration when he approached the emergency umpire and AFL staff on the bench early in the third term about the way Grimes was manhandling him.
Lions’ staff had to escort him away from the officials in an incident which the AFL will review.
The Lions will also take their case to the umpiring department.
Grimes had the speed to match Cameron and was typically courageous in the air, spoiling almost everything in his area.
Fagan had a long chat with Cameron on the bench in the second term in a bid to spark the livewire.
SCOREBOARD
RICHMOND 6.2 8.6 10.7 12.10 (82)
BRISBANE 2.1 4.4 7.6 8.7 (55)
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Lambert 2, Martin 2, Rioli, Castagna, Lynch, Ellis
Brisbane: Cameron 2, Zorko 2, McCluggage, McInerney, Hipwood, Robinson
BEST
Richmond: Vlastuin, Martin, Grimes, Riewoldt, Houli, Prestia, Lambert
Brisbane: Neale, Zorko, McCluggage, Robinson, Rich, Andrews, Martin
INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Brisbane: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: O’Gorman, Meredith, Fleer
Official crowd: 76,995 at the MCG
JAY CLARK’S VOTES
3 — Nick Vlastuin
2 — Dustin Martin
1 — Lachie Neale
TIGERS WON’T LET NEALE LOOSE AGAIN
Jay Clark
Richmond will consider tweaking its midfield set up to stop Brisbane Lions’ ball magnet Lachie Neale having another field day in their qualifying final in a fortnight.
The Tigers locked-in third spot with a 27-point win over the Lions and plan to get ruckman Toby Nankervis back from a groin injury for the showdown at the Gabba.
Hardwick says the Queensland fortress will hold no fears for the Tigers who have won their past eight matches at the venue and nine on the trot this season.
But Hardwick admitted Neale’s 51 possessions were a concern as the Brownlow Medal fancy dominated inside the engine room with 14 clearances.
The senior coach said he was pleased with the Tigers’ overall form heading into September but conceded Neale’s red-hot clearance work in the mid-part of the game was a threat.
Hardwick said the Tigers would assess some “structural things” this week.
“Lachie Neale was incredible during that period (fightback), with 51 (possessions) and I don’t know how many clearances he had, but he was very dominant during that part of the game,” Hardwick said.
“We try and quell the influence where it is, at the source, but he is very agile at the stoppage, that’s the strength of him.
“His agility can get him in and out of traffic quickly, but it (tagging) means you are also reactive as well.
“So whether we back in our boys (without a tag) we will have a look at it and have a better assessment come Monday.”
Richmond was installed as the $3 premiership favourite with TAB on Sunday night after Jack Riewoldt snagged four first-term goals to jump the Lions at the MCG.
While Dylan Grimes’ defensive tactics on Charlie Cameron will come under the spotlight this week, Hardwick lauded his defender’s ability to play after hurting his ankle last week.
Hardwick said the Tigers weren’t worried about playing the first final interstate at the Gabba after recovering from a slow start this season.
“The good thing about it, the dimensions are pretty similar to the MCG, so it’s not going to be anything foreign to us,” Hardwick said.
“And our boys have played pretty well there, but they (Lions) are a bloody good side, so it’s going to be a tough game.
“To turn at 7-6, and then to reel off seven or eight wins in a row against some quality opposition sides is an enormous credit to our playing group and the leaders.
“So we acknowledge the good work that we have done, but we also acknowledge there is a power of work to do to get where we need to go.”
Hardwick said Nankervis, who missed the victory with a groin problem, would play VFL on Saturday, in an attempt to play in the qualifying final.
“It’s a nagging type of injury,” Hardwick said.
“He trained today and he looked OK, but it’s an injury that will take some managing.
“The rigours of AFL footy, rucking against some bigger type of opponents, he probably didn’t handle it as well as we would have liked last time.
“But he has done a lot of strength work to get that batter. He looked pretty good at training today, so hopefully he pulls up OK and we can suit him up for Saturday week.”
